Polly want an oxygen chamber?

Trying to hammer out a way to benefit the community can be for the birds.

That's in a good way, and especially if the community you are trying to help is made up of parrots and their owners.

This is Lakewood Ranch, and fortunately, we have a myriad of people who are passionate about just about everything under the sun, or on a perch.

This includes Lakewood Ranch's Cindy Gordon and the Florida West Coast Avian Society, which has just formed an alliance to help save parrots in peril. The society is headquartered in Lakewood Ranch.

The biggest spark came from the Community Foundation of Sarasota County, which presented a grant of $3,700 to the Florida West Coast Avian Society to buy two oxygen chambers for parrots in urgent distress and in need of emergency veterinary care.

Others who have supported the cause include Veterinarian Leigh Samanowitz, who owns the University Animal Clinic of Lakewood Ranch. "Dr. Sam" will serve as the lead veterinarian for the program, which aims to make the oxygen chambers available to the general public if they have a bird in need.

Gordon came face-to-face with the problem when her parrot, Chewy, a blue-crowned conure, suffered a stroke on a Saturday night. She called five vets in the East County area and none of them see birds. She kept calling with no luck, before finally finding vets in Brandon and Clearwater that would see Chewy. She drove to the BluePearl Pet hospital in Brandon.

It would have cost $500 for Chewy to spend the night in an oxygen chamber. Gordon asked if she could take Chewy home and they gave her some prescriptions, and she left.

She wasn't worried about the cost so much as Chewy spending the night at the pet hospital without her around.

"There would have been that stress on the bird of not seeing me," she said. "And once they get stressed ..."

Samanowitz said parrots can debilitate quickly.

Photo by Jay Heater

"Their respiratory system has both lungs and air sacks," Samanowitz said.

So basically, they have twice the work to do to move their oxygen around when things go wrong. They start breathing faster and Samanowitz said infections can develop.

Samanowitz is one of the few vets in the area who does treat birds, and lizards, and raccoons, or whatever else you might have. She said most vets don't want to invest the time it takes to qualify.

"It takes a lot of additional training to see exotic pets," she said.

She said, predominantly, her role in helping the Florida West Coast Avian Society is to train their members on how to use the oxygen chambers.

Although Samanowitz sees parrots almost "every day," her office isn't open 24/7. She said the oxygen chambers are much needed to make sure the ailing parrot doesn't get any worse before reaching a vet. 

Parrots often have more than one owner because their life spans can be so long. Small parrots often live from 5 to 25 years while medium-sized parrots, such as conures, can live 15 to 30 years. Large parrots, such as macaws and cockatoos, can live 40 to 80 years with some reaching 100 years of age,

Gordon said a big problem is that some owners don't understand some of the household risks that can harm a parrot. She said items such as air fryers, hairspray, cologne and oven cleaners can seriously injure the bird. Even the polymer fumes and chemical breakdown products emitted by cooking with Teflon can kill a parrot.

When a parrot does become ill, Samanowitz said their ability to get oxygen decreases with each breath. The oxygen chambers are important in that instance, She said the oxygen chambers usually are a size that makes it easy to cover them and allow the bird to feel calm and safe in a dark environment.

Florida West Coast Avian Society board member Gloria Schroeck, who owns 10 parrots, said her organization will make the oxygen chambers available to those in need. She said she will try to spread the information by using her group members and by promoting the chambers on their website, FWCAS.org, and their Facebook page.

"We also will do it by word of mouth," said Gordon, who noted that local residents can visit the club's booth on occasion at the Farmers Market at Lakewood Ranch. 

"We haven't quite figured out all the details," Gordon said of making the oxygen chambers available, "These are emergency resources."

Samanowitz said it will be figured out soon.

"I look at it as it is all of us who can help pets," she said. "That's pretty much our mission statement (at University Animal Clinic). This is just one part of that.

"This biggest thing to know about birds is that they are a commitment. And it can be a longterm commitment."

The Florida West Coast Avian Society serves both Manatee and Sarasota counties. 

Whether or not parrots are your thing, it is just another example of how your neighbors care. Look around Lakewood Ranch, you are going to see all kinds of causes.

What is your passion?

It matters.