10+ year old male Parakeet not doing well. Is there any hope?

[Scott]

I don't know how your budgie is doing now, but it sounds to me like he hurt his leg or foot, and the pain is what is causing him to not eat/drink or simply act normally. I'm hoping you got to the vet and he gave you some Metacam for his pain. He looks very healthy in the pics you posted, and since he was fine one minute and the next he was limping and had no use of one leg, it very much sounds like an injury rather than an illness, which is a good thing. Let us know how he's doing and what the vet said. I hope it was an avian vet as in my experience of 30 years of owning and breeding both American and English budgies, non avian vet's don't like to do much at all for parakeets, love birds, or even cockatiels because they consider them small, "throw away" birds, which really angers me. My avian vet would do an x-ray immediately on Jay Jay and a full exam.

I know I'm new to this forum, in fact this is my first post, lol, but I was raised by my mom who bred cockatiels and owned budgies, and I got my first budgie at the age of 6. I'm now 36 and got my bachelor's degree in health science/pre-med and did half my master's degree for health science/physician assistant studies, and I used to breed American and English budgies as well as cockatiels. So I have a lot of experience in dealing with medical issues of pet birds. I actually took in a flight of 12 American/English hybrid parakeets about 6 months ago that were bought as a breeding project that went badly. They are all a little over a year old and not at all tame, but beautiful birds. I had no intention of breeding them, I have 3 bonded pairs so far, and I just wanted to give them a good home and work with them to tame them. They had different ideas, and one bonded paired hatched a clutch of 7 babies that I pulled at 2 and a half weeks to hand raise. So the oldest is now almost 4 weeks old and I just love all 7 of them. So I'm becoming again acquainted with taking care of budgies.

Anyway, I hope Jay Jay is doing alright, please let us know how he is doing.

Welcome to the forums, thanks for joining! Quite a nice maiden post, thanks for sharing your experiences! You are always welcome to create a post in the "New Members Welcome" subforum!!

 

[EllenD]

Thanks very much for the welcome, and I will definitely make a post in the new member section soon! I'm excited to use this forum to both learn from others and share any knowledge I have about our feathered babies!

 

[plumsmum2005]

So pleased Jay Jay is doing OK. Just a thought, it might be worth investing in different types of perch ie flat/shelf to make it easier for Jay Jay to perch. He looks a little sweetheart.

 

[ksmith5151]

Here's an update on Jay Jay. He is still a fighter. I did take him to the vet and they could not determine why his leg has gone lame without expensive testing. The leg isn't broken. I told the vet that he is eating and drinking so they said it was up to me to decide to give him a chance or go ahead and put him to sleep. I decided to give him a few more days. Well, It's been a little more than that now. Jay Jay seems to be doing well despite his injury.

As of yesterday and today, he is still not using his left leg. He moves the whole leg back and forth now so there is some movement. His foot stays curled up but I noticed he is using the underside of his leg to balance himself when he lands from a flight and he's learning to use his beak more to get around. When he gets tired of standing on his good leg, he lays like a hen and seems content. Yesterday and today he was doing that while singing away to the other parakeets. He seems quite happy so I don't have the heart to put him down if he's happy.

Today he seems much stronger than a week ago. I still have to give him water by hand and I've set up a small cage up high with a towel in it and a low perch so he feels comfortable. He does perch but seems happy to be on the towel too. He peeks his head up and chirps at the other parakeets. Most of the time he is out of the cage still. He flies around and lands in his usual places. It's sad he seems to be a handicapped bird but he's amazingly taking it well and I don't think he's in pain. I don't think he would be doing this well if he wasn't so laid back and tame. He's such a good boy.

 

[ksmith5151]

Here's Jay Jay today (middle) on top of my doorwall blinds.

 

[Allee]

It's great to read this wonderful update! I'm so glad you made the decision to give Jay Jay more time. I believe birds and other creatures know when we try so hard for them and want them to stay with us so badly, I think a lot of the time it makes the difference between fighting or giving up. I'm so happy for you and for Jay Jay, your budgies are real beauties, sweet photo.

 

[Terry57]

I am also glad to hear an update about your little fighter. I have several birds who are handicapped, and they have learned to adapt. I am hoping Jay Jay does get better, but as long as he isn't in pain and is enjoying life, he will learn how to adapt to his new limitations.
He is a beauty!

 

[Scott]

You are a hero for giving Jay Jay the continued gift of life! Where there is life there is hope, and his quality of life seems good and pain-free.

 

[ksmith5151]

Update:
His injured leg foot is still curled up but just now, he flew and I swore I saw him open his foot a little bit and landed on the edge of a food bowl with both feet. YAY Jay Jay! There's hope that he may regain use of that leg... just maybe.

Besides his bad leg, he is acting as his ole happy self. I'm so happy I gave him more time. Today is mainly moving his bad lag back and forth from the hip and using it like a crutch when he stands and when his good leg gets tired, he lays on his belly like a hen. Today he had quite a long chirping song laying like that on top of the food container. He has been adapting to the bad leg too. I noticed last night when I put him to bed in his small cage, he wanted to perch. He was near the cage bars and had his good leg on the perch and his bad leg foot was through the bars so he could put weight on the side of his leg to hold himself up comfortably. lol. Smart boy.

 

[RavensGryf]

Great to hear the nice update that Jay Jay is doing well and learning to adapt with his leg . He and the rest of your budgies are beautiful!

 

[ksmith5151]

I am SO happy today! Jay Jay is opening and closing his left foot. Not 100% better but gaining function of his foot. Mainly he's been moving the full left leg back and forth and his foot has stayed curled up and he seemed to be paralyzed in that leg, but today he started getting function back in his foot! I'm so happy for him.

He is still laying like a chicken when his legs get tired. Even though he can stand normal now, I think he's learned that it's comfortable to lay on his belly with his legs behind him (on top of the cage). And he chirps/sings while he's like that too. Lol. Silly bird. As soon as I ask him to step up he hops back up on his feet. I still have no idea how his leg went suddenly lame so badly but I'm so happy he's slowly getting better.

 

[Scott]

That is fantastic!!! So glad Jay Jay is doing better, sometimes a bit of time is all they need!

 

[RavensGryf]

Great to hear Jay Jay is improving . Crossing fingers that in time he regains full function.