Lameness and lethargy after vet visit

[Laurasea]

One worry is the dislocation will scar in with leg turned, greatly decreasing mobility. Im not sure why hobble or stabilization wasn't considered. The parrots personality, and tge ease of follow up visits would play a role i guess.. personally I've never seen this just left to heal without some sort of support. Yes I've seen surgery not done, because of risk , but the leg was still stabilized so it would heal without rotation..
But all factors of health and risk and outcome have to be considered as you are doing.

I haven't seen a procedure done so long after the injury accoured... all I have seen where done within days of the injury...

Thanks for the update I was thinking of you. I hope cage .modifications help. Im still so sad this happened. And mad on your behalf thst tge vets office this happened st didn't do a full body radiography, or st keadt include pelvis...or take this more seriously, a down screaming bird@? Definitely highlights the need fir a second opinion, when yiu feel things aren't right

 

[kozykitty]

Yes. I'm glad I went for the second opinion. Regarding leg functionality--Glorias leg is turned but she does use it--particularly for climbing. she climbs all the time and does use both legs for that. She's been sitting on the perch in the travel cage as well--albeit in a roosting position. This is so hard. The concern was that it's been so long and that doesn't mean that surgery is completely out of the picture. I may consider a CT scan which the new vet said would certainly give us more accurate information. Regarding stabilization--I think too much time had passed before we finally knew the issue--over a month and too much scarring had probably already happened. The initial injury was August 18. I appreciate all the support and good thoughts.

 

[Laurasea]

yes you are correct on both accounts
You , your parrot, and guidance from the vet will hopefully determine whsts best going forward.
Healing thoughts, and thank you for sharing your experience. I hope to keep hearing if good progress

 

[AmyMyBlueFront]

Hi...just saw this thread. I cried for Gloria :02: Amy is also in his thirties..he has been with me since he was four months old.When he was about ten Smokey the AG bit his tongue requiring five stitches and being put under..very frightening for me more than him!
A couple years ago he went in for his wellness check and I mentioned he was a little lethargic,not too talkative or active. x-ray showed a heart issue! slight blockage in an artery,now on meds he is much happier..but that time with blood being drawn and the xray and Amy having to be sedated was the worse time in my life...it took him a LONG time for him to snap out of it. I was able to scoop him up in my hands and lay him on my chest.which he would never normally let me do. It took a couple hours before he finally came fully out of it.
He has to go back to see his doc (who I've been taking my fid's to for 35 years and is very competent) in two weeks for more blood work and complete physical and will be sedated again but this time I can't be there with him because of this !@@#%*^ covid thing to comfort and reassure him and its killing me.

I'm saying mega prayers for your beautiful Gloria. It sounds like she has greatly improved. I'm wondering if the first place you took her to caused this by "bird (man) handling" her..since she was fine before going.

Please keep us updated.


Jim

 

[kozykitty]

Jim--this definitely happened at the vet visit on August 18. I don't believe the vet caused the problem. I was in the room for her exam and it was a typical exam. However after the exam, 2 techs took Gloria into the next room to get blood drawn and her nails done. Of course she was toweled for this and not happy. I suspect that is where the accident occurred. Used to be that the vet would do these things with the assistance of a tech. That was when there were 2 vets in the practice. Now there's only one so I'm guessing he's passing these things on to the techs. I like the vet there and he's a certified avian vet who's been in practice for a while--plus he's 10 minutes away. I noticed the injury immediately upon getting Gloria home. She went in her cage and couldn't navigate a perch and fell off. I think I'll stick with the new vets though. The surgeon started that practice (which only deals with birds and exotics) 10 years ago and her partner is a young avian vet with maybe 3 or 4 years of experience--she's the one that did the xray while the older vet was away. They're farther away but we're fortunate enough to live in the DC/Baltimore metro area and we have more options than most. I just wish our babies could tell us if they were in pain. That's the thing that troubles me most about this. Gloria is acting more like herself--bossing me around all day long. LOL. That's a positive sign.
Thanks for your good thoughts.

 

[AmyMyBlueFront]

My vet also has two CAV's on duty..."Kensington BIRD and Animal Hospital" they specialize in birdies and is only twenty minutes away..Doc Kristin is who I deal with always and she does the nails or clips wings if asked ( BB is getting a clipping this time out,he is getting carried away with his flying and it's time to ground him..again lol) and the Tech is always gentle with toweling,still saddens me that I can't be there for them.

So happy to hear Gloria is improving!


Jim

 

[kozykitty]

Hello there.
It's been a little while but I thought I'd check in with a progress report. Miss Gloria is doing quite well and seems to be adapting as a "special needs" bird. We just transitioned her back to her big cage which has been renovated to accommodate her needs.

I wrote a detailed blog post about the process. Perhaps it may be helpful to someone who finds themselves in the same situation.

Thanks again for all of your help and well wishes.

Crazy Cat Lady's Musings: Renovating Gloria's Home: Housing a Special Needs Bird

 

[kozykitty]

One more update--Gloria spent the night in her big cage and seemed like her old self when I got her up this morning. She was telling me to "get to work" as soon as I uncovered her and she seemed really happy. I guess being in her home had psychological benefits as well. The next challenge was the administration of her meds. I had been just squirting the few drops directly in her mouth. It was easy in the travel cage because she was sort of cornered and I could usually just manage. I took Laurasea's advice (from another thread) and tore off a small piece of bread to put the meds in. She got only the bread in her dry food dish and she thought it was a treat. I filled the dish with her usual stuff after she ate the bread.

This has been such an unfortunate state of affairs from the beginning but I'm glad that at least she can live a fairly normal life. I think the fact that she's not a real active bird and I'm retired and home with her all day has helped a lot.

Thanks again for all of the good advice.