(Not so?) Injured foot.

[kmk0806]

Amigo, my green cheek conure seems to have injured his foot and I do not know what to do. First I got really concerned and was going to rush him to the vet but looking at forums made it seem that the vet would want to do expensive x-rays or give him antibiotics.

Anyways his behavior also makes a vet visit seem a bit unnecessary. He has been limping a little when walking on a flat surface, and prefers standing on his left foot and holds up his right foot more often than usual, but despite all this he is still really active on his seemingly injured foot. He still climbs around his cage like crazy, even hanging upside down from the "injured foot." He scratches himself with the foot, will step up using the injured foot first, and lets me touch and apply some pressure to the foot. So I'm guessing its just a small sprain that will heal up in a few days.

My plan is too wait a few days to see if it gets better or worse. If it gets worse I'll take him to the vet, but I would rather not go if they are going to make me take expensive x-rays for a foot that doesn't seem broken, or give me antibiotics when it doesn't look like he has bumblefoot or anything. Or can you not tell when they have bumblefoot? Any suggestions?

 

[IcyWolf]

Personally, if it was me, I would take him to the vet before it gets any worse. If it was caused by any kind of cut or scrape it could be infected and Amigo will need antibiotics in order to get better. Infections in birds is not something you want to put off. I would at least call the vet and see what they say over the phone, you may be surprised. We just had to have one of our budgies xrayed on thursday and the xray itself only costed $55. I was amazed! I know whenever I have to go to the hospital and get an xray it's always several hundred dollars per slide.

Does his foot feel warm to the touch? That can be a sure sign of infection and it really does need to be treated asap if that is the case.

 

[oled]

Could be, could not be, impossible to give advise. But if the foot is damaget it could be permanent if you wait to long. I think that a vet can make some diagnose just feeling on the leg/foot, and recoment waiting or x-ray or whatever. Good luck

 

[MaraWentz]

As my previous bird couldn't fly he fell to the ground and hurt his foot. Limped around and was so pitiful. Took him to the vets and they refused to do an X-ray because even if they were to it wouldn't help much as they can't put his tiny leg in a sprint or cast. They simply sent me home saying that to make sure he doesn't move around too much and they gave him some honey flavor pain killer that was for about 4 days.

 

[kmk0806]

Well its good to know an x-ray isn't always that expensive.. on another forum though I saw someone say that it was $500 for a vet bill, which I thought was a bit extreme. His feet are warm but not more than usual.. they are supposed to be warm, I read that cold feet was a sign of possible illness. Its also good to know that its an injury that is likely to heal in about 4 days. I emailed an avian vet asking what I should do. I don't really think I have much of a choice about waiting a few days anyways, because no vets are open on the weekend except the emergency clinic.. which doesn't have an avian vet.

 

[Pedro]

If your bird is as active as you say then the injury is mild & your bird is just favouring it & probably not required to be seen by a Vet. However if it dosn't improve over the next day or appears to get worse, don't hesitate, go to the Vet. I did have a bird once that had a limp, couldn't see any injuries but after a week of not looking any better i took him off to the Vet, they took xrays, the poor bird had an infection in the bone & it was eating the bone away. Antibiotics fixed it but it took months for the bone to grow back. So serious things can & do happen. We must all be prepared for any emergencies.

 

[goalerjones]

...His feet are warm but not more than usual.. they are supposed to be warm, I read that cold feet was a sign of possible illness...

Does his foot feel warm to the touch? That can be a sure sign of infection and it really does need to be treated asap if that is the case.

There should always be a consistant temperature throughout the limb in question. Infections however will give u a "hotspot" that is a greater temperature than what is normally present due to increased amount of bloodflow so the body can fight the infection better with greater circulation. Impaired circulation will result in a cooler feeling limb or area.