Please help, mutilation

[Piasa]

Frustrating update on Jimmy pionus. Some might remember she was injured during a blood draw (http://www.parrotforums.com/general-health-care/59792-they-hurt-her.html) about a week and a half ago. She doesn't seem any more healed, wounds may even be bigger.

She has been plucking below her neck scab and now there is a new wound on her back in the crease below the joint where her wing meets her body. I am not 100% sure it wasn't there before. It's hard to see it because of where it is. But when I looked the other day, it was a scab. When I went to take photo of it today to send to the vet, it looks open but not bleeding. Then she got her toe bitten by my conure when she was running from the photographer

Vet is aware I am suspicious of skin chewing/picking, but wanted me to watch. Going to try to get in on Monday but don't know if that will be possible yet. What can I do in the meantime to keep her calm? She's sedate right now because her toe hurts but we have all day tomorrow to get through, plus she messes with the wound during the night as well. I've been applying a creme the vet gave me that helped at first, but it no longer seems to make any difference.

 

[JerseyWendy]

Oh no! Poor Jimmy! And poor you, too. HUGS to you, and gentle scritches for sweet Jimmy.

Looky, this site has some great info on herbs and tonics for our fids (it also mentions licorice as being unsafe, as per your prior question)
Winged Wisdom Pet Bird Magazine - Kitchen Physician V - Herbal Remedies For Parrots and Pet Birds

 

[Piasa]

Awesome link. Thank you again.

 

[JerseyWendy]

How is Jimmy doing???

I truly hope the injury the vet caused has healed, and that he's doing all right.

 

[Piasa]

Jimmy is still mutilating, mostly her back and under her wing, but has plucked a lot of the right side of her body. The wounds are all on the surface, nothing deep. She is starting laser therapy this week to see if it helps.

Still all a mystery why. We did xrays and her wing isn't broken. Nothing topical seems to help at all. She is taking a daily dose of Metacam but it's diluted in juice. The only time I can get her to calm down is to douse that side of her body with warm water, then she will leave herself alone for a few hours.

 

[plumsmum2005]

Oh I am so sorry to hear this - sincerely hoping that the laser treatment is beneficial this week.

Really have no idea how you will feel about this but enclose link for Sock Buddy as a suggestion. Feel pretty helpless otherwise but send hugs to you and Jimmy

Home

 

[Piasa]

Thank you Plum's Mum. You always have good suggestions for me. I am optimistic sometimes and not in others, that if I can just get her to stop long enough to heal that she won't start again. She is gentle and lets me put on a harness, so maybe a Sock Buddy will be something simple to do to help.

She can and does still fly, and we go outside on harness even though it runs over her scabs. So at least we can still do things that are fun and make her happy.

 

[Allee]

Really sorry to hear Jimmy is still having problems.

I don't know firsthand but I have heard great things about laser therapy, that should help the wounds heal a lot more quickly, hopefully when the wounds heal, the plucking will be over as well.

My plucker's diet is as close to totally organic as possible. I've been adding a variety of herbs to her diet too. She loves chamomile tea and it has a calming effect. I think it's made a big improvement for her. I believe having fun and playing and quality time with favorite humans also makes a big difference.

I wish Jimmy and you the very best. I'm looking forward to hearing positive updates.

 

[Piasa]

Little Jimmy Bullet and I went for laser therapy session #2 today. The first one was 2 days ago. No new wounds but she did open at least 1 small older scab to bleed.

You have to wear goggles, ala welding goggles and the vet will cover the bird's head and keep the lasers as close to the body as possible to not allow the light to get in the bird's eyes. The machine looks like a big telephone almost, with a wand that has the lasers on the end. They press that against the scabs for 40ish seconds apiece. It's supposed to speed healing and inhibit some of the pain receptors.

Jimmy has been pretty calm during the sessions. I think they must feel good. So far it hasn't kept her from picking at her skin though. I took photos with the vet before this session to see if/how her wounds are healing.

Talked to vet about a Sock Buddy, and got her okay, so we're going to try that soon too. Since the mutilation was medically caused, the vet thinks Jimmy will stop once she is healed. I hope so!

 

[Piasa]

Allee, thank you about the chamomile tea. I did get her some. She hasn't tried it on its own yet, but ate some in oatmeal. I'll make sure she gets more somehow

 

[ThoseTwoKeets]

Frustrating update on Jimmy pionus. Some might remember she was injured during a blood draw (http://www.parrotforums.com/general-health-care/59792-they-hurt-her.html) about a week and a half ago. She doesn't seem any more healed, wounds may even be bigger.

She has been plucking below her neck scab and now there is a new wound on her back in the crease below the joint where her wing meets her body. I am not 100% sure it wasn't there before. It's hard to see it because of where it is. But when I looked the other day, it was a scab. When I went to take photo of it today to send to the vet, it looks open but not bleeding. Then she got her toe bitten by my conure when she was running from the photographer

Vet is aware I am suspicious of skin chewing/picking, but wanted me to watch. Going to try to get in on Monday but don't know if that will be possible yet. What can I do in the meantime to keep her calm? She's sedate right now because her toe hurts but we have all day tomorrow to get through, plus she messes with the wound during the night as well. I've been applying a creme the vet gave me that helped at first, but it no longer seems to make any difference.

Give her lots of chamomile. My parakeets get really calmed down and sleep all day when they eat chamomile, try to sneak chamomile flowers into her food.

I don't know if her breed can eat chamomile, so check before you try giving her some.

Good luck!

 

[Piasa]

Oooh, where can you get chamomile flowers?? She has been okayed for chamomile.

She's asleep early tonight, therapy seems to have calmed her down a lot today. Hope that continues for the weekend.

 

[ThoseTwoKeets]

Oooh, where can you get chamomile flowers?? She has been okayed for chamomile.

She's asleep early tonight, therapy seems to have calmed her down a lot today. Hope that continues for the weekend.

You can usually find some chamomile tea bags in the store. you can make chamomile tea, cool it down, then let her drink, or make treats and mix the powder from the bag into it. Also, you can mash apples or some other yummy thing and mix the powder into that.

 

[majormeyer]

Hi, new here. Probably should have started a new thread after introducing myself (will get to that) but considering my q is along the same lines as this I fugured what the hell...
I have a female hahns macaw who is a parent raised aviary bird. I have been working with her but she came to me a while ago with a very aggressive male. I noticed that they didnt get along and have separated them I believe for her own safety. The thing is, she has completely plucked herself, chest and back. Her wings, tail are fine. I have been reading how great chamomile tea is and have been trying to give it to both of them. To relax her and to make him less aggro but because they are wild I cant really do the whole pretend share thing. So I have been making the tea and soaking some of their mash in it before feeding it to them. It frankly doesnt seem to be working much (the soaking not the chamomile affecting them - I know i am going to have to wait a bit to see if she stops plucking) My real q is can they really eat the inside of the tea bag because that might actually be more enticing for her than a globby mess

P.S. Other than the plucking they are perfect specimens of health:04:

 

[Piasa]

Hey Major,

My Safe Bird Store (I think it is) has edible tea for parrots. General concensus is that human teas aren't good to feed.

I do what you did with cooking tea in with mash. I use dandelion root tea, and a chamomile ginger tea from Traditional Medicinals this way for more than 6 months. I notice benefits from the dandelion. I've given the ginger in other ways and notice it too. I think the chamomile either is more subtle or isn't doing much.

I also have been using home made neem tea to give spray baths.

I did find the source of my little parrot's mutilation. She had a bacterial infection that wasn't being caught in mouth swab tests nor gram stain. A specialist found it when she did in house labwork on a mucous sample - it wasn't something the mail out lab even saw.

Best of luck with your little Hahn's hen.

 

[Danigrrl39]

Has she been checked for skin mites or lice? That sounds like a topical irritant that is causing the mutilation. Good luck to you and your baby, I'd be beside myself.

 

[Notdumasilook]

!!!!!!!!!!!

NIX the metacam!!!!!!!!!
(. If that bird is dealing with what I suspect (ABV) metacam makes the bird worse. My lil Booger almost died because of being given metacam. Id splain it all here but info would take me 2 days to give ya here.

The right med to give would be Celoxib.. The "right" dose seems varied depending on which expert you talk to.. one suggest 15mg/kg 2 times a day... another less than half that 10mg/kg 1 time a day. Vets routinely mis-prescribe metacam... for what reason... I have no idea, but that stuff nearly killed my baby.
You can have your vet test for ABV.. but note that all the test they have now can show false negatives... so to be on the safe side get your bird some Celoxib... Metacam makes a bird dealing with ABV worse!

 

[Notdumasilook]

ps
Suggest you get it in an almond oil suspension... it last longer and is more stable than in aqueous solution. I get mine mixed at a specialty pharmacy. Vets don't usually keep it in stock (one reason why they don't prescribe it)
Oh... and it really blows when you have a bird injured by a vet... been there myself.. He is no longer my vet.

 

[BIRDIGIRL]

So sorry to read this about Jimmy ...you sure have been through the mill hopefully Jimmy will heal soon and that will be the end of the mutilation...Poor Jimmy and poor you ...sending lots of well wishes Jimmys way and a prayer for a speedy recovery