Really Rough Day. Need some advice

[MaraJade]

What a day this has been so far! For the past two nights my dog Pixel has been up sick off and on. John is taking her to the vet today. Then Monday when we were socializing with the babies we noticed one of the blues had some nesting material very tightly wrapped around his foot. We carefully snipped it away and put them all back in the box.

Yesterday we took him out and his foot was swollen! There is no string left on it that I can see, but it is clear where it used to be. I called the vet and no one was there anymore except the receptionist. She said to soak it for a few minutes in cool water and check on him today. But it’s just weird that it would be so swollen if there’s nothing on him anymore.

So John will probably have to take him to the vet after Pixel. But how am I supposed to take him away from his mom for a couple hours? Wont’ she reject him when he gets back? This is horrible. We have no money for TWO pets to be sick. I’m not even getting paid this week because we took a vacation last week. Augh.

To top it all off John woke me at 4:30 a.m. today before he left for work and told me some very sad news. I’m a member of the 501st Legion of Stormtroopers. We’re a worldwide star wars costuming club that raises money for children’s charities and does sci-fi events and such. For the past year we’ve been raising money for a sweet little girl named Katie (forkatie.org) whose father founded the Legion.

They announced legion-wide this morning that she passed away last night. She had an inoperable brain tumor but it had actually shrunk by some miracle back in April. Then about a month ago they got the news that it wasn’t shrinking anymore and that Katie wouldn’t be alive much longer. She was only seven years old. It’s so sad to think of this happening. I just cried and cried this morning reading the outpouring of emotion going on at our Legion yahoo group. She was such a sweet kid. So happy despite everything. Even George Lucas sent her a get well letter and made a short video for her with Hayden Christensen. So sad. (By the way, if you want to see pics of Katie or get more info or see the video I’m talking bout they’re all on the site I mentioned above).

So I’m having an icky day and now we have to add more financial strain into the mix. ::sigh:: I think I just needed to vent.

Oh, but if anyone knows the possibilities of how the mother would react to her one month old baby being taken for a couple hours please let me know. Thanks.

[BarbieH]

Hi Jessie;

I'm so sorry to hear about the troubles you've been dealing with. I think I remember reading about Katie elsewhere. She (and all the kids dealing with illness) are so incredibly brave, it is humbling for the rest of us. I'm sorry that she has passed.

Mother lovebirds don't usually reject their chicks if they are taken out and returned. When you get to the vet's office, give the little one some water (just a drop or two from your finger) to prevent dehydration. I'm not sure if it would be a good idea to take another of the chicks along for companionship, but hopefully someone else will weigh in who has more experience in this. :)

Take care, 'k?

[MaraJade]

Thanks Barb. Yes, I might have mentioned Katie on here before or you could have stumbled across her website. The world is a sadder place without her cute smile.

I was going to ask about bringing the whole family along but that seems like more trouble than it's worth. We have an appointment for tomorrow and it's not too far from the house. I guess we will just give a bit of water when we get there and then put him back in the nest box after and hope that it will be okay. If she still feeds the other three, no reason why she wouldnt' take care of him too right? Thanks for the advice.

[BarbieH]

Hi Jessie;

I think it can be risky to move the nestbox that much unless you are very sure that the hen will stay with her chicks when it all comes back to normal. I'm sure you don't want to start handfeeding now if you don't have to. :)

Let us know how it goes!

[MaraJade]

Well we spoke further with the vet. John is definitely taking just the one baby for his appointment tomorrow.

for him just to be seen (no work or anything, just for the appointment) is going to be $51. How'd they arrive at that random amount?
Then if we need xrays each one will be $70 (better than I expected). They said from the sound of it he may still have a bit of string so tightly wound that we can't see it anymore. In which case he hasn't had circulation for two days and even if they tried medication they might still have to remove his foot. :(

Anyone ever have a bird with one foot or know of someone who did? do they adjust well? We would of course be more than happy to keep him, but this isn't quite the way I wanted to convince John to keep the babies you know? Plus if he needs surgery it could run us up to $600 all told. Crazy!!

I just hope they can save his foot. I know it sounds horrible but I hope they can do it affordably as well. I just don't have any extra money right now. We pay our bills and that's it you know? I'm in a knot over this. I really need to calm down.

[Janie]

Jessie, I'm so sorry to hear about Katie. It is sad beyond belief when children are sick....breaks my heart. I do want to go to the link you provided and read about her. While it's very hard to read something like that, it is important that she be remembered, even by those of us who did not know her. As Barb said, so brave and humbling.

I hope all goes well with the little chick. I will tell you that an appointment at my avian vet is a flat rate of $58 for an office visit. It may be that if the appointment is only for a wing clip (I usually don't use them for that) it is only a $12.00 charge with no office visit charge. My dog's vet is way less! Anyway, good luck and keep us posted!

[MaraJade]

Yea, it's funny how such a small animal can cost so much. ;)

I'm glad you did get a chance to check out that link (got your PM). Like I said, there are tons of kids just like her but it was so helpful to the 501st to be able to put a face to why we raise so much money for charity.

Something really cool that came out of it is that there is a documentary being made right now about the 501st and also about our fight for Katie. It started out as just about the 501st but after Katie got sick she became our spokesperson. They're actually hoping to even get it released in theaters. It's called Heart of an Empire and sci-fi geek or not I think everyone would really enjoy the trailer. it's at heartofanempire.com if anyone's interested.

Thanks for the well wishes. I"ll keep you all up to date on the birdy. Worse comes to worse we have another avian companion. I'm okay with that. I just hope that A. he can adjust to having one foot and 2. it doesn't cost TOO much. Thanks again!

[Buy A Paper Doll]

(((((Jessie)))))


Anyone ever have a bird with one foot or know of someone who did? do they adjust well

Yes. :) One of the receptionists at my vet's office, has a canary who only has one leg. He'd had a tumor which required that his little leg be amputated. Poor little guy. She said he did just fine except for in the car on the way to vet visits, because he had trouble holding onto the perch when the car was moving. She has a very small carrier with a low perch that he can ride in now.

[shylevon]

I would take the baby into the vet for a look see, but I am not surprised the leg is swollen. He probably fought with the string, bit his leg a little, and perhaps strained the muscle a bit. Add to that the diminished circulation and you get a swelling. It is probably nothing to worry too much about.

A birdie with an amputated leg gets on just fine, especially if the surgery is done so early. I can imagine your concern, but wait until you see the vet. I am sure things will work out just fine and the reassurance will be well worth the $51.

I have to ask...What type of nesting material are you using that would tangle on a babies leg? Most people use Carefresh, aspen chips, or paper. I know finches nest with a string product but I don't think these should be used with lovebirds because of the strangulation hazard.

Hopefully all will go well and your baby will be fine.

[MaraJade]

I used carefresh. But I also had a paper toy in there for them to shred. What I didn’t realize was that it had this straw-like material inside of it. She used that in her nest so it got wound around the baby’s foot. I won’t be giving them that toy again. Oops. I took some of it out of the nest box and put some more care fresh on top and Goldmoon didn’t seem to care.

I hope you are right and that it’s just swelling. But it’s been swollen for two days now. either way, John is taking him to the vet today and you’re right. It will be well worth the $51 to know that he’s going to be okay. Like I said, I wanted to keep one but I think they’re a little too desperate to stay with me – tangling themselves up in string and whatnot. Lol.

[shylevon]

I do know how some toys look very innocuous but they can become deadly. One of my birdies hung themselves on a pinata and another one on a hanging preening toy. Fortunatley I was at home when both events occured or they would have ended much differently.

It is so important to inspect all toys through a birdie's eyes to make sure they can't get hurt.

Hopefully, your baby will be fine and the lesson won't be too expensive.

[MaraJade]

A little update - John just called. He is on his way to the vet's anyway but he said the swelling in the baby's foot went WAY down. So hopefully we will just have to spend the $51 to find out that he is just fine! :)

It's so funny. Every time I would have John look for the injured one he had to take all three (except the pied) babies out. I can tell them all apart just by looking in the nest box. Must be a mom thing. ;)