update on bird with swollen foot

[MaraJade]

I thought I would break this off from the “really rough day” post. That had a lot to do with Katie as well. Got confusing.

So john called me after taking the baby bird to the vet. He’s the one that got nesting material wrapped around his leg. I guess the vet we decided to take him to is world renowned or something like that, which inspires a bit of confidence so that’s good.

Anyway, I guess there was a tiny bit of string still left on the leg. That’s kind of what we figured since there was no other reason for the foot to STILL be swollen. The vet removed it and put some salve on it and then put his foot in what John described as a tiny green splint.

She (the vet) said that if his toes don’t start moving in the next five days they’re going to amputate the foot. So I need some major mojo for my little birdy friend here. Here’s hoping his toes start wiggling away again. Cost us $80 all told, which is better than I expected.

One thing that was really nice was that the vet said both the parents and John and I are doing a phenomenal job. She said the parents because the baby is a little fatty. Lol. And she said us because it was one of the tamest and sociable babies she’s ever held. Who knew?! I didn’t think we were doing anything particularly special but apparently we are because this baby was a little charmer at the vet’s. No biting or crying. Just sat there all trusting. So cute. I wish I could have seen it.

I’ll post an update in a few days when we know if we can save his leg. Ihopeihopeihopeihope.

[Janie]

Oh Jessie, I'm hopping right along with you!!!! That this sweet little chickie will keep all toes and it's footsie. Please do keep us posted!

[sdgilley]

Jessie,
Sending special birdy-toe mojo your way!!!! Glad to hear the visit went so well. Getting out of there for $80 is great. I hope his little toesies start wiggling soon.

[bellarains]

Hey Jessie,

Glad to hear the little one is doing alright. You might try doing a little physical therapy to help those tosies get some blood flowing. When Lacey broke her toe, the vet told me as it healed to rub the ankle to the toe area gently, and to also have her grip either my finger or a perch a few times a day for just a minute of two. I don't know if that will help, but it's worth a try. BTW, Lacey's toe is good as new now :D

[MaraJade]

Thanks for the advice. I'll try a little physical therapy today. :) The things we do for our pets, eh? lol

So far the mom hasn't ripped off the splint so that's really good. And all four babies are motoring right along. They're little escape artists once you take them out. I hope he'll be alright.

Thanks for the mojo!!

[Mummieeva]

Jessie Mojo is perfect name for the special little one..lol.



Steph

[LauraO]

Jessie: My flock and I are sending special lovie mojo you and your baby birdy's way :D .....Babies are very resilient and I have high hopes for the baby. We had one clutch that got attacked by another lovie and the babies were only two weeks old. We had to take both parents and all the babies to the vet and luckily we already had an appointment for another of our lovies that day. One of the babies was soooo badly damaged the vet didn't really think it would make it through the night. We had to take to handfeeding two of the three as they had too many wounds to keep in the nestbox and the vet feared infection. Both babies made it, but ironically right after weaning one of them, Crusty who we still have, broke his femur. The vet could not splint it as the break was too high. We had to keep the poor little guy in a fairly small reptile container for a month, but he made it through his ordeal fine.....So here's hoping your baby heals fine too :D

[MaraJade]

Steph,
the people at the vet's office were calling him "Lefty". I was thinking that's kind of cute, but not very original. I LOVE the name "Mojo" for him though. That is so cute! If we end up keeping him I just might use that. (Especially if all that mojo works. ;) )

Laura,
It's good to know that babies can make it through so much. Thanks for sharing.

A tiny update - they won't be checking his foot again until tuesday (the five day mark since putting the splint on) but in my opinion it's not looking good. The swelling went down immediately and now his toes are all dried up and shrivelled looking. I don't know. . . We're giving him time to heal and try to walk on it but the toes look really icky.

Either way, we'll love him anyway and probably keep him ourselves. It's always the ones that need the most that you end up loving the most. I feel so bad this happened to him. I will never put a toy like that in a nesting lovebird's cage again. :cry:

[LoveBugs]

Poor birdy!! Hope all is well! He's lucky to have you!

[linda040899]

Hi Jessie,
I'm adding more prayers for this little one's toes. Dried and shriveled is not a good sign but it may reverse itself. With babies, you never know.

I had a small hair get wrapped around the toes of a 3 day old about 5 yrs ago. I managed to free the toes but it's hard to work with something that small. I was terrified that I would cut more than the hair!

[MaraJade]

I had a small hair get wrapped around the toes of a 3 day old about 5 yrs ago. I managed to free the toes but it's hard to work with something that small. I was terrified that I would cut more than the hair!

That's exactly why we didn't dig and cut even though we were pretty sure there was still a string there. We let the vet do it. It's nerve wracking for sure. If he has to have his foot removed it's not that I care as in he's "damaged goods" or something. I just feel so guilty.

But it's an awfully good excuse to tell John we need to keep little "mojo". :)

Oh, and one of his brothers or sisters for company. ;) Kidding.

[Paulette]

Jessie......I use peroxide on all of my pets.....and on all of my humans.....I don't know what everybody else thinks......I had a doctor tell me not to use it because he had a bad experience with it, but I've been using it for years on my son who would get what we call "road rash" where the top layer of the skin is rubbed off....would ooze body fluid but not necessarialy bleed....but sometimes with blood.....none the less, areas that could not be touched without causing much more pain......so I started putting my peroxide into a spray bottle for easy application.....an ER doctor had told me it was the best thing for road rash......it does kill germs, dries the area and promotes healing even when you can't see what is causing the problem. :2cents: I would take great care to make sure you don't get it in any unwanted areas (eyes, nose, birdy butts) you know don't put it anywhere on them you wouldn't put it on yourself.....Utter Cream (for cows)works wonders too BTW.
paulette

[shylevon]

I wouldn't use peroxide. Aside from the pain it would cause, peroxide kills good bacteria that is essential for healing wounds, along with the bad bacteria. It can actually impede the entire healing process and cause infections to boot. Polysporin is a better choice for pets and humans.

Did the vet suggest any type of warm water soak for birdie's foot? That might help the circulation and the shriveled skin as well.

I hope all works out well for the little guy.

[MaraJade]

They didn't recommend anything except the splint they put on him. She said if his toes didn't start moving in five days they were going to take the foot. Tomorrow is the five day mark and no progress. . . :(

But we are going to keep him and love him anyway. John is all excited about picking a name for him. I voted on "Mojo" but didn't win. lol. And I just bought a nice cage on ebay for him.

I feel really badly for him but I can't just sit there and feel sad all the time. We're going to give him a spoiled pampered life and what more could he ask for? I'm worried about how much this will cost us, but hopefully they won't need to take xrays or anything since they know where the damage is.

[linda040899]

Hi Jessie,
I know you posted a photo of the foot but can you get a really close shot that would show some detail?

[MaraJade]

First off - Linda, sorry I never got close shots of the foot for you. I kept meaning to. . . You know how it goes.

so, John took little Justarius (aka: Mojo :wink: ) to the vet yesterday. The vet said that he must not be able to feel it at all because he was chewing on it. One of the toes was missing!! It didn't look that way to me, but I'm not the expert. She said the good news was they wouldnt' have to put him out to do surgery. They took him in the back and put some of that spray freeze stuff on his leg and just snipped (it was hanging on by a thread anyway I guess) and then bandaged up his foot and said we could take the cast off in a week once it had scabbed up.

He is SUCH a little trooper. When John got him home I was home early from work and took him out of his carrier. He flew right over to my Star Wars toys on the shelf above his cage. Then we picked him up and he flew AGAIN. We put him back in the nest box and Goldmoon was very happy to see him, hasn't picked at his cast at all - good mommy. This morning all four babies were out and walking around, even little Justarius with his cast.

Animals will never cease to amaze me. This one's a keeper. :blush:

[Meliandmoe]

God Blessed this lil man with loving parents like you... give him kisses from us ! :grouphug1

[MaraJade]

Aw, thanks. I wish I entirely felt that way. I really feel responsible for what happened to his little footsie. But he'll heal and adjust I hope.

We are giving him TONS of kisses and hugs. But we will gladly add more from all of you guys. :lol

[Mummieeva]

I know this is not ending we all hoped for. But I am very glad he is doing well so far. He is lucky to have parents like you. Some owners would of never even bothered doing anything.



Steph

[MaraJade]

That is true. Thanks for making me feel a bit better about it. At least I didn't neglect him.

Oh, and a bit of good news (for John and I) that I didn't mention is since they didn't have to do actual surgery it only cost us $79 instead of the estimated $200. We gave Justarius extra kisses just for THAT. lol.