My lovebird leg is hurt. No avaian vet. What should I do?

[Ela]

Dear all,

I really need help with my lovebird. I have been her owner for 6 months (she is 8 months old) and I think she hurt her right leg 5 days ago. I am really not sure how she hurt it but 5 days ago she started holding her right leg up all the time. When she gets out of her cage she can barely walk and limps a lot. It is really painful to watch as she takes two steps and then creates support with her left leg and her left wing ans stops in one place for ages. She really looks like she is in pain.

She used to be a very active bird and when I let her out of the cage (which I do twice a day) she only went back in when she got hungry, in an hour or an hour thirty minutes. Now she only stays out for 10 minutes and goes into her cage. She is also sleeping a lot during the day, as in with her head tucked into her feathers and one leg up even if we are all in the living room talking which is not her usual behavior.

She is singing a bit more in the last two days but the leg is no better. She still holds it up, only rarely uses it but even when she does the weight is on the left leg (the one that is not hurt). She also scratches herself with the hurt leg and sometimes stretches it but sometimes it looks like she doesn't fully stretch it.

Unfortunately, where I live there are no avian vets and I've been told from parrot owners that if you send your parrot to the vet they will make fun of you and will not treat the parrot seriously partly also because they have no information on how to treat birds. I really don't want my lovebird to go through a trauma with vets experimenting on what works and what doesn't but at the same time I would like to know what I should do to make her leg better.

I look forward to your responses and your help.

[linda040899]

Hi and welcome to Lovebirds Plus Community. If you are looking for information, we will try to help you.

There are many places around the globe where there are no avian vets. It's a specialty practice and many, many more are sorely needed.

Your lovebird may not like my suggestion but try it and see if it helps. Do you have a smaller cage or carrier, preferrably a carrier, that will restrict her movements? The less she moves around, the easier it will be for the injury, whatever it may be, to heal. When you look at the leg, do you see any bruising or swelling? The presence of either of these 2 could indicate a break in a bone. If not, she probably has a bad sprain. Breaks usually heal within 14 days. Sprains take about the same.

Please let us know what's happening and we may have further suggestions based on what you share with us.

[akki]

^ What Linda said.

For spraining or displacement check her reflexes - lift her up by her hips / legs, and observe how she moves her legs. In this position, legs should make nice circular (ish) motion. Observe any differences between the two legs.

If might be spinal too - did she fall off her perch or something? In any case, restriction of movement is very important. For spinal shock avian vets recommend to place the bird in the bowl, so that the legs are tucked under the bird and provide enough of food /seeds / entertainment. But I am not sure if the bowl method will work, because your bird can still use one leg and probably will prefer to be active. I knew someone who had the same problem with her bird, without any apparent reason he started limping, it took a while, and then it went back to normal. So it might happen with your bird too. but if it takes time, improving bird's quality of life is very important. Make sure that everything is easily accessible in the cage, and you might also consider buying platform perches.

Does she eat and drink as usual? If the bird eats and drinks enough, it is not much to worry about for now.

Some "regular" vets also have sufficient knowledge of birds, especially if they have interest or keep one themselves. So ask around for a vet, who is experienced with birds. My go-to vet was officialy not an avian vet, but she owned a macaw herself, so she knew a lot and was wonderful with birds. For emergencies or complicated things I would go to the real avian vet though.

[Ela]

Hii :)

Thank you both for your replies. They've been really helpful.


Based on your descriptions it might as well be a sprain as I do not see any bruises or swelling in the leg. I did not see if she fell off her perch but will try the method you advised to see her leg movement. She eats and drinks water just the same as she did before so no change in that.

I had already taken away toys and perches she could hurt herself in, and have now placed her in a smaller cage as you guys advised. I will also try to create a platform perch for her as the pet shops here don't seem to have any platform perches.

Thanks again to both for your help. I will keep you updated when she gets better.

[akki]

Checking the reflexes is a bit tricky. Gently pick her up right on her chest / lower ribs, in front of her legs, slightly under the wings, so that legs are fully unrestricted. She won't like it obviously. Check if she stretches the legs in the same way and retracts them as well. Look for speed as well as coordination cues. If you observe no differences between the legs, you can pretty much rule out spinal problem or hip displacement, which would be definitely good news. It's a useful trick for babies if there is a suspicion of splayed leg, and really easy to pick up a baby bird that is not in feathers yet :)