# Possible Re-Broken Leg, No Vets Nearby



## Sekica (Aug 14, 2009)

I don't post here since I'm always on talk budgies, but I don't know what to do so here I am. I have a five year old male cockatiel named Max. He broke his leg while he was just several months old and still at the pet store, and he was treated there. He was in a splint/cast for two months, and then I bought him the day it was removed. He has no use of one of his toes, and that toe points the wrong way, but he adjusted and had no issues until today. You can see in the first photo that one of the toes that should go back is going forward; that one is okay.

Today, I noticed one of his other toes was red. He also curls it when standing on flat surfaces. He can put a little weight on it, but I don't think he's putting full weight on. He can perch and prefers to do that over standing on flat surfaces. He can grip slightly, but is definitely gripping better with his good leg. He's still using that leg, and is not standing on just his good one.

I'd take him to a vet, but there is only one avian vet in my area. I DO NOT trust that vet because I lost a cockatiel to his inexperience, and he also lied to me about one of my budgies that also passed away. Other vets in the area won't treat birds so I can't even bring him in to them. The next best option is 2+ hours away to a vet Eduardo recommended, but it's weekend so even that will have to wait at least a couple of days.

Here are a few pictures. They're the best I could do since he wouldn't sit still, and my camera wouldn't focus so I had to use my cell phone instead. Side note: He won't let me clip his good leg's toe nails, but has no issue with me clipping the injured leg's toe nails. My guess is because he doesn't want to put more weight on the injured leg.

My poor little earl:

Little information about him:
Perches: rope, manzanita branches and smooth, regular perches of various diameter
Diet: pellet and seed mix, greens like lettuce and celery, egg, whole wheat foods, cuttle bone and mineral block
Out of cage time: 12 hours daily, he's not clipped, goes outdoors during good weather since he's harness trained (that's him in my avatar)


----------



## Kiwi (May 12, 2013)

I would look into getting to that vet that is 2+ hours away. If you don't trust the current avian vet to splint it for you that would be your best bet. I would take the weekend to research them or possibly take him to an emergency vet place and have them splint it for you. Though that might cost a pretty penny. If it is broken, I think the best thing would be to call them directly after researching and asking if the vet is able to splint your cockatiel's leg/toe.

For your phone or camera the sports mode will take a great photo of the foot. There are lots of great free sports mode camera apps for phones.


----------



## tielfan (Aug 31, 2008)

A vet visit is obviously best, but since that's not possible at the moment I've sent a PM to MeanneyFids. She has experience with home treatment of foot injuries and is probably the best person here to advise you on what to do until a vet is available. Hopefully she will get the message soon!


----------



## tielfan (Aug 31, 2008)

P.S. Here is an article that she wrote on emergency toe splinting: http://talkcockatiels.com/showthread.php?t=32917 I'm not sure though that the problem is a fracture; it could be something else, like an infection or irritation.


----------



## Amz (Apr 10, 2013)

I can send Casey an email, she tends to be in lurker mode around here, and I can usually get ahold of her quickly.


----------



## Sekica (Aug 14, 2009)

Thank you for the quick and informative replies. Unfortunately, even an emergency vet visit isn't an option since none of the vets take birds in the area. I've called them in the past, and they refused. The avian vet that I don't trust is off on weekends so even he isn't an option right now. I forgot to mention that that vet is over an hour away. A vet trip will have to wait until Tuesday because I can't miss work on Monday.

The redness is gone now so at least that looks better. There's no swelling, discoloration, pus or break in the skin. He's also standing on both legs all the time, and gripping the perch normally. It's midnight here, and he's settled down for the night already without problems so I'm not sure I want to stress him by trying to splint it right now. If I have to, I'll try it tomorrow when it's light and he isn't asleep. He hasn't curled his toes in hours. I've already washed it with warm water earlier, which he actually enjoyed.

Kiwi, thank you for the camera tips. I'll take better pictures tomorrow morning when he gets up.

Tielfan, thank you for PMing MeanneyFids.

Amz, if it's not too much of a hassle, I'd appreciate it.


----------



## Amz (Apr 10, 2013)

I sent her an email and she just now responded that she'll take a look.


----------



## MeanneyFids (Aug 24, 2010)

sorry for the late response, had to work.

if he is standing on it now and it is not out of place, i'd keep him in a hospital cage so he cannot climb around and injure it more.

this thread explains hospital cages, i'd suggest a tank type cage for him with a rolled up tea towel as a perch, just lay it on the floor horizontally.

http://talkcockatiels.com/showthread.php?p=353197#post353197



it will prevent further damage to the toe/foot. and will keep him more comfortable until you can get him to a vet. i'd make sure the floor of the tank is well padded for his foot with nothing for him to snag his nails on.


but because the toe is not crooked, i'd actually NOT splint this one for now. if the vet feels its necessary, then so be it, but because its not crooked or out of place, i would let it be to prevent stress. i would focus more on keeping him comfortable and try to reduce his pain. to reduce pain, you can make a cayenne pepper paste using water and cayenne pepper powder, (or you can use aloe vera straight from the plant in substitute for water) and make a thick paste and rub it gently onto the foot. it's like an icy-hot rub. i use it occasionally for my arthritis. it does really help, and i've used it for my own birds.


HOWEVER: signs to look out for that would indicate an emergency:


----------



## Sekica (Aug 14, 2009)

Thank you.

The best I can do for a tank type cage is a 2.5 gallon aquarium, which seems pretty small for a cockatiel. I have a small travel cage, but he doesn't like to sit still in that one unless it's in a moving car while he's completely still in his current cage. He seems to curl his toes when he's on flat ground, but his toes are aligned when he's on a perch. Right now he's asleep on a rope perch, and he hasn't moved in hours. He doesn't seem to be in any pain at the moment.

I'm not sure I want to move him to a hospital cage tonight. I mean, I understand the purpose of it, and it's a great idea, but I have some concerns that aren't related to the injury that may cause other injuries. He's bonded to my other birds to the point of them panicking if separated, and we have a thunderstorm in the area so I'm concerned about night frights. One of my other birds squeezed himself in right next to him, and the other is close by so they're definitely already feeling a bit uncomfortable due to the storms. Our windows are shaking due to the proximity of the storms, and lightning is pretty consistent. I'd rather stay up all night and just watch him since the storms are getting pretty bad, and then move him to a hospital tank at dawn.

As for the images of things I should watch for, I don't see any signs of those things on him.


----------



## MeanneyFids (Aug 24, 2010)

okay, yes best wait until tomorrow morning to move him into the hospital tank. the size is okay as long as it is rectangular and long, though small, you do want to restrict movement to prevent damage. i'd do a towel or blanket in the bottom with a rolled up tea-towel as a perch for him, so its something other than flat ground. and a food and water dish. i'd place it where he can see the other birds and they can see him. it's just until you can get him to the vet. he may not like it, but climbing on the bars of a cage can damage it further, so restricting movement is a good idea in this case, or any case with foot injuries.

hopefully it is just a minor sprain, in which case pain meds will be all that is needed. 


feed lots of his favourite treats right now as well, more for comfort than anything 


just take extra precaution right now to prevent nightfrights, it could be worse if he has a nightfright with a potential injury


----------



## Sekica (Aug 14, 2009)

Will do, thanks for the help. I hope it's just a sprain as well. He's been sleeping through the storm pretty well so far, and the storm is passing, but it's past 2 AM so I won't bother him. The tank is rectangular and long, and the top is a mesh type so he won't be able to climb out, but he'll have air circulation. My 12 year old budgie (RIP) used it, and it was pretty well padded, but he had problems staying warm so he crawled under his blanket (photo). I'll pad it differently for Max since his needs are different. I might have to isolate him to a different room, though, since he may not want to sit still while in vicinity of the other birds.

I picked up some of his favorite egg treats earlier, and he got lots of scritches and kisses. He also goofed off while I was trying to take the pictures of his leg. Case in point, the second and third photos. He wanted to perch on the phone and then demanded scritches. His constant demands for scritches make me think that he's not in pain because he's more bothered by the fact that he's molting and it's itchy. 

He's pretty good now, and the storms are passing so I think I'm going to take a nap. This way I can wake up at dawn before he does so I can check on him. I'll update in the morning with new pictures.


----------



## eduardo (Jan 27, 2012)

I hope Max gets better soon! Let me know if you need the phone numbers of the vets we talked about.


----------



## Sekica (Aug 14, 2009)

Thanks, Dee, will do.

I checked on Max at dawn, and then again at 8 AM since that's the time I usually let them out. All three had a rough night because of the storm and wanted to go back to sleep so I didn't bother them. So yeah, sorry for the delay in an update, but sleepy birds wouldn't come out of the cage so I couldn't get pictures. It's after 1 PM, and Max is the only one who came out so I guess they had a really bad night.

I took update pictures once they woke up, though. He slept standing on both legs all night, and he's putting full weight on the injured one now. He doesn't curl his toes unless he's on a hard, slippery surface, which is pretty much never unless I put him on one. His toes are aligned when he's on a perch or walking on a non-slippery flat surface like the floor and even my bed. He's also gripping my finger a lot better now. There's no redness or other discoloration, and the skin looks normal to me.

I haven't put him in a hospital tank yet because... umm, I fell asleep after I checked on them this morning and just woke up. :blush: I have it ready, but I don't want to stress him right now. He's not an active bird in general, and prefers to sit on his favorite perch most of the time so that's what he's been doing. It's a rope perch so it's a bit softer. Knowing what he's like, he probably won't leave that perch for another two hours. I'm home all day, though, so I'm keeping a close eye on him just in case.

You can see how bad his first break was in the second picture. He has absolutely no use of that backwards toe. He got his toe stuck in the metal clip that holds the cuttle bone down, and he panicked so he flapped around. It's a miracle that toe was still attached. The place I got him from stopped using metal clips immediately after it happened, though.


----------



## tielfan (Aug 31, 2008)

It's possible that it was just a temporary problem and he's gotten over it now. Your original picture looks to me like it might be a superficial injury to the outside of the foot, rather than something that's coming from inside. I don't see any swelling or distortion of the foot, just some redness on the skin. Maybe another bird bit his toe or he got it caught in something.

A couple of months ago Vlad bit Mims' toe (he was so crazed with breeding hormones that he got cage territorial with his mates, and attacked them when they came in to take care of the eggs/babies). It wasn't broken but it obviously bothered her a lot. She's only semi-tame so I'm reluctant to handle her, but eventually I picked her up and gave the foot a long rinse in cool water, which she seemed to enjoy. She was much better after that. You told a similar story with your bird, so it's possible that all he really needed was a nice foot bath.

If he shows any more symptoms I'd go ahead with the hospital cage and the vet visit. But if he continues to act fine, I'd just let him be if he was my bird.


----------



## Sekica (Aug 14, 2009)

Thanks, I'm guessing he banged it against something. I doubt my other birds bit him since the three of them are like velcro, and there's no aggression between them. I just caught him scratching his head with the injured foot, and I doubt that he'd be able to do that if it was broken. I was just really worried about the curling of his toe, but that's pretty much gone now. Here are the three rascals who refuse to stay in separate cages even though I actually have multiple cages for them. :rofl:


----------



## eduardo (Jan 27, 2012)

I am sending you a PM with all the vets' info. I will try to send a PM on Talk Budgies too, in case you are there more.


----------



## Sekica (Aug 14, 2009)

Thanks, Dee. I'll write the vet info down for future use.


----------



## Kiwi (May 12, 2013)

I'm glad to hear that Max is doing better now! 

Poor babies, those storms can get pretty rough. Loud thunderstorms are what scares Kiwi, though she only freaked out and banged herself up once during a really bad one when lightning struck a tree nearby. :S


----------



## Sekica (Aug 14, 2009)

Me too, he really scared me.

What's worse with the storms is that we have them every single day here. We really have to be careful during the thunderstorm season. We have storms rolling in all day every day sometimes. Come to think of it, there's one right now. They have a nightlight, though, and so far they've been okay.


----------



## Kiwi (May 12, 2013)

Thunderstorms everyday? I can't imagine how scared they would be. I find that spending a little time with Kiwi during the storm helps tell her it's alright and then she can sleep. Except for ground shaking thunder and lightning. :lol:
My area in Minnesota hasn't gotten a lot of storms this summer, but when we do they have usually been pretty bad. This June we had 60-70 mph straightline winds during a thunderstorm. We had downed trees everywhere. I'd never seen a storm that bad in my life for our area. It was crazy! :blink:


----------



## Amz (Apr 10, 2013)

I'm a lucky, lucky lady. Rocko's first thunder ever was a horrendously loud thunderclap at 3 AM. He freaked out and smacked around in his cage. His wing seemed a little tender for a while, but he was otherwise fine.

Just a few weeks ago, we had another bad thunderstorm at about 1 AM... Rocko didn't even make a peep that time. It was weird... the thunder was really loud and repeated, but he didn't stir at all. :blink:

Maybe he got all of his fear out of his system the first time around.


----------



## Sekica (Aug 14, 2009)

Yeah, we're lucky that they rarely get scared of thunderstorms. Ours usually come through around 4 AM. If I wake up in the middle of the night because of a storm, I don't have to look at the clock; I know it's 4 AM. We also have thunderstorms in the afternoon so we all, including the birds, take naps because it gets so dark.

Max is doing well now. He is getting pretty loud, and keeps talking back at us. When he gets like that, usually it's because he likes some sound we make, and he wants to learn it.


----------



## Kiwi (May 12, 2013)

It was 2 AM for Kiwi and she flew around in her cage then around the room when I opened it! We were both really freaked out, but no damage except for a loose tail feather falling out.
Kiwi was like... after that thunderstorm nothing can scare me. So everything after that she was fine with, she just doesn't really sleep for the loud ones until they're over. 

I would take naps too if it got that dark out. I hope the storms aren't too loud! I'm so glad that Max is doing well!


----------



## Sekica (Aug 14, 2009)

That's exactly why I learned not to open the cage during night frights. When my three have them, they're not aware of anything around them and don't recognize me. Opening the cage increases the risk of them getting hurt even more so I just talk to them until they calm down and come to their senses. First, I turn the light on, though, because that makes them stop flapping around. Having multiple birds in one cage is the worst during night frights.

Usually the storms aren't loud. The thunder is just that really long, deep rolling sound. The lightning is several strikes in succession. Every once in a while, we do get the really loud storms, though. We've had a few close ones with one strike hitting our neighbor's back yard. Another hit our house, which fried my computer by conveniently going right through my surge protector. The surge protector was fine, my motherboard was not. 

Yeah, Max is back to his old self. He's whistling something right now.


----------



## Kiwi (May 12, 2013)

Ah that makes sense! Thank you. If that ever happens to Kiwi again I wont open the cage. I thought she would be at more risk in there, but she's in more danger when I open the door. That was the first time she had ever freaked out on me. :lol:

I'm glad max is so happy right now!


----------



## Sekica (Aug 14, 2009)

Yeah, I learned the "do not open the cage door during night frights" part the hard way. They flew right out and hit multiple walls. I was lucky that no one got hurt. I guess they can't get as much speed inside a cage because they're confined in the space, and they're more likely to grab on to the cage bars or just land on the bottom of the cage if they stay inside.

Max is always happy. He's one of those happy birds, I guess. He even enjoys nail clippings because he likes to play with the clippers.


----------

