# Phoebe hurt her foot



## JaimeS (Nov 28, 2011)

Since I have had Phoebe she has been uncoordinated which I strongly suspect is related to her tail feathers being all broken/chewed off. Since the vet clipped her nails Monday she has been even worse (I should have thought about that since it happened with Quinn too).

Anyway, she has been falling more and when she falls (again, I think because of the tail feathers) she flips on the way down and has had a few pretty bad crashes. 

Today she had such a crash and immediately began limping and not putting weight on her foot. I did a forum search and suspect a sprain. I have felt it and nothing feels broken. Her skin is not broken but she has bruising. She is using it, but only if she has to and she is not climbing. She is keeping her toes as straight as possible and keeping the foot up if possible. She seems to be in minor pain and is still moving around and playing with toys, eating, etc.

I lowered her perches and she has rope, wood, and a platform perch to choose from to make it easier for her. 

My question is, should I try to get an appointment with the avian vet (which may take a few days) or should I take her to my "regular vet who sees birds?" Or is it something that I can just wait and see if it starts getting better on its own? I just don't know for sure that nothing is broken so I am leaning towards taking her just in case.

I did do a search and read former posts about injured feet, but mainly wanted your opinions on what to do for her. Thanks!

Oh, and here are pictures. The first is just to show her tail feathers. She finally has one growing in


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## northernfog (Dec 14, 2010)

I don't have any experience with this, but I just wanted to wish your baby birdy a speedy recovery! 
Oh, and she is soo beautiful :blush:


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## rainfeather (Jan 26, 2012)

I suggest taking her directly to the vet that sees birds because you can do it _now_! Then, in a couple days when the avian vet is availble, take her there for an extra boost if the regular vet doesn't solve the problem. This may be pricey but a "sprained" foot is pretty risky to just let her heal on it's own.... It looks like you've done good as of right now. Maybe you could also make her more comfortable by adding a soft landing at the bottom of her cage in case she falls again.


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## Szafije (Jun 8, 2011)

It does not look very bad to me I would wait for the avian vet if she does not get worse of course
My mom in law had a cockatiel who hurt her foot pretty bad as well, but it was also bleeding so it needed assistance from the vet. She was limping for weeks but the foot healed eventually. All the vet did was putting a tiny band aid on the wound that we had to change once in a while.
An X ray would be necessary I think


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## JaimeS (Nov 28, 2011)

Thanks northerfog and rainfeather. Well, either way I won't be able to get her in until Monday unfortunately. But I will put something soft at the bottom of her cage, that is an excellent suggestion!


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## JaimeS (Nov 28, 2011)

Thanks szafije! I hope your moms baby is better now  I just feel bad for her cause I know it hurts!


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## enigma731 (Aug 12, 2011)

I would do the regular vet and see if you can get them to prescribe metacam. It's both a painkiller and an antinflammatory, so it should help. In the meantime, you can make a paste with cayenne pepper that will help the pain.


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## srtiels (May 1, 2009)

Here is a link that might have some helpful info: http://talkcockatiels.com/showthread.php?t=13006&highlight=baby+aspirin


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## DesertDweller (Oct 8, 2011)

I recently had my birds' nails clipped by my bird dealer. He did an excellent job, but he clipped a lot shorter than I usually do.

The birds can't grab onto their perches as easily as before because they don't have the pointed nails right now so they sometimes slip on certain things.

What I would recommend is to give Phoebe some perches with a texture, like rope perches or supreme cotton. And, lower the perches for a while to avoid bad falls.

If you have a tall cage, I would recommend a shorter cage for Phoebe. Petco has a terrific 30" wide finch flight cage that has the same dimensions and bar spacing as a good cockatiel cage, except that it's not tall. Phoebe would have plenty of room in that cage. And, the cage costs only around 30 to 40 dollars.

I have several of these Petco cages and use them for my baby parrots and for my sparrows. They're terrific!!

Here's a picture of it:









Like rainfeather said, place a soft cloth on the bottom of the cage for safety. I purchase 'bar towels' at Sams Club and use them a lot for my birds. I place them on the bottom of my sparrows' cage and they love to take a dry bath on them, like they would take a dust bath outdoors. I also place them on top of my cages so the birds can play and no poop will fall into the cages when they play on top. I also use them to swaddle my sun conure when he wants to be cuddled. And they're great for other things, too.  I keep about 2 dozen on hand and simply toss them in the washing machine to clean them.


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## JaimeS (Nov 28, 2011)

Ok guys, will do! Susanne, I read that thread when I did my initial search but couldn't find it again for the aspirin reference! Thanks!


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## JaimeS (Nov 28, 2011)

DesertDweller, I did lower her perches and she has a variety, including rope  I have her in that same cage, I always start my little ones in those cages, they are great I agree! When they are old and coordinated enough they graduate to big birdie cages 

I don't like when their nails are too short and they can't grip  I think I am confident enough to do it myself next time!


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## JaimeS (Nov 28, 2011)

I just got back from the vet and he checked Phoebe's foot. He said that he could do an x-ray but since there really isn't anything to do for a fracture there wasn't much point. He gave me Metacam for swelling and pain.

She was such a good girl at the vet. It didn't seem to stress her out too much. She cuddled with me the whole time we were waiting for the vet


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## Szafije (Jun 8, 2011)

Awww I am glad there is nothing serious, I wish her a quick recovery! :thumbu:


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## sunnysmom (Sep 23, 2011)

Good news. I'm glad it's nothing serious.


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## JaimeS (Nov 28, 2011)

Thanks! I am glad too. I wasn't really worried but I didn't want her to be in pain! Poor baby! I can't believe how well she did at the vet. Didn't bother her much at all!


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## meaggiedear (Nov 20, 2011)

Poor phoebe. Thankfully it was a small sprain and you got her some meds for the pain.


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## JennyLynn (Feb 13, 2012)

Glad she is going to be okay


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## stevechurch2222 (Sep 25, 2011)

So glad that Phoebe is going to be all right,that's good news.


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## JaimeS (Nov 28, 2011)

Thanks everyone. She is getting better everyday. She was putting more weight on it today and the bruising is going away


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