Hi guys,

So I have a little budgie who was given to me by a friend who worked at a vet. I've probably posted about him before... the vet wanted to put him down because they couldn't be bothered to rehome him and it was going to be too much effort to look after him! Needless to say I was appalled and got my friend to bring him home. He's a gorgeous little recessive pied who I'm fairly certain was hand reared because he's so friendly.

He's always seemed to have a bit of trouble with his left foot/leg. I noticed when I got him that its a bit smaller than the other one and is always slightly swollen. I was worried about it when I first got him but couldn't feel any breaks/sprains in the leg and the vet said she couldn't find anything physically wrong with it either, so she gave me some pain killers and anti inflammatory drugs so that if it got worse I could treat the symptoms.

Anyway, so I left him with my parents over summer because I was on holidays and when I got back his leg seems to be getting worse. I'm fairly certain he's lost feeling in the back toe and he's been sitting down a lot, he's still perky and is eating well, but because the foot's not working properly he's struggling to move around properly and he always looks like he's extremely frustrated (I know I'm anthropomorphising this but its the best way to describe it). His droppings are normal but he does seem to be chewing his beak more than usual, I'm not sure whether that's a reaction to pain or not.

I've read that gout causes little white bumps in the joints but the photos on google seem far more serious than anything he's got, plus the whole leg is swollen, not just the joints... The skin on his feet also seems to be shedding much more than my other birds, I've treated him for mites etc. so I don't think its that.

I've cut down on his seed (thats all mum was feeding him) and increased his greens but it doesn't seem to be helping.

Any ideas about what I can do to help the little guy?

Cheers,

Shann

Sounds a bit tricky, what time frame is it from when you noticed it until now? If it's been a while I don't know about gout. Have you tried the anti inflammatory treatment?

 

He could have some sort of nerve or circulation damage to his leg, but if your vet friend could not find any reason for it, I'd try anti inflam. stuff first and see if it improves.

Does he perch on both feet and grip with both feet? It's really hard to offer any advise on it see if anyone else has any idea's.

He can perch using both his feet, but he doesn't grip as hard with the left foot, and he's quite wobbly when he perches. I've had him for about a year but the leg has been getting worse over the last 2 months. The anti-inflammatory helps a bit, but if I can avoid it I'd rather not keep giving it to him because of the strain it will put on his kidneys etc and because it stresses him out when I have to force a dropper into his beak (he doesn't seem to like the taste of it).

I just don't want him to be in pain

Could you post a photo of what it looks like?

So, an update.

We took him to the vet again because he seemed to be going downhill really fast. They took another xray and picked up that he has had a fractured hip at some point in the past, so that's what has been bothering him in his leg. But on top of that he had heavy metal poisoning! Who would have thought? We worked out that because his leg bothers him he always holds onto things with his beak and so had accidentally ingested some metal (still not sure exactly where its from but I'm thinking it was from the aviary so we're doing a big revamp while he stays inside). He was at the vet for a week receiving chelation therapy twice a day and now we're giving it to him twice a week for the next 6 weeks or so. So after a MASSIVE vet bill he's looking much better, even if the leg is still bothering him a bit (it was worth it though, I couldn't let the little guy die now could I?).

The vet said to come back once we've finished this lot of meds so we can put him on painkillers once he's recovered.

Thanks for all you help!

Wow that's dedication, Well done, if he had a broken hip has it knitted out of alignment or hasn't knitted at all? Will the leg improve or will it still worry him.

Don't know about the metal poisoning, will he recover with treatment? Poor fellow he's due for a break. Lucky he had you to persevere with him.

I didn't personally see the xray so I'm not sure but from what the vet said it seems it didn't knit together properly and the hip joint is a bit arthritic, so it will probably never be right.

The chelation seems to be working well, he's much better although always looks a bit off after I give him his meds (I'm guessing it gives him a sore stomach).

I'm glad we persevered though, because he's such a lovely bird!