Serious injury! HELP!

[Lauren]

Well I took Lolas eggs off her the other day. Shes been fine since, back to her normal chatterbox self.. Well today she turned sour!! She chomped Jibbys foot BADLY! There is blood everywhere. I have clipped her wings because I think she needs an attitude adjustment. Shes sitting in a separated cage right now begging to come out. Well shes in time out while I get Jibby sorted!

There is no vets open today being a sunday. I have washed the foot under the tap and floured it? I tried bandaging it up. But he pulled that off. But was sooo calm as if he wanted me to help his sore foot!
Ive also put a towel down in the bottom of the cage for him, because he cant perch and now cant fly because I thought it would be better for him to also have his wings clipped which he hasnt had since he was 2. He was trying to fly around and land but couldnt and kept falling. This is why I had to clip his wings. He tried snuggling into the blanket on the couch. He looks so sad and scared. It seems to have stopped bleeding for now. But it looks as though hes chewed half his skin off one toe.. the skin is just hanging there! PLEEEASE HELP!

I'm keeping Lola well away from him right now. She just snapped at him! I don't want to have to give her away. But it might be an only option soon. I love her so much but shes hurt Jibby bad.

My poor Jibby!!

[lutino]

OMG im so sorry, poor jibby. Is there an after hours vet? A salt and water wash might help. Just make sure he's as comfortable as possible for now.

[Lauren]

I cant get in touch with a vet until tomorrow morning.
I have them in separate rooms. Jibby is in the living room so I can keep an eye on him. He seems still in shock. Wont drink or eat. I have washed it well and bandaged up with foot with gauze. I ran up to the shops to see if I could get some antibiotic bandage spray or betadine as Ive been reading everywhere to dab some of that on the wound? But the pharmacy was closed being a sunday. Wouldnt that burn though?
I am so worried. Shock kills. I have to make sure the gauze is still on because he keeps opening up the wound and making it bleed again.
Before as I was holding him, he actually plucked a feather. This is just horrible! He doesnt look well.
Now Im seriously thinking maybe having Lola around might not be best. But its such a horrible thing to think about. I love her just as much as Jibby!

[Lauren]

I just rang an pet emergency number.. they told me they would of just done what I did and cleaned the wound then bandaged. But could they of done something for the shock? I also cant get 200 dollars just for the consultation, which is driving me nuts. I really should of had some savings set aside for times like these!
My mum brought over some betadine to clean the wound properly. I also just got him to eat some apple. I hope this is a sign of improvement.

[Darlene]

This is so sad about jibby. When Luna was injured and in shock, we took her in to the vet on an emergancy appointment. He treated her for pain and shock. For the shock, it was a vitamin B formula and sent some pain medicine home with us. It also had something in it to calm her. It was good that you are trying to stop the bleeding and protect the wound. When Luna was injured, I used aloe vera gel becouse it helps reduce the pain and speeds healing. It is also used to calm an injured bird. If you can use some aloe vera on the wound now, it will reduce the pain and if the pain is reduced Jibby will be able to sleep and rest. He is stressed and needs as much quiet time as possable. And give him soft foods that is easy to digest, but keep him eating if you can. He will get weak fast becouse of the stress and shock. It may be more calming to him to cover his cage to make him feel more secure for now. He knows he is injured and rather helpless right now. He will feel safer and be more calm if he has privacy. In the wild, he would hide becouse he would be vulnerable to attack.
If he doesn't have a broken bone and he doesn't get infection, he should heal OK. But I am concerned about the effects of shock. When an animal, birds or even humans are in shock, the adrenal gland puts out lactic acid and a lot of it. The amount of lactic acid that can pour into the system can become toxic. For birds and small animals, this is very dangerouse. Becouse there liver and kidneys can't filter this toxin out. They are too small.
I am possitive that if I did not treat Luna with the herbal formula to detox her, We could have lost her. I know there was a lot of toxins in her, becouse when I was useing the detox formula on her, her poops smelled really bad for a while. But there was an almost immediate change of improvement after I detoxed her. So now I am a firm believer in doing this when your bird is suffering from shock or trauma. And I didn't tell my vet that I did this for Luna, becouse it is not a part of conventional medicine. It was herbal natural medication. But he did say later, that Luna was doing so good, that whatever I was doing to keep it up.
I'm sorry for this reply being so long, but I want to help you with what I have learned after Luna was injured. I just hope I can help anyone else as much as possable. Only one other thing. We have a female IRN and we know they can be aggressive, They have been known to kill males when housed togather. I don't know if the females are hard wired to be aggressive or if it comes seasonal. I hope I have been some help and that Jibby will recover.

[lutino]

Sounds like a good sign if hes eating. My flatemate who's a vet said keeping infection out and stopping the bleeding are most important. So bandaging, saline wash. Maybe there is a toy that will comfort him or does he like being petted in a certain place? Birds go into shock easily because they have little blood i think. So if you stop the bleeding he should do better

[Poochletty]

I'm so sorry to hear about your Jibby. How is he doing today? I hope he is feeling better.
For small bleeding wounds, I use Kwik Stop Styptic Powder. It can be found many places. Try the nearest pet store. It works very fast and it now contains Benzocaine to help sooth pain. This is what my vet uses also. If you can't find styptic powder... cornstarch is said to work better than flour to stop bleeding. As for the pain, there is always human's sore throat spray that numbs. Or tooth ache cream? Both are safe for inside the human mouth. Then if he does lick it, it is not poisonous to him.
I would also be sure he doesn't step into any poop or anything containing bacteria. If you get it to stop bleeding, you might put a bit of antibacterial ointment on it for good measure. Some vets place a collar around the birds neck to keep them from picking at a wound. Maybe you could make a collar for him if it seems he won't leave it alone. I would offer his favorite foods to encourage him to eat and maybe a bit of juice in his water to encourage drinking. And Pedialyte to treat any dehydration. Most animals do become sedate when injured. It is nature's way of making them slow down and be careful. I hope this is all that is going on with Jibby.
I wouldn't rush into giving Lola away if you love her. Treat them like two children that you love who just don't play well together. Perhaps they will just need to be kept in separate areas and have time out to see you without seeing each other. I would advise you to not make any decisions about Lola until later. Right now, you are worried about Jibby and thinking of what's best for him. That is enough to worry about. I would hate to hear that you got rid of Lola and then regretted it later. So, for now- try to stay calm and just deal with one thing at a time.
I send my best wishes and hope your baby heals well and quickly. I can only imagine how distressed you must be. My heart is with you.

[Lauren]

Thankyou so much all. My partner kept telling me I was over reacting again. haha Im like an overprotective mother at times. I think it was just the sight of all that blood that made me frantic!

I still love my Lola and wont give her up! They have been separated the last few days, but thismorning they were talking to each other from different rooms. So Ive moved the cages next to each other again. But I will not be letting them out to play together at the same time. Shes still a bit snappy at times! But Jibby seems happy to see her again! Hes not so stressed. I think he just needed a few days on his own, he knows hes been wounded.

Jibby is feeling much better! All he wants to do is cuddle! He hasnt been doing much else but sitting on my shoulder. He is eating his fruit and veg now too which Im happy to see. YAY!

Hes still lame in 2 toes.. but he doesnt seem irritated when I touch them. Maybe he knows they need to heal?

He thinks Im now his other foot too! I hold his food for him and break them up into bite size pieces because he likes to hold his food, he 'gets me' to place his foot where he wants it, and he needs 2 hands for step up, one to place the good foot, and the other to steady himself. Hes got me trained well LOL!

He is not picking at his foot anymore. After initially stopping the bleeding with cornflour. Ive been washing his toes daily with salt water, drying them and putting betadine (antiseptic) on them, Ive also just had a mini bandaid with some gauze on the toes just to keep them out of yucky germs. I think hes getting quite used to my partner and I grabbing him and fiddling with his feet. My partner says he doesnt want to be the bad guy! Haha I think hes more stressed about holding him than Jibby is about me changing his bandage and cleaning his foot.

I also picked up some ALOE VERA spray at the chemist!

Thankyou so much for all your help.

[kyria]

Oh darlin this is a sad thing to hear you have gone through. I am glad things are settling down now. Just take things one day at a time and see what happens. Shock might set in from some foreign scare, but a scare from another bird bite wouldn't be anything like other scares I would think, its a rather natural thing. If they were left alone to fight it out for length maybe. Anyway sounds like you handled things just fine

you know a few times I have had to do things like unhook the lovies claw from being caught in a string in my jumber. cut a leg band off one of the lovies that was put on way too tight and I hadn't noticed, and tend to Jordan when he somehow (not sure what happened) ripped one of his toes half off, and everytime they all seemed to keep nice and still and watch me as I mended them, letting me help them.

All came through things just fine. This kinda thing happens.

Hugs and well done, good family here for support

[Lauren]

Hi Angie and thankyou darlin! Funny you should say they are so calm and still. The first time I had to hold him to mend his foot, he was calm and still.. The last few days hes stuggled a bit and grabs my fingers so tightly, with his good foot, he cuts my circulation to my fingertip when Im holding him! I have to pry his toes off when I'm done! I think he just wants to get back to being a bird and has had enough of this yucky betadine and bandaid stuff. LOL.

Well, he is still not moving the 2 toes and Im still helping him move around and eat.. yesterday he insisted on putting his 'bickie' (cracker) in my hand so I could hold it for him lol, now he seems to think Im his personal food holder and puts all his foot in my hand!

The wounds look much better than it was. His skin on the toes are still a little raw and it looks as though his nail is half pulled out or the skin has been pulled back off the nail. He seems happy though he still wont perch on that foot. I tried wiggling his toes and he didnt seem uncomfortable with it. So I dont think they are broken which is what I was thinking might of happened.
It looks as though the wound is closed so yesterday and today Ive been spraying his feet with the aloe vera spray to help with the healing.
Still keeping Lola away from him too but they sleep in the same room again because they call for each other at bedtimes.

[kyria]

You are a good mum, he is in good hands. *hugs*

[bec]

ooooh poor baby!!! hows he doing now?