Having a bad day

[farmgirl]

During a night terror Sunday night he broke his leg way up high past his "knee" The vet put a cast on the entire thing and he's floor bound for the next 4-8 weeks. Any advice for extra nutrition, stress reduction, food dishes, or cages that might help him get better or at least be more comfortable?

[debbie276]

Oh no!! Poor boy.
I would just make everything easy to reach without having to fly around. Maybe a little extra heat and some hard boiled eggs.
best of luck, praying for s speedy recovery.

[PrettyBird]

aw poor thing. I hope he heals quickly!

[Martie]

One of the forum members had a young Gouldian that had a splayed leg and bad wing and lived on the floor. He had some interesting photos of his cage and accommodations - you might get some ideas from these? Its a huge thread - there's one photo on page 20 - and actually, it's a lovely story anyway and well worth the read. http://www.finchforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=16801

I hope your little guy heals quickly!

[DanteD716]

Aw, I hope he gets better!

here is another topic about chip, the little gould with messed up legs

http://finchforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=2 ... hilit=chip

[farmgirl]

Thanks all!

I'm sure he will be fine, I just feel so bad seeing him there all by himself with that gigantic cast on his leg, I was just looking for anything that would perk him up a little bit.

Martie, thank you for posting that thread, I hadn't seen it. What a story! Sadly with his cast on, a cage with a grate at the bottom is out of the question, at least for now. He has so little control, he's used to being able to use that leg! Otherwise I would love to set him up a place like that, the dinky little hospital cage works well for birds that can still fly, but I really don't feel like there is enough room on the floor for him, a food dish and a water dish, let alone ramps to perches and such!

[farmgirl]

Dante, Thank you also for the link! Loving chips little abode he's got going! I'm fighting myself between feeling there's not enough room in the bottom of the cage and thinking injured birds should be kept confined in a small space so as not to aggravate their injuries.

[DanteD716]

yes, true

[G8love4finches]

Poor thing!....That cast is HUGE!....It really looks like overkill to me.....I hope he heals well!

[Bluebonnet]

Hopefully, if the leg needs more time after 4 weeks, the vet will be able to replace that huge cast.

When I was a kid I had a foot cast on for a lot of weeks. So from experience I can say once the cast is removed his leg may not have much feeling in it at first (like it's asleep) so he might look clumsy at first when he starts using it again without the cast.

Best wishes for a speedy recovery!

[farmgirl]

Debbie, I know what you mean, it's huge for such a little bird! The vet made it as small as he could while still immobilizing the leg, it would have been smaller if the leg had broken further down, but because of how high it was he had to pretty much immobilize the entire thing! And I would imagine doing anything on such a tiny body would be difficult, so he might have put a little more on there just to be sure it did it's job.

Linda, I am supposed to schedule an appointment in 4 weeks and the vet will take off this cast and take a look at the leg, if it still needs support he will wrap him again. Thanks for the info about broken legs, I had no idea it was like that, having never broken any arms or legs myself (I tend to go for other bones like collar bones and ribs!)

Thanks for the well wishes, here's hoping for a speedy recovery!