Zebra Finch cut her leg, now it's swollen

[wildbird]

Give Sophie a chance to live, even if it is hard for you. Don't let the vet kill her. It is easy for the vet to recommend. She wants to live, and no one should take that away from her. There should be something that could be put on the leg to prevent it from itching, if that is the cause of her pecking at it, or possibly a bandage over that area.. As for blood loss, my sparrow's wing bled and the first vet said it always would. Their was a piece missing, and the new feathers would break off and bleed. Eventually that healed completely and new feathers grew in so you only saw the wing was shorter and he could fly a couple of feet high with it. I never put anything on it. All of this, and this bird lived in a semi truck, so life wasn't that easy. I sure hope Sophie improves, and that you will let her live.

[Sir Bubbles]

Don't get me wrong, I want her to live more than anything. I love her very much and care about her, and I would love to continue having her around. I just don't know what's best for her right now. Life is precious and I don't want to have to take it away from her at all. It's tough to talk about and even tougher to figure out what Sophie is feeling. I think we would agree that it would be great if she could continue living a healthy and happy life, but right now she's struggling with her mobility and I don't want her to be uncomfortable for the rest of her life. However, if she does lose her leg maybe she could get along without it. At least, I would hope so.

I want to hear what the vet has to say, and I understand that he will probably advise euthanasia due to it being the quickest and/or easiest solution in his point of view. I will make sure we explore all possibilities and be sure that she is given a chance. If we can treat it, then that would be great news.

I know my last post probably came across as a sort of farewell to Sophie. I just wanted to vent my feelings about being prepared for the worst outcome. I'm fighting for her and I don't want to lose her, but you need to examine all possibilities and outcomes.

[cindy]

Thank you Spreckles for the kind thoughts.

I am sad to say that I feel like Sophie is reaching the end of her road.

I know I've been speaking a lot about how I'm trying to remain hopeful for her. It's really hard to say whether or not she's suffering. Her leg is starting to look worse again, and it's probably unable to be saved at this point. She keeps pecking at it and causing it to bleed, and I would be surprised if it's not infected at this point.

I'm going to take her into the vet tomorrow and see what he has to say. I feel like he will either advise surgery, or euthanasia. My mom and I had a talk about this and despite how much I've tried to convince myself otherwise, I'm beginning to think it may be for the best. I've had a very difficult couple of weeks having to watch her leg slowly deteriorate and it's getting very hard for me to watch her like this.

I'm not going to jump to any conclusions here, if I can treat her I will. It's just that things are starting to look pretty grim and I want to be prepared for the possibility that this may be our last night together.

I just wanted to share my thoughts. I'm still doing the best I can to care for her.

I am proud of you for having compassion, for thinking about what is best for your bird.


I have experienced something like what you are going through. I had one little bird, a small hookbill that was badly splay leg in both legs. We splinted and respinted for a couple of weeks, he stood upright in a cup and had to be handfed, most of the time he sort of dragged his legs and splits behind him.

During the last splint change we noticed his leg was broken up high in the thigh area. His legs were fragile and the splay was not correcting itself even though he was about a week when splinting was done. Despite being handfed he was loosing weight, he cried some of the time.

The vet explained that birds that have leg injuries and are unable to upright themselves, their bellies are constantly resting or dragging on the floor of the cage... this can cause pressure internally on organs and some may not function as well or start to fail. We watched him struggle to move when placed on a towel on the counter,we discussed our options.

It was so hard not to want to keep trying, she explained the quality of the birds life will if not already start to become painful, his life would be very short, he would require handfeeding for life and may eventually have trouble digesting properly. His body will shut down.

He was already struggling, we decided that it was best to not let him suffer, let him fly free. I had gotten attached caring for him, so hard to say goodbye to that little one. I realize that that was the kindest gift to give him.

No matter what you decide to do I know from reading your topic that you have a good heart, you want what is best for your bird. If there is a way to save her or you need to give her peace... you will be making this decision out of compassion, love for your bird.

[Sir Bubbles]

Hi everyone. I'm sorry I haven't posted for a few days.

I don't know how to say this so I'll just say it. I decided to put Sophie to sleep.

It was an extremely hard thing to do and I'm very saddened to lose her. On Monday, we took her to the vet for a drop off examination. A few hours later, the doctor called and explained to me that the situation with her leg was pretty bad and it would definitely need to be removed. However, he also went on to say that he found a malignant tumor in her stomach. I was surprised to hear this and had no idea she was dealing with such a problem. As soon as I heard this news I knew what had to be done.

I loved her very very much and I wish we could have kept her alive, but it was obvious her health was heading in a downward spiral. I didn't want to put her through the stress and discomfort of multiple surgeries. On top of that she would be having to deal with cancer. I just don't think a fragile little bird would be able to pull through that and it would be extremely difficult to watch her suffer more than she already has.

So, my mom and I talked about it. As I mentioned previously I had come to terms with the fact that this may be it for her a few days ago. We went to the vets office to spend a bit of time with her and say goodbye. I held her in my hands and gave her a kiss while the doctor administered the medicine. I told her I loved her and hushed her to sleep. It was a peaceful passing and I'm glad I could at least give her that.

We had a funeral and buried her yesterday, saying our final goodbyes.

I can't stress enough how hard it was to do that and how much I miss her. Her cute little eyes blinking at me from inside her coconut nest. I'm going to miss taking care of her and hearing her gentle little beeps and peeps in the morning.

It's been a rough few months with the ups and downs she's been going through with her health, and as sad as I am that she's gone, I take comfort in knowing that she wont have to suffer anymore.

I love you Sophie. You were such a sweet little bird and I won't ever forget you. Goodbye sweetheart.

[Sir Bubbles]

No matter what you decide to do I know from reading your topic that you have a good heart, you want what is best for your bird. If there is a way to save her or you need to give her peace... you will be making this decision out of compassion, love for your bird.

Thank you Cindy. I'm sorry I didn't respond sooner. It helps to know that there's such a kind and supporting community here that understands the difficulty of making such a decision.

[debbie276]

I'm so very sorry for your loss

[Sally]

I'm so sorry you lost Sophie, but you did what was best for her. She had a peaceful passing with you holding her.

[cindy]

Feel comforted by knowing Sophie took all your love and kindness with her. So sorry for your loss.

[Sir Bubbles]

Thank you everyone. I appreciate the kind thoughts very much.

I wanted to mention something that occurred to me. Back when Sophie had the problems with bleeding from her bottom we had no idea what was causing it. The vet couldn't find any problems although he did mention the possibility of a tumor, but nothing was found.

Some time went by and she seemed fine. So fast forward to now, hearing how he found a tumor inside her, the bleeding makes more sense now. I don't know for absolute sure that that's what caused it, but it seems very likely. So I'm glad I got some closure on that.