HELP! Dog stepped on my finch! Lame wing!

[GouldieFledge]

Ugh.

This all happened in a matter of seconds. I opened the cage door to switch out millet, it was dark and the bird was disoriented, literally flew straight out the cage door and onto the ground--and the dog just so happened to walk that way and step on him at the same time.

I'm pretty sure the wing is broken. It's hanging semi-limp at his side when perched, and he cannot fly. He seems okay otherwise, but he's trying to fly and it's breaking my heart.

Is there anything I can do to attempt and mend/repair the wing? I looked at both of his wings and they look similar, as in I can't tell where exactly the problem in the wing is. I just have 3 feathers that were pulled/knocked out of the wing that I found on the floor, that's it.

I've read some other threads about broken wings, and I saw most people say to leave them be and they can live out their lives flightless. I'd rather TRY to do something to fix him up and give him a chance to fly again, than just settle with him living at the bottom of the cage.

Please, any suggestions on what I could do to try and mend him. Thank you!

[Sally]

I would say take him to an avian vet. The other option is to put him in a hospital cage with heat for the time being and hope that it heals properly. I don't know how you could put a birdie version of a cast on a wing.

[lovezebs]

GouldieFledge

Found this particular little article which you might find interesting.

https://www.cuteness.com/article/heal-broken-wing

[GouldieFledge]

Sally, lovezebs

Thank you for the advice. I had also found this link as I was trying to bandage the wing:

http://www.starlingtalk.com/fractures.htm#wingfracture

And it was a disaster. He's just too small for me to wrap. Anytime I'd get one loop around the wing, he'd end up wiggling somehow to make the bandage slip down. I must've tried a dozen times--so frustrating! He is such a good sport too, I finally gave up because it was just too much handling time.

I DID find something alarming while tending to the wing, though. There appears to be a black mass at the base of the wing/where it connects to the body. My first thought was tumor, but now I'm wondering if it could be pooled blood in the wing. Is it possible that it could be blood collection underneath the skin?

[GouldieFledge]

Another thing that's concerning me is the way his wing is "vibrating". While sitting, the droopy wing has the slightest, subtle vibration going on. I don't know if that's from pain, or from the way his wing is slightly hanging.

He is looking okay, considering. Not puffed, alert--just quiet (and obviously still). He's figured out how to get to the top perch in the cage already with balance. I don't have any avian vets in my area, and I wouldn't be able to afford an x-ray as it is.

The real kicker is these birds are at my father's house--I had just brought my dog over to visit him on this particular day. Terrible coincidence.

[lovezebs]

GouldieFledge

Could be a hematoma caused by the injury, where blood would pool in there.

Usually if the bleeding has stopped, the old trapped blood may get reabsorbed by the body eventually.

Regarding the vibrating....
All I could think of, is either major strain to the muscles, or torn muscles. Something similar to our muscles if we overuse them.

Another possibility, could be nerve damage somewhere.

Personally, I would offer him a small cage with a nice warm lamp, and a couple of very low perches. I would restrict him to quiet and rest and good food.

Too much handling, only causes more stress to his already stressed system, which could very easily leave him open and suseptable to other health issues.

Let nature work her magic.

[Nicole R.]

The wing vibration might be tonus, which is the resting action potential of any muscle. You see this sometimes when a dog is laying with its wrist hanging over the edge of a step. It is a regular "beat" movement, different than the paw twitch dogs have when dreaming. It is not often visible, but any animal could conceivably display it if conditions were right.

I agree that the black mass is likely a hematoma. Treatment is conservative - leave it alone, don't attempt to drain it.

So sorry to hear about your little guy's accident.
Nicole

[lovezebs]

GouldieFledge

How's the little fella doing?

[GouldieFledge]

lovezebs

he's doing surprisingly well, become very adept at hopping from here to there. a couple of days ago, I moved him to a more user-friendly cage--initially I had him paired with one of his cagemates in an 18x30 so he wasn't alone, but I felt it'd just be better/more fair to both parties if each had their own, appropriate setup.

so the bottom of his new 18x30 is all padded with tissue paper and has one standard, low perch. i felt guilty leaving that as his only perching option, so he also has a jungle vine loosely coiled toward the back of the cage, positioned low. it has 2 spots where he can pop back/forth to get that bouncy feeling my guys love, plus some extra grip. the food, water, herbs/minerals/etc are all on the floor. oh, and its tray is lined with some diatomaceous earth, spritzed with avian insect liquidator...this poor guy's also been dealing with scaly mite treatment, which started before this incident even happened...he's been through a ton.

i haven't touched his wing since trying to wrap it. it doesn't look any better than it did, it's still drooping in the same way. BUT, he's definitely moving around better than he was before, so it doesn't look like he's in any emergency situation.

i'll post some pictures soon!

[Suz]

I had good luck with a canary broken wing --I used super glue and glued the wing to the body in the correct position. Held the wing long enough for the bone to heal back. Just waited until the glued feathers molted naturally.

[GouldieFledge]

thanks suz!

[GouldieFledge]

here's some pictures of the poor guy, from last week. i'm happy to report he seems to be doing pretty well so far, shows improvement.

[lovezebs]

GouldieFledge

He's actually looking quite well.

Is he managing some limited flight?

[wildbird]

He looks great!

[GouldieFledge]

lovezebs

Yes, he actually does seems to be making short flights! It's hard to tell for certain since there's not much for him in the cage to use, but he's looking very promising. He is seemingly pretty lonely by himself, though.