Nissili
Walking the driveway
I got to work yesterday, and was alerted almost immediately by a coworker that she'd just found one of the zebra finches, Jenny, in a bit of a mess. Her leg had gotten caught in the woven basket nest (which, I threw away to ensure whatever she got stuck on will never get another bird stuck) and in the process of her flailing from trying to get unstuck as she was hanging from it, she broke a blood feather on her wing and had lost a decent amount of blood.
Good news, she has a vet appointment, and last I saw her last night (and I'd have been alerted by the same coworker that found her if she'd gotten worse at all) she was perking up, drinking, and eating on her own, so as for the blood loss, she seemed to be recovering. I managed to get her as cleaned up as I could, including having to trim some blood matted feathers off the body where the wing had gotten tucked (I softened them all up with warm water until they were totally malleable first - they were trimmed for her comfort and hygiene, it was a big clump) and we gave her an unflavored pedialyte solution, as well as set up in a hospital tank. The foot and hip however, were not looking much better.
Bad news: the vet appointment isn't until tomorrow, as the avian vet that was called first to set up an emergency appointment wouldn't even pick up. The other vet (who's also a specialist) didn't have any openings until tomorrow.
Images below, please be warned that they are of what I think are a dislocated hip, and a foot that has no bloodflow.
(Hip is out of place, I don't think she can move it much.)
(feathers look extra messy because they were still a little wet, I got her dried off as best I could after the pictures and she seemed to groom a tiny bit)
(Her head is not covered, this was just the best we could do to compare the functioning leg with the other. Still pale compared to the bright orange the other zebra's have.)
(The band isn't appearing to pinch it, it slid up without any resistance. Just the clearest shot we could get of the foot.)
My question is: what can we do for her in the meantime, ie today, to make her as comfortable as possible and reduce risk of any further issue until the vet can see her tomorrow? I have until about 1 hour as of posting this before I have to go to work, but I'll be closing all night and thus able to periodically check on her, but will not have access to internet. We mulled over trying to remove the band, but we lack the tools (and I lack the experience/comfort) to do so safely, without risk of damaging her leg even more.
I'm very worried about her, and we're hoping the vet can do something to help her, even if we do not have high hopes for her foot. She has a lot of fight in her, she can still use her wings, she was beeping away earlier and is a little more tolerant of my fussing than initially, though I'd still like to minimize handling to reduce stress.
Good news, she has a vet appointment, and last I saw her last night (and I'd have been alerted by the same coworker that found her if she'd gotten worse at all) she was perking up, drinking, and eating on her own, so as for the blood loss, she seemed to be recovering. I managed to get her as cleaned up as I could, including having to trim some blood matted feathers off the body where the wing had gotten tucked (I softened them all up with warm water until they were totally malleable first - they were trimmed for her comfort and hygiene, it was a big clump) and we gave her an unflavored pedialyte solution, as well as set up in a hospital tank. The foot and hip however, were not looking much better.
Bad news: the vet appointment isn't until tomorrow, as the avian vet that was called first to set up an emergency appointment wouldn't even pick up. The other vet (who's also a specialist) didn't have any openings until tomorrow.
Images below, please be warned that they are of what I think are a dislocated hip, and a foot that has no bloodflow.
(Hip is out of place, I don't think she can move it much.)
(feathers look extra messy because they were still a little wet, I got her dried off as best I could after the pictures and she seemed to groom a tiny bit)
(Her head is not covered, this was just the best we could do to compare the functioning leg with the other. Still pale compared to the bright orange the other zebra's have.)
(The band isn't appearing to pinch it, it slid up without any resistance. Just the clearest shot we could get of the foot.)
My question is: what can we do for her in the meantime, ie today, to make her as comfortable as possible and reduce risk of any further issue until the vet can see her tomorrow? I have until about 1 hour as of posting this before I have to go to work, but I'll be closing all night and thus able to periodically check on her, but will not have access to internet. We mulled over trying to remove the band, but we lack the tools (and I lack the experience/comfort) to do so safely, without risk of damaging her leg even more.
I'm very worried about her, and we're hoping the vet can do something to help her, even if we do not have high hopes for her foot. She has a lot of fight in her, she can still use her wings, she was beeping away earlier and is a little more tolerant of my fussing than initially, though I'd still like to minimize handling to reduce stress.