Digby Cut Her Foot

[BethySue]

I'm not sure how much of an emergency this is, but...

This afternoon, as I was getting ready to leave thee house with my mom, I noticed Digby was on the floor of her cage. I went to check to make sure she was okay and I saw blood on her beak. I also saw she was holding one foot up. I did a quick glance around the cage and there was blood on nearly every perch. She didn't want to come out, so I toweled her to get her out.

As soon as she was out, she was acting normal. I looked over her to find the source of the bleeding and found that she had blood on one of her feet. The bleeding has stopped, and she's perching fine, but I'm worried about her.

Is there anything I need to do? What signs should I watch for? Every so often, she acts like she's going to pick at it and I gently tell her no, but is there something I can do to keep her from messing with it? I'm worried she'll pick at it and make it bleed again.

 

[mrstweet]

I think she'll be okay, but if you get worried take her to the vet. Maybe you could give her a dip in some water once a day to keep if from getting too dry if it scabs (equals itchy equals picking at it).

Glad she's okay!

 

[Birdiemarie]

Have you examined her closely to try and find the source of the bleeding...is it a cut, a banged up toenail? Washing her foot and then applying cayenne pepper will help keep infection away.

 

[Billie Faye]

Cayenne Pepper is the best thing for this type of injury...it stops the bleeding, it is anti bacteria and it will help her with the pain (stopping it) and won't hurt her IF she eats some of it!...Can you get a picture of the wound? If she is holding her foot up, where is the cut? on a toe: on the foot itself? You need to watch and see how the toe moves or doesn't....if on the foot, do the toes all move like she would be perching? Can you see her opening the foot etc...if NOT...then you might want to get her to the vet to see if tendons have been cut through...If you have other birds, could she have been bitten? Also this is one of those times I would put a bird that this happened to into a fish tank with heat (85º) and make a soft perch out of a rolled towel...reason is if the bird start climbing on the cage, this will Open the cut up over and over and not let it heal properly...if hurt, a bird will go into a little/to big shock and they need to be kept warm/quiet/and some what darken room to relax them...especially if other birds are around.

 

[BethySue]

Thanks for the quick responses.

It looks like the cut is right in the middle of her foot. She is able to move all her toes. It's kind of hard to see the actual cut because of the dried blood.

I'll try again to get some of the blood cleaned up and get a picture of it. I'll also put some cayenne pepper on it.

 

[Billie Faye]

Thanks for the quick responses.

It looks like the cut is right in the middle of her foot. She is able to move all her toes. It's kind of hard to see the actual cut because of the dried blood.

I'll try again to get some of the blood cleaned up and get a picture of it. I'll also put some cayenne pepper on it.

This is good news...it means that tendons weren't cut...the cayenne will help with the healing....wash it off with warm water and apply the cayenne...check it before you go to bed and apply more Cayenne if needed...keep him quiet and away from the other birds for a couple of days....this will help him heal better and not be worried about the other birds seeing him injured...

 

[BethySue]

Okay, I was able to get the blood cleaned up and I tried to get a couple of pictures. I had trouble getting the angle right. I don't see any tendons.

Before getting it cleaned up:



After cleaning it up:




She's sitting on her stand and holding her foot up. She's grooming herself but leaving her foot alone. I'm going to put cayenne pepper on her foot right now.

ETA: I just remembered somebody asking if another bird was with her. No, her and my other bird (Lenore) are in separate cages. They played together last night, but haven't been together at all today.

 

[BethySue]

Is there some trick to getting the pepper to stick? I tried just putting some pepper on the cut and it didn't stick. So, I currently have her standing on a napkin covered in cayenne pepper and eating bird bread, but she keeps lifting her foot.

Billie Faye, I just saw what you said about putting her in a fish tank. I'll do that too and I'll keep her away from Lenore for a few days.

 

[Deej]

You can add some water to it and make it into a paste to get it to stick better.

 

[April]

Poor little girl,I hope she heals up fast.

 

[itzmered]

Can you see in the cage what she cut her foot on? I would also be concerned about that. See if there are any rough spots on cage bars or perches.

 

[BethySue]

I'm setting up the hospital tank right now. Which would be a better lid--a screen lid or a plastic lid? I have both on hand and can use either.

I will try mixing the cayenne pepper with water to make a paste.

Can you see in the cage what she cut her foot on? I would also be concerned about that. See if there are any rough spots on cage bars or perches.

No. I looked and can't see anything. The only thing I can figure out is that maybe she somehow cut it on the pedicure perch; everything else is smooth. I'll look harder in a bit.

 

[Billie Faye]

Thanks for the pictures...weird because usually that is like a "bite"...is it possible for her to reach through the bars to the other cage?...was the blood you saw FRESH? on the perches? is it possible she could have been bit yesterday and it you didn't see the results until today? I myself, have had this happen...and the bleeding show up later AFTER the bite...because the bird was now sitting on the perch and the weight and the way the foot wrapped around the perch made it start bleeding...just an idea....paste of cayenne will work also.. as for the top to the tank...which ever one you can control the air heat around her..

 

[birdlady]

Poor baby...hope it heals quickly.

 

[BethySue]

Thanks for the thoughts for her. I too hope she heals quickly. I'd be lost without my Dig.

Thanks for the pictures...weird because usually that is like a "bite"...is it possible for her to reach through the bars to the other cage?...was the blood you saw FRESH? on the perches? is it possible she could have been bit yesterday and it you didn't see the results until today? I myself, have had this happen...and the bleeding show up later AFTER the bite...because the bird was now sitting on the perch and the weight and the way the foot wrapped around the perch made it start bleeding...just an idea....paste of cayenne will work also.. as for the top to the tank...which ever one you can control the air heat around her..

It is not at all possible for the two to get to each other--their cages are in different rooms. BUT, they do like to bite each others' feet when they play (and I stop them whenever they do it), but I don't know if that's what it was. But, maybe Lenore bit her enough to scratch it, and then Digby messed with it throughout the day. When I saw the blood, it was at 2:30 in the afternoon and was fresh. I guess it is possible. I went with the screen lid with a towel over it.

She is currently half-asleep in the hospital tank in my bedroom where I can keep a close eye on her. She isn't perching on the towel perch, but rather on her food dish. She's being surprisingly good about the whole ordeal, allowing me to towel her without much of a fight and letting me mess with her foot and she didn't complain too much about going in the tank. Of course, when she acts too good, she makes me worry more.

 

[Billie Faye]

Thanks for the thoughts for her. I too hope she heals quickly. I'd be lost without my Dig.



It is not at all possible for the two to get to each other--their cages are in different rooms. BUT, they do like to bite each others' feet when they play (and I stop them whenever they do it), but I don't know if that's what it was. But, maybe Lenore bit her enough to scratch it, and then Digby messed with it throughout the day. When I saw the blood, it was at 2:30 in the afternoon and was fresh. I guess it is possible. I went with the screen lid with a towel over it.

She is currently half-asleep in the hospital tank in my bedroom where I can keep a close eye on her. She isn't perching on the towel perch, but rather on her food dish. She's being surprisingly good about the whole ordeal, allowing me to towel her without much of a fight and letting me mess with her foot and she didn't complain too much about going in the tank. Of course, when she acts too good, she makes me worry more.

This is good that she is resting...this will help her heal faster and because she is NOT climbing on the cage bars, the cut will be able to close over better and faster to heal...if she gets tired of the dish she will perch on the rolled towel...I would keep her there for at least 48 hours...and if need add more cayenne but most of the time...it takes just on the once unless really opened up wide...Keep us updated...you are doing a good job! hugs

 

[BethySue]

She's being a bit more active now, which makes me worry a little less, but she's not being too active either. She's exploring the tank a little now and asking me to get her out. I hate having her in there, but I know it's for her own good.

Here's a picture of her in the hospital tank.



Yeah, there are two thermometers in there. I'm a wee paranoid about that sort of stuff (and they will both come out when I go to bed so that she doesn't play with the cords). They show two different temperatures, and the temperature is higher than I want. I read that it could be 85-95 degrees, so I guess the temperature is okay.

Thank you everybody for your help today!

 

[BethySue]

I think her other foot might be bleeding now too. There is blood on both feet, and I tried to clean them off, but I can't tell if there is actually a wound on her other foot. I'm going to try again to get them cleaned up some more.

She keeps messing with her feet. The bleeding will stop and then she'll pick at the scabs and they bleed again. Is there something I can do to get her to quit picking at them? I think she actually likes the cayenne pepper I put on her foot.

 

[rikkitikki]

 

[BethySue]

Last night, her other foot started bleeding as well. She's picked at the scabs a couple of times this morning, but the bleeding quit pretty quickly. The first foot she cut (or was bit on or whatever happened) was her left foot. It already looks better today than it did yesterday, but her right foot looks a little worse than it did last night. Last night it was just a tiny, tiny spot that was open, now it is a little bigger, but not as bad as the cut on her left foot. I think when she was messing with her left foot she decided she had to mess with her right foot and maybe did that herself as it happened after she was put in the hospital tank.

She's acting fairly normal. She's preening herself and eating. The only thing not normal that she's doing is letting me pet her without me having to ask for permission first (yes, I have to ask for permission or let her know before I pet her).