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Pictures Help diagnosing toe issue for Timneh African Grey

Lee C

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Grady, a Timneh African Grey, has had a foot problem for over a month. It started about two weeks before I brought him home, and I have had him for just over a month. I have been trying to get help for him. My local avian vet (who is over an hour away), cannot figure out the issue. I am afraid Grady will lose his toe soon, as it getting worse.

I had my vet do x-rays, blood work, and a cytology exam, but for my vet, they were all inconclusive. I am awaiting electronic copies, and will post here as soon as I get them.

I am getting desperate to help Grady.

I have an appointment with another avian vet, but it is a week away, and I do not have high hopes. If someone here could help, I would be most grateful.


Cordially,
Lee
 

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KatelynDeanne

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This looks infected. I would seriously try to get his appointment moved up. Doesn't look good. Good luck!
 

Hankmacaw

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`I'm so sorry, but I can't tell you what is wrong with your baby's toe. It could be so many things - a foreign object that has become ulcerated, an injury that is infected or even a cancerous growth. The cytology you had done should have given some indication of what it is composed of. Did the bloodwork include white cell count? Did the Dr. do a culture and sensitivity to see if there is infection.?
He needs to get to a better vet very soon.
It appears to be quite painful. Did the Dr. give you any pain meds for him - he probably needs them.
Laurie does this look anything like Rocky's leg??
@rocky'smom @enigma731 @painesgrey @Macawnutz
 

Hawk12237

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Hmmm, after examining the photo's, I'm not inclined to offer you any medical advice simply because I'm no vet. I've never had that issue in over 39 parrots.
That said, I have had what looks very similar in my chickens. They call it bumblefoot, or pododemantitis. However judging by the picture, I don't think it is. Unless perhaps it developed an abrasion which in turn became infected. Pictures don't always do justice. It looks infected.
Like an abscess in a way.
Personally, I would be inclined to know your perch sizes, and if they are clean. One of the worse areas for bacterial growth is on a perch.
An abrasion can easily become infected quickly.
Perch size and proper perch plays an important roll in the health of your birds feet.
Your wise to seek another vet. I'm surprised the vet you saw sent you home without at least wrapping it to keep it from further injury.
And sorry I can't offer you further advice Without a better look. However I'll let the moderators offer you some advice as we have some excellent advice within this forum so keep watch, and get your bird seen as soon as you can.
 

Hankmacaw

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@Macawnutz They did a cytology and xray and blood work. The vet should have some idea, especially from the cytology.
 

enigma731

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I don't have many thoughts without seeing the results. Has your vet tried any treatment?
 

Birdbabe

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In the meantime, can you at least clean it with saline, and apply antibiotic cream, Manuka honey, or silversulfadizine cream? Do you have any Metacam on hand? It looks infected, keep it as clean as you can until you see the vet, that is definitely a worry.. hope he is gonna be ok.
 

Just-passn-thru

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In the meantime, can you at least clean it with saline, and apply antibiotic cream, Manuka honey, or silversulfadizine cream? Do you have any Metacam on hand? It looks infected, keep it as clean as you can until you see the vet, I hope he is gonna be ok.
Thank you...:hug2:
 

rocky'smom

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Hi, no it doesn't look like anything Rocky had. I can only suggested that you pad out his perches keep the ouch clean and beat feet for the nearest avian vet. Saline solution wash worked very well for Rocky. You can get it at Walgreen.
 

enigma731

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Honestly if this were my bird, I would probably just have that part of the toe amputated and sent for pathology. I think it's very very unlikely that it will ever have normal function again, and the likelihood that it's something that could go systemic is probably pretty high. Of course, knowing what the results of those tests the vet did were might change my opinion on that.
 

rocky'smom

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After looking closer at the pictures, it looks like Monster's toes, after he was rescued. He had splinters in his toes from standing on a two by four. He lost those two toes. Please find ER vet and get Grady in asap.
 

painesgrey

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You mentioned a cytology - was a sample taken from the growth and looked at, or was the cytology just done from bloodwork? I would say that a pathology of the growth is definitely warranted, if it hasn't been done already.

Amputation of the toe is a high possibility at this point, as healing on a bird's feet is slow and can be problematic, due to their constant use. However, birds get along fine without a toe or two, so it wouldn't be a life-changing loss.
 

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@Lee C
would be nice of you to reply to everyone and give n update, members have vested their time and care , in the welfare of your bird.
please follow-up.
 
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Hawk12237

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@Lee C
would be nice of you to reply to everyone and give n update, members have vested their time and care , in the welfare of your bird.
please follow-up.

Howdy Sue, :cool::D
Guess we'll have to give them some time, only been less than a day. I know when Billy jean was injured badly, I didn't look at my iPad for days...I didn't have the time, Billy jean took priority over that. But I too wonder how the outcome and update is as I have a TAG as well.
But keep in mind also, that there is going to be that percentage of new comers that come on here looking for a quick fix remedy, then disappear. That the risk we take as forum members I guess. You win a few, lose a few.
 

Just-passn-thru

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Howdy Sue, :cool::D
Guess we'll have to give them some time, only been less than a day. I know when Billy jean was injured badly, I didn't look at my iPad for days...I didn't have the time, Billy jean took priority over that. But I too wonder how the outcome and update is as I have a TAG as well.
But keep in mind also, that there is going to be that percentage of new comers that come on here looking for a quick fix remedy, then disappear. That the risk we take as forum members I guess. You win a few, lose a few.
Understood , my reasoning with this... they want members to give quick fixes & wave a magic wand , on conditions that are clearly beyond the scope of anyone on this forum to remedy. Even a simple thankyou would be enough,. They have time to post pictures of these over due conditions, but no time for a thank you. Sorry there "Partner" . I guess I am not very understanding of peoples demands, of others, that offer up their time and help. (without a simple acknowledgment of a thankyou ). The look of that foot has been festering for quite some time. Rush to action is morbidly overdue.
 
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Lee C

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Greetings to all. Wow, it's been over three years. I reached out to so many sources for help back then, I forgot about this post. In my second post ever, I am bumping a really old thread. Here goes.

I thank all who replied. I do recall reading most of the replies at the time. I apologize for not responding back then. I got Grady a companion as soon as the infection was resolved. Then, I found out that companion was relinquished with a house-mate, and I felt bad that I unknowingly separated them. Within a couple of months, I went from never-had-a-pet to having three parrots. Wow. The third parrot turned out to be blind, and I was the only one to pick up on an issue, so that took another vet visit then special accommodations. And, I was giving them (the first two) full liberty, whole foods, etc. It is a lot of work to keep parrots this way.

Back to the three-year-old story: I took Grady to avian veterinarians far and wide, including out of state. We got the infection resolved fairly quickly, but Grady's toe was pink and scale-less, as well as stiff, only bending at the last joint where the nail is. The cytology was from cells taken from the toe. I never gave up on researching Grady's stiff, scale-less toe. About ten months after getting Grady, I contacted a rescue that is a couple hours away (not the local rescue where I adopted him). The owner referred me to a vet she swore was amazing. Well, she was right. He diagnosed the toe off the original, year-old x-ray, right in front of me, having never seen the x-ray before. I did not think to share the x-ray ahead of time, so I emailed it while we were in the exam room. He saw the cause instantly.

Grady has osteoarthritis in that toe. The board-certified avian vet showed me on that x-ray. It bothers Grady at times ( couple or few times per year), likely from using it and it getting strained. Grady bites the pain, as parrots often do. That likely led to the open wound, that got infected at the rescue before I adopted Grady. (The rescue owner would not ordinarily adopt out a parrot in need of medical care, but in this case it made sense, because I was willing to get it resolved and diagnosed.)

Grady is one cool parrot. He flies a lot, in my open-floorplan house. We have developed a great relationship. He has many 6' to 8' dragonwood branches. He gets direct sunlight through stainless-steel mesh on warm days. He is on a circadian schedule due to the many skylights here. I also dim my lights each evening, and "warm" them through the color-temp range to red before lights out. Grady especially enjoys "parrot the parrot", where I try to reproduce his amazing sounds. :] We often end up laughing together.

Oh, he recently had his third annual wellness exam, and the avian vet gave special attention to his toe. Knowing that it does bother him a little at times, she still thinks it best to keep that toe, because it works pretty well, despite being stiff, and he uses it for climbing branches, old jeans, etc.
 

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April

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Greetings to all. Wow, it's been over three years. I reached out to so many sources for help back then, I forgot about this post. In my second post ever, I am bumping a really old thread. Here goes.

I thank all who replied. I do recall reading most of the replies at the time. I apologize for not responding back then. I got Grady a companion as soon as the infection was resolved. Then, I found out that companion was relinquished with a house-mate, and I felt bad that I unknowingly separated them. Within a couple of months, I went from never-had-a-pet to having three parrots. Wow. The third parrot turned out to be blind, and I was the only one to pick up on an issue, so that took another vet visit then special accommodations. And, I was giving them (the first two) full liberty, whole foods, etc. It is a lot of work to keep parrots this way.

Back to the three-year-old story: I took Grady to avian veterinarians far and wide, including out of state. We got the infection resolved fairly quickly, but Grady's toe was pink and scale-less, as well as stiff, only bending at the last joint where the nail is. The cytology was from cells taken from the toe. I never gave up on researching Grady's stiff, scale-less toe. About ten months after getting Grady, I contacted a rescue that is a couple hours away (not the local rescue where I adopted him). The owner referred me to a vet she swore was amazing. Well, she was right. He diagnosed the toe off the original, year-old x-ray, right in front of me, having never seen the x-ray before. I did not think to share the x-ray ahead of time, so I emailed it while we were in the exam room. He saw the cause instantly.

Grady has osteoarthritis in that toe. The board-certified avian vet showed me on that x-ray. It bothers Grady at times ( couple or few times per year), likely from using it and it getting strained. Grady bites the pain, as parrots often do. That likely led to the open wound, that got infected at the rescue before I adopted Grady. (The rescue owner would not ordinarily adopt out a parrot in need of medical care, but in this case it made sense, because I was willing to get it resolved and diagnosed.)

Grady is one cool parrot. He flies a lot, in my open-floorplan house. We have developed a great relationship. He has many 6' to 8' dragonwood branches. He gets direct sunlight through stainless-steel mesh on warm days. He is on a circadian schedule due to the many skylights here. I also dim my lights each evening, and "warm" them through the color-temp range to red before lights out. Grady especially enjoys "parrot the parrot", where I try to reproduce his amazing sounds. :] We often end up laughing together.

Oh, he recently had his third annual wellness exam, and the avian vet gave special attention to his toe. Knowing that it does bother him a little at times, she still thinks it best to keep that toe, because it works pretty well, despite being stiff, and he uses it for climbing branches, old jeans, etc.
Wow I had missed the original post but that's so wonderful that Grady was able to recover! I'm so glad that he's able to live a normal happy life. He's so lucky to have you as an owner to do whatever he needed.
Thank you for coming back to update us :). Do you have any pics of Grady and your other 2 babies to share? We'd love to see them.
 
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