Reoccurring Limp in my Green Cheek Conure

[chirpiesmom]

Hello! Our green cheek has had a reoccurring limp. This is the 4th time in about 16 months. The first time it lasted 7 days and was the result of flying into something 6 ft away after a seagull scared her in the window. The 2nd and 3rd time it only lasted a few days, and this time we are going on 12 days. These last few times the only thing we can think may have caused it was just climbing around on us (she is pretty animated).

It seems to be much better in the morning (since she has rested it all night). But toward the end of the day it's much worse, where she is even putting her beak down to pivot so she doesn't have to use the foot. Some times she perches with it in a ball, some times it's slightly open. She will still use it to eat (hold a carrot for instance). The color of the good foot is just barely more pink than the bad one, but I feel that is because of using it more (my husband isn't sure). The first time it happened we did xrays after waiting a few days per the vet's advice. This totally sucked for all of us! SO stressful!!! And the limp was gone the day after we all went through that! The trauma of that visit really has us hesitant on putting her through another one of that kind. She is so sweet, fully flighted and only in her cage when we aren't home or at night. She just turned 13 on April 20th. We have had her since she was 2 months old.

Has anyone experienced anything like this with their feathered baby???

 

[MommyBird]

We all know how stressful it is when we can't seem to help our little ones!
Some things to check and additional questions:
is one foot or leg warmer than the other (when not being held up in her feathers)?
are there any redder spots on the bottom of the foot?
does she have a variety of perch size diameters and materials (wood with bark, rope, sandy perch)?

Have you tried using metacam (an anti inflammatory) when she is having pain? I would strongly encourage you to get some from your vet to have around.
Is your vet an actual avian vet?

 

[Birdbabe]

Could be the old injury bothers her from time to time, I keep Metacam here for my two doves when they're old injuries bother them. Ask the vet to calculate the dose from the bird weight in grams. Hope she feels better!

 

[Macaw Lover]

Have x-rays of the joints been done? That might show what is causing the issue.

 

[chirpiesmom]

We have not tried Metacam. I knew there had to be something out there like human Ibuprofen.

She had x-rays only the first time and they showed nothing was wrong. She has 4 different perches in her cage of 3 different sizes. Both feet seem to be the same temperature but we will check that again, and frequently. And there are no discolored/red/irritated spots on the bad foot. In fact, she lets you hold her on her back in your hand, and take a finger to separate the toes/talons and inspect things really well. So I will try to post a picture here later of that, that shows both feet.

And yes, this is an actual avian vet. She has 3 birds of her own.

The time length on this round of limping is breaking our hearts. I will call the vet today for some metacam.

Thank you so much for your responses! Please keep them coming!

 

[chirpiesmom]

Hi again! We went to the vet on Monday for some x-rays and blood work. We should get the blood work results back by Friday. But for now, they told us Chirpie has arthritis in the knee joint that she injured last year. So she is getting Metacam every day and we've tried to change some things up to make her more comfortable and promote healing. I'm going to start a fresh post on here to see how other bird parents deal with this diagnosis.

 

[sunnysmom]

Thanks for the update. I hope Chirpie feels better soon.

 

[webchirp]

Aww...poor baby. I think you can safely apply everything we talked about in your post Arthritis in Wings and Feet | Avian Avenue Parrot Forum Hachi is a severe case but if we can manage her pain with what we have her on, I can imagine it will work for others.

I am so sorry for your loss.