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Zebra finch w/ bad leg/possible stroke

Wenzer

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My friend has a little zebra finch (a 6 year old female I believe, though I may be wrong on age. She's old!). Something happened some time ago (I don't have specifics, I'm sorry) that left the finch laying on its side at the bottom of the aviary with the left leg nonfunctional. Up to this point in time, the femur and above of the affected leg is functional. Anything below the knee cap is not, and a little stiff (there is blood flow so the leg is still alive). She also is unbalanced and seems to struggle using her left wing a bit.

She has trouble staying upright on a flat surface (or bottom grate of a cage) and tends to scoot herself around while using her wings to propel her a bit. She tries to fly across the floor but it seems very "lopsided" as she gets a bit of air initially then leans/falls sideways on the way down. She eats millet and finch seed mix still, and supposedly drinking water from a shallow bowl but I dont know how much she is managing or if she could be dehydrated.

At this point, due to her age and overall functionability (though limited) I'm not sure if veterinary intervention would help. My suspicions are that she had a stroke or something neurological happened because of the specific left side of her body having the issues.

I'm going to ask my friend if I can take her home for "hospice" care. She has been taking care of the finch but I know she has been overwhelmed lately and I think I could try setting up her caging situation to be more comfortable and adapted to her needs. Not that my friend has done a bad job, of course. But she has a sizable flock of small to small-medium parrots along with her smaller finch aviary/flock so this little girl may get put on the back burner sometimes, so to speak.

So I wanted to post here about her physical state and see if anyone has experience with birds who could not perch at all (she cannot sit upright without support of some kind, either. Like a blanket that she can grip) and if they have any tips or recommendations that might assist me with helping her live out the rest of her life comfortably :)

Thank you!

Updated to add some pictures of the wee girl:



 
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Yoshi&Raphi

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That poor little finch! I think it’s a good idea to take him as you would probably have more time for him.
 

iamwhoiam

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Pad the bottom of whatever you will keep her in with layers of paper towels or non-pilling fleece. Make food and water easily accessible. You could put a branch or multi-branch on the bottom of the cage that she can rest against as long as that perch lies flat. Get a small shallow bowl and line that with paper towels so she can rest in that or you may have to help her up into that as needed. You could try creating small ramps that she can move up and down on but I don't know if that will work. Thank you for being willing to take her in and care for her.
spee 7-16.jpg

spee perch.jpg

spee 7-19.jpg

Spee in his padded bowl, multibranched perch (I wrap a paper towel around the long part), Spee in bowl with easy access to food and water.

You can also use non-stringy toweling and roll that up for her to rest against but you have to be very careful with that. Don't want her burrowing into that or getting caught. Would want to use small towel like a hand towel.


 

Wenzer

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That poor little finch! I think it’s a good idea to take him as you would probably have more time for him.

I agree, and she was more than happy to let me take her home :) she's been on vacation for the past week, visiting her mom for the first time in many years, so it's been an emotional and draining journey and once she is home, she will have to go into bird-care frenzy mode!! :lol: she's going to be busy catching up with all the birds so we both think this a good idea!

Pad the bottom of whatever you will keep her in with layers of paper towels or non-pilling fleece. Make food and water easily accessible. You could put a branch or multi-branch on the bottom of the cage that she can rest against as long as that perch lies flat. Get a small shallow bowl and line that with paper towels so she can rest in that or you may have to help her up into that as needed. You could try creating small ramps that she can move up and down on but I don't know if that will work. Thank you for being willing to take her in and care for her.
View attachment 311430

View attachment 311431

View attachment 311432

Spee in his padded bowl, multibranched perch (I wrap a paper towel around the long part), Spee in bowl with easy access to food and water.

You can also use non-stringy toweling and roll that up for her to rest against but you have to be very careful with that. Don't want her burrowing into that or getting caught. Would want to use small towel like a hand towel.




Thank you so much! She is currently being kept in a medium/large-ish plastic tote container with a screen over the top just to be safe. I know those can be bad for airflow though and if she were to spill her water for example, and I didn't catch it quickly, it could turn stagnant and allow fungal and bacterial infections/problems...
I want to get her a small finch cage that has a big enough footprint that she can move around if she wishes. Do you have any thoughts on using baby receiving blankets (in good condition/not falling apart or stringy)? I tend to keep a bunch on hand for putting on the bottom of carriers for my other birds, and I've just found they're really useful lol! She has one in her container home right now that I laid out, folded the ends underneath and set on the bottom of the tote (for the same reasons you mentioned; I didn't want her to burrow or something and get stuck).
 

Lady Jane

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@finchly may have some good suggestions for comfort care.
 

iamwhoiam

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Spee is in a small finch cage. At one time I tried to find something larger with small bar spacing but I didn't want to go tall and I just couldn't find anything. Get a cage that is spacious enough but one that will not force her to have to drag herself across the bottom for "long" distances. When Spee was younger he was getting sores on his legs from dragging them. Got some cream from his holistic vet which worked great for healing those areas. As long as the blankets won't make her too warm and don't get stringy they should be OK. I know blankets can retain warmth/heat to some extent and I never went that route with Spee.

She is very cute. If you can lightly massage her legs and gently manipulate them it could be beneficial. Physical therapy can sometimes help.
 
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finchly

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I would do something like Spee’s setup. It looks perfect. Giving access to water without her drowning would be a concern. I use these drinkers sitting on the floor, so they can’t fall in.

221A8E5A-F467-4FEF-9F72-76A53A9900D0.jpeg
 

iamwhoiam

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If you are able to get an appropriate cage for her keep the tote because when you clean out the cage you will have to either hold her or put her somewhere else where she is safe and the tote can be used for that.
 
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