judygram Posted October 28, 2009 Posted October 28, 2009 I am taking Josey to a new vet this evening, one recommended by a good friend who relies on him for all her bird's needs. I am hoping he will be able to help Josey with her feather problem. She has been chewing her flight feathers on one wing for a long time now, I have been waiting for them to regrow but she keeps chewing them and I am afraid she has some of those shafts left in her wing and they may need removing to stop her from chewing since it obviously irritates her. This vet is nearly two hours away so it will be quite a trip but I have brought her to work with me for it will be easier to get to the interstate I need to be on to get there. I am a little apprehensive about this visit, for one thing I will be meeting a new vet for the first time and I am worried about having to remove feathers if thats what he decides to do. I will let you all know what I find out.
danmcq Posted October 28, 2009 Posted October 28, 2009 Good luck Judy!! Anxiously awaiting news on this.
Talon Posted October 28, 2009 Posted October 28, 2009 I'm sure all will go well today. Poor Josey, she has never had the chance to fly??? I expect a full report asap as soon as you are able...:huh:
judygram Posted October 28, 2009 Author Posted October 28, 2009 Of course I will give you all the full report when I get back, I just hope she isn't too shaken up by it.
Talon Posted October 28, 2009 Posted October 28, 2009 She may be a little quiet when you get home, but I expect very soon after she will be happy she is home and back to her own routine with your tlc. If you are too worried about the visit and how she will be, she will sense that and pick up on it before hand and will become nervous.....:huh:
Joolesgreyuk Posted October 29, 2009 Posted October 29, 2009 I hope all goes well at the vet's Jude, sorry I missed you earlier I was busy uploading pictures onto photobucket and then on here lol. Please do keep us informed of the outcome of Josey's trip to the vet. I have a good feeling about this vet you speak of.
Tycos_mom Posted October 29, 2009 Posted October 29, 2009 Oh Judy I hope this works for Josey I had the same problem with Tyco when I first got her she would chew all her flight feathers on her left wing. I had my vet straigten that wing out and clip the other side to match and after that Tyco stopped chewing her flights it took forever to grow new feathers and I had to watch her so she wouldn't break blood feather becase they had no support from other feathers around them so they could get broken really easily after she broke the first 2 I watched her carfully and stopped her if I thought she was playing to rough. Good luck I hope this vet can help fix Joseys problem.
Luvparrots Posted October 29, 2009 Posted October 29, 2009 Hope the avian vet can help Josey. Fingered and toes crossed for a good prognosis for Josey!!!!
judygram Posted October 29, 2009 Author Posted October 29, 2009 Well I am not real impressed with this new vet, he thinks she is chewing her flight feathers off one side because they are irritating her and because it has gone on now for several years it has developed into a habit. He recommends she wear a collar until the feathers regrow enough so she will leave them alone. I really hate the thought of Josey wearing a collar for maybe months but if that is what it takes then she may have to. I won't have the results of her bloodwork until Friday but I don't anticipate anything wrong with that. Poor baby was growling and I felt so bad for her when he was restraining her for the examination but I know it was necessary but once it was over and she was back into her travel cage she settled down and on the way home she was back to mostly her old self just quiet. I sort of feel let down, I had such high expectations for this vet but he really didn't show me much more than the other one I was taking her too, I may stick with the first one as he is closer.
lovethatgrey Posted October 29, 2009 Posted October 29, 2009 Sorry to hear about all this. I can only imagine how disappointing this is. I didn't know that Josey did this. I was wondering.. do you see Josey when she is destroying her feathers?
Luvparrots Posted October 29, 2009 Posted October 29, 2009 I'm so sorry Judy that the new vet wasn't more hopeful for you and Josey. I hope the bloodwork is all okay. Perhaps you should just give the collar a try. You can always remove it if Josey totally hates it. That she is healthy and much loved is the most important thing.
JillyBeanz Posted October 29, 2009 Posted October 29, 2009 It's such a shame that you had to travel such a long way, especially on a recommendation, that it didn't turn up trumps. Perhaps your normal vet will have a different view on this?
Talon Posted October 29, 2009 Posted October 29, 2009 Jeez....sorry, with such a long trip, you'd expect the vet to be better than yours. I personally don't think the collar will do the trick and stop her from chewing, I hate collars on any animal. My dog had to wear one, and he HATED it, as did I. :pinch: I'm curious, what does your regular vet say about her chewing?
rbpittman Posted October 29, 2009 Posted October 29, 2009 Judy, so sorry to hear that the vet visit was disappointing and non-conclusive. I too am curious as the what your original vet has said about the feather chewing and possible causes. In the meantime, glad to hear the Josey wasn't overly traumatized by the event and did so well on her travels home with you. Keep us posted on her progress.
judygram Posted October 29, 2009 Author Posted October 29, 2009 The vet she has been seeing pretty much said the same things except he never mentioned putting a collar on her and there was nothing in her bloodwork to think it was anything physical so it is a behavior she has gotten into. I think I kind of blinded myself to what she was really doing, kept thinking she was breaking it off and then chewing it off because of that but we could see the broken shafts in her wing when he restrained her. I am giving a lot of thought to putting a collar on her, at least giving it a try but she only does this on one wing, the other pretty much has full flights. No once the visit was over she was calmed down and of course she rides very well as she is used to long car rides.
Dave007 Posted October 30, 2009 Posted October 30, 2009 Judy Normally, going to a vet with the problem you're having which really isn't a serious problem, a vet won't really have much to say. There's nothing they can do but if he suggested a colar, you'd be making a huge mistake. Collars are used on birds that mutilate themselves on many different parts of the body. Your problem will take some time to correct itself but there's loads of birds that do what your bird is doing. That type of item may allow certain areas to grow back but if a bird simply wants to do that, it will after the collar is taken off and a worse scenario is that some birds actually chew up the collar while it's on.
judygram Posted October 30, 2009 Author Posted October 30, 2009 I think you are right as always Dave, I guess I am going to have to come up with some ways to keep her busy to allow those feathers to regrow but she only does it on one side.
rbpittman Posted October 30, 2009 Posted October 30, 2009 Beau was doing the exact same thing - you should see his right wing - no flights at all - even before the first vet visit - he had chewed them completely down. Left wing is gorgeous. We are trying to stop a behavior before it becomes a habit. Dave gave me the best advice I've received from anyone - bathing in aloe juice twice a day and the gel. It has worked the best so far. While Beau does have a pnuemonia, the antibiotics were only started yesterday and wouldn't have been involved in the improvements we've seen.
Joolesgreyuk Posted October 30, 2009 Posted October 30, 2009 Aww Jude I'm sorry to hear you weren't that impressed with the vet. Hopefully this visit will be enough to set Josey on the straight & narrow and that she will behave herself without needing the use of the collar, I hope so. At least the other vet is closer to you eh?
judygram Posted October 30, 2009 Author Posted October 30, 2009 Yeah her regular vet is closer but I am not going to use the collar on Dave's advice, I am hopeful she will quit chewing soon, gonna try some ideas and suggestions from some of the members here and see if it helps.
katana600 Posted October 30, 2009 Posted October 30, 2009 Judy that was a labor of love to take a long trip for a second opinion. While you didn't get answers it gave you something worse to consider with putting a collar on her. Bless her heart to have this habit that we can't seem to understand. I wish I could send you a magic hug to make it all better. Ah well, I have bad habits of my own that make my family think the same thing about me sometimes.
Spinner Posted October 30, 2009 Posted October 30, 2009 Gosh Judy...sorry to hear that Josey's having some problems. It's going to take some real perseverance on your part to break the cycle with Josey. I think it goes beyond simply having new distractions available for her. The term watching like a hawk comes to mind. Hope it gets better for her (and you!).
casper Posted October 30, 2009 Posted October 30, 2009 I really hope things can be sorted out for Josey. I am sorry you had to travel all that way and not receive more positive news Judy. I would stick with your normal vet and listen to good advice from Dave and others who have experienced similiar problems with their Greys. Lets hope things will improve for Josey very soon:)
Tycos_mom Posted October 30, 2009 Posted October 30, 2009 Thats a real kick in the pants I was hopeing he could help have you tryed reclipping that wing straighting it out so its not so irratating when it grows back It worked for Tyco and she had been barbering her left wing for 4 years. it might work for Josey also.
she Posted October 31, 2009 Posted October 31, 2009 I am sorry you felt the new vet was not much help.I would stick with your own one who is closer to you.I hope Josey stops the chewing.
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