Zahzu's wing chewing-update

[mas]

Hey guys,

 

If you remember in my last post I was talking about Zahzu's bad wing clip and resulting feather destruction. We ended up taking her to the vet, -she started to chew at her other wing - and had no long feathers left on that wing either. The vet took a look at her and said it is because the feathers are really irritating her - with the sharp ends poking her...he said she is definitely not feather plucking its an irritation she is trying to get rid of.

 

So...

 

This morning she was admitted for 'surgery' - she was put under anesthetic, and the vet pulled out all of the destroyed feathers, she has a course of antibiotics to take, and after that a mutli-vitamin called pre-molt.

 

She's home now, and sleeping in her cage, in about 1 hour or so I'll give her some food, but vet said not to worry if she doesn't eat too much today because she'll still be a bit groggy; however by tomorrow she should be back to normal.

 

I'm glad the troublesome feathers are gone - hopefully she will be more comfortable now. Will keep you all posted

 

-Sameera

[mas]

Here is a link I found talking about this procedure:

http://www.parrots.org/index.php/ourwork/african_grey_blog_4

have a read - its interesting!

[mas]

Another update (I'm the only one replying to this post it seems! hehe), anyway, I was busy cleaning in the kitchen, and Zahzu called me to the room she's in and said "i want a kiss mwa mwa" - she's never said that before! I'm quite chuffed!:silly:

[danmcq]

OMG Sameera!! What an ordeal over a bad clip and then the resulting irritation to your Grey.

 

I do hope that surgical removal of feathers resolves the issue and gives some comfort to Zahzu. :-)

 

Aww, the " I want a kiss maw maw" is so touching. I'll bet she feels like a truck ran over her from the after effects of the anesthesia.

[judygram]

Oh my Sameera, how awful for Zahzu to have to have the feathers surgically removed but at least they are not irritating her any longer and now hopefully they will regrow and she will be flighted again.

 

That must have melted your heart when she said that "I want a kiss"

[siobha9]

That was a very disturbing link. Its nice to know they are releasing the greys, but to see them all in boxes like that was awful. But this kind of stuff still happens, and its worth watching just to be sure that we never ever consider a wild caught grey. The poor poor birds.

 

Removing the feathers surgically seems like an excellent idea. It should make them grow back in much faster. Keep us posted!

[mas]

Yes, it was a really disturbing link Siobhan - and the issue of wild caught parrots is even more disturbing!

The world parrot trust does amazing things- if you see their website they have some really great toys to buy also to support their cause.

 

Anyway, Zahzu is awake now and eating a bit - cheeky bugger threw away her pellets and only ate the couple of seeds i gave her earlier (she usually only gets seeds as a treat); she's getting spoiled today and she deserves it more than ever!I also bought her a new toy today ;-)

 

Judygram and Danmcq - it was a major ordeal! Very stressful for the whole family - and I hope this serves as a warning for everyone "ONLY ALLOW A VET OR SOMEONE WHO IS HIGHLY SKILLED CLIP WINGS".

I feel really guilty for allowing the sitter to trim wings, however she assured me she knows exactly how; pfft! Never again!

 

-Sameera

[danmcq]

Mas - Give the Sitter a "Clip". :evil:

[mas]

I would, if I could! I'm sure her intentions were good though.. its a matter of education at the end of the day.

It seems quite common that people do not take wing clipping seriously, I know at home in Australia when I was about 10years old I got a budgie (he passed away at the age of 10, of natural causes) and the people at the pet shop told my mum she can clip his wings at home - and we did that without incident his whole life, but SO easily there could have been damage - if only we knew! After our experience with Zahzu, the thought of clipping wings at home by novices is a NIGHTMARE!

-Sameera

[Tycos_mom]

your poor bird all due to a bad wing clip least ow her wings will grow out normally When I first got Tyco she was so off ballance because she was chewing all her flight feathers on her right hand wing it was awful she would fall so hard on her keel I thought it would break. I took her to the vet and had her wings clipped so that they both matched but she had a very bad wing clp also and thats why she was barbering once the vet fix her wings and both where the same Tyco stopped barbering she is fully flighted now and no more falling on her keel bone. I clip my smaller birds wings myself but I only cut the first 5 flight feathers and I only cut them in half if you know what your doing there should never be a problem I take my large birds in to be done only because I cannot do them by myself and I haven't got anyone who can help me I only clip my birds once every year at the begining of their molt and they useually start molting at the end of May then I take them in for their annual well bird check up and wing clip that way they are clipped for the summer so we can go outside a bit with a harness or some sort of restraint and by winter they are flighted again so they can get the excersize they need. Thats just the way I do it I don't think they need to be clipped all the time. Pat