Strange Wing Wound - photos 1st post

My 9 year old female cockatiel isn't sick, but something is definitely wrong.

Notes:

Diet: Harrison's pellets, for nearly a year. Red palm oil since April.
Cage: Ample size, new as of February. All new perches and toys as of March.
Clutch history: 4-6 infertile clutches, discourage successfully for past year.
Other birds: Shared a cage until January with a male cockatiel, aggressive.
Night frights: None noted for at least 2 years.
Blood work, CBC, Fecal flotation: Near-perfect and negative for parasites.

Summary:

Late January I noticed blood on her beak, and around the shoulder of her left wing. Thinking it may have been a broken blood feather, my husband and I took her out of the cage to examine her wing and noted that she had plucked all feathers around her "armpit", and also what appeared to be blood smeared feathers and scabbing.

We called our local vet, who is not avian certified (there is only one in our province, 6 hours away). This vet is very good, he has several parrots and a special interest in avian medicine as well as the help of some long distance avian mentors. He guessed that either she had a night fright and caught her wing, or the male cockatiel may have scratched or bitten her while attempting to mate.

We were told to keep the birds separate, and given anti-inflammatory medication as well as an antibiotic. He sent me home with a plastic cone in case she was self-mutilating. We put the cone on hours later because she was definitely picking at the area. For a week after that I kept her in a large reptile cage with a heated corner and fresh food daily, and followed the medical regiment that our vet prescribed.

After one or two weeks, her wing was looking better so the vet said it would be okay to remove the cone, but she is to remain separate from the male 'tiel permanently. After almost exactly a week I discovered it had happened again! Back to the vet she went. This time the vet spent some time doing research on causes and he had learned that certain parasites, with cockatiels only, can cause skin inflammation and therefor self-mutilation. We decided to run 2 weeks of another antibiotic to make sure she was pest free. We even took x-rays to check for a fracture.

From that point it didn't seem like she was recovering, and I was deeply uncertain whether I was doing the right things for her, so I booked an appointment and went to see the avian vet 6 hours away, with Countess and hubby. Once there, the avian vet informs us that he won't be able to do any testing, because she had been on antibiotics until then, it would mess with the results. But he spent a lot of time examining her and questioning us. He said our home vet was really very good and if he could, he would shake his hand because he has done everything on-point. Wow! He tells us the wound is completely healed, but she needed daily baths to remove the debris. She would also need to wear the cone until all feathers had grown in completely.

So home we go, and everything goes perfectly and soon enough she is back to normal. We took her cone off a little less than a month ago and for three weeks she was doing just great. No picking, no problems whatsoever.

Then it happened. Again. And even more badly. Not only did she pull the feathers, she completely shredded the skin, it was disgusting and I can only imagine what sort of pain would drive an animal to do that to herself. Her poop had also turned green and runny that day. Immediately I am back to my local vet, who is shocked and very concerned. He tells us it looks very infected, and that she needs to go back on antibiotics ASAP. But first, we need to run tests. And I told him to run every test he could think of, including a fecal exam.

That test had to be sent away and it was a week before we had results. Her blood work was clean, nothing abnormal or unusual. Her fecal exam showed no parasites. I send the avian vet photos of the wound and he tells me he is stumped...

My local vet asks for some time while he contacts a few avian veterinarians with experience about the case, it took 5 days but he finally called me yesterday with advice from one of these mentors...

The vet said there are a few possible causes, and the last one is actually most likely, but the treatment is the most drastic so we will try it last.

The first possibility is that she did have a night fright originally, and pinched a nerve. This can be treated with a long term pain medication until it heals.

The second possibility is that she has a bacterial infection which wouldn't show up in blood work. The treatment for this would be a combination of antibiotics for an extended period of time.

The third possibility is that after her initial wound, she developed scar tissue. This scar tissue is less flexible and can tear easily, especially where it is at the joint of her shoulder. She has seen this several times. The treatment for this would be.... Well, it would be a wing amputation. I was told these are often successful and far better than having a wounded wing and collar for the rest of her life. Like I said before, this is a last resort, but the possibility of it scares me.

Have any of you had similar issues? Have you ever had a bird with an amputation, wing or foot or otherwise? What was your experience? Is it possible to live comfortably after that?

And last but not least I will link you to my photo album from the beginning to the end, I don't have photos of the first wound, but my local vet took some so there is documentation if I need it.

Please don't look at this album if you are squeamish or uncomfortable with wounds or blood, I don't want to make anyone upset!

Countess Story by everdusk | Photobucket

Poor little miss! Her collars are phenomenal and super cute, at least. Does the wound appear again when she has the collar on or only when it comes off? Is she flighted or clipped? Does she still get to interact with her old mate?

The scar tissue explaination is pretty likely but it could also be self-mutilation from being seperated from her mate. Or a combination of the two! A bacterial infection isn't very likely but would definitely be the easiest fix! Honestly, i wouldn't amputate until you are 100% sure it isn't mutilation because amputation would definitely make that worse. "I miss my mate and now i only have one wing and these itchy stitches!" The compulsion would increase immensely.

I worked with an M2 who had a mutilation problem in the exact same area...it started small from her owner passing away then it got itchy and her owner never came back. the compulsion just got bigger and harder to fight for her.

So sorry that you and your little girl are going throught this! I hope that you get an answer soon!!

Thanks for the compliment! I am going to make a couple more collars for her so I can change them out to be washed during the healing process. The wound so far has only appeared with the cone off, which leads me to think she is picking at it and that is part of the problem at the very least. She is flighted, no clipping in several years.

The first wounding happened when she was with her mate, but I'm sure the separation anxiety hasn't helped. All vets agree that she should have her own cage to heal through this. I have her cage right next to her mates with their per he's level so they can get close without quite touching. If they are in separate rooms they both become fairly unhappy, but he is more attached than she is. I should note that despite huge efforts her mate is very wild, and has been aggressive to our other cockatiel and rough with Countess, this was a large reason for their separation.

Amputation will definitely be a last resort! The vet has set a minimum of 3 months to try various medications and pain treatments first to see if anything works. While birds can walk, flying is definitely important and I know amputation will come with serious concerns. I'm worried about imbalance, ghost pain, obesity issues, etc. the healing process alone would be incredibly difficult, as you said! Picking and scratching would be a big concern.

I also plan to ask my vets about trying some kind of anxiety treatment if nothing else works before amputation. Do you thinks it's possible that she might leave it alone if she can forget about it long enough? My vet said lifelong anxiety meds can be a trial and trauma for the bird, so I've been wondering about a short-term approach just to give her a chance.

Thanks so much for reading through all of that and being so supportive, most people couldn't understand what this is like! I hope the M2 was able to recover from Her loss. Poor thing.

Just wanted to ask about diet...is Harrison's pellets and palm oil her only source of nourishment?

I'm sorry you have this self-mutilation problem with your baby. I have a Quaker Parrot who self-mutilates. I adopted him hoping that I could help him solve the problem. We went through every test available, but all the results were normal. We've tried anti-histamines in case it's an allergy, no results. He's been wearing a collar for 3 months and now will go 2 - 3 days after having fully healed before slashing himself again, for no reason. He has company all day, heavy interaction with me when I get home from work, healthy food, lots of toys and entertainment, and all of a sudden the itch (or whatever it is) strikes him and he bites his thigh, quick as lightning.

It's almost as if he needs the pain, and I'm convinced that he is mentally ill although he's the sweetest and smartest Quaker I've ever met. I hope you have more success than I, because I've learned that "sometimes love is not enough". Please don't take this as a downer. Whatever you do for your bird is the right thing because you do it out of love. I am hoping that my Sweet Pea one day will forget to do what he does, and I'm willing to hang in there with him, no matter how long it takes.

Good wishes and a big hug!

Kalidasa, good question! She does only eat pellets. A year ago I finally switched her to pellets, I was a huge ordeal and took forever. I have a conure who will eat any fruits or veggies I give her but Countess will not take the hint.

Giggleagain, wow, our problems are very similar other than placement! Does he actually draw blood when he goes after his leg? Has he always done that, or was it a developed habit? I'm asking because Countess has never self-mutilated before so it seemingly came out of nowhere. My husband and I work from home so the birds all get a lot of interaction between us and each other too.

It really does feel like love is not enough. Thanks for your encouragement, you are very sweet! I will try to remember this is we go down the road trying to fix this.

Edit: I just gave her a bath and had another look at her... She has plucked some feathers in her back, right to the edge of her wing, and even her thigh... I can't make the cone so big that she can't reach those places, because it would make it impossible for her to get around.

everdusk said:

Giggleagain, wow, our problems are very similar other than placement! Does he actually draw blood when he goes after his leg?

Click to expand...

Has he ever... he slashed his artery and almost bled to death. I posted about this in behavioral problems or general health. One of those neverending posts and if I knew how to give you a link I would. Search posts by me and you will find it. It contains the words "not on my watch" and if I recall correctly, I uploaded some photos of his bloody perches.

He hasn't bitten himself that severely again but came close several times. It's not as if the healing wound bothers him. He does it when everything is fully healed. I adopted him with the problem already in full bloom. What attracted me when I first saw him were his bloddy chewed up thighs. I had never seen anything like it before and I thought I could make a difference.

Of course yes seperate cages definitely! I was just curious it'd they still interacted which it sounds like they do to the best of your ability given the circumstances.

The M2 did begin to get over her problem with a very loving foster but she unfortunately passed away from unrelated circumstances.

It's so hard to take care of a bird who doesn't eat their fruits and veggies! Have you tried all the tricks? Grating some into pellets or mixing in some organic baby food might help. Harrison's is a lovely pellet and all but getting some fruits and veggies in her somehow could potentially work wonders on her condition.

Perhaps her wound is aggravated by her flying? If all else fails, I would try clipping before amputation definitely. Clipping is at least temporary. Also try adding some fringies to her collar to distract her by encouraging her to chew on that instead of her feathers. Does she get frequent baths?

It's going to be a long road to find the solutions that work for Countess and you are so wonderful for sticking through it with her! Plucking/mutilation is one of the most difficult things about parronting...it is so difficult to love so much and try so hard to keep your baby happy and healthy and to watch them hurt themselves in return is heartbreaking. Just remember she loves you so much no matter what is going on in her little birdie brain!