Griffin went to the vet today on emergency!

RavensGryf

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My precious little monkey. Raven's bonded bff and partner. Griffin my Ruppell's Parrot is one of the smallest species I've had, but hands down by far the most trouble. He is literally like keeping a primate when he's out of his cage. I feel so awful, I stepped on him.

Anyway, I was doing things around the 11x18 room which required me to walk here and there within the room. For the past several weeks, Griffin has developed a preoccupation with my feet, and ESPECIALLY a certain pair of green rubber flip flops (that he keeps shredding more and more). I was wearing those around the room today. I am sure you can guess what happened next. While I am so careful 'knowing' that this can happen, even though I look down and am constantly aware of him near my feet, yep...being aware of it 99% of the time just wasn't enough :(.

I am actually so thankful that my body was in a position that when I stepped it did not require me to put my full weight on him, although I was mortified that I DID put more pressure on him than just a light tap. Enough to dislocate his beak, as I stepped mainly on his head! When I looked at him in horror, his beak was held open (he couldn't shut it) and his whole beak was sticking out straight forward, instead of down like a parrot's beak should go. His head looked odd and misshapen too. Catching him was anything but fun for him or I, as some of you know Griffin has developed a phobia problem and gone semi wild. He still has severe panic attacks at times. Although the chasing wasn't good for his health, I obviously had no choice. When he'd fly into and seek refuge in his cage, he kept flying out, until one time I was finally able to gently get him with a towel.

I hate to say I was not dressed to leave the house right then, it was an off day that I was going to take care of business around here instead of going out and driving anywhere. I flew into my closet, grabbed the closest pair of pants, grabbed a shirt blindly (happened to be a long sleeve) although I could have gotten away with a tank top today, but who cares all I needed was something to cover up with to go outdoors lol! In my panic I literally had to double check I was wearing bottoms, a top, and shoes before running out the door with my injured little boy.

The vet gave a thorough visual body and head examination and determined no external damage is evident, and sometime on the drive there, he had "popped his beak back into place". I described it to the vet how it looked before, and he said it was dislocated. Being 2 years old he is still young enough (and I guess flexible in the area) to pop it back himself, the vet said older birds need the vet to re-set it. The good news is, his eyes looked okay. He said many times crushing trauma like this affects the blood pressure and the eyes.

The vet thought the most important thing is to get fluids into him right away. He said it's when they've had trauma and don't get fluids, they are more likely to go into shock the NEXT day and have complications. Same principle as when we humans feel worse the next day after injury or trauma. Because it was 'looking like' I am lucky with this, I opted out of x-rays, as the entire bill would have been near $1000 and my credit cards were simply not ready fo that kind of hit again, considering our other unfortunate expenses including some other big ones as of late.

I will be so nervous overnight, and will be so anxious to see that we're in the clear. He did not prescribe pain meds, I'm surprised now that I'm home and able to think more clearly. I need to see if he needs his food softened for the next little while though. He is just resting right now.
 

Birdman666

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OH GOD! THAT MUST'VE BEEN HORRIFYING to see him like that...

Hopefully he'll make a complete recovery. This sounds like it's going to be a tense next few days until he's eating and drinking and acting alright again.

Hoping it'll be okay.
 

Allee

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Julie, what an awful thing to happen! Poor Griffin and poor you! That must have been a terrifying trip to the vet for both of you. As awful as it was, I'm so glad it wasn't worse. I know you will have a case of insomnia tonight and probably several scary days until you know Griffin has completely recovered. Hugs, Julie, wishing you and Griffin the best possible outcome. I hope this doesn't make Griffin's paranoia escalate again.
 
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RavensGryf

RavensGryf

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Thank you so much Mark and Allee. It was really a horrifying shock realizing what I had done. Man it really did feel like I stepped on him hard too, but evidently and thankfully not 'too' hard, and let's hope. I will for sure be feeling worried sick until I see him eating and acting normal. I've never wanted to see him more hyper, into everything, and mischievous than now.

Allee, I too wonder if this will set back all his progress he's made over the past year of hard work with his phobias. He wasn't exactly tame even now. Oh well, it was necessary to go to the vet so I had no choice!

Update: He is resting in his favorite little seagrass hammock.
 
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BIRDIGIRL

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So sorry this happened Glad he popped the beak back by himself, hopefully he will be back to his old self in the morning and up to all kinds of tricks again.
 

itchyfeet

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Oh man, that would have been horrific! Feeling for you right now...glad he's on the mend.
 

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Poor baby. Id offer him baby food for the next couple days. Only soft stuff.
 

JerseyWendy

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OMG!!! :eek: Julie, I am SO very sorry!!! What an absolute HORRIBLE accident!

Please forgive me, but I STRONGLY feel x-rays would have/could have been of utmost importance. We're talking MASSIVE head injury here with Griffin's beak having been dislocated. The beak was the part you SAW injured, but what if there were/are other injuries to his head that weren't clearly visible??? Believe me, I DO understand the cost. (I've had my fair share of very unexpted vet bills lately)

Please don't take this as an insult or negative feedback. You must be besides yourself. Clearly, you ARE besides yourself. :( I am so worried for Griffin!!!

One more thing: Please, do NOT allow him (or any of your other fids) on the floor. In the wild (yes, yes, yes...I know, I'm the one who preaches about that most of all, they are NOT in the wild), they do NOT spend much time on the forest floor. They are SO vulnerable when on the ground. So easily hurt. We are busy, we are pre-occupied, we are only human, too. :( And I'm not saying this to add salt to injury. I AM worried. I really am.

I hope Griffin makes a FULL recovery. This was truly an horrible, terrible accident.

HUGS (You can smack me or be mad at me for being so outspoken, Julie. I can handle it.) I can take a Julie-beating any given day. Just as long as anything I said sinks in.
 
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RavensGryf

RavensGryf

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Thank you so much everyone. Wendy, now why would I want to smack you for that? Hugs. I totally understand because you are right about that! It's ironic now, because I have always in the past been extremely against birds on the floor. Especially a small drab colored one. Down there, even the largest birds are only the size of the tiniest dogs, which I know also get injured by clumsy owners stepping on them too. Not calling everyone clumsy of course, but some households and people have a higher risk than others obviously. :54:

I used to "CONSTANTLY" and I mean constantly shoo Griffin up off the floor every single time it happened. He was so adamant about going right back there 100 times a night, that there that he literally wore me out. The only solution would be to lock him up. When he became flighted, AT FIRST he would fly away from my feet as fast as a wild bird would, so it was no problem when he feared the human feet coming. THEN... he stopped fearing feet, and just the opposite happened with his new found obsession for flip flops and heel nipping too (ow!).

His living situation: He is in a back bedroom with the other parrots, and on days I'm home I simply can't be in the room for the time that I'd like to let Griffin out of his cage.:( I need to get stuff done around here. On days when I'm home, there is never "nothing to do", and my computer, desk, chair, literally everything is in other rooms. Predatory dog in other room too. Open house layout. Besides my desk work and other personal issues and worries I'm currently trying to take care of which is draining finances, plus maintaining house and yardwork, there is a lot of time I can't physically babysit Griffin. He already spends more time than the others inside his cage because he just can't be trusted. For those who don't know, to complicate matters, he is also not a handleable bird because of a phobic syndrome he has developed. He will jump on my back when he feels like it, or sit on my bed close to me, otherwise he is about as wild or tame as an aviary bird who is used to humans.

Unfortunately he needed the aluminum cage when he found an obsession to biting and chipping the powder coating off standard parrot cages. I cannot afford another pricey aluminum cage, and it only came in one size 24x24" which is fine for Robin my other small Poicephalus, but Griffin is MUCH more hyper and VERY active. I would absolutely hate to leave him caged more, but at least he is safe in there. I don't know what else to do, short of setting up an indoor aviary, but that is not able to happen soon.
 

faeryphoebe1

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(((hugs)))

What an awful, heart wrenching day. So thankful he's okay. Gonzo likes to be on the floor, too. I have to constantly pick him up, it drives me nuts. He likes feet as well and it's so dangerous.

(((hugs))) again!
 

Dinosrawr

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Oh Julie, I am so terribly sorry that this happened! I hope that Griffin is feeling better soon. I can only imagine how terrifying it was to see him like that, but I'm so glad you were able to get him to the vet as quickly as you did. I'm keeping fingers crossed for a speedy and full recovery for the poor little guy, and sending my hugs your way for having to go through this whole ordeal on top of everything else [emoji20]
 

Kiwibird

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I am so sorry to hear about your accident with Griffin:( I'm sure he knows you didn't mean to. I hope that he makes a full recovery (and it sounds like he will)!
 

gracebowen

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Julie I am praying for you and Griffin and a speedy recovery. If you weren't already going barefoot can help because you can tell if/ when you make contact sooner.
 
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RavensGryf

RavensGryf

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Thank you so much guys :)!

Some good news here. It's their dinner time... I gave Griffin some soft items to eat, sweet potato, butternut squash, peeled grapes, peas. He is eating. I'm extremely relieved he had an appetite! I even handed him a popcorn Nutriberry (basically a piece of popcorn with a little glaze and seeds stuck to it), and he ate it. Man, I'm thinking his mouth has got to hurt :(. He's my tough little guy.

The vet said the fluids he gave sub-q. should last 12 hours or so. If he's gone to his bowl to eat, I'm sure he'll be drinking too. That's always the worry, when they don't eat or drink.

Btw... on a side note, Twigs my budgie is fine now. Antibiotic shot took care of him :).
 
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RavensGryf

RavensGryf

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Julie I am praying for you and Griffin and a speedy recovery. If you weren't already going barefoot can help because you can tell if/ when you make contact sooner.

But he's also a ankle and toe biter! ...and he bites hard lol. There will not be a next time though. Things are going to have to change. I am thinking about how we need to restructure the room, our routine, and things I normally do. ALL for this little monkey of mine :rolleyes:. Raven, Robin, and larger birds I've had in the past, NONE of them are/were quite as active or as determined to get into trouble as Griffin is. I swear, he's just lucky he's so cute. :p
 

OOwl

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I'm late to the event (worked all day) but was sorry to hear about the accident. Glad he's going to be okay. That had to be a horrifying experience.
 

Scott

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Oh Julie, I am terribly sorry you and Griffin had an uncomfortable experience. Thankfully he is such a resilient little guy and seems to be doing better as the day continues. I hope he improves during the night and is soon back to his ornery self.

Thrilled to hear Twigs is back to normal.

Julie, please give us updates when able.
 
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RavensGryf

RavensGryf

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Thank you again, I really appreciate the kind words for Griffin. He is asleep now. This evening I kept him in his cage, and he didn't protest. He was moving around, but not hyper and raring to come out like usual. He did eventually eat a little cooked yams. He gave up on anything harder. Except he couldn't resist another piece of Popcorn Nutriberry. Although he's a pretty quiet bird normally, I heard him make a couple familiar sounds which made me happy to hear.

The routine in the evening is for a couple or few hours they have out of cage time with me in the room. I'm on my iPad, have cuddle time with Robin, and watch Raven and Griffin's hilarious antics together. Raven hung out with me tonight, but he was saying "Griffin". I had to tell him his little buddy didn't feel well and can't come out to play today.

Poor baby. Id offer him baby food for the next couple days. Only soft stuff.

What kind of baby food would you suggest? Type/flavor? I want to buy some tomorrow and try it.
 

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