What would you do?

Hello all,

On Thursday Gracie did a short flight from her tree to my computer monitor (she does this quite a bit usually without mishap). She dropped short of her landing & got caught up in V of the monitor wires & immediately squawked a bit, I did get her untangled quickly & she didn't seem any worse for the wear.
She let me check her feet, legs, hips etc. just looking for any obvious signs of discomfort .. didn't seem to be any.

Friday I noticed she was walking a bit odd - instead of her normal waddle it was more like she was hopping. She was having a hard time stepping up and kept switching legs. Her grip kept slacking & her ankle buckled a time or two. Took her in to the vet just to be on the safe side. Xrays didn't show any breaks but did show swelling. Vet put her on anti-inflammatory and pain meds. The doc also wanted her to be kept confined for 7 days in her Wingabago cage (at work too).

I did as instructed Friday night .. Gracie took awhile to settle down & kept contact calling and pacing (wasn't the best example of bed rest). Saturday morning I woke up to a few barbered feathers including 2 tail. I assumed that these were damaged from her slight fall & she was just taking care of business. Saturday was brutal trying to keep her resting, Saturday night back in the small cage.

Got up Sunday to several plucked tail feathers, chunks barbered out of her flight feathers & a few more feathers in the bottom of the cage. She was very anxious & wanted out right away & repeatedly said c'mere c'mere c'mere (which is her way of asking for help - she does the same thing when she wants a floor rescue).

Gracie is usually very calm & patient in the mornings while I get ready, stretching & greeting me with kisses & good mornings. At night she climbs in her cage and settles down on her own after her evening time play. I usually close the door and say good night after she's tucked herself in.

Sunday I kept her out of the small cage but confined to a perch on the couch with me. I tried to take her things out of her large cage & thought I'd try to confine her in there to rest - that didn't go well & she didn't stop being leary until I put her items back in. If i moved the perches lower she'd climb an hang upside down (definitely against doc's orders). So I gave in Sunday night & put her in her regular cage & hoped for the best.

She was a bit hesitant to go into her travel cage this morning but relaxed as soon as i picked it up & she knew we were leaving like normal.
Got to work & i started to prepare her breakfast (was going to attempt to feed her in her small cage) she kept beak knocking & doing her "yoo-hoo" like hey you forgot me. Wouldn't eat so I took her out & let her eat on her stand. I moved her to my monitor when she was done so she didn't fly over to hang out with me. She's sitting up there resting now.

Gracie hasn't plucked/barbered her feathers since I've had her.

I really do want to follow the vets instructions but I just feel like if I force her to spend the night in any cage but her own w/her own items I'm going to keep waking up to more damaged, plucked/barbered feathers & end up facing an even worse issue then a sprained ankle/bruising etc.

Greys are sensitive to change...any way to make her normal cage safe in this situation?

Stress can be just as bad for a grey...make the potential for illness and injury worse.

Have you reported these issues to the vet?

Just my thoughts.

Likely that she twisted something in the crash.

Anyone that has a parrot for very long has quickly come to know that the graceful and precise flight is all to commonly a moment away from the next crash, over-step or miss-step.

If the area where the swelling is has gone down, I would have her out and about. However, I do fully agree with the prior Post that you should run this by your Avian Vet.

De-stress ASAP.

Thank you both. I do have a call into the her avian vet.

Yep & Gracie seems more sensitive than average most likely because she hasn't had toys or such in her past she seems to get attached to her items. She doesn't mind new things added but she doesn't like if you take her stuff away ie. replace a toy with another.

The most I could do last night without upsetting/stressing her out was I put pillows on the bottom in case the worst happened which it didn't.

The swelling appeared less by Sunday morning and she wasn't buckling when she stepped up.

She's acting normal, well rested and not stressed today @ work (probably she got her way & is perched where she wants to be while chowing down her oatmeal and beak grinding away).

I however am bleary eyed from lack of sleep and self doubt - was such a disturbing feeling finding all of those torn/plucked feathers I gave me horrible nightmares.

There was a weekend highlight - hubby had a long chat with her last night lol and explained she'd be a nakie birdie and most likely mama would make her wear some hideous sweaters to keep her warm. Gracie of course responded by turning into fluffy birdie and giving him a look of pure indignation.

Sounds like Gracie has some lingering soft-tissue damage. I completely understand your concerns with stress initiating a very bad behavior, but it seems she has adapted to her very temporary confinement.