GRAPHIC PHOTO WARNING! Cali's healing!!

[awhitright]

She is so fortunate to be with you. You are such a kind loving person to deal with all of this, sounds like she has a lot of healing ahead. Best Wishes to you both.

 

[Ltygress]

Hi Ltygress...was wondering who you might be using if she needs grafts? I'm just up I-75 a bit from you...

I'm not sure she'll be getting a skin graft at this stage. The vet doesn't want to really consider anything until her chest heals. We use Dr. Shepard at For Pets Sake in Decatur.

The original skin graft was recommended by the previous owner's vet, who was down in Warner Robins. I don't know who, but I know there are no avian specialists down there at all. I didn't bother digging for too much info either - I was more interested in getting Cali out of there.

 

[Ltygress]

Has anyone ever tried colloidal silver on birds. I know it works wonders for people inside and out. But not sure about birds.

Yes, that's actually one of the things used for wound dressing. Silvasorb was the name of it, I think.

 

[Ltygress]

Thank all of you for the kind words. It's really interesting that Cali's personality with me seems to reflect absolutely NONE of what she went through. She is such a cuddle bug, has never bitten (except as an accident when I was feeding her banana, and she licked my fingers clean, then tried to bite it off like it was the banana), and loves to sit on my chest all day and play, preen, or nap. She just acts like a happy bird no matter what. She doesn't like being flipped upside down, probably because that's the position she is in when she gets bandaged. But otherwise, she tolerates any handling you do. She's the only parrot I have had that you can pick up as if she were a chicken - wrapping hands around her body. I've never known a parrot to have no grip on anything with their own feet, and be okay with it!

 

[Ltygress]

Yep! I've worked with a bunch of these, unfortunately. Poor Casper had 3 or 4 of those, and zero feathers when he came home...

THIS is EXACTLY why I say even though I love them dearly, I regret M2's ever being introduced into the pet trade.

What's the statistic?! Something along the lines of 7 OUT OF 10 OF THEM END UP LIKE THIS?! And it's tragic!!!

One thing that I am very thankful for, is that her former owner had the mental strength and intelligence to realize he should give her up. My problem is with the people who put their birds through this and figure since they can't afford proper care, the bird just has to suffer and die. I always have a lot of respect for people who are willing to give up their bird for the sake of the bird. It may be a lot later than she needed, but it's hard for an owner to admit "defeat" and let go. I'm just happy he did.

 

[coolbunny1]

One thing you might want to try on Cali is bandaging impregnated with coloidal silver (I think that's the right name (silver definitely, not sure about the colloidal part but I can find out from my vet.)) We have a Mollucan named Sammie who is my second best friend in the world (my wife gets first place, but it's close). who had to have a wing amputated. so, naturally, there was a pretty bad wound left. It's long story and I can talk about THAT experience at length another time. The vet used this product and then covered it with a bandage that looked like an ace bandage but with some mild adhesive. Well the healing was miraculous. In a couple of weeks it was completely healed with a bunch of new pin feathers. This might be a great answer for Cali

 

[IRNMom]

Poor,poor Cali having suffered so! I'm so happy for her to have ended up finally with someone who will not only love her and not allow anyone to abuse her, but who will help her to heal and have a great quality of life!! Many kudos to you also for getting her the medical treatment she's needed for too long!

 

[Ltygress]

It has been 12 days, and here is the wound now!

You can clearly see the reduced size, and new skin growth! The moment the bandage came off, she riped the scab off, and then began preening the vaseline-clumped feathers all around it. She grabbed at a thick blood clot, but has otherwise left the wound alone since the bandage came off.

My favorite part definitely has to be the feathers trying to grow in where the wound used to be! I doubt she'll have feather growth in the very center of the wound's location because of the depth it used to be. But at least they may grow close enough to cover it. So I won't have to worry as much about cold drafts!

 

[Taw5106]

It looks very good. Great improvement for sure.

 

[4dugnlee]

That's great improvement!! You're doing great and so is she!!

 

[Sunset_Chaser]

Looks much better! Please keep us updated on her progress, she's got spunk, that's for sure!

 

[Ltygress]

Haha, spunk! Oh you have no idea. The past week, she seems to have developed a new dance. For months, she has done a bounce move, and she would get on the floor and spin in circles. But now she does this almost-mechanical head shake thing. She'll start by turning her head sideways, as though touching an ear to her shoulder. Then she straightens up. Then she turns her head to the other side in the same way. It's not the figure-8 "Stevie Wonder" type move like my macaws. It's just bent to one side, straight up, bent to the other. And the pause at each pose reminds me of how Data from Star Trek: Next Generation would turn his head.

If I start to mimic her though, she gets faster and faster, until I just can't keep up! But even though it's very fast, it's still move, pause, move, pause, and on and on.

She's also now determined to dunk EVERYTHING that she eats, into her water bowl, first! Pellets, nuts, fruit, she dunks it all before eating now! The pellets even get held under for a moment. So she's probably actually part raccoon - washing everything she eats!