Avian Subcutaneous Emphysema– update on Primor

[PrimorandMoxi]

When I pet him I can actually feel air bubbles under his skin along his back. Other areas of body too.
Its not his firm flesh and muscle but sort of crunchy movable air bubbles.
Hmmmph!

Also FYI He has been on meloxicam for almost a week now.

you know I am also keeping an eye on stress bars on his feathers and now I am seeing a certain amount of black bars, when his feathers are usually in great shape.
I think he suffered some trauma a couple of months ago and i'm now just seeing the signs of it.

 

[rheashard2]

Be careful when petting. Air under skin isn't usually a problem until it gets in or near irritating spots; joints etc. This crackling is called subcutaneous emphysema in humans, dogs, cats. It normally slowlyy dissipates on it's own. It will spread around on it's own as it dissipates. It can be a distraction with animals. Dogs/cats will lick areas spreading it around. A few will lick hair and skin till they have sores. I don't know what a bird will do. But I'd pay attention and watch for excessive, aggressive preening and plucking. When your friend is alert, distraction is one the best medicines.

 

[DonnaBudgie]

A PF member who started the thread "Doing this wrong" is raising two baby IRNs rejected by their parents. One baby had a ruptured air sac and is doing fine now.

 

[PrimorandMoxi]

This morning my "bubble boy" has his follow up for the CT procedure but not sure if the scans will have been read.

Looking back on past months I realize he had physical trauma that I was not fully aware of.
His symptoms showed up at different times:
-first a cut on his head
-then I heard wheezing
-he was also a bit more leery of our hands.
-his tail feathers were mangled and he couldn't seem to preen them into shape.
(now he is losing his tail feathers -first the half where they'd been broken and then from the shaft. )

I guess unless the scan shows otherwise.
My household’s other bird guardian did say, Primor flew onto one of those box fans and it fell on him... he said he was really concerned at the moment but other than the cut he seemed fine.

It takes months to pull the whole story out of my co-parront.
This must have been in the November when I used that fan last.

Also here are the reports from the Vet hospital if anyone is interested.

 

[DonnaBudgie]

That report is really impressive! I'll bet my Dr doesn't take notes this good. You're so lucky to have access to such good vet care. You need to tell Dr about the H2O2 guy's confessions about the box fan injury etc.

 

[PrimorandMoxi]

We’ve been closely monitoring Primor since his CT scan and follow up, hoping to see the air under his skin dissipate—but so far, it hasn’t. Instead, it just seems to shift around—from under one wing to the other, then down to his rump, where it kind of pools and has nowhere else to go so it just circles back... we think.


So, we’ve decided to go ahead with a procedure to draw the air out with a syringe—essentially "popping" my little bubble boy.

If the air returns after that, it likely means one of his air sacs is still leaking, and we’ll take it from there.


Interestingly, the CT scan didn’t show any obvious tears or leaks, which makes this all a bit more mysterious.


On a more positive note, there’s been an unexpected silver lining
—my partner is finally on board with proper nutrition. His old view was “a bird eating is a healthy bird,” but now he’s fully invested in prepping better meals for the flock, which I’ve been doing for years.

So at least that’s one small win for the birds.

We thank you all for the support and insights—it’s means a lot to Primor.
(and me too)

Robert

 

[LaManuka]

We’ve been closely monitoring Primor since his CT scan and follow up, hoping to see the air under his skin dissipate—but so far, it hasn’t. Instead, it just seems to shift around—from under one wing to the other, then down to his rump, where it kind of pools and has nowhere else to go so it just circles back... we think.


So, we’ve decided to go ahead with a procedure to draw the air out with a syringe—essentially "popping" my little bubble boy.

If the air returns after that, it likely means one of his air sacs is still leaking, and we’ll take it from there.


Interestingly, the CT scan didn’t show any obvious tears or leaks, which makes this all a bit more mysterious.


On a more positive note, there’s been an unexpected silver lining
—my partner is finally on board with proper nutrition. His old view was “a bird eating is a healthy bird,” but now he’s fully invested in prepping better meals for the flock, which I’ve been doing for years.

So at least that’s one small win for the birds.

We thank you all for the support and insights—it’s means a lot to Primor.
(and me too)

Robert

Hoping the upcoming procedure provides relief, @PrimorandMoxi, and clarity as to your next steps going forward

 

[DonnaBudgie]

Can the vet put a wrap around his body to compress the air out while it hopefully heals flat?