Bellas' Accident - I Feel Terrible - Emergency Vets ?

[Violet_Diva]

I had the top of the cage open to change the position of a perch. Bella flew onto the cage door top and it crashed down trapping her toe between the doors. I quickly opened the top and released her toe. She didn't make a peep. Her foot now feels quite hot, It doesn't look like it's broken When she's perching she's holding it up into her body. She is able to use it some, she's walked across perches and climbed the bars of her cage and hung upside down by her feet. But she's definitely favouring the other foot. As she's got some Baytril, I'm hoping it will help with any swelling. I feel just awful about it I'm meant to be looking after her and protecting her, not doing stupid things and creating unnecessary risks! I'm really angry with myself for such a lapse in judgment. I was trying to move the perches to maximise space for wing flapping since she hurt her wing (which is looking much better) and in the process I've made things worse. My poor baby :smile014: I'm so disappointed in myself. Should I get her to the emergency vets?

 

[Allee]

Ouch, poor Bella! That's one of those accidents you can't predict, of course take every logical precaution but accidents do happen, no need to beat yourself up. It's hard to say how much damage was actually done unless you have her examined by a vet. I think I would talk to a vet before giving Baytril unless she's already taking it. Best of luck, please let us know how Bella does.

 

[happy410]

Sorry to hear about Bella. The very first day we got our cage with the open top the same thing almost happened to our Amazon. We just tossed that perch and never open the playtop.

 

[GaleriaGila]

As to vet or no vet, I'm not sure.

But about feeling bad, pleeeeease don't. If I told you all the mistakes I've made over time, we'd be here all day and all night. Just consider it something learned...
Best of luck to you both!

 

[BeatriceC]

Don't beat yourself up. Accidents happen even when you do everything right.

I'm not sure about the emergency vet. If you lived in my area I wouldn't hesitate to say go. The EV near me partners with my avian vet and his office partner on an on-call basis and isn't much more expensive than the regular vet office fee. If you have something like that, go in. If you don't, does your vet have an after hours number?

 

[Violet_Diva]

Allee
Bella is already on Baytril & Fungitraxx from her last vet visit about her drooping wing, I told the vet Bella had sneezed more than once during a week period and so she issued meds...

happy410
I don't think I will be opening the top of the cage any time soon after this mishap! It's staying firmly closed...

GaleriaGila
Definitely a lesson learned here. Thanks for the luck - I think I need it at the minute...

BeatriceC
Avian vets are a bit harder to come by round here. The nearest vet with any avian experience is on maternity leave until November. I think I will call the out of hours number tomorrow and speak to her and see if she thinks Bella should be looked at or not...

Everyone
Sorry for freaking out so much, I just find it really hard knowing that my actions resulted in the harm of my feathered baby. I was trying to do something nice and something bad happened as a result.
Please keep in mind that I have a vivarium of partially trodden on rescued garden snails and just yesterday my partner deliberately bought lettice from the supermarket because it had a bug in it, just so he could rescue the bug and let it go... that's the kind of mentality you're dealing with here... causing owies (minor or severe) is quite emotionally challenging for me

 

[GaleriaGila]

I love you, Violet!
Rescue on!

 

[happy410]

I'm sorry this happened to you. Please don't feel so guilty, accidents happen. I'm sure Bella will be just fine.

 

[cnyguy]

Hoping that all is well with Bella. Sadly, hers isn't the first such accident of that kind that I've heard of. Both parrots here have the same type of cage, and neither top is ever opened only because I'm so fearful of an accidental closing of the top.

 

[Anansi]

Hopefully Bella has only gotten a bit of a painful pinch, but calling that vet number seems like the best bet. As much as birds tend to hide their injuries, it's hard to just trust their appearances.

And just to chime in on what a few of the others have already said, don't be too hard on yourself. No one can anticipate every possible danger to their bird. Even when we do the best we can for our fids, sometimes stuff happens anyway. All we can do is learn from our mistakes for next time. You know?

Sent from my SM-N900V using Tapatalk

 

[Teddscau]

Sorry to hear about Bella's little toe. I know the others have already said this, but try to forgive yourself. You sound like an extremely diligent parrot mommy, and we've all made plenty of mistakes with our birds. Because I wasn't as diligent as I should've been to prevent Ziggy from mating (he's hypersexual, which puts him and other budgies at risk), Lara became gravid and almost died because her cloaca was barely big enough for her to poop, let alone pass an egg. Luckily, our avian vet was able to perform an emergency episiotomy to get the egg out. She's able to poop more easily thanks to the bigger opening she has now, but still.

 

[Flboy]

Not only do I never use the top open, it is tyewraped closed.

 

[Scott]

I hope Bella is feeling much better today! Any change to the appearance or use of her injured toe?

Accidents do happen despite the very best of care and intentions. Thanks for posting - not only is it therapeutic for you but we can all learn from the events of our fellow members!

 

[texsize]

I accidently closed the cage door with my YNA toe in the hinge side. He let out a squawk before I had closed it too far.
He did the same thing you describe, favored that foot and only perching with the other foot holding injured foot tucked up.
did not go to vet just kept an eye on him, he recovered and got over it more quickly than I did.
texsize

 

[Teddscau]

I agree with texsize. Oftentimes, you'd expect a fracture or something, but it turns out to be minor (but painful). Bones tend to be stronger than you'd think, but at the same time surprisingly weak, if that makes sense. I read one story about how some +200lbs man stepped on his budgie, but the bird was fine. I think he took the bird to the vet, and somehow the budgie only had minor injuries.

Speaking from my own experience, my mom accidentally closed a sliding glass door really hard on one of our dogs' heads. She was panicking, thinking she'd just shattered her jaw, but she hadn't. And I mean this was just a tiny puppy who was screaming bloody murder as the door slammed against her face.

I guess we're basically saying is that Bella is most likely fine, but you must assume something is likely broken, just to be safe. Expect the worst but hope for the best. That's what I do when it comes to my birds. That way you're mentally prepared while also experiencing the greatest relief ever if things turn out fine.

 

[Violet_Diva]

cnyguy
It's strangely comforting to know I'm not the only one who's had something like this happen. But it begs the question as to whether anyone has designed or developed a cage with some kind of safety feature to reduce birds having parts trapped in doors?...

Anansi
All I can do is try to be more careful in future. I just waiting on a call back from the vet at the mo. On the bright side she did some flying around the room without encouragement today, so hopefully she's building up her flight muscles and helping that wing strengthen.

Teddscau
Good save with Lara! I'm glad you were able to get her help before it was too late. Im glad she's ok. I do agree with your 'presume the worst' and then anything less bad is a bonus, if not, you're already mentally prepared! I will be speaking with the vet again soon and will decide whether to take her in tomorrow or not...

Flboy
The top doors of the cage are currently 'out of order'. I don't want any more mishaps from them in future. I like your tie-wrap extra security measures!...

Scott
In all honesty I'm not entirely sure which toe it was, I just saw a trapped toe and released it as quickly as possible. Her foot still feels warm, her grasp isn't as tight as normal, the alignment of the toes looks normal (nothing pointing in a strange direction). She still uses her other foot more and tucks the injured one up when perching. But I think she's walking on it more than last night...

texsize
Do you remember how long your Amazon took to use his foot normally again? Was it his foot to the touch too?...

Thanks for all your input and supportive words guys!

 

[Marileen]

Violet......how is Bella now?

 

[Violet_Diva]

She's being a little less active than usual, but I've still caught her climbing the bars of her cage a few times. She's definitely not as outgoing as usual. So she must be sore. She's still eating fine and chatting to me with her special 'whisper honks' she does. She's walking on the foot and then retracting it when she perches or stops. It's still warm to the touch. I spoke to the vet and they said I can bring her in tomorrow to have it looked at - just to be safe!

 

[chris-md]

you are far from the first, believe me! Just a few months ago Parker somehow got ahold of an excedrine tablet of all things! Just crawling around the floor exploring was all this took. Not sure where it came from. I take excedrine but only keep it in my car.

In retrospect he only likely crushed up what he got ahold of. But excedrine has 80mg Tylenol or thereabouts. Only 4g is considered toxic. So as precautionary measure he had a couple nights at the vets office with subcutaneous fluids, activated charcoal, to name a few.

Accidents happen, as previously stated. You're in wonderful company and I hope Bella is doing much better today. Sending you hugs and healing vibes.

 

[Violet_Diva]

chris-md
Wow, very well spotted! He could've been in some real trouble if he had a less observant human. He's very lucky to have you! Thanks for the hugs & vibes Bella says 'gwarghh' in her whisper honk way - I think it means thanks. Im planning on getting her a monitor very soon so I can play her some videos in her room. Im looking forward to seeing what she thinks of Parker!