Hohn's McCaw(Dougie)

[justme63084]

We took our Hohn's McCaw to get his nails clips, he was fine, talking and walking everywhere. When we brought him back home we noticed that he was having trouble staying on his perch. We just thought that it was due to not having the nails and had to get used to it. Well its been a few weeks and we took him to the vet today and they told us that he has psychological problems. He was FINE before we got his nails clipped. He wobbles and still can't sit on his perch very well/long without falling off. Is there anything we can give him to help this? Has anyone else had issues like this? I am just sick over this!! He is only 1 yr old.

 

[JerseyWendy]

Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry to hear about your Dougie. Those news had to have been absolutely devastating for you!

Were you present when his nails were trimmed? Did you see how he was handled? Is there a remote possibility that he was toweled to the extent that he was unable to breathe while getting his nails done?

I wish I had an answer for you, but I'm only stabbing in the dark here. Let's hope for the best. Let's hope that Dougie fully recovers. What else did the vet tell you?

And lastly, welcome to the forum.

 

[justme63084]

We take him back on Thursday for some blood work and we will know more. And no we wasn't present when his nails were cut but it is a very good bird store and they seem to handle them really well, but you never know about the ones that do the cutting in the back.
Thank you for the welcome. I enjoy getting others opinions on things like this that I have no answer for. Hopefully the blood work will show something.

 

[weco]

What diameter are the perches in his cage? Does he have only one size perch?

Look care fully at his nails an see how they were clipped, then observe him sitting on his perch.....do the nail wrap around and touch or almost touch each other?

Look at the images below & the way the cuts have been made...only the first one allows the bird to use the clipped nail to grip the perch.....the other two do not provide a proper gripping tip and will cause birds to walk funny and slip off perches in some cases.....

Even someone who has done hundreds of nail clips may not understand the dynamics of how a bird grips a perching surface and will tell complaining clients that it's just that the bird has to get used to the clip.....all true, but not right.....hold your thumb & index finger like a bird grips a perch...your nails would not provide any gripping benefit in either of the last two pics, but in the first pic, assume your nail were on the bottom & looking at the first pic, your nails would provide effective gripping.....provided the perch is of a proper diameter.....

 

[justme63084]

He has multiple perches and ropes in his cage. I am not at home but will check as soon as I get there about his nails wrapping around it. Thanks

 

[justme63084]

He has the smaller perches but has multiple size ropes that he can go on. He can't even stand on the counter without wobbling and falling over. I don't think his nails have anything to do with it. He will stand there and you can see his whole body wobbling around. The vet said there was nothing wrong with his legs or feet. Heck I don't know!

 

[Remy]

Do you mean he has some neurological trauma? Psychological trauma would be from being traumatized, but neurological trauma would come from a physical injury. I wonder if his neck or back could have been injured.

Where do you live? I have a holistic practitioner near me that does (very gentle) chiropractic adjustments for animals, including birds.

 

[henpecked]

I'd pay a dollar to see someone make chiropractic adjustments on my hen amazon,LOL.

 

[justme63084]

The vet said psychological but maybe it is neurological. Heck i don't know. All I know it all happened after we took him to get his nails cut, and now he can't stand without wobbling. We are in Missouri.

 

[goalerjones]

Does he seem like his feet hurt him when he walks on them? Have you noticed how he is on a completely flat surface? If he pulls his feet up all the time it could just be pain. If his feet hurt him it will make it hard to climb, grip and perch on the normal circular perches.

 

[Remy]

I don't think psychological trauma would explain trouble walking... maybe he meant neurological? Like the above poster mentioned too- does it appear that his feet hurt?

That diagnosis is very vague and doesn't really explain anything, let alone make sense, to me. Second opinion?