Fajr's foot fracture

[Pajarita]

He will regain more use in those toes... maybe not 100% but definitely more.

I would not have continued the medications. He obviously has no infection and no way of developing one and he should no longer need the pain killer. I don't like to medicate just because. I don't think it's good for the body to get stuff it doesn't need and often wonder if vets don't do it just to charge you for something else...

[shiraartain]

I understand where you're coming from, but I'm relieved she gave him another week for the painkiller, as he seemed to be bothered by the splint much more during the day he wasn't on the painkillers.

I'm confused about why she gave us more baytril, as there was enough for the week left...perhaps a lower dosage...? I don't know, I was very anxious about his condition- worried that something would be wrong.

[shiraartain]

hey wanted to, @Parjarita. When she said that at the last visit, my Dad asked if they could do it while he was conscious and offered to hold him for them, and the vet told him the stress could kill Fajr. I found that odd...yes, it would stress him out, but not to that extent.He's relaxed around family members and the machine would stress him out, but no more than a new toy would.

Anyways, she changed her tune this visit and told us they'd try it while he was conscious and if it didn't work, they'd sedate him. Fajr's favorite snuggle pose is to have a hand cupping his back or to sit between our stomachs and the blanket while we lay down reading or on our phones, so toweling him and taking the xray was not a big deal.

I have firmly decided I do not like this vet. She didn't tell us before that their xray machine isn't built to take xrays of birds, and so the image came out blurry and it was hard to see the development of his leg-we could have gone somewhere else for the xray. Also, when I asked about the medication, she seemed unsure then said to continue it. When my dad asked if the pain medication was necessary, she said we could try being off it, and when I asked why the antibiotic was still necessary, she had no answer. She gave us a lot more than we needed when she refilled them last visit. I chose to come here for the follow-up because it's closer than the other two vets, but considering she's only weighed him once and still has yet to ask about his diet (the emergency vet was more thorough than she is!), not returning to her after Fajr's leg heals.

She wanted us to come in for a follow-up next week, but his next xray is in two weeks. all she can conduct is a visual exam for sores and check the splint to make sure is dry and in good condition. This is something we can do without stressing him out with a vet visit.

[Wolf]

I would contact a different avian vet and schedule Fajr's next check up for his leg with them. In my opinion the current vet doesn't know enough and is obviously padding the bill.

[Pajarita]

Yep, she is definitely padding the bill. Fajr never needed to be sedated to be XRayed, he did not need pain medication after the first three days or antibiotic after the first five and what good does it do to take radiographs if you cannot read them?

[shiraartain]

Yeah, definitely going to a different vet. The downside is that this was the first time my Dad came along and now he's convinced all vets are frauds.

This morning Fajr is going CRAZY for a bath. Keeps flying at jugs and glasses of water, trying to bathe. Tried to give him some water to drink and he dunked his head in and started moving his body feathers as he would when bathing. Flies directly towards the sound of water.just saved my tea from him. Really can't wait to give him a bowl of water once he gets his splint off.

[Pajarita]

Try wrapping his entire leg in plastic wrap and secure it all around with surgical tape and then using a spray bottle on him (the edges might get a bit damp but it won't hurt any). It won't be the bath he wants but it will be a bath.

As to AVs been frauds... well, not all of them are. It's like everything else, there are good plumbers and there are bad plumbers, there are good mechanics and there are bad mechanics, etc. But what I can tell you is that most of them don't know as much as people think they know - that's for sure!

[shiraartain]

I'll be going to see the new vet on Friday, sans father since they couldnt give me an appointment later than 4:00. Receptionist gave me the pricing for a pug...and then corrected it. Almost went in for another canine appointment...She included sedation and said that it is required. I'm going to try talking to the vet directly about it.

@Parjarita, my sister took a wet cotton ball and ran it over his body. He calmed down a bit.

Now I have to contact the old vet's office and ask them to fax over records.

It will be almost 5 weeks since the incident when we go in for his appointment, so hopefully we can take off his splint! The other birds have been flying around and whenever Clover lands on me he gets very angry and I have to quickly get her off and take him to a different floor. It does not help that she is simultaneously curious and frightened by his cone.

[Pajarita]

Sedation for a small bird's leg Xray is not required. Why would it be? It's easy to towel them, lay them down on their side holding them down very lightly and carefully stretch out the leg. It's not as if it's a full body Xray from top and side, for heaven's sake!

[shiraartain]

I like this new vet a lot better! We had to wait for an hour, he came in after looking at the X-rays and told us he wasn't going to do an X-ray because there's no way the leg has healed yet.Saw the look on my face (I was tired and had been looking forward to getting the splint off) and said he'd just do a free well check. He took a look at Fajr, explained why Fajr should not be flying around, especially right after whenever he gets the cast off, and said since the skin around the splint is becoming irritated, to put him back on baytril in order to prevent an infection on the entire leg.

I didn't even get to ask questions, he gave the reasoning behind each of his decisions himself.

Basically, the reason why we have to wait until about the 8 week point is because the bone isn't directly aligned, the two parts are slightly next to each other. So for it to heal is going to take longer.

Will put in a longer explanation for the flight aspect of it, exhausted from running around all day for now.