Broken Leg?

[Lucky Feathers]

A very good friend of mine called me tonight for some advice - her youngish bird (under a year) has broken it's leg. She found it struggling in it's cage and she ran to help it - the bird some how got itself tangled in it's toy and she help it out, but once the struggle was over she found it has broken it's leg.

She called me right away asking what she should do. Normally the first thing I would say in this instance is take the bird to vet right away, however she moved away from here a little while ago and is now living in the country in the middle of nowhere and there are no avian vets around anywhere.

I told her move him either into a small cage with no perches or a 10 gallon tank. I also told her to wrap the leg with vet wrap if he will let her to keep the leg straight and from moving around and it should heal that way.

Is there anything else she should do? Should I have her actually split the leg with tooth picks and then wrap it or will just a wrap be fine?

I know a vet is the best thing to tell her, but she lives out in the middle of nowhere in the country and there are no avian vets. Nothing is around.

Any advice for her would be excellent!!!

[guest1717171]

she should find a vet and make the drive no matter how far it is - that little bird will suffer dearly, maybe die, if not treated for an injury of that severity

i look at it like this
would i take my son to the doctor if ____________.
the answer is almost always yes. i would take him no matter how far i had to drive

10 hours of driving beats 10 hours of sitting at home with the bird suffering unnecessarily

[kali]

i agree. take the bird to the vet OR put it out of it's misery. either thing you decde is the better thing to do.

i don't care how far away you live, you shold alwyas try to find an avian vet closest to yyou and take them at least once a year,.

[Lisa B]

yes. it needs a vet NO MATTER the drive. Imagine having a broken leg, and no one wanting to drive to get you help?
Thats part of being a responsible owner.
I've driven 4 hours one way to get mine to a vet when he was plucking.
If that was mine, I would drop everything and RUN.

Please know, we arent venting at you...we are just trying to get the importance across. Sadly, we see this happen all the time. People come online for advice, when the bird is suffering, and often dies a miserable death.

[Lucky Feathers]

Like I said this is NOT my bird - it is a friend of mine who called me for help. Long story, but she moved away a little over a year ago after her parents suddenly passed away. She knew her parents would never want to sell the house nor did she, so she moved away as she could not afford her home and the family home.

She is a very responsible bird owner and when she lived by me she had the same vet as me - she is a wonderful person and the most caring animal person around. If she lived here still she would have definitely rush right to the vet and called me when after, but since she moved and doesn't have a vet she called me right away.

There are NO avian vets anywhere and that is the whole problem. She would take her bird to the vet without a doubt, but there aren't any. She has called around and I have even done numerous searches for her and cannot find a single one.

[guest1717171]

maybe im wrong but wouldnt it be better for her to drive to a regular vet than to see no vet at all?

i mean, even if the closest vet was a 12 hour drive i would have headed out as soon as the situation arose

if it happened last night she would inevitably be close to a vet somewhere by now...instead of sitting there letting the bird suffer

thats just my view on things. i know its not your bird, and i understand it is your friend
but imho, one is not a good pet parent if they sit at home while their animal suffers
there is a vet somewhere she could drive to - even if its not an av
even if its several hours away

[Lucky Feathers]

She has called several small animal vets and they will not see or treat a bird - liability reasons. She would be more then willing to drive the distance, but has no way of doing so.

And for your information - she is not sitting at home doing nothing, please get your facts straight!!!

[guest1717171]

dont get snippy

doing nothing = not on the road driving to a vet
and i said in my honest opinion

i dont need to get my facts straight because i was going off of the facts you provided

-!!-

take a deep breath, jeez

*eyeroll*

[Lucky Feathers]

I wouldnt call staying up all night calling around everywhere she can for a vet doing nothing. She has not gotten a wink of sleep yet and she is still on the love looking for a vet somewhere - so I wouldn't at all call that doing nothing or not being a good bird owner.

She would drive the bird to the vet if she knew of where one is, but obviously she hasn't found one yet.

*rolls eyes right back*