Budgie head hanging low & foot pain

[azul]

Hi everyone,

Our pet budgie Azul is unwell and is constantly hanging his head low. I'm not sure if this is linked to his foot pain, picture below shows a white mark on his foot surrounded by reddish skin. Has anyone seen this before? If anyone could give some guidance it would be greatly appreciated.

He is still eating and drinking, and chirping/whistling once in a while.

He can put slight weight on his foot but is preferring to stand on one foot constantly and hangs his head very low in a peculiar way.

We are trying to find a vet, but many are booked up or not avian specialists, so it may take a few days before we get to send Azul to the vet.

[Shirls]

Hi azul. I'm sorry to see that your budgie is like this. I'm afraid to say that Azul has bumblefoot. The good news is that it is treatable. It can be very difficult to treat and will take a long time.

However the first steps to take are to bathe the foot in Epsom Salts (magnesium). Do this two or three times a day if you can. Secondly if you can get hold of some Fucidin cream (this is for humans believe it or not, as well as pets) it is a wonderful antiseptic/antibiotic cream that works wonders. My avian vet stocks fucidin but the first time I used it, it was actually prescribed by my G.P. for a foot problem.

To ease Azul's pain, can you wrap the perches in something soft, particularly his favourite roosting perch and the one he sits on a lot during the day.

If you can't get hold of Fucidin, an antibiotic cream like Savlon or Sudacrem will help, but it will take a lot longer to heal. I would bathe his foot particular at night time, dry off with a cotton pad then apply the cream, whatever you can get, so he will sit still through the night to help it heal.

It is NOT contagious, but if you have other birds, check their feet also.

If you can think of anything rough in his cage that could have caused this i.e. rough gravel perches, sandsheets, rough perch covers - remove them!!

Good luck and if you need any further advice do come back, also let us know how you both get on.

[samwiseg]

Hi and welcome azul

Shirls has given great advice here for bumblefoot - it looks to me like it may be in the early stages. Is there a red dot on the centre of the underside of his foot? As I cant tell from your picture

[azul]

Hi Shirls,

Thank you for your advice, we really appreciate it!

We have been lucky enough to visit an exotic vet earlier today. There are not positive on the issue, but have a strong inclination this is linked to either kidney issues, or a tumor of the testicles.

The vet has given us Baytril as an antibiotic, and Metacam as a painkiller. They would like us to come back with Azul to do a blood test and x-rays, etc to find the route cause of his health issues. Unfortunately we don't have insurance, so will need to find some way of covering the fairly high costs involved.

I'm hoping that it is just bumblefoot as you mentioned this is treatable. Unfortunately, it looks to be something more serious :-(.

[azul]

Hi samwiseg ,

Yes, thank you again Shirls.

@samwisweg1, there isn't a red spot under his foot. The only visible issue is coming from the small white spot on his ankle and the reddish surrounding.

His head is constantly hanging down, the vet initially suspected that Azul experienced a brain issue and then fell and hurt his leg. Further investigation has led to suspicion of a tumor or kidney problems.

We are very concerned, and really appreciate the response from both of you.

Thank you!

[suesbird]

I really hope he can be helped, good luck.

[Hezz]

Jul 20, 2019 18:49:27 GMT azul said:

The only visible issue is coming from the small white spot on his ankle and the reddish surrounding.

His head is constantly hanging down, the vet initially suspected that Azul experienced a brain issue and then fell and hurt his leg. Further investigation has led to suspicion of a tumor or kidney problems.

We are very concerned, and really appreciate the response from both of you.

Thank you!

That's what I thought - not the underside of his foot at all. I am sorry your little Azul is unwell. I was thinking it might be gout, which would fit with your vet's kidney problems suspicions. At least the Metacam will give him some relief from the pain; I sincerely hope he doesn't have a tumour. Unfortunately unless the other tests are done, you and the vet can only guess at the problems. You could try giving him watery and leafy vegetables to eat, such as lettuce, celery cucumber etc to help flush his kidneys but not fruits - too high in sugars most of them.

[Marianne Marlow]

My Basil who passed in June, I believe that he had a fatty lump and testicular tumour. His cere went from a bright blue, to brown and then light blue like a hens.

He may he sitting in that way because he has a heavy lump near his rear somewhere, to balance himself out? Basil slumped over a perch whenever he could, near the end.

I hope that you're able to help Azul.

[Shirls]

Do let us know azul how your little birdie gets on, I really hope the vet can help you lots. The metacam will be very good for his pain relief, it's good that the vet prescribed that.

[azul]

Jul 23, 2019 8:23:42 GMT Shirls said:

Do let us know azul how your little birdie gets on, I really hope the vet can help you lots. The metacam will be very good for his pain relief, it's good that the vet prescribed that.

Hi Everyone,

We greatly appreciate your comments, we are in an extremely tough situation. Unfortunately the vet has advised us to put Azul to sleep.

The vet did not want to proceed with tests today, as he seems to have made the decision by looking at Azul that he is too unwell. I feel upset, and trying to think rationally.

We are keen to get a second opinion, although I'm almost certain Azul has articulate gout. Is there anything we can treat Azul with, or some form of a cure?

The vet seems very forceful with his words, advising that we must not wait longer than 24 hours to euthanise Azul.

Any advice and/or help would be really appreciates. Thank you

[Marianne Marlow]

Hezz?

[Marianne Marlow]

Please do get a second opinion. I wouldn't let the vet push you into anything.

For gout I believe that lots of vegetables is meant to be good. I am not sure about medication.

[Jane]

I agree with Marianne Marlow. Don’t get rushed into making a decision. If you want a second opinion then that’s your right. You said in an earlier post that the vet wasn’t avian, have I got that right? Whereabouts do you live?

[azul]

Jul 29, 2019 20:19:38 GMT Marianne Marlow said:

Please do get a second opinion. I wouldn't let the vet push you into anything.

For gout I believe that lots of vegetables is meant to be good. I am not sure about medication.

Thank you for your reply, I appreciate it, we do feel quite pressured and that's made me feel uneasy going with the vets decision.

We have been feeding Azul celery as he seems to eat it(kind of, but also plays with it more than consuming). It's really tough to get him to eat vegetables, is there anyway we could mush it up and syringe feed like giving an antibiotic?

[azul]

Jul 29, 2019 20:44:32 GMT Jane said:

I agree with Marianne Marlow. Don’t get rushed into making a decision. If you want a second opinion then that’s your right. You said in an earlier post that the vet wasn’t avian, have I got that right? Whereabouts do you live?

That's true, and something that's hard to remember when we have been made to feel otherwise by the vet.

He found an exotic qualified veterinary, we live in central London. There are only two places we found that have any form of avian experience. We have booked to see one in Richmond, but that's not until Wednesday evening sadly