Dodgy foot

[blueelephant]

So young Barnstable is concerning me slightly with how he is using one of his feet. Sitting, perching all fine. Running around on a flat surface you can very clearly see he holds his right foot differently and walks/scampers on the side of the foot rather than holding is flat like he does with his other foot. He does not seem to be in pain. It looks like a comfortable scamper.

I've been mildly concerned about this for a while. I've raised "so do you think there is anything wrong with Barneys foot?" several times and been told "no I can't see anything". Hubby has only acknowledged seeing what I am meaning tonight. He says he thinks it looks worse today as he has looked for it before, whereas I think he's just seeing now what I've seen for a while.

So possible causes. He had a foot bitten by Toby but that is a few months ago. It clearly hurt, but he seemed to recover quickly from the initial pain. I'm wondering if actually there was some damage and now we are just seeing the new comfortable way to walk?
I grabbed him this evening and had a good look at his foot. No signs of swelling etc. He has a range of natural wood perches in his cage.

So do I worry about this? Do I take him to the vet and make him run around the vet table to show them his weird gait? Or do I accept that he seems perfectly happy and not in pain and it's probably an old injury?

Final query, are there any other conditions, than an old physical injury, that could result in a weird gait?

[Loz]

I'm interested in this topic, both for Barney and for my Mr Hibs.

Hibsy hurt his right foot a couple of years ago, no idea how. It's clearly damaged but he perches, climbs, stands and runs on it. He does not have proper use of it though and it always makes me feel sad and guilty.
Mr Hibs OTOH just gets on with it!

[Marianne Marlow]

Barney could have possibly injured/broken a toe?

I have had budgies that have had toe issues but managed fine with them as they adapted.

[Hezz]

blueelephant if Barney doesn’t seem to be in pain, no obvious issues when you manipulated his foot and leg, no sores or red points on the bottom of his feet, I wouldn’t look at doing anything at this stage. If, as you are noticing, he’s getting worse but still agile, I don’t think there is anything a vet could do for him until he is possibly suffering and then prescribe some pain relief. Do as you have been doing - keep a close watch, check his foot and leg regularly. It wouldn’t surprise me if the bite was the original cause and did some physical damage and using the foot slightly crooked is his way of coping with the damage.

[blueelephant]

Thank you all. That's really useful. I will keep an eye on him and see how he gets on.

[Marianne Marlow]

How is Barney's foot doing?

[blueelephant]

I tried to show my brother yesterday. Barney just looked like he was walking normally! I'm pretty sure he is not better though.

[Marianne Marlow]

Naughty little faker (sorry sounds like I am swearing, I mean he's being fake in order to deceive your brother)

Jul 11, 2024 20:14:17 GMT blueelephant said:

I tried to show my brother yesterday. Barney just looked like he was walking normally! I'm pretty sure he is not better though.