We had only had Pond (Doctor Who fans will understand!) a few days when she apparently wandered off right into the jaws of our neighbour's dog. She obviously hid out/hopped off somewhere and managed to survive with little food or water and only one functioning leg for at least a fortnight!
She hopped across a field and into next doors garden two days ago and now I'm trying to figure out what I can do to help her recover from her ordeal.
Her bad leg is not painful in the least, apparently - she lets me feel the whole way from hip to toe without so much as flinching, and I can move it at the hip and 'knee' fine BUT, while she appears to have the ability to move it at the hip (when I was taking the pictures she pulled it up a little further towards her body) and some movement in the knee (she can lift the foot up and put it down far enough her toes touch the floor, but it's not much of a range) she will not put her foot on the floor fully. She's hopping around fine, having a little lie down (on her good side) when needed, but she's only using that foot for balance - reaching it down far enough that the tip of her longest toe touches the floor.
And when I move her lower leg for her it feels sort of 'loose' at the knee joint, I don't think its dislocated but then, I've never felt a dislocated anything before! Could anyone tell me what it might look/feel like if it were dislocated? Wouldn't it be painful? Or would pain have died down in a fortnight?
The reason I think her thigh is broken is that, while not painful for her, I feel a large, hard, lump in the middle. I think it might have broken, slipped, and started to reheal in a different position. Or could it just be swelling? Does bone heal quick enough to be stable and not painful in only two weeks?
Any ideas what I can do to help her out? I'm thinking our vet, though useless with birds, might be willing and able to X-ray her to see exactly what happened to her leg...
She's happy, 'chatty', eating super well and quite cheerful. Right now I have her in a small henhouse by herself where she won't have to hop far to get to food and water, and doesn't have to climb anything to get to bed at night. But I have a dog crate if you think I should limit her movement a little more? Should I think about supporting or splinting the leg?
Basically, help!
She hopped across a field and into next doors garden two days ago and now I'm trying to figure out what I can do to help her recover from her ordeal.
Her bad leg is not painful in the least, apparently - she lets me feel the whole way from hip to toe without so much as flinching, and I can move it at the hip and 'knee' fine BUT, while she appears to have the ability to move it at the hip (when I was taking the pictures she pulled it up a little further towards her body) and some movement in the knee (she can lift the foot up and put it down far enough her toes touch the floor, but it's not much of a range) she will not put her foot on the floor fully. She's hopping around fine, having a little lie down (on her good side) when needed, but she's only using that foot for balance - reaching it down far enough that the tip of her longest toe touches the floor.
And when I move her lower leg for her it feels sort of 'loose' at the knee joint, I don't think its dislocated but then, I've never felt a dislocated anything before! Could anyone tell me what it might look/feel like if it were dislocated? Wouldn't it be painful? Or would pain have died down in a fortnight?
The reason I think her thigh is broken is that, while not painful for her, I feel a large, hard, lump in the middle. I think it might have broken, slipped, and started to reheal in a different position. Or could it just be swelling? Does bone heal quick enough to be stable and not painful in only two weeks?
Any ideas what I can do to help her out? I'm thinking our vet, though useless with birds, might be willing and able to X-ray her to see exactly what happened to her leg...
She's happy, 'chatty', eating super well and quite cheerful. Right now I have her in a small henhouse by herself where she won't have to hop far to get to food and water, and doesn't have to climb anything to get to bed at night. But I have a dog crate if you think I should limit her movement a little more? Should I think about supporting or splinting the leg?
Basically, help!
