Urgent: post-amputation care, advice needed/I thought I would spend my Saturday doing this...

[darlingdarla]

No luck on veterinary care just yet but I'm calling around, I should have enough leftover from my next paycheck to at least cover a visit or two but I dont know yet.

Rosie's leg is actually looking better to me? Not great but better.
I've been really trying to secure the bandages the last week or so and she's only managed to bust out of one. I tried an elizabethen collar but she tried to break her own neck and I settled for solitary confinement. She's in the coop by herself now, with daily supervised visits with the bantams in the run with treats to encourage her to hop a step or two. It's helping. She does pick at the bandage but it's less so her picking and more the movement that is making it fall off since it is slick with ointment all the time.

I've got some pictures, it might not look different in them but it's looking better in person. Her skin looks a lot darker in the photos also. The tip is also much less swollen btw.
She's had the yellow line down the back of her leg since the necrosis started, and it's always been slightly swollen. I thought it might be discoloration from always being bandaged but it hasn't gone away. I'm thinking it is buildup of something, maybe pus, that was connected to the yellow mass I pulled out of the holes behind her joint if that makes sense.
I'm thinking it may detach from the joint at some point. It might take a much longer time than the original necrosis since it is a less superficial area, but that's what I'm thinking right now.
There is some bruising on the healthy part of her leg from the last time I plucked her feathers which is making her skin look darker.

 

[Allsfairinloveandbugs]

How is Rosie?

 

[darlingdarla]

How is Rosie?

Hello doing better, the leg still isn't looking how I want it to look but it's improving and the sore on the back of the joint is completely healed up.
I'm changing the bandage daily and wrapping much more thoroughly, and she hasn't gotten out of a bandage in a while. She's also picking less and seems more comfortable with the extra padding.
She's very alert, and wants to be active, always has a nice full crop at the end of the day.
I'll get some pictures when I change her bandage today.

The tip is still having some issues with infection it seems, but I removed the old scab a few days ago and it's looking better now, the bone is healing over a lot more than I expected, and it looks like she may end up with flesh over the bone in the end. The joint is also able to flex a little bit again.

It's been a rough week. I got covid and came down with a high fever. I spent four days in bed, I only got up to change Rosie's bandage. I'm doing fine, not 100% yet but I've managed to keep up with Rosie's care which is all that matters.
I'll get pictures today.

 

[Allsfairinloveandbugs]

Sorry to hear you got covid, but glad to hear you are doing better and Rosie is too. The bony tip on Matilda's left stump still isn't fully covered with flesh, more like a small scab. But it hasn't ever gotten infected, and the bony tip still seems to be slowly but surely healing. I think both Rosie and Matilda have lots of spunk and spirit, & that has carried them a long way during their physical recoveries.

 

[darlingdarla]

Hey everybody, sorry for taking so long to get back with pictures.
The pressure sore is gone, and the tip has a thick scab over it. I'm not sure if the color is a bad thing, but it does seem to be slowly healing and peeling off, and under the scab a thin layer of flesh has healed over the bone. You can see what has healed where the skin is a light pink. Her skin looks darker in the pictures than it does in person, so I'll try to get some better ones when I can. I'm trying to let the feathers grow in, so we end the neverending cycle of plucking and regrowth.

 

[aart]

I'm trying to let the feathers grow in, so we end the neverending cycle of plucking and regrowth.

Why not just snip them 1/4-1/2" from the skin?

Wonders if the green on the 'bottom of the L' is bruising from her walking on that portion?

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I think it's looking better.

I hope you are doing better yourself and recovering too

 

[darlingdarla]

Why not just snip them 1/4-1/2" from the skin?

Wonders if the green on the 'bottom of the L' is bruising from her walking on that portion?

I will, but a lot of them are still blood feathers, so I'm letting them stay for a bit. None of them have turned into cysts or gotten impacted so I'll snip them in a few days.

Do you mean the back of her leg under the joint? Above where the pressure sore used to be.
That yellow/green has been there since the necrosis started, I thought it might be like a cheesy buildup under the skin and was worried about further infection but it's starting to go away, a bit of it flaked off actually. I don't know what that means either. I feel like it could be bruising or irritation from being bandaged for so long but I don't know, I'm just happy that pressure sore healed.

I think it's looking better.

I hope you are doing better yourself and recovering too

Thank you, I'm doing good. I went back to work yesterday. I'm just hoping Rosie starts healing up soon, this has been going on since early September now.

 

[aart]

Do you mean the back of her leg under the joint?

Yes, below the joint.

I will, but a lot of them are still blood feathers,

Yeah, gotta wait until they grow out.

 

[darlingdarla]

Yes, below the joint.


Yeah, gotta wait until they grow out.

Yeah so that color has been there since the necrosis started. I was worried it was buildup like you see with bumblefoot infections, especially after I pulled all that gunk out of the pressure sore and flushed out those holes (still no idea what they were, just thankful they healed). But now the color is starting to return to normal.

What happened with the feathers is she melted in October and the new pin feathers turned to cysts and needed to be plucked, and they've kind of just been getting impacted and plucked over and over again. I'm really trying to wrap loosely around them for a while, and just wrap higher where the feathers are grown in fully, if that makes sense. It's helping, I think another week and I'll be able to snip them without her bleeding.