Parakeet Bumblefoot

[Idee]

Byrdie is 9 years old and usually a very wordy talkative:budgie: (+30 words) yellow parakeet. About 5 months ago he was starting to "LOOK" down at his feet. Nothing seemed to bother him but his looking at his feet continued. Now 5 months later I see he is favoring one foot...still flying around playing and talking. I picked him up and noticed a slight swelling on one foot. I took him to my avian doctor and he gave him an antiobiotic which I administered twice daily at .01 ml. I didn't notice any change but that Byrdie's foot was getting red and he was unhappy, but still flying, playing and talking a mile a minute. (Birds tend to hide their illnesses.) I went to the vet again and mentioned "bumblefoot" and he said that it very well could be that but the medicine should take care of it and gave more antibiotic and then said to me that Byrdie is 9 years old and is an "old guy" and this is something I should expect. So I took him home and read up on bumblefoot some more and changed perches to be larger for him to not grasp so tightly and covered some in a non-catchie cloth as the article said. This morning, I noticed little whiteheads, like pimples, on the bottom of his feet and a cracked swollen area. I'm taking him to the doctor again tonight (money is no object for my little Byrdie) and will see what he says. I will not put him down...that's for sure. I've had to do that with too many of my parakeets due to the fact that they are prone to tumors. These little parakeets are the love of my life but tend to get illnesses that end in doing the humane thing....which I will do everything I can for Byrdie before I resort to that ...... again.....because that really hurts me to do and I grieve so much afterward thinking: "why do I have the decision to do that...I am not Gd to take away a life." It's so confusing and heartrenching. So I am asking if anyone else has had this happen to their parakeet and what was the end result. Any help would be great and I will update this tomorrow with the results of the vet.
p.s. I pray every night for this little Byrdie to have no pain and his feet get better.:budgie: I know that prayer has saved him 4 times already.

[pal0m1n0]

Hi, Glad you came here. Changing your perches was a good idea. I don't know about bumblefoot other than hearing the name but I know it is something that can happen when the wrong kind of perches are used.

Is your vet an avian vet?

I looked up bumblefoot as well and this link had interesting information in case you missed it. http://www.michigan.gov/dnr/0,1607,7-153-10370_12150_12220-26357--,00.html

It sounds to me like it is treatable, though it did imply that the abcess may have to be opened and drained. The white bumps sound like that. Some of our breeders may have more practical information.

This link has some treatments others have used,

http://www.guinealynx.com/pododermatitis.html

I know it is specifically for other animals, (I didn't know that it was limited to birds) but some of the techniques may work. I would clear them with your vet first. I also don't know how all this will impact keeping your perches clean.

What kind of perch did you buy? A wide variety suitable to the species is currently considered the best. I would avoid concrete or anything rough for the time being, unless someone knows that they are specifically helpful.

[ronsig]

I only heard the term "bumblefoot" at the Canadian parrot conference last year.We were told that it is caused by "manicure" perches. These perches are hard.

It is only a problem when the birds sleep on them. That's why they should not be in the highest spot in the cage.
Covered the perch with something soft makes sense..
I hope your bird feels better soon.:)

Sigrid

[clifff123]

Hi Idee, welcome to Talk Budgies. Sorry I can't help you but we do have allot of knowledgeable members that will check in and help you out. Byrdie sounds adorable and we can see you truly love him. Changing perches was a good idea. Again welcome and other members will be on shortly. Keep checking post!!

A quote from Budgiekin (Admin.) on another post:
Essentially bumblefoot refers to inflammation/infection of the bottom of the foot and is fairly common in budgies. Initially, the signs are a thinning of the skin on the foot bottom and redness. As it worsens, ulcers can develop on the pads of the feet. When the condition gets more serious, the feet swell and there can be necrotic (dead) tissue. When it progresses even more, the bone of the foot can also become infected.

There are several causes of bumblefoot, the most common being hard plastic perches, sandpaper perches, poor nutirition (e.g. vitamin A deficiency), and unclean perches where bacteria builds up and infects the budgie's feet.

The best thing you can do for your budgie initially is to offer softer perches (the cotton rope perches are great) and softer wood perches. In addition, you will want to make sure your little sweety is getting adequate vitamins (especially vitamin A which is found in carrots). Also make sure the perches are clean.

The antibiotics your vet prescribed may be used in combination with anti-inflammatories to reduce the swelling and discomfort. Sometimes if the budgie has a severe case of bumblefoot, bandages may need to be applied to the foot to prevent further infection; these must be changed regularly.

In my reading up on this condition, I found out that severe cases of bumblefoot can takes weeks or months to improve. I'm not sure how serious your budgie's infection is...

I hope this information helps! Good luck with your sweety and please keep us updated with how the little fellow is doing.

[BUUZBEE]

Ohhh your poor guy! I've never had to deal with it either. If you havent already, remove any perches that have sandpaper, cement, or mineral, as this makes things worse.
I think one of our members (bea) either delt with this, or gave really good advice to someone else. I will pm her this link, and hopefully she can help you :)

[Violetblue]

Jingling a birdy bell for Byrdie!

Also, you can take those movable platform perches and cover them with a linen dish towel - something without loops to catch toes - and these are good things for them to stand on.

I have one covered with polar fleece, once has a bit of sheepskin/wool (very nice change for the feet, they didn't like it at first, but it's popular) and one covered with a bit of cotton from a dish towel.
This is where they can hang out and play with snacks (timothy/alfalfa cubes from my horse's stash) and eat while giving their feet a rest.

Best of luck! Byrdie is one lucky bird!

[Budgier]

That sounds horrible! I'm so sorry for you and your little one!

Don't take this the wrong way, but I might try to see a different vet. Your bird is only 9 years old. He's not "at that age" yet!

I'm not sure what those movable platform perches are, so if they're the same as what I'm going to suggest, sorry!

Try getting some small pieces of plywood and cover them with really soft material, but material your budgie's nails won't catch on. You can just staple the cloth to the bottom of the wood so he doesn't chew the staples. You can just make a series of "flat perches" like this so that he can navigate around his cage still without having to use round perches. This may relieve some of the pressure on his feet.

Or, if you have an extra cage, you can take that apart and make little "ramps" like that out of them too, which may be easier to attach to his cage. I did this for my lovebird, not because he was ill, but because I figured he'd like it and he really did.

Just be creative and I'm sure you'll figure out how to make your little one more comfortable.

I'm sorry again this had to happen to him. Let us know how he does!

[Violetblue]

hehe, great minds...

I'm talking about these:

http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2755100&cp=2767034.2769094&view=all&fbn=Taxonomy%7CPerches+%26+Ladders&f=Taxonomy%2FPET%2F2769094&fbc=1&parentPage=family&keepsr=1

I clip the fabric on, it's a nice relief

[Budgier]

hehe, great minds...

I'm talking about these:

http://www.petsmart.com/product/inde...amily&keepsr=1

I clip the fabric on, it's a nice relief


Oh my gosh, those are so cool!!! I had no idea they even existed! I am so going to be buying some of those to make soft "beds" for my birdies. They don't have feet problems, but I'm sure they would still enjoy the luxry!

How is your little one doing? Any news?

[Bea]

I had a little sweetie with bumblefoot a couple of years back. I was told however that there is no real treatment for it, but that i should keep him comfortable and my Pickle could be quite happy until the end of his days. He was an aviary bird, so i bought him inside with my Blinkie and gave him some wider rope perches and natural branches. The extra width meant that he could balance easier with his swollen feet even without bending his toes. :)
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y17/Baby_Blinkie/Aug182005032.jpg
You can see that because of swelling he couldn't bend his toes properly. I would definitely add some softer and wider perches to your sweeties cage, it makes it lots more comfy for their feet.

[BUUZBEE]

Thanks for posting bea!!

[pal0m1n0]

I am not sure that I would give up on the idea of treatment, avian medicine is still developing. Some of the links I posted earlier in this thread had treatments that sound like they could be adapted for birds.

[Idee]

Gadzooks, people care about Brydie and by the way...all the budgies are gorgeous. I will take the advise of the rope and look into the website that was sent. Byrdie's culture came back that his poopies were the main cause. So now I'm a fanatic cleaning the perches with a sanitary bird solution and also bought a natural wood perch. I do have a large perch made of chalk-like material...wonder if that's good or not. He was doing great after the new anti-biotics and cleaning the entire cage but 3 days later his feeties are back to white hard pimples and redness. My heart hurts for him. He sits on my chest (inbetween them) and sleeps when I watch tv. I guess it's a very soft there...:). Meanwhile too many problems in my personal life with mom with alzheimers, dad with the catarac surgery and he doesn't want to loose the glasses and now Byrdie...I feel so alone and am living alone. Do I honestly think that a man would calm the process? Maybe another bird but not right now cause it would hurt Byrdie's feelings. I don't now. I just know that loving and kissing Byrdie is good enough but I'd like a human touch. Thank you everyone for your suggestions. Pray for Brydie.

Idee :budgie: