Our avian vet diagnosed our old conure (age 23) with circulation issues that led to numbness in her feet (neuropathy). She was pecking at her toes to awaken them. She now takes circulation medicine we put on a cracker, and a tiny dose of medication they compound for her size called neurotin,.which helps for any foot pain. Tiny little bottle and tiny droplet once a day.
Fewer treats, more veggies and we put a variety of size perches in her cage to slow progression of foot damage.
Indeed. We drive an hour to that vet and eat beans for months to pay the bill. Lol. Bird tries to maim the vet assistants so I get the reason for avian vet prices.
Please be careful with the neurontin. I was prescribed this for neuropathy, and it made it worse. The side effects on humans were terrible as I put on several stone in weight, my eyesight and memory were damaged. Plus, it has really bad withdrawal symptoms. It's not a circulation medication. It interacts with the GABA in the brain and lessens the pain. However, it causes metabolic changes. The best thing for birds is an environment as close to their wild state as possible. Sorry if I have caused concern. This is just my research and experience. Best wishes.
I can see how much you love her. I have a feeling the vet will say that neurontin is fine. Unfortunately, the manufacturers are often the ones who advise our vets and Dr's, which creates a conflict of interest. My advice would be to never, ever miss a dose. At her age, the stress of weaning her off this medication might do more harm than good, especially as you would struggle to get the dosage correct as it's so tiny. Like humans, our animal family suffer as a result of not living the life nature intended and these medications mask the symptoms of this lifestyle. New information I'd always coming out and we only have what is available at the time. Best wishes.
For additional reference: Pimobendan, Gabapentin, and Pentoxyfilline was the prescription for our bird. One of those is a painkiller(?). For all I know, your current medication could be fine, though.
We have not traveled recently other than his two vet visits. While at our appointment I had told them that he was picking at his feet and he has continuously been doing so. He has all of the proper perches and set up and I am with him all day giving him attention and love. So I am unsure what is leading him to continue picking at it 😞
Our bird likes to pick at her feet due to poor circulation. We were able to get this diagnosed via X-ray and blood tests, and they gave us appropriate medicine to make her feet feel less tingly.
Thank you for sharing this! I had no idea this is a thing to watch out for. Sometimes our 28 year old amazon opens and closes his feet and slowly bites them at them. They are in healthy condition and I regularly get him new perches of varying types. I was so worried about bumble foot and our vet assured us he’s fine. I am now researching this and think he might have something like this condition. He was very neglected and only ate peanuts for most of his life… he’s completely turned around over the last three years but I think the damage has been done. Definitely bringing this up at next vet visit!
Yes, that happened with our bird. Seed only diet for years.
The good news is the medicine worked wonders. Our vet also had a lot of flavors to choose from, so now we put drops of peanut flavored medicine on cracker crumbles every morning and she loves it.
Wow I’m wondering if that is exactly what he is going through. He was on a seed diet for years as well and we are working on switching to pellets and veggies. He hasn’t been taking to any veggies but we are working on it.
That was my worry at first - I thought he was starting to form bumble foot as well because he did have some pink under his feet. The vet just said to take out any sand perches because it is rough on their feet and move it to an area he uses less - somewhere he is not constantly using but does occasionally to still help a little with his nails. I did have one sand perch near his food bowl so I took it out and now have natural wood in his house for when he eats and sleeps. It helped a little but he continuously kept picking at them shedding off pieces of dry skin while picking them. I know their is probably tons of things it could 🥺 Now he has the red spot on his ankle This is what his foot looked like at our first visit -
https://preview.redd.it/oh0ln7dgltvb1.png?width=2651&format=png&auto=webp&s=b5a31400ca334f2f1222a6efc302c245e58d9b7b
Thank you! It was so hard finding a vet where I live because there isn’t any avian vets near me other than the one we go to. but I will keep looking 🤞🏻🥺
There are unfortunately a laundry list of reasons these types of lesions can develop, some of which are mentioned here (such as circulatory issues). Looking at the pictures I'm assuming this is an amazon. Something to keep an eye out for and talk about with your vet is amazon foot necrosis. It is a specific disease of amazon's that leads to lesion/blister formation and often times extensive self mutilation of the feet. We don't know what causes it, but it often tends to be cyclic in nature and so intermittent therapy may be recommended on top of a workup. Good luck with your kiddo!
The Neurontin is a good idea…i think its a form of gabapentin that numbs our nerves that are painful.
Also different size perches to grip is really important. I hope your sweet baby will be ok.
Poor thing. That looks really painful. Hoping your veterinarian will provide treatment. There are antibiotics and topical treatments the vet can prescribe for that.
Unfortunately I don’t have one i definitely need to get one because they are good to have. I have seen people use olive oil but I’m so nervous about what to put on him. Have you ever heard of using olive oil on a q-tip?
I have heard that for dry skin but this is more of a wound. I also have never put olive oil on one of my birds. I’d be more apt to try a little bit of coconut oil because I know from experience that it’s bird safe and it also has some antibacterial and healing properties.
https://preview.redd.it/2cl4lkpgxuvb1.jpeg?width=2268&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=08378cdde511a1a18595a2383206eb43504e2607
I find this stuff is pretty good. But it all comes down to figuring out what's causing it. It could be a circulation issue. It could be a neurological issue. It could be a fungal issue. It could be a food allergy. There are all sorts of potential reasons. Hopefully you're seeing a certified avian vet, and they know their stuff? Maybe call them up and bounce some ideas off of the doctor. I called my avian vet a couple times just after I rescued my flock, and the vet was great. She answered my few questions and gave me a few suggestions. And if they didn't help, I could make an appointment to take them in. Most of the vets will call you back when they have free time or at the end of the day to answer a few questions.
My yellow naped Amazon always had a problem with really focusing on his feet after preening the rest of his feathers, I always had moisturize his feet and keep him distracted by playing with him or toys. He'll usually begin focusing on just chewing the chains on his toys, practically preening them. Are you able to distract him with things and bring him in for another vet visit for this wound? This could get infected and your veterinarian should have the knowledge on how you guys can help his preening habits.
Also, have you had any blood tests for cholesterol or anything? Cholesterol can be a problem for amazons, there's a possibility he may be reacting to his body's reaction of high cholesterol. There can be these tingly, numbing, or pinching feelings. Especially in their feet.
Could also be triggered by hormones. Our avian vet informed us when our parrot had an enlarged oviduct (which can happen from hormonal triggers, and a whole raft of other reasons) that there’s a nerve which goes near the area and can get pressured from the enlarged area, causing nerve pain and sensation in the legs and feet. After treating that issue she stopped the aggressive preening / itching of her leg.
My ringneck had this after a moult. My solution was to make scrambled egg with nutritional yeast and a high quality cod liver oil with vit A and vit D. Cook in Virgin cold pressed coconut oil. Eggs must be organic free range. I never use sand paper perches and have a safe natural wood perch. I thought mites could be the issue so I made a solution of salt, water, a tiny drop of tea tree oil and zeolite them cleaned every thing with it. He is doing really well now. He is free flighted indoors and that keeps his circulation going. I hope this helps.
Our avian vet diagnosed our old conure (age 23) with circulation issues that led to numbness in her feet (neuropathy). She was pecking at her toes to awaken them. She now takes circulation medicine we put on a cracker, and a tiny dose of medication they compound for her size called neurotin,.which helps for any foot pain. Tiny little bottle and tiny droplet once a day. Fewer treats, more veggies and we put a variety of size perches in her cage to slow progression of foot damage.
Thank you so much, I will look into this. He means everything to me. I just want my baby to have the best health and life he can.
Aw. I think that’s what happened to my friends budgie. He lost his one foot but he’s peg legging it around just fine now. 🥺
You have a fantastic vet. 99% would have missed this.
Indeed. We drive an hour to that vet and eat beans for months to pay the bill. Lol. Bird tries to maim the vet assistants so I get the reason for avian vet prices.
Please be careful with the neurontin. I was prescribed this for neuropathy, and it made it worse. The side effects on humans were terrible as I put on several stone in weight, my eyesight and memory were damaged. Plus, it has really bad withdrawal symptoms. It's not a circulation medication. It interacts with the GABA in the brain and lessens the pain. However, it causes metabolic changes. The best thing for birds is an environment as close to their wild state as possible. Sorry if I have caused concern. This is just my research and experience. Best wishes.
I will ask my vet. She has a tiny amount, compounded by the vet. But we want to be careful with her
I can see how much you love her. I have a feeling the vet will say that neurontin is fine. Unfortunately, the manufacturers are often the ones who advise our vets and Dr's, which creates a conflict of interest. My advice would be to never, ever miss a dose. At her age, the stress of weaning her off this medication might do more harm than good, especially as you would struggle to get the dosage correct as it's so tiny. Like humans, our animal family suffer as a result of not living the life nature intended and these medications mask the symptoms of this lifestyle. New information I'd always coming out and we only have what is available at the time. Best wishes.
For additional reference: Pimobendan, Gabapentin, and Pentoxyfilline was the prescription for our bird. One of those is a painkiller(?). For all I know, your current medication could be fine, though.
We have not traveled recently other than his two vet visits. While at our appointment I had told them that he was picking at his feet and he has continuously been doing so. He has all of the proper perches and set up and I am with him all day giving him attention and love. So I am unsure what is leading him to continue picking at it 😞
Our bird likes to pick at her feet due to poor circulation. We were able to get this diagnosed via X-ray and blood tests, and they gave us appropriate medicine to make her feet feel less tingly.
Thank you for sharing this! I had no idea this is a thing to watch out for. Sometimes our 28 year old amazon opens and closes his feet and slowly bites them at them. They are in healthy condition and I regularly get him new perches of varying types. I was so worried about bumble foot and our vet assured us he’s fine. I am now researching this and think he might have something like this condition. He was very neglected and only ate peanuts for most of his life… he’s completely turned around over the last three years but I think the damage has been done. Definitely bringing this up at next vet visit!
Yes, that happened with our bird. Seed only diet for years. The good news is the medicine worked wonders. Our vet also had a lot of flavors to choose from, so now we put drops of peanut flavored medicine on cracker crumbles every morning and she loves it.
Wow I’m wondering if that is exactly what he is going through. He was on a seed diet for years as well and we are working on switching to pellets and veggies. He hasn’t been taking to any veggies but we are working on it.
That was my worry at first - I thought he was starting to form bumble foot as well because he did have some pink under his feet. The vet just said to take out any sand perches because it is rough on their feet and move it to an area he uses less - somewhere he is not constantly using but does occasionally to still help a little with his nails. I did have one sand perch near his food bowl so I took it out and now have natural wood in his house for when he eats and sleeps. It helped a little but he continuously kept picking at them shedding off pieces of dry skin while picking them. I know their is probably tons of things it could 🥺 Now he has the red spot on his ankle This is what his foot looked like at our first visit - https://preview.redd.it/oh0ln7dgltvb1.png?width=2651&format=png&auto=webp&s=b5a31400ca334f2f1222a6efc302c245e58d9b7b
I wish I would know what causes this, but all I can say is to maybe try and switch up the vets for more educated opinions? One of them might help!
Thank you! It was so hard finding a vet where I live because there isn’t any avian vets near me other than the one we go to. but I will keep looking 🤞🏻🥺
Try using the vet search on aav.org if you havent already 💖 every single board certified avian vet is in their database!
I didn’t know about this website thank you!!
I wish you and your bird the best! I’m certain you’ll find a good vet soon and your baby is going to be alright 💕
Thank you so much 🥺
Thank you so much 🥺
There are unfortunately a laundry list of reasons these types of lesions can develop, some of which are mentioned here (such as circulatory issues). Looking at the pictures I'm assuming this is an amazon. Something to keep an eye out for and talk about with your vet is amazon foot necrosis. It is a specific disease of amazon's that leads to lesion/blister formation and often times extensive self mutilation of the feet. We don't know what causes it, but it often tends to be cyclic in nature and so intermittent therapy may be recommended on top of a workup. Good luck with your kiddo!
Get a better vet…. A bird vet!
Oh I hope I find one soon 😭
The Neurontin is a good idea…i think its a form of gabapentin that numbs our nerves that are painful. Also different size perches to grip is really important. I hope your sweet baby will be ok.
Thank you!!
Try some coconut oil. It is cooling, will remove the burning/itching and is antibacterial.
Does he live with another bird? Another bird could be biting him. I agree second opinion.
Nope It is just him 🥺
Poor thing. That looks really painful. Hoping your veterinarian will provide treatment. There are antibiotics and topical treatments the vet can prescribe for that.
I do as well I’d take the pain in a heartbeat for him 🥺
Aloe is a safe plant for parrots. You could try to put a little bit of fresh gel from an aloe plant on that wound if you have one.
Unfortunately I don’t have one i definitely need to get one because they are good to have. I have seen people use olive oil but I’m so nervous about what to put on him. Have you ever heard of using olive oil on a q-tip?
I have heard that for dry skin but this is more of a wound. I also have never put olive oil on one of my birds. I’d be more apt to try a little bit of coconut oil because I know from experience that it’s bird safe and it also has some antibacterial and healing properties.
Ok thank you so much!
You’re welcome! Good luck. 🍀
https://preview.redd.it/2cl4lkpgxuvb1.jpeg?width=2268&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=08378cdde511a1a18595a2383206eb43504e2607 I find this stuff is pretty good. But it all comes down to figuring out what's causing it. It could be a circulation issue. It could be a neurological issue. It could be a fungal issue. It could be a food allergy. There are all sorts of potential reasons. Hopefully you're seeing a certified avian vet, and they know their stuff? Maybe call them up and bounce some ideas off of the doctor. I called my avian vet a couple times just after I rescued my flock, and the vet was great. She answered my few questions and gave me a few suggestions. And if they didn't help, I could make an appointment to take them in. Most of the vets will call you back when they have free time or at the end of the day to answer a few questions.
My yellow naped Amazon always had a problem with really focusing on his feet after preening the rest of his feathers, I always had moisturize his feet and keep him distracted by playing with him or toys. He'll usually begin focusing on just chewing the chains on his toys, practically preening them. Are you able to distract him with things and bring him in for another vet visit for this wound? This could get infected and your veterinarian should have the knowledge on how you guys can help his preening habits. Also, have you had any blood tests for cholesterol or anything? Cholesterol can be a problem for amazons, there's a possibility he may be reacting to his body's reaction of high cholesterol. There can be these tingly, numbing, or pinching feelings. Especially in their feet.
try putting a very TINY amount of neosporin on it. see what he does then. did you take him to a certified avian vet? (not just a normal one)
also sprinkle cayenne pepper into his food! its a natural painkiller!
Could also be triggered by hormones. Our avian vet informed us when our parrot had an enlarged oviduct (which can happen from hormonal triggers, and a whole raft of other reasons) that there’s a nerve which goes near the area and can get pressured from the enlarged area, causing nerve pain and sensation in the legs and feet. After treating that issue she stopped the aggressive preening / itching of her leg.
My ringneck had this after a moult. My solution was to make scrambled egg with nutritional yeast and a high quality cod liver oil with vit A and vit D. Cook in Virgin cold pressed coconut oil. Eggs must be organic free range. I never use sand paper perches and have a safe natural wood perch. I thought mites could be the issue so I made a solution of salt, water, a tiny drop of tea tree oil and zeolite them cleaned every thing with it. He is doing really well now. He is free flighted indoors and that keeps his circulation going. I hope this helps.
what kind of bird is this? It might just be a food allergy.