Head and wing injuries (Beware, GRAPHIC)

This evening I noticed a feral in the park with a very droopy wing and a bald patch on the back of her head. She was quite lively, running around and feeding.
Back home, I cleaned her head wound with dilute hydrogen peroxide and realised that the skin is partially detached from her skull, forming flaps that overlay the bald patch:



Towards the front of the head there is extensive bruising, and on the right there's a cut about 1 cm long (don't know how deep), from which pus has been oozing. There was a down feather stuck in in -- I managed to remove it, together with some of the pus, before I took this photo.
There was no bleeding, or even dried blood. The injury must be at least 2 days old.

Then I examined her wing, and my heart sank. Her elbow joint is more swollen than any I've ever handled, and very hot. First I thought 'Salmonella', but on the underside it's possible to see a large, oval abcess, with the skin looking yellow in some places and greenish-grey in others. I think there's also a fracture of the humerus.



I've got her on Metacam, Synulox and Flagyl (in case trauma causes an outbreak of canker). I haven't put her on a heating pad because I don't know the extent of her head injury.
I've got classes all morning tomorrow, but I'm taking her to the vet in the afternoon.

I've called her Abby. She's a brave little thing!

Poor thing. Lucky bird that you caught her though.
I'll wait to hear what the vet tells you.

What a precious little one.
I love the name Abby. That was the name of my first bird, which was a beautiful little parakeet.

She sure has a sparkle in her eyes.
Sending healing wishes, positive thoughts and a BIG to you both.

Will be waiting anxiously, but patiently, to hear what the vet has to say.

Thank you both. I'll keep you posted.
My best guess is that she was clipped by a passing car.

Abby is one lucky little bird that you caught her

Teresa that she was propably clipped by a car.

The scalping, although it looks awful, should heal fairly well. My Jackie's head looked like that, it took time, but all her feathers grew back and you would never know she was scalped.

The wing area, as you have described and looks to be severly infected. I'm so glad you have her on the Medacam.......I'm sure that is giving her some relief.

Will be waiting to hear what the Vet says.

Sending healing thought and prayers your way.


Louise

Jackie's Mom wrote:

Abby is one lucky little bird that you caught her

* Teresa that she was propably clipped by a car.

The scalping, although it looks awful, should heal fairly well. My Jackie's head looked like that, it took time, but all her feathers grew back and you would never know she was scalped.

The wing area, as you have described and looks to be severly infected. I'm so glad you have her on the Medacam.......I'm sure that is giving her some relief.

Will be waiting to hear what the Vet says.

Sending healing thought and prayers your way.


Louise

* That's what I was thinking.

Abby had a restful night. She's a bit subdued, but doing Ok. She can eat and drink by herself, and though the first poop was quite liquid, the overnight ones are normal.
I phoned the vet and she has an appointment at 4 o'clock.

Teresa wrote:

Abby had a restful night. She's a bit subdued, but doing Ok.
She can eat and drink by herself, and though the first poop was quite liquid, the overnight ones are normal.

I phoned the vet and she has an appointment at 4 o'clock.

Thanks for the update, Teresa.
I'm glad to hear Abby has a good night. I hope you did as well.
It's great that she can eat and drink on her own. Good sign!!
We'll all be waiting to hear how the vet visit went.

Bless her. I hope she heals okey.

Abby is staying at the vet's overnight for treatment and observation.

The vet said that the head wound appears to be well cleaned and healing, so no immediate cause for concern.
The wing... that's another matter. It is definitely broken, as I feared, and the vet believes that the swelling was caused by the sharp broken bones 'stabbing' the surrounding tissues.
As for the nature of the swelling, the vet said that at worst it's an abcess, but it may also be an internal haemorrhage that only stopped when the skin would stretch no further and pressed against it. She's going to find out which of the two it is, X-ray the fracture and bind the wing.
I asked if amputation would be necessary, but she smiled and said, 'Let's see if we can save this wing first.'
It makes such a difference to have a great vet fighting your corner!

Teresa - sending my loving and healing thoughts for little Abby. She IS lucky to have you as her . I really hope that you can help her as you did with so uncountable others. Her head looks awful but I think her infection is worse. But as she has good appetite this is a very good sign

Teresa wrote:

Abby is staying at the vet's overnight for treatment and observation.

The vet said that the head wound appears to be well cleaned and healing, so no immediate cause for concern.
The wing... that's another matter. It is definitely broken, as I feared, and the vet believes that the swelling was caused by the sharp broken bones 'stabbing' the surrounding tissues.
As for the nature of the swelling, the vet said that at worst it's an abcess, but it may also be an internal haemorrhage that only stopped when the skin would stretch no further and pressed against it. She's going to find out which of the two it is, X-ray the fracture and bind the wing.
I asked if amputation would be necessary, but she smiled and said, 'Let's see if we can save this wing first.'
It makes such a difference to have a great vet fighting your corner!

It sure does. You are very lucky.

This is a bit of a repeat, but for continuity's sake...

Teresa wrote:

The wing wasn't broken, it was dislocated: the humerus had been wrenched out of the elbow joint. It took the X-ray to reveal that. The vet says there is a small chance she may be able to use that wing again.

The swelling of the elbow was a hematoma and not an abcess. It acted as a cork to prevent further bleeding at the time. There's been no recent bleeding, not even when the hematoma was cleaned out.

Her wing has been treated and bandaged, and she's to have the bandage changed every week. In two week's time she'll have another X-ray to see how it's progressing.

This photo was taken when we got back from the vet's yesterday:



And this one was taken a few hours ago. Her head wound is healing well and there are no more signs of infection:



She's a model patient, a real sweet girl!

She has very unusual coloring. I sure hope she can fly again.

Many thanks for the original and updated report, Teresa.
I'm glad to hear things weren't as severe as first thought for Abby.
Bless her sweet little birdie heart!
Keeping fingers crossed that she will eventually regain use of her wing.

Did the vet offer any thoughts on what she felt might have happened to Abby?
Wishing you both a very uneventful weekend.

Thank you for your good wishes.
The vet agreed that the most likely cause was a close encounter with a moving vehicle.

She's back at the vet's today, because this morning she managed to sneak out of her dressing! Bad Abby! So I took her back to have the wing bandaged again, and the surgeon asked me to leave her there for the rest of the day to see if this bandage will stay in place or if they need to get more creative...
I'm picking her up later.

Teresa wrote:

Thank you for your good wishes.
The vet agreed that the most likely cause was a close encounter with a moving vehicle.

She's back at the vet's today, because this morning she managed to sneak out of her dressing! Bad Abby! So I took her back to have the wing bandaged again, and the surgeon asked me to leave her there for the rest of the day to see if this bandage will stay in place or if they need to get more creative...
I'm picking her up later.

They are crafty little ones.

My good little girl is back home now, and yes, the vet had to get creative because she slipped out of the bandage he put on her this morning!

To take her to the vet (without the wing bandage) I needed to make sure her wing was comfortably supported, so I put her on what I call 'the pigeon snuggler' -- it's a shaped mattress, carved out of foam, which I use to treat the string injuries. She was so cosy and so happy in there, she didn't budge all the way to the vet's.
The proof is in this video, where she moves nothing but her eyes.



So when we got home I let her stay on the mattress, in the basket. Just added food and water dishes, secured to the lattice of the door, and she's as happy as anything, watching the people and the cats come in and out.
She is so curious but so trusting! I love her to bits!

She is very precious. She does look very comfortable.

I love your 'pigeon snuggler', Teresa.
I hope little Miss Houdini doesn't get out of bandage this time.
Such a sweetie.

Keep us posted.

I can't blame her one bit for liking her pigeon Snuggler! I bet it feels like a soft hug!

She is a cutie

The pigeon snuggler is a great idea. She looks very comfy.