Toe turned necrotic in 3 days!!! -- Beware, graphic

Geraldo has come to me for treatment once more. He simply flew in through the window, as before. Clever boy!

This was his story before:
http://www.pigeonangels.com/t2390-string-injury-found-me
http://www.pigeonangels.com/t2531-sssh-there-s-a-feral-in-the-room

The day before yesterday I thought one of Geraldo's toes looked a bit discoloured, and took this photo to help me monitor him:



Then yesterday I was alarmed at the change... I tried to catch him, but no luck.



This evening, he just flew right into my study. I closed the window, then the shutters, and picked him up.
What I saw horrified me. His toe was black and split from end to end, looking like a shrivelled chilli pepper. There was dried blood on his feathers, and his foot was hot and a bit swollen.



I gave him an antibiotic and a drop of Metacam and went to get the basket ready for him, including the heating pad. Then I examined his toe and soaked it in dilute hydrogen peroxide to disinfect it and kill any bacteria or parasites in the wound.

He wasn't at all stressed at being put in the basket. I think he recognised it, as well as the familiar sounds of Piper and Hercules's voices. He ate and drank by himself, then settled down to sleep.
If the necrotic tissue hasn't dropped off by morning, I'm taking him to the vet. My gut instinct tells me he needs injectable antibiotics.

Just as a point of reference, I labelled some older photos and marked the position of the toe that has just turned bad, after 6 months!

Dr. Ana Luisa won't be in till Monday, so it's been arranged I continue giving him antibiotics and Metacam and check his progress. If necessary, one of the other (non avian) vets will see him.

Geraldo is very lively, eating, drinking and pooping well. Trying to climb up the sides of the basket, too!!
Geraldo The Fearless indeed!!!

The bad toe has fallen off without bleeding, leaving only a couple of flaps of dry skin which I trimmed. The swelling has gone and the foot doesn't feel as warm.
I'm stopping the Metacam now and continuing with the antibiotic and the regular foot disinfection.

Today's developments:







Even though when I removed the string I made sure to remove also all of the callous material that was under it (or interbedded with it)...



... it is clear from the photos above that it grew back again...

God, I hate string injuries!!!

Oh my goodness!! What a time poor Geraldo has had with these darn string problems.
It's absolutely amazing what they can tolerate. Bless their hearts.

You are truly a godsend to all of them, Teresa.

Your labeled photos are wonderful. I have to say, as bad as his foot was, it's looking remarkably good now.

Please keep us posted on how things are coming along.

Teresa - this is really awful. Thank you so much for thinking of Rudi and sending me an alert. This is exactly what I am worried about all the time. Thank heaven I can monitor Rudi closely when something is wrong because he sleeps here with Pina.

And as the devil wants it he injured the middle toe of his bad foot - it was somehow cut. But I detected it on time and treated him. It was swollen for a couple of days and he limped again but now the swelling has come down and the inflammation is nearly gone. I am watching the part though where the string has cut into the flesh so that not a new callous is coming back. From time to time I am removing carefully everything that looks like dirt or dried poop and old skin and wash his feet regularly.
The difference to Geraldo's badly strangled toe is that the lower part of Rudi's toe still has a good connection to the tarsus or "dorsum" - so the blood circulation is okay. The toe was strangled "only" on the top.

I think Geraldo knew that he was losing the toe and he tried to get rid of it - that's probably why it looked so terrible. He must have picked on it like crazy.

Sending healing thoughts for Geraldo. Poor little chap - I hope he is getting well soon again!

Thank you, Cindy and Petra!

Cindy, I couldn't agree more with you about how much some poor pigeons have to endure, and how brave they are!
String injuries, in particular, break my heart, because they wouldn't happen in a pigeon's natural environment -- they are a hazard caused by humans, and if people were a little more careful about what they throw away and how they do it, this wouldn't happen!

Petra, I thought the bad news about callous constriction rings growing back would be important for you, considering Rudi's convalescence and any other string injuries you may come across.
Thank you for the update on Rudi, it was great to know he's doing well and the injury to his middle toe has healed well.
Give him and Pina a kiss from me!

Geraldo is doing remarkably well! He had some time to exercise today, and he was walking with no indication of discomfort. What a trooper!!!

Yeah - it is not quite over yet with Rudi's toe but it is definitely getting better.
Yesterday I washed his feet again and with a needle I could remove some tiny stuff again from the constriction ring. So this means to me that if I don't do this from time to time a new callous would grow back here as well. Oh man - I really hate these string injuries - they cause so much more problems than any other illness because it just does not stop...

I'm so glad that Geraldo is doing well.

Thank you, Cindy!
He's doing great and the skin has now closed over the wound. This boy is getting ready for take off, and no mistake!

And he's away!!!

Don't get into trouble, Geraldo The Fearless, and visit any time you want!

Geraldo today!

Teresa wrote:

Thank you, Cindy and Petra!

Cindy, I couldn't agree more with you about how much some poor pigeons have to endure, and how brave they are!

String injuries, in particular, break my heart, because they wouldn't happen in a pigeon's natural environment -- they are a hazard caused by humans, and if people were a little more careful about what they throw away and how they do it, this wouldn't happen!

Petra, I thought the bad news about callous constriction rings growing back would be important for you, considering Rudi's convalescence and any other string injuries you may come across.
Thank you for the update on Rudi, it was great to know he's doing well and the injury to his middle toe has healed well.
Give him and Pina a kiss from me!

Geraldo is doing remarkably well! He had some time to exercise today, and he was walking with no indication of discomfort. What a trooper!!!

We humans couldn't tolerate a fraction of what these incredible birds do in the manner in which they do it.

I'm a bear with a sore head if I get a bad headache, goodness knows what it would be like to live in so much constant pain!