attacking its own foot after injury

[AG_Andy]

hello all,I am posting this on behalf of my dad, hope this is in the right catergory.
He has a 10 month old african grey that recently injured its left foot in the cage on a toy which left an open wound, after a few trips to the vet and a course of antibiotics and ointment the bird keeps attacking its foot to the extent it makes it bleed!the only way it leaves it alone is when it is put in the small cage we use to transport it to the vet in.
When he is put back in the big cage he hangs on the bars and will not go on the perches and as soon as he goes to the bottom of the cage he attacks his foot, it looks like he is trying to bite it off!! but put him in the small transport cage and he may nibble it but not attack it, he wont go to the food pots in the big cage too, all this is since he injured his foot, before this he was a really active bird that never stopped,he still has all the use of the foot as well.
Hope someone has some advice or has come accross something like this that may be able to give us some help to get him out of this stage.
Thankyou in advance,
Andy

[Dave007]

We rarely overide or recommend that other things be done to an injured bird who's already been treated by a vet. You're talking about an open wound that may get an infection from all the nipping at the foot. It's best that you contact that vet and thoroughly explain the problem. He's the one with a variety of solutions. We haven't seen the bird or the injury.
You say that ointments and creams have been given so there's no over the counter products that deal with that wound. Call or visit the vet so he can see the extent of the damage. He can give recommendations or have possible treatments.

[AG_Andy]

sorry about any confusion regarding my post on this, the wound is being treated its under one of his claws, this was healing up nicely but for some reason he has started to bite his foot to the extent that it is bleeding and we have to stop him if not it looks like he is intent on biting it off, it is him biting his foot that we are concernd with as he does this as soon as he is in his big cage but not in the smaller cage.

Hope this is a better explination of what the problem is.We need something like what you put on a dog(the lamp shade thing) to stop him licking his wounds, but in this case to stop him savaging his foot.

Regards,

Andy.

[Dave007]

"""the lamp shade thing""""

For a bird, that item is called an Elizabethian Collar and it's only used on a bird's neck to prevent the bird from plucking or biting bare skin areas starting from the neck down.

and it's only available from an avian vet. Something like that can't be purchased in pet stores.

I still feel that you should see the vet because bleeding is involved and possible infection can set in. Look at it as a follow up medical visit just like people do after seeing their doctor for the first time for a particular reason.

OR--put him in the small cage until it's totally healed.<br><br>Post edited by: Dave007, at: 2010/02/01 22:21

[AG_Andy]

this has been ongoing for 14 days,and two visits to the vet, the first visit was for the open wound as the vet called it under a claw, an antibiotic injection was given and a course of antibiotics and some cream for the wound, was instructed to keep him in the small cage until it was more or less healed up.

When the swelling had gone down and the cut was looking ok we tried him in his cage, this is when he started to savage his foot and drew blood!, straight back to the vet it was, with the same instructions we left again, things started to settle again so in the big cage he went and he started to attack his foot again,the method the vet gave to stop the bleeding was used and back in the small cage again, this is where he is at this moment, he is back at the vets on Friday for his follow up but the advice he gave us has been followed, will ask about a collar when there.

We can not seem to get him out of savaging his foot, I use the word "savage" as this is the best explination of what he is doing to it, he does not stop, when he is bleeding he is at it none stop and very aggressive with it.

I just hope he does'nt get too cosey in the small cage as he has been in there a bit now.

Have you or anyone else seen this type of thing before as the vet has not seen this before and was quite supprised by what he has done to himself!

I will put an update on here when he has been to the vet on Friday or inbetween if things pick up with him.

Regards,
Andy.

[Dave007]

Ok
Go to the drug store. Buy Aloe Vera Gel.
Take his perches out and make sure they're clean then put them back. With another person holding the bird, take some of the gel and swab the bad foot area with it. Rub it in a little without hurting him. Hold him for about 5 minutes. He'll squawk a lot. The gel won't burn nor it it toxic. It's very soothing and many bird owners use this item for birds that have wounds/cuts/serious scrapes plus damage to the skin areas which have been plucked. It's also used on bird's feet which have dry scaly areas which the bird picks at excessively.

PS----repeat the process for 2 to 3 days and if possible, do it 2x a day but if not, once is ok.<br><br>Post edited by: Dave007, at: 2010/02/02 00:19

[Debandbella]

Is he associating his cage with the injury? If thats where he did it and he only does it when he goes back in it could be psychological? Is there another cage he could go in to test or maybe even move everything round in his old one and possibly move the cage itself so he doesnt recognise it as the place where his accident happened?

[jessdecutie18]

This is very interesting... I'm afraid I can't give any advice, but I wish you guys luck! Hopefully he leaves his foot alone after you try the aloe thing Dave suggested!

[rbpittman]

I would do what Dave said to do - go back to the vet! If he's comfortable in the smaller cage and not doing this while in it or out of cage, then it may be psychological. I would also recommend you have the vet check to see if there is something imbedded into the foot - a sliver of wood or something from the toy - which would cause additional "savaging" of his foot. There has to be some type of irritant to continue to go after it, even in the smaller cage - he's nibbling, not attacking, but then again, he can't get to it as freely.

Robin