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Post by sugarpie on May 22, 2020 17:10:06 GMT -5
I joined the forum almost two weeks ago, when my nearly 21 year old quaker, Sugar, decided to mutilate her leg, almost bleed to death, and is now mutilating her other leg and body. We do not have a good avian vet near us, I was able to get her into a vet who claims to be, but I cannot even see them face to face, and I just don't know if I am in good hands. But we are in the hands of a vet. She is on metacam for the pain, the vet thinks she likely has arthritis hurting her, and she is on antibiotics. My husband and I are giving her the medicine every day and trying to give her lots of extra attention, but she is on her own from 7 in the morning until 2:00 pm and she is still doing it. The vet was hesitant to put her in an e collar, fearing it would stress her, but at this point, if she doesn't get the collar, she is going to die from what she is doing to herself. 15 years ago, she had an accident in her cage. She pulled a string out of her favorite toy and it was wound around her neck and wings, and she nearly died. I rushed her to the vet, back then I had an excellent one, and she survived, but she became a chronic plucker after that, and plucked out all of her belly feathers and what she can reach on her wings. We tried back then to get her to stop and she never did. So she has always looked kind of funny, but this leg mutilation is new. The vet said her body is in great shape, besides the feathers and what she has done to her leg. It was like she changed overnight. She went from banging the door of her cage every day if I was one minute late with her dinner, and singing and calling here kitty kitty, and making chicken and rooster noises, to she barely makes a sound. She does make these muted sounds at night and as she is picking on herself. The vet was not much help on the phone today. They cannot see her until Tuesday (which ticks me off because I feel this is urgent but that's another issue) and suggested I look on YouTube on how to make an e collar for her. So I would love to know if anyone has a good tutorial or some ideas on how to do that.  ![]() ![]() |
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Post by cnyguy on May 22, 2020 20:45:04 GMT -5
I'm sorry that you're having these problems with Sugar. I'm sorry too that I have nothing helpful to recommend. I hope things work out well for you and your QP.
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Post by sugarpie on May 25, 2020 12:39:16 GMT -5
We made sugar a new cone from craft foam and industrial strength Velcro. So far, it seems she can’t get out of this one. We made a comfy place at the bottom for her. We tried to find an empty aquarium, but pet stores just had giant kits for $100 and up, so I guess we’ll just keep her in the cage minus the perches and toys for now and see how she does. The important thing is, she can’t pick her leg. She’s calmed down. I bought a little low bed with a dome cover for a small animal, for her to sleep in if she wants since she loves her tent I thought she might like this one. We take her out every few hours and take it off and let her eat and drink. She seems to be eating well. I’ll get a picture of her in her cone that we made.
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Post by sugarpie on May 25, 2020 12:39:59 GMT -5
We made sugar a new cone from craft foam and industrial strength Velcro. So far, it seems she can’t get out of this one. We made a comfy place at the bottom for her. We tried to find an empty aquarium, but pet stores just had giant kits for $100 and up, so I guess we’ll just keep her in the cage minus the perches and toys for now and see how she does. The important thing is, she can’t pick her leg. She’s calmed down. I bought a little low bed with a dome cover for a small animal, for her to sleep in if she wants since she loves her tent I thought she might like this one. We take her out every few hours and take it off and let her eat and drink. She seems to be eating well. I’ll get a picture of her in her cone that we made.
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Post by cnyguy on May 25, 2020 20:15:20 GMT -5
That sounds promising. Hope it works out well.
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Post by sugarpie on May 26, 2020 9:05:57 GMT -5
Thank you. She goes back to the vet at 1:00 today. I feel so sad seeing her in the cone at the bottom, but I don’t feel like it’s her time yet. A friend brought up her quality of life and I feel bad, but she loves being held, she is eating great, and I don’t think she’s ready yet. I may be kidding myself but I have never been one to let my pets suffer and I don’t think it’s time yet. I am always the one that has to make that call with our pets, my husband can’t. Hoping we can figure out a way to get her healthier and maybe she will stop this behavior. Thanks again for kind words
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Post by msdani1981 on May 27, 2020 19:23:47 GMT -5
If she's still eating well and has that "look" about her (I can't explain it but you know the one that says they're not ready to go), I would give her a chance to pull through.
Have the vet pull a blood sample and ask them to consult with an avian specialist over the phone. Offer to pay for the time, if necessary.
I think you did well with your homemade collar. Let us know how things go! 💕🐦
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Post by sugarpie on May 27, 2020 21:07:50 GMT -5
If she's still eating well and has that "look" about her (I can't explain it but you know the one that says they're not ready to go), I would give her a chance to pull through. Have the vet pull a blood sample and ask them to consult with an avian specialist over the phone. Offer to pay for the time, if necessary. I think you did well with your homemade collar. Let us know how things go! 💕🐦 She seems to be doing better! We made another cone that is smaller but still blocks her from picking herself. She can perch and climb. We moved the perches low, just left a few things. We watched her to see if she could get around before we left her alone and she is moving pretty good. I only work half days so when I get home, it take the cone off and let her sit on top of her cage and eat and drink. As soon as we see her go for her leg we say NO, and she stops and I think she has realized that if we see her do it, so goes back in the cone, so she has stopped trying....not that I would trust her alone without it on, but at least while we are home and in the room she gets a break from it. She has been eating like a horse. She is actually eating her pellets again, she had stopped for a while and suddenly will eat them again. We are happy she is adjusting to life in the cone . |
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Post by msdani1981 on Aug 22, 2020 2:40:57 GMT -5
Oh, that was so great to read!!!
I hope Sugar has continued to do well! 💕
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Post by biteybird on Sept 10, 2020 4:33:19 GMT -5
Hi there, I'm a bit late to this thread... Sorry to hear about the dramas with your little Sugar. She is lucky she has a great parront to look after her! Sounds like you are doing better already and I hope the improvement continues. Please let us know how she is going.  |
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