Injured Feral. Wounds Under Wing

[Pidgey]

Yeah, you can't beat an otoscope for work like that. Here in The States you can usually find a very inexpensive (we're talkin' "cheap"), but serviceable otoscope at many chain pharmacies (chemists) like this:

http://www.walgreens.com/store/produ...id=prod1491340

Don't know if you could find one of those in the UK or not--they're extremely handy when you need one.

Pidgey

[amyable]

Right I can see what you mean, what the vet used near enough. I'll check around on the net. Thanks.

[Pidgey]

I've been trying on some UK shopping sites. Another thing you might try doing is "transilluminating" the area. What that means is that you take a very small torch (that's a "flashlight" to you Yanks) and literally push it against the skin close by. It will cause all of the nearby flesh to glow deep red. Sometimes, you can see a darkness if a foreign body is embedded inside. You might need some more hands to help hold the bird while you work with your fingers in parting the feathers.

Pidgey

[amyable]

Yes ok, I get that. Will try the torch tomorrow.
Just got to pop out for half hour. When I get back I'm going to look for some medical supply places on the net to see about an otoscope. Great help, thanks.

[Pidgey]

You might want to PM and/or email Cynthia about the creepy, crawly possibility and what to do about it. Best of luck, kid.

Pidgey

[Pidgey]

Boy... tough shopping for something like that in the UK--best I could find was on:

www.ebay.co.uk

Put "otoscope" in the search bar.

Cheapest is the one from Hong Kong for about £6 by the time you add up the price and shipping. No telling how long it would take to arrive...

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Ear-Profession...3286.m14.l1318

Pidgey

[amyable]

You're telling me,The only ones I could find were serious money.
I did find a pen light with a mini otoscope attachment for £9.95 from uk. If I order today, won't get dispatched until Monday, everything stops at the weekend.

Just looked at the Hong Kong one, this looks similar. Going to send for it and give it a try.

Yes ebay had some I noticed too.

Thanks so much for your input Pidgey. Will let you know how it goes.

Janet

[amyable]

Pidgey,
Have ordered a pen type otoscope from uk source, hopefully will get here Tuesday.
Charlie got into a similar state yesterday, but milder, after I'd bathed the wound and he was a bit wet again. Seems this just might be triggered by being wet !

[Pidgey]

Well, isn't that odd...

They usually try to form a granuloma around stuff like that. That's where there's a thickening of all the tissue around the irritant, kinda' like having something surrounded and enclosed by a callus.

Pidgey

[amyable]

I got my otoscope but didn't have much luck with it, unless it's not suitable for this size wound opening.

It has three different sized attachments and I tried all three. The narrowest one was almost impossible to see through and even with that one I couldn't see any further into the wound site. I don't know if it is the type I have and if any of the larger types would be any better.

So I have just left the wound well alone and not bathed it or put any intracite or anything in it, but so far it still hasn't filled in from inside.

He had another bath today and strangely enough he only bathed the wound side of his body. He then went on to walking about on tip toes, going sideways up and down and almost falling backwards off his perch again. Definitely triggered by being wet as he had been ok for the last few days when he was dry !

[Pidgey]

I never bathe for the very same reason.

There is a knack to looking through otoscopes. You might want to practice on your family's ears for awhile. You might also take whichever attachment that you favor the least and trim it so that it has a larger opening but play with it first. You might also want to practice with it in the dark so that what you see through it is about all that you can see--that sometimes makes it easier to see what you're looking at, silly as that may sound.

Pidgey

[amyable]

That's what comes from bathing in alcohol

I did try it out on the family ears and that was ok, the dogs weren't so amused.

Ok will experiment more first and try the dark, thanks.
Just let me ask one more silly question, you do just rest it on the skin don't you. All this talk about invasive procedures has got me jittery.

Janet

Good luck with your new patient, appreciate your answering as I can tell you're busy.

[Pidgey]

Oh, there's no need to worry about sticking it in a sealed-up hole. Nobody on the forum is going to hunt you down for doing that.

Pidgey

[amyable]

Hi,

Number three that went to the vets today.

At last it seems this may be starting to go the right way. I have been flushing the hole out twice a day with Hibiscrub from the vets. Don't know why but this seems to be making a difference. It still isn't healed completely but after seeing him a week ago, the vet reckons the pocket was slightly smaller than before, so worth keeping this up for another two weeks.

Last week she was contemplating opening the wound up again to restart the healing process if this hadn't worked, so let's hope it carries on like this.

Janet

[amyable]

Hi,
Just thought I'd update Charlie's progress, (or not as it turns out).

It seemd to be doing well with the hibiscrub flushing that the vet put us on.
While I was on holiday a lasy who looked after him carried on with it and by the time I came back, I couldn't find the wound.
I even wet his chest area to hunt for it amongst the feathers, but never found it, so I assumed it had healed over at last.

Yesterday I caught him to give him a dose of probiotics, as his urates are just water recently. He has been having a heavy moult so I thought that might be the reason for that.

As I held him, I suddenly noticed the wound again. It is solid with hard necrotic stuff inside.
I bathed it with hibiscrub to see if it was just a surface wound but it turns out it goes just as deep as before. I wonder if the reason I couldn't find it for a while was that it had healed over, but opened up again now as whatever's inside hardened.

The vet that saw him before is on holiday so her boss is going to see him on Thursday. I hope he's pigeon friendly.
It needs to be got out professionally this time as it obviously goes in far deeper than I could see before. I don't know if Charlie's watery poops are connected to this. I do hope he's going to be ok.

Janet