Sunny is a beautiful Kakariki, a type of parakeet that originally comes from New Zealand. She came to see us after she caught her leg in her cage: poor Sunny couldn’t put any weight on her left foot and had to balance on one leg. An examination confirmed that she had fractured her leg and her x-ray showed a clean fracture of the tibia.
Sunny with her poorly leg
Fracture clearly visible on x-ray
Fixing fractures in birds is fraught with difficulty because their bones are so light. Any internal fixation (pins or plates), as well being technically demanding, would significantly affect the weight of the leg. Placing support on the outside of the leg is also a challenge because, like most animals, birds’ legs become thinner towards the foot which means bandages and additional support can easily slip down and become ineffectual.
We used an adherent tape system to stick the bandage to Sunny’s leg and to hold a thin metal external splint in place to keep the fractured leg straight. Unfortunately Sunny did not like our efforts! She tugged at the bandage with her beak, resulting in us needing to place a second dressing. Once again this had a limited durability but fortunately, by the time the second bandage had slipped, Sunny’s fracture had already formed a callus and she could use her leg, even clinging to the vertical bars with that foot!
Under anaesthesia
Placing the splint
Mobility back!
We are delighted that Sunny has continued to do well without any further support. She can now use her previously damaged leg again as normal.