Injured HH feet ?

[Midge]

For those who don't already know , he was bitten by a rat on the sole part of his foot . This happened a few weeks before xmas , it was quite deep but over progressive weeks got worse with him flexing his foot which prevented the healing , I had taken him to a vet who gave me an anti biotic and some iodine type stuff. that was it , we treated his foot with this until the antibiotic done , I had taken him back every few days to let the vet check the progress .which was little if any . I got fed up with the vets lack of help so i sought out another ( an avian type) I had taken the bird to her and instantly she pulled off the old scabbing ..and told us she could sort him.
She opted to knock him out and injected an antibiotic straight to site of bother..............and gave us some Hypericum calandula cream to apply ........................this worked a treat ,with instant results next day we saw such an improvement. His foot was so well healed within a week and we only had to go back for a check up and it was grand .
However there is still some swelling and the foot is a different colour (darker yellow) than the other ...........anyone any thoughts on Harris' and their foot injuries ? That cream is available from health food shops by the way (st Johns wort and something else )

[CJ#HaRrIs HAwKs RuLe#]

our vets nearly killed our kitten.

they gave her a jab she didn't need. and it made her very ill.effected her kidneys
then despite us telling the same vets she was sensitive when they neutered her the anesthetic knocked her out for a long long time. She had to stay over night and the next day on a drip. she was still very tierd and ill looking.

my nans vets also did nothing for her dogs eye thing,don't know how u spell it but you pronounce it cat-er-racks, now however all of a sudden the are selling them 3 or 4 diffrent eye drops. One of the tubes on it own costs £35 a go!!!:roll:

don't get me wrong I'm not having a go at vets but some are just in it for the money!!!!:x ours even charge for advice over the phone!!!

ps. good news about your harris hawk getting better

[Cyclone]

got that right CJ
cyclone

[StormRider]

The change in colour might be down to the iodine soaking into the foot tissue. It takes a while for it to disperse. Thats one of the reasons why it is used because it is very active and hardy on tissue.
Im glad to hear that the bird is doing okay, but I would keep checking the foot to see if it radiates heat. If it does then it may have a secondary infection within the foot. For future use, if your vet has any problems he can get phone assistance from a vet who specialises in raptors. I think Neil Forbes provides this service over the phone. Another good technique to use on foot injuries where mobility needs to be reduced is to use surgical tape to secure the open foot around a small tennis ball. This keeps the foot in shape and prevents damaging movement. The bird will try to pull it away but the short time it is on really does help.
Good luck mate.
STU

[FoxHunter]

Midge,The advice to check for heat is good,wipe both feet with surgical spirit and if the injured foot dries before the other you will know it is still inflamed.A variation of the above works well on horses.Water can also be used,but is slower and not always as convenient.

[Skeld]

Midge, Preparation H is good for reducing swelling although embarrassing to buy. I use it quite regularly on my birds feet to keep them in good condition, by the way I always get my wife to buy it!

[StormRider]

preparation H ? Ive got loads of that, Ill have to use it then. Lol
STU:supz:

[Midge]

thanks for the feed back fellas , much appreciated .I'll try the surgical spirit test and see what happens , the birds foot doesn't feel warm to the touch at present , It did at the time of the infection but when the vet gave him the direct injection within 24 hrs it was grand , it swelled at the site of bite which allowed the cream to be put EXACTLY where it was needed and within a further 48 hrs it was healing brilliantly . there is now a small scab on the site and it still looks a little bigger than the good foot ,but apart from that he's healed well and is moulting at present too. Cream is still being applied ( this bite happened early december )

[Sprout]

Hopefully if the foot is non painful and not warm then there is no infection - however, a one off injection of anti-biotic will do very little. The vast majority of anti-biotics can only be injected subcutaneous, actually injecting directly into tissue is highly risky as there is more likely to be an adverse reaction and produce a granulomatous reaction in the foot. If it is still swollen there is a possibilioty though it could still be infected - after this time antibiotics on their own may not be enough and the pus may need to be surgically removed as bird pus is solid rather than liquid. If it is still swollen it may be worth getting xrays!

As far as the other post goes there is no direct treatment for cataracts unless you want to spend thousands on phaecoemulsification - but there are drops to help if you get secondary problems due to the cataract ie uveitis/glaucoma etc. And yes, some vets are just in it for the money - but not all of us!!
Hope the bird is ok.
Also, do not use prepH if the skin is not intact.

[Mr_Colin]

Also, do not use prepH if the skin is not intact.

Why's that Karl?

[Sprout]

Can encourage bacterial growth - also more risk of adverse reaction