Avian Orthopaedics: From Triage to Discharge

Companion parrots, poultry and waterfowl are becoming increasingly common household pets and beloved family members. As more and more people trend towards keeping avian and exotic pets, these species are kept and interacted with similarly to dogs and cats. Luckily for companion birds, gone are the days of keeping a cockatiel in a cage for the entirety of its life. These pets are often given access to the house, trained to follow commands and engage with people, given toys and puzzles for enrichment, harness or free flight trained, and given the same gold standard veterinary care afforded to dogs and cats. And just like with our dogs and cats, accidents can happen at any time. Pet birds have the added risk of being flighted, leaving them prone to experiencing death defying aerial acts that can lead to incidents of trauma unheard of with our ground dwelling species. Due to their delicate bone structure, avian patients frequently present with fractures from trauma – be it a fall from a perch, flying into a window, catching their leg or wing on a toy, or having an altercation with another pet in the household. Add to that their predisposition to stress as a prey species, the risk of an orthopaedic emergency also being a respiratory emergency due to their pneumatic bones, their smaller body size making bandaging, surgical fixation and physiotherapy a more delicate process, and the species specific nutritional requirements essential for bone healing – a successful fracture repair involves patience, teamwork, owner compliance, and a keen understanding of your patient’s needs both in and out of hospital.

This lecture will take you through the process of triage (both over the phone and in person), patient assessment and stabilisation, diagnostic investigation, fracture classification, methods of fracture repair, multimodal analgesia, physiotherapy, owner communications and realistic expectations of the bird’s quality of life post-repair.