We met Rocky on July 31, 2007. Rocky appeared to be a happy bird who spent his first few minutes in our lobby yelling ‘Rocky!’ to everyone within earshot. He had been living with his owners for 3 years and was very attached to them. Rocky’s owners had discovered over the years that Rocky did have some quirks/problems. He was missing a patch of feathers that he had presumably plucked off, he was missing the nail from one of the toes on his left foot (cause unknown), and he did not particularly like to eat the higher quality pellet diets they wanted to feed him; although he would eat a parrot seed mix and good foods like fruits and vegetables, his preference (like most humans!) was for pizza and enchiladas.
Rocky came to us because he had developed a new problem. Rocky had been boarded at a local pet store while his owners were out of town and while there he had begun chewing on another of the toes on his left foot. When the pet store bandaged the toe to prevent him chewing Rocky promptly removed the bandage, so according to the owner, the bandage was then ‘super glued’ to his foot. Rocky’s owners removed the bandage ten days later at home only to find that the toe still appeared injured and he was obsessed with chewing on it.
On physical exam, Rocky was a good body weight with scruffy feathers and a plucked patch along his keel. The remainder of his exam was unremarkable with the exception of his left foot. His halix (the toe that points backwards) was missing the nail, and digit #2 (one of the toes pointing forward) was blackened at the tip with the nail hanging by what appeared to be either tendon or exposed bone. The area was quite tender to the touch. It was impossible to determine what had initiated the chewing, but it was obvious that Rocky had done some serious damage to himself.
Rocky was immediately moved to the treatment area for surgery. He was anesthetized with isoflurane gas and oxygen and his toe was surgically prepped. Once Rocky was asleep we were able to examine his toe more closely and found that he had effectively self-amputated both the nail and the last piece of bone in his toe – the dangling piece was attached by a tendon. As there was no way to repair such an injury, the tendon was cut and the tip of his toe sutured closed. We then x-rayed his foot to look for further injuries; there were none. The toe was bandaged, Rocky was given an injection of pain medication and he woke up uneventfully.
Because Rocky is a parrot, and parrots like to chew and pick on unfamiliar things, he was fitted with an e-collar to help control his nibbling tendencies. When his owners could not keep the collar on him, we added extra layers to his bandage in the hopes that that would distract him. Rocky was a fairly tolerant patient, and 2 weeks after surgery his sutures came out and he went home bandage and e-collar free!
While only Rocky really knows what made him start picking on his toe in the first place, we do have a couple of theories. It is possible that he injured his toe on his cage while being boarded; an injury would draw his attention, causing him to pick. It is equally possible that his injury was stress-induced. Parrots are highly social creatures who thrive on interaction with their flock. In the case of captive parrots (those that live with us), their families are their flocks. Among the large parrot species, cockatoos are one of the most ‘needy’, with family being very important to their overall well-being. The stress of being boarded may have been enough to cause Rocky to pick at his toe. He had already shown a tendency to pick at himself as evidenced by his plucked patch of feathers, so it is not an unlikely scenario.
Rocky’s owners are well aware of the difficult road they are facing with him and they are working hard to increase their quality time with him, as well as helping him to deal with necessary separations. They are also working hard to get him to eat a more complete diet – not an easy task when dealing with a stubborn parrot! Rocky’s owners are as devoted to him and he is to them; they should go far together.
by Tanya Wyman, DVM
