https://www.vetsurgeon.org/f/clinical-questions/16353/fracture-femur-in-parakeet This X-ray is from a 9 week male Nanday Conures parakeet that presented with RH lameness of 4 days duration. On X-ray there is a proximal femoral fracture. The distal fragment is very mobile. Would referral (I ain&#39;t going to touch it!) for stabilisationen-USTelligent Community 10https://www.vetsurgeon.org/thread/97488?ContentTypeID=1Wed, 18 Sep 2013 08:55:48 GMT146601cc-3922-4be7-9974-7e1d4e45a66b:acc6cbf1-9dc2-4a23-8acb-034d9e97d3b7Laurence Webb<p>Great. Thanks!</p><div style="clear:both;"></div>https://www.vetsurgeon.org/thread/97485?ContentTypeID=1Tue, 17 Sep 2013 23:17:32 GMT146601cc-3922-4be7-9974-7e1d4e45a66b:c263b31b-b378-42e9-8388-f26ba96814f1Marie Kubiak<p>You have two options really then - seeing whether it heals enough with minimal intervention to give function or euthanasia (unless they are only ruling out fixation and could be willing to consider amputation). None of these are ideal but a young bird can have stable callus within 2wks so may be better to wait and see if the bird can be kept comfortable - sometimes even the most horrendous fractures can somehow knit together but it is a gamble.</p> <p>Meloxicam seems to have different thresholds of toxicity/effect in different bird species and there is no decent data on most species. I tend to opt for 0.3mg/kg bid in small birds based only on anecdotal results but do warn O of renal toxicity as although rare can occur. For something like this I&#39;d also give butorphanol at 1mg/kg IM or PO q 4hrs at least for the first few days.</p> <p>Marie</p><div style="clear:both;"></div>https://www.vetsurgeon.org/thread/97484?ContentTypeID=1Tue, 17 Sep 2013 23:09:12 GMT146601cc-3922-4be7-9974-7e1d4e45a66b:368dfd24-a57e-4cea-afdf-30cdbfba633dLaurence Webb<p>Thanks Marie. </p> <p>I have an orthogonal view but the dodgy camera couldn&#39;t take a photo of the X-ray that you could see anything on. At this stage the owner has decided against surgery so it will probably be a case of waiting and seeing anyway unless you think that is completely the wrong thing to do.</p> <p>The zolcal D sounds like a good idea though as bone density is pretty low - I have images in my mind of the femur disintegrating at surgery which would leave the bird in a worse state than it is now. Is Metacam 0.3ml/kg a suitable dose to use?</p><div style="clear:both;"></div>https://www.vetsurgeon.org/thread/97483?ContentTypeID=1Tue, 17 Sep 2013 22:36:26 GMT146601cc-3922-4be7-9974-7e1d4e45a66b:6315058c-f73b-4097-b1ac-fd86e5bdf25dMarie Kubiak<p>Hard to see from this view the size/fragmentation of the proximal segment, an anaesthetised set of orthogonal views will help assess if surgery is a reasonable option. Tie-in fixator is generally my method of choice for these where possible. With the position of the upper leg against the body you just can&#39;t bandage and immobilise the femur with any confidence.</p> <p>Bone density doesn&#39;t look great which reduces success of any method - I would start on something like zolcal D (vit D plus calcium) alongside analgesia and perhaps refer on for evaluation and potential fixation</p> <p>Marie</p><div style="clear:both;"></div>