Another breeder was kind enough to send me photos of one of their macaw babies with pretty much the same problem as Emily. They give their permission to use these images as a tool for other breeders that may run into a similar problem.
05-03-02 Breeder writes: A friend asked me to write to you, with info and pictures of one of my Blue and Gold Babies, now almost 2 years old. When she was just about 4 & 1/2 weeks old, she had surgery to correct a leg which was out of socket from the time she hatched, due to, what we believe was poor incubation.
I went to Emily's web page, and she and our baby could be mirror images of each other. These 3 views are at 2 weeks of age. At this point, all I could do was keep her positioned in a way to keep her comfortable, and confined, while we waited for her to get a bit older and have surgery.
My Vet had never done surgery like this, but after discussing it, we decided to go for it. It was basically the same type of surgery one would have for tennis elbow. Dr. In the photos below, taken 2 days after surgery, what you're looking at is the bad leg, being held in the socket by 4 pins, 2 pins in each of the bones (leg & socket...I'm not sure if you call that a hip) then rubber bands were criss-crossed to the opposite bones causing tension to hold the leg in place, and at the same time allow some movement.
The feet are also bound together, to keep her from pulling it out. This all had to be adjusted every 4 days because the baby was growing so fast.
The vet who performed this surgery, was Dr. Mike Mossler, DVM Bayshore Animal Hospital Fl
Phone (941)756-5544
While we were waiting to see if the surgery had worked, her movements had to be very limited. She was kept in a basket with lots of cushioning. ----->
<--------- 4 weeks after surgery.
The pins had just come out, and she was doing VERY well!
At this point, she only had 40% range of motion in her leg, and we began her weekly checkups and physical therapy.
6 weeks post surgery ------->
At this point, her physical therapy was every 2 weeks, and she had 60% range of motion…
She was/is soooooo loving, in spite of everything she had to go through!
<-------12 weeks after surgery, and up to 70% range of motion.
Not long before this picture was taken, we had begun monthly visits, and I was working with baby at home....well actually, Buddy was a big help and at times, I think he kept baby going. -)
Notice both feet are perching!
------>
Baby had just come from an appointment when this was taken, she looked a bit rough from the trip, but it was a special day!!!.
Her vet told me that she was up to just about 100% range of motion, and this was the end of her physical therapy. There was some tendon damage in the wing, because she had used it as a crutch, prior to surgery, and on and off afterwards, but it's never been a problem for her.
She does walk with a very slight limp, but that's almost gone now.
Our girl now (see Below) She's almost two years old now, and doing wonderfully! She is normal in every way, the limp is soooooo slight it's barely noticed.
