Sothing is wrong with my emu's leg *fixed, thank you all*

[ShadowRooster]

Keema, my four month old emu, has a problem with one of her legs. Its was there as a baby, but its gotten mutch worse. We thouht it was kinda funny that she walked with one foot at a slight angle, but now its a compleat right angle and its getting mutch worse! She just fine with it, not favoring it or anything. Just one leg, her right one twisted to the right. She NEVER have problems walking, we are out in there pen everyday. Its kinda scary to look at it, and im pretty sure it hurts her. What can I do about it?

We need to find a vet that will look for emus near VT or NH. All the vets we called dont. She is starting to limp badly and we need to find one soon!

 

[chickenzoo]

What are you feeding them? Legs are very hard to fix on an Emu, I would suggest a vet looking at her soon.

 

[ShadowRooster]

We feed them the food that the breeder gave us. Its made for emus, we dont mix anything.



Last time we brought our emus in to the vet they asked

"an emu? never heard of them! Are they the animals that look like lamas?"

and then... (this it to somone helping with a shot...)

"ummm.. where do you think the best place to stick this in is? Its all bones!"

"Oh! Im scared of birds!"


I have looked for vets that know a little more about emus in NH or VT, most emu peaple around here order shots and do it themselves.

 

[chickenzoo]

Gotcha, I know the feeling about find a vet that will work with them, luckily I have 2. Perhaps you can call your local big university and talk to their vets..... they may be interested in teaching students about emu anatomy....

 

[tigerrrrrrrlilly]

Where are you located? I have a list of Animal/veterinary and Avian science departments and cooperative extensions at Universities throughout the country. They can be very helpful with advice on treatment when no veterinarians are available and may even treat him for you if it can be a learning experience for students.

 

[ShadowRooster]

We need to find a vet soon, she started limping badly.

The emus are in VT but we can still bring her in the car, maybe to someone in mass, ME, or NH even NY.

Im afraid she wont be able to walk soon, its just getting worse.

 

[tigerrrrrrrlilly]

Heres what I have, maybe they can help you or refer you to someone who can. Hope this helps the poor baby. Give them a call and ask for help!

Dept. Of Animal Sciences
Carragan Hall
University of Vermont
Burlington, VT 05405
802-656-2074

Animal and Veterinary Sciences
University Of Maine
127 Hitchner Hall
Orono, ME 04469
207-581-2768

Dept. Of Animal and Nutritional Sciences
University Of New Hampshire
Kendall Hall
Durham, NH 03824
603-862-2247

Animal Science Dept.
Cornell University
Morrison Hall
Ithaca, NY 14853
607-255-8143


Let me know how it goes..
~~Tammy

 

[ShadowRooster]

Yes! We found a vet that will see her. The doctor was a zoo vet, and had never worked on emus, but had a few classes on them.
She had a type of spayed legs, most likey when she was young and its just now getting worse. We can fix it with tape, mutch like with chicks. She will be fine, its not painfull at all for her, even though she limps. Thank you all for your help, Kyeema's leg may never get any better, but we dont mind because she is a much loved pet.

We will be looking for another vet to see her and her friend Burnu when they get bigger, this vet only dose "small animals". Luckly, she fit into a large dog kennel and was able to pass as "small".

 

[tigerrrrrrrlilly]

Oh I'm so glad you found someone to see her. I thought about splayed leg, but I didn't know enough about emus and if that was even possible. Poor baby. Maybe they make the shoes for emus like they do for chickens??

 

[casuarius]

Ratites are bad for getting splay legs. They need alot of Calcium, magnesium, and phosphorus. They also can't be on any kind of slick surfaces when young. I feed mine puppy chow, 18% protein or higher, and never have any problems. Ratite Maintenance is what the feed stores generally sell for emu's ostriches, etc. but it's not near as good as dog food. Once their legs turn out like that, it's usually impossible to fix, but can be stopped from getting any worse. We had one that had a splay leg on one side and he lived fine, it wasnt too bad that he couldn't walk.