An initial exam by our avian veterinarian:
This immature female American Kestrel was very feisty on presentation. We know it is immature because she still had some down feathers left and her tail feathers were not all the way in. Since she was found in the middle of the road, she was probably hit by a car. Overall she was in excellent condition. Radiographs revealed a fractured right radius and ulna. She will need to have a pin put in each bone to stabilize it while it heals. Unfortunately her prognosis for return to the wild is poor. With the radius and ulna broken in the same place, the bones often fuse together in the healing process which would leave her unable to extend her wing. To help prevent this, we will begin three-time weekly physical therapy under anesthesia. We need to do it under anesthesia because if she were awake she could easily pull the wing away from us and damage the wing further.
UPDATE: 07/25/2018 - This bird was recovering well from surgery then took a turn for the worst. She started having neurological signs that progressively got worse. She was found deceased in her cage.
Intake Number : #07042018AMKE
