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Vet Gives Parrot New Wings After Someone Severely Trims Them

It takes only a few hours to completely change the life of an animal. Dr. Catherine Apuli, a vet working with The Unusual Pet Vets in Brisbane, Australia, gave a parrot named Wei Wei the ability to soar again.

Wei Wei had been the victim of wing trimming to prevent it from flying. However, with Dr. Apuli’s help, the parrot was able to take to the skies! All it took was some MacGyverish ingenuity and creativity which involved some donated feathers, glue, and toothpicks. (But don’t worry, dear Pandas, the procedure was completely painless!) Scroll down for Bored Panda’s interview with Dr. Apuli!

This vet isn’t the only helping other creatures soar the skies again. When you’re done with this post, check out Bored Panda’s earlier article about Katie VanBlaricum who helps butterflies fly again by giving them wing transplants.

More info: UnusualPetVets.com | Facebook | Instagram | YouTube

Wei Wei the parrot couldn’t fly because somebody had trimmed its wings, but now it can once again soar in the skies

Vet Gives Parrot New Wings After Someone Severely Trims Them

Image credits: Caters News Agency

A vet helped Wei Wei fly again by fixing its wings while it slept

Vet Gives Parrot New Wings After Someone Severely Trims Them

Image credits: Caters News Agency

“Wei Wei was brought in for a general health check as the owner had just bought her and wanted to know if she was healthy. During her physical exam, I explained that her wings were cut too short and too many feathers were cut, however, we do see this commonly,” Dr. Apuli went into more detail about Wei Wei’s situation.

The vet used donated feathers to create prosthetic wings for the parrot!

Vet Gives Parrot New Wings After Someone Severely Trims Them

Image credits: Caters News Agency

Wei Wei didn’t feel a thing, so don’t worry about the lil’ parrot

Vet Gives Parrot New Wings After Someone Severely Trims Them

Image credits: Caters News Agency

“As the owner had just bought her up that same day, she was not yet sure if Wei Wei was affected by her short wing trim. I warned of injuries that can occur with a severe wing trim. One week later, Wei Wei came back for a microchipping procedure,” the vet continued. “The owners stated at this time that she was falling heavily to the ground and hurting her feet. The imping procedure was performed one week after the microchip procedure. The parrot is now living happily at her owner’s house, where she is teaching Wei Wei ‘recall training’ where the bird is trained to fly to the owner on cue.”

Repairing damaged feathers by attaching parts of new ones is known as ‘imping’

Vet Gives Parrot New Wings After Someone Severely Trims Them

Image credits: Caters News Agency

Vet Gives Parrot New Wings After Someone Severely Trims Them

Image credits: Caters News Agency

Dr. Apuli confirmed to us that she’s performed the same procedure she did on Wei Wei many times before.

According to her, the vet clinic posts the most interesting cases of them helping animals out on their Facebook page. “The Unusual Pet Vets specialize in exotic or ‘unusual’ pets. This means we don’t see cats and dogs, we only see reptiles, small mammals, and birds.”

Here’s what Wei Wei looked like before the procedure

Vet Gives Parrot New Wings After Someone Severely Trims Them

Image credits: Caters News Agency

And here’s how fabulous the parrot looks after it

Vet Gives Parrot New Wings After Someone Severely Trims Them

Image credits: Caters News Agency

Apuli gave the 12-week-old Green Cheeked Conure a pair of prosthetic wings made out of feathers donated to the clinic. Within hours of the procedure, during which the parrot slept as the prosthetics were glued to its body, Wei Wei was back on its feet (well, wings) and was maneuvering in the air like a pro.

What Apuli did is known as ‘imping’ and involved repairing damaged feathers by attaching parts of new ones. In Wei Wei’s case, the vet used toothpicks for support.

Wei Wei had been a victim of “severe” wing trimming. This is a controversial procedure that some exotic bird owners do to keep their pets grounded and to prevent their escape. Previously, every time Wei Wei had tried to fly, it would fall to the ground.

This is Dr. Catherine Apuli, the heroine who saved Wei Wei

Vet Gives Parrot New Wings After Someone Severely Trims Them

Image credits: Caters News Agency

You can learn more about the awesome vet right here

Vet Gives Parrot New Wings After Someone Severely Trims Them

Image credits: Caters News Agency

Look at how gorgeous the bird looks!

Vet Gives Parrot New Wings After Someone Severely Trims Them

Image credits: Caters News Agency

“The bird had a severe wing trim, which means that the flight feathers were cut too short and too many feathers were cut,” the 31-year-old veterinarian Apuli said.

It’s unclear who exactly trimmed the parrot’s wings: whether it was a previous owner, a pet store owner, or a breeder.

People were inspired by Dr. Apuli’s kindhearted actions

Vet Gives Parrot New Wings After Someone Severely Trims Them

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Storytelling, journalism, and art are a core part of who I am. I've been writing and drawing ever since I could walk—there is nothing else I'd rather do. My formal education, however, is focused on politics, philosophy, and economics because I've always been curious about the gap between the ideal and the real. At work, I'm a Senior Writer and I cover a broad range of topics that I'm passionate about: from psychology and changes in work culture to healthy living, relationships, and design. In my spare time, I'm an avid hiker and reader, enjoy writing short stories, and love to doodle. I thrive when I'm outdoors, going on small adventures in nature. However, you can also find me enjoying a big mug of coffee with a good book (or ten) and entertaining friends with fantasy tabletop games and sci-fi movies.

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Denis is a photo editor at Bored Panda. After getting his bachelor's degree in Multimedia and Computer Design, he tried to succeed in digital design, advertising, and branding. Also, Denis really enjoys sports and loves everything related to board sports and water.

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What do you think ?

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Jo Choto 4 years ago

The selling, breeding and keeping of wild creatures should be banned, period. there's just no excuse in this day and age for taking an intelligent and long-lived bird that lives in flocks and has the whole sky as its domain, and putting it alone in a cage, and destroying its wings. It's disgusting and should be illegal.

19points

The Random Merp 4 years ago

It depends on how they're treated, but yes, I agree that it's horrible to have them cramped in tiny cages with their wings destroyed. However, there are some great bird parents who give the birds their best life.

5points

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Christina Uhlir 4 years ago

If only that, they are destroying their wild home.

1point

Irene Walton 4 years ago

I totally agree with you!! I can't stand seeing these poor birds in captivity. Same as some places in the USA, still aloud wild cats for a pet

0points

AzKhaleesi 4 years ago

these are commonly BRED here in the US, they aren't stolen and they are not wild here. mine lives in a huge cage and has free reign of the house when we are home. All of our birds do, they only go back in their cages at night for bed or if we're not home to watch them.

0points

AzKhaleesi 4 years ago

Ok this pisses me off, first off that is a green cheek conure in case there are any people here that don't know birds. I have one that looks just like him. His name is Cricket and he's so cute. Now that he hit sexual maturity he's not my sweet guy anymore he's an a*s, but we love him lol. Second, when you trim a bird so they can't fly let me educate.... it does NOT hurt them, and they grow back, the problem was those were the WRONG feathers. we trim all our birds (9) because it's safer for them so they don't hit ceiling fans etc. BUT it doesn't KEEP them from flying that's a common misconception. Actually it prevents lift off and getting altitude BUT if you go outside and their wings are trimmed and there's a gust of air that they catch just right, they can and WILL still fly.

17points

Felicia Dale 4 years ago

THANK YOU.

7points

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Eva Ball 4 years ago

As I was reading this I was like "why is this vet wasting her time like this? How is she a hero?" The feathers grow back. I raised parakeets for years and we trimmed the wings so they could safely play outside the cage. Kept them from flying into ceiling fans and other things. They can still flutter/glide quite a distance. We put tiny ladders from the floor to the acceptable places for them to roam around on. The feathers grew back and they would need trimming again. It's a normal thing for pet birds, doesn't hurt them as long as you don't nick a blood feather. It's not any different than trimming your pet's nails. It keeps them safe from flying accidents so you don't have to keep them caged all the time. I think my birds were much happier being allowed to explore than being bored and sad in a cage all day.

1point

Christina Uhlir 4 years ago

It looks that Wei Wei's feathers were cut way too short.

0points

Irene Walton 4 years ago

thanks for this

0points

Steph 4 years ago

This doesn't make any sense to me. Why would you put a bird under anaesthetic when these feathers will grow back on their own after the bird molts?

7points

Peachymiss 4 years ago

Because if you read the article they cut the feathers so short the bird couldn't land safely and was getting hurt by falling hard to the ground

17points

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Eileen Lu 4 years ago

I'm making an account just to reply to this (1) Wei wei is too young to have their wings trimmed that short. They haven't even learned to fly yet, and if they don't learn it affects their muscle development (2) old feathers protect new ones when they moult. Wei wei's current feathers have been trimmed so short that any new feathers will be damaged

12points

Felicia Dale 4 years ago

Steph is not wrong about anesthetic and birds being potentially fatal. Even healthy birds die from anesthesia. It's not to be done lightly. Since this bird was trying to fly so much and falling (which can also injure or kill a bird) I can see why it was done- but it's not something to be done lightly.

3points

Steph 4 years ago

Thank you, I can read just fine and I do know a thing or two about birds and veterinary procedures. I don't speak from ignorance.

3points

Morgan Hawkins 4 years ago

I agree the risks from putting such a small animal under anesthetic is far more dangerous than any chances of him falling. Feathers would have grown back after his most recent molt and putting any animal under anesthesia of that size is extremely risky.it is far better to simply be a responsible owner and work with your bird who is incapable flying at the time it will only take time to recover.

1point

Peachymiss 4 years ago

Steph just keeping him safe until new feathers grow back is massively cruel as the bird would need to be fully caged with no out time 24/7 and even then that's no guarantee he wouldn't hurt himself. Please understand that birds are incredibly intelligent animals and are naturally curious about their worlds just like us...I know because I have one (who is free flight by the way). The treatment give to this beautiful bird was the current course of treatment, rest assured a specialist vet like the one in this study would never do an unnecessary procedure and put an animals life at risk for no reason.

0points