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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
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Wei Wei the parrot couldn’t fly because somebody had trimmed its wings, but now it can once again soar in the skies
Image credits: Caters News Agency
A vet helped Wei Wei fly again by fixing its wings while it slept
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!
Image credits: Caters News Agency
Wei Wei didn’t feel a thing, so don’t worry about the lil’ parrot
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’
Image credits: Caters News Agency
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
Image credits: Caters News Agency
And here’s how fabulous the parrot looks after it
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
Image credits: Caters News Agency
You can learn more about the awesome vet right here
Image credits: Caters News Agency
Look at how gorgeous the bird looks!
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
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What do you think ?
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.
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.
Load More Replies...
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.
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?
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
Load More Replies...
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.
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.
Load More Replies... 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.
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?
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
Load More Replies...
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