Expert: Julia Booth - 8/11/2008

Question
My bird broke her leg, the vet put a pin in and had it all taped up.  He removed the tape and now wants to remove the pin in 2 weeks.  Why would he want to remove the pin, wouldn't it keep the leg stronger to keep the pin in it?

Answer
Well I'm not a vet. But I do have a generous amount of knowledge about human medicine. Rods and pins are used to support broken bones, when a cast cannot be employed -for instance on connecting joints or on the body's largest bone, the femur. Most of the time, when surgeons place any sort of hardware inside a person, it is never removed. The main issue would be if the patient needed an MRI. Pins can sometimes be magnetic and will be ripped out by the giant magnetic force of the imager. The other issue is tendon and tissue regrowth being inhibited by the hardware.

These are not issues for birds. They heal very quickly, even more so than humans. They have a rapid metabolic rate and cellular regeneration. The pin isn't needed for support, once the leg is healed. But its continued presence will not cause a problem either.

Birds are unique in that they have hollow bones -this excludes game birds that spend their time on the ground. But birds that fly, have mostly hollow bones. It's why they are so light.

I'm assuming this is some kind of parrot? So probably his flight feathers are clipped anyway and the weight of the pin will not be an issue. If it's a raptor of some sort and you're into falconry, it might be worth exploring.

A pin, depending on its placement does not actually have to be removed, unless its going to cause a problem with its continued presence. I personally have a rod that goes from my pelvis to my knee on my right leg, attached with three pins. It's been there since 1996.

It is my very biased opinion that your vet is attempting to garner further surgical fees from you. Removing the pin means anesthesia, which is usually a bit more than just a regular visit.

Unless you are good friends with him and he's on your Christmas card list and everything, I wouldn't put it past any vet. Vets are constantly looking for new ways to get money out of their customers, and even invent vaccinations that your dogs and cats don't really need, just for that purpose. I might be wrong about yours, of course.

Is it necessary? Not in my opinion. If you have any follow-up questions you can e-mail me directly. Juliabohemian@aol.com