Lipoma/fatty lump

My Galah, Dominic, has a huge fatty lump or lipoma hanging off his tummy and between his legs. There's another one behind his legs and another right near his anus. The big one is about the size of a lime, while the smaller ones are more the size of a marble. I've seen several vets about this and all say 'nothing can be done'. Mind you, I doubt whether any of these vets has particular knowledge of birds and I'm still trying to find a bird specialist within reasonable distance of where I live.

Anyway, I thought I'd ask here whether other people have had experience with these fatty growths and share some knowledge.

Dominic is a sort of rescue bird, having lived the last ten years of his life in a tiny cage with nothing but sunflower seed to eat and no company or toys. He's on a sunflower-free diet now and I'm trying to get him to eat fruits and veggies (no luck so far, but still trying). My main worry is that sometimes the lump gets caught and bleeds. If infection gets in, this could have dire consequences for Dominic! In an ideal world, I'd love to have the lump removed so Dom can be more active in his cage.

Any and all help/suggestions will be most gratefully welcomed!

Poor thing! What a sad pathetic life he lived before, breaks my heart D:

Fatty tumors can be removed, you'll just have to find a competent avian certified vet for it. A qualified avian vet would recommended removing them, especially considering that one catches on things. We have a good number of Australian members on here, maybe one can recommend a good avian vet near you.

My Advice don't give up . Im sure theirs a vet that can help you. I think theres a RB2 group [search for them ] . When my Macaw was sick last year .I got a hold of some Macaw breeders [cause they know their birds well] .They really helped with giving me advice to ask the vets the right questions . They really steered me in the right direction . I think they were a big part in saving her[thank god] Try to find breeders to talk to [there ] There must be some there ? Good Luck.

Some lipomas can be reversed with a proper diet and daily exercise. If cancerous, there is laser surgery to remove it, too.

Monica, when you say 'daily exercise', what would you suggest? Dominic literally sits in one place on one perch all day long. I've given him natural branches to try and encourage him to climb, but he doesn't . Then, when I removed the original dowel perch, he nearly had a fit! He fluffed up all his feathers, tucked his head under his wing and sulked. As soon as I put the old perch back, he was fine.

I've got the whole day free tomorrow, so I think I'll see if I can get Dominic into the kitchen for some socialising. Do you think I should use sunflower seeds for treats until things pick up? I've been told they're the last thing I should be feeding Dom, but it's really the only thing he looks for. I've got him on a mix of wild bird seeds, including safflower and corn and peas, but thus far he won't even look at fruit or veg. Actually, I tell a lie: yesterday, I gave him carrot sticks and he took one and shredded it with his beak. I don't think he ate any of it, but that was the first time he's shown any interest. If I persist with the carrot, then that might be a start, right?

If the bird has never flown, do you think there's any chance that he might be rehabilitated to do so? Not that it's on my immediate agenda, but just wondering. Thanks for all your excellent advice, BTW - I enjoy reading your posts.

Daily exercise as in flight. Having him fly until he's starting to become exhausted, then give him a break. He should be encouraged to fly at least twice a day, if not more often. Anything short of flight (i.e. climbing) is just not enough.

Can he stretch out his wings? If he can't, then you may need to do some wing stretches with him (if he'll allow you to) and get him comfortable with opening his wings. If his muscles have atrophied but he can still open his wings, teaching him to fly may be a difficult thing. Not impossible, but it will take weeks, if not months.



I have "taught" a budgie how to fly again and tried to teach a cherry headed conure, too. The budgie, when I bought him, was an acrobat in the air! He was simply gorgeous! However, being the idiot that I was at the time, I clipped him because I was afraid that he wouldn't eat, being in a new environment and I didn't want him to starve. He did finally eat after being clipped but lost his ability to fly (muscles had atrophied from lack of use that he could no longer fly even when he grew back his flights). Once I noticed that he couldn't fly when he should be able to, I started to gently toss him onto my bed at least two to three times a day until he was plain tuckered out. I did this for about 2 weeks, and after that period of time he had gained enough muscle back that he could fly unassisted and take off from the ground!


I later was given a cherry headed conure who also couldn't fly, and I tried the same thing of tossing him onto my bed to encourage him to fly. His flight capabilities were that of a ragdoll... it didn't matter how hard he flapped his wings, he tumbled end over end in the air like that of a ragdoll. He could not even land on his feet. Ever. So I figured since I could "teach" a budgie to fly, maybe I could do the same with this conure! Boy was I ever wrong! I ended up giving up with that technique (which, btw, I don't recommend doing unless the bird actually enjoys it - tossing a bird into the air can be a scary experience for many of them! It can be a trust destroying experience) after getting repeatedly bitten! Instead, I tried a different approach... that of encouraging him to jump to me from a stable position. Now, I never did get him to fly in the end, but he did get enough courage to make a couple of "flying leaps of faith" from his cage, expecting that he would be caught! One such instance was at my sister! Now, mind you, my sister is not a 'bird person' and only I knew how to handle this conure! (also, my sister and I look similar, so my birds often accept her more easily than anyone else) Imagine her surprise when she walked up to the cage and had Noel, the conure, leap at her from the cage top! :xmas_lol2


I realize that flight may not be in your immediate agenda, but it's going to be a requirement to getting him healthier! A bird that frequently flies can handle a poor diet far better than a parrot who rarely ever, if at all, flies. Flight helps them to better digest and consume the foods that they eat. It helps them to burn calories, gain muscle, lose body fat, improves health both physically as well as mentally...


He should not be on a wild bird food diet. Get him a basic parrot mix (I know that galahs have small beaks, so may prefer small food items over larger ones that larger parrots may prefer - so experiment with foods! Try a cockatiel mix, a conure mix or a parrot mix!) and some pellets (I know Vetafarm is readily available - possibly harder to find, but there's also Roudybush, Harrison's and maybe Zupreem - after looking at the ingredients of Passwells, I'm not a big fan of it).

Have you checked out this thread? Please look through it and use any method to get him eating better! He needs it!
http://www.parrotforums.com/general-health-care/23367-converting-parrots-healthier-diet-tips.html


You might try and see if he likes sprouted sunflower seeds rather than dry ones. Sprouted sunflower seeds will be healthier for him if he'll eat them. Ideally, he should be off of a seed diet (unless feeding sprouted seeds) and onto a pelleted diet and/or fresh food diet. However, this needs to be a gradual change in diet and not a drastic one. A change in diet too quickly may cause more harm than good.

If he seems to enjoy carrots then you might try steaming up some carrots and/or sweet potatoes/yams and mixing in some finely chopped vegetables such as broccoli, cooked/sprouted grains and legumes, kale, peas, corn, etc. Maybe even roll the mash up into little balls (a cookie dough scooper or using measuring spoons would be great for this!) and rolling it in a little seeds to help entice him to eat it!

You may also be interested in looking at this thread for some ideas of what to feed him.
http://www.parrotforums.com/general...afe-fresh-foods-toxic-food-lists-sprouts.html

Here's a few recipes on a 'sweet potato mash balls' that may help give you some ideas!
Parrot Foraging and Fun: Sweet Potato Mash Balls
Recipes that Birds Love | Parrot Parrot
parrot_lovers: Receipe for Sebastian's Sweet Potato Balls
Parrot Recipes


If he enjoys eating the sweet potato you can even mix in pellets! I would recommend getting cockatiel sized pellets (or smaller - whatever is about the same size as seeds! I find that it's easier to switch some parrots to a pelleted diet by providing smaller pellets than what is recommended for their species), and, if required, grinding the pellets into a powder before mixing in or, if the pellets will allow this, mix the pellets into some water (or sugar free/organic fruit juice - any flavor!) before mixing into the mash!

The possibilities are endless in what you can do! If you try a new food item, try it out for a minimum of two weeks before trying something else that's different. Be creative!



I hope this information will be of help! It sounds like you may have a long road ahead with Dominic, but do not give up! He will be healthier in the long run once you can get him exercising and eating healthier! A great way to encourage an interest in new foods is making food into 'toys' or incorporating them into foraging activities! Make him work for his food so that it's more satisfying! If he doesn't know how to forage, then it may take him some time before he learns how to! Start with easy foraging techniques and work your way up to more difficult foraging techniques!



And thank you!

MonicaMc pretty much covered everything I was going to say, from his diet to the fact that he NEEDS to be flying as exercise. If his muscles are atrophed, then gentle exercises to start with and slowly building up the stamina to get him going needs to be done. Take out that dowel perch, if he sulks, he sulks. As long as he still eats and poops fine, he'll get over it. Encourage climbing toys at the very least. Also foraging toys, get him moving to earn his food.

Keep investigating vets, lipoma's can be removed - and quite easily from an experienced vet.

Seed diets are full of fat and the brands recommended for pellet diets have already been mentioned. Look into those as they are miles better than any seed diet. ESPECIALLY wild bird food as that is basically pumped full of fatty ingredients to help keep those wild birds going when it's cold and doing full mile longs flights. By changing his diet you will be seriously improving his quality of life - even before the lipoma's are dealt with.

Merlin is a relatively active bird - but doesn't fly as often as he should be doing. He's on harrissons (Adult Lifetime Fine, not high potency which is higher in fats and stuff). Which means that he's slightly overweight, but not too high, just needs to lose a gram or 3.

Considering his level of activity, his diet and stuff. I'd be incredibly worried about a bird on a higher energy diet with less activity. So me and you both need to get our birdies working out some!

Mayden, I'm right there with ya with Charlie! Ideally, he should weigh around 215-220 grams in weight, but he's obese!

When I had him eating Zupreem, and later on, Rouybush, he was at a healthy weight. Maybe a little over what I wanted him to be, but not fat. I switched him to the Harrison's HP diet and he gained weight! Now he's pudgy and obese! I think it did help to switch him to the AL diet, but he's still too fat! The HP diet is recommended for both underweight and overweight birds. It's supposed to help underweight birds gain weight by providing the proper nutrients and help overweight birds lose weight because they should, in theory, be getting the required nutrients from the HP diet to feel "full" and not need to continue eating.... well, I got a healthy weight bird that has now gained far too much in weight!


I do have him flying, but I know it's not enough. When he does fly, he gets more winded than when he weighed less, but the good news is, is that he does fly! Currently, I've cut back on the pellets and have been feeding Nutriberries as the main source of his dry diet, and he has lost some weight... however, I don't know if this is because Nutriberries are harder for him to eat (technically speaking) so he eats 'slower', or if it is because the Nutriberries are lower protein, or what.


I'm hoping that when Jayde, my other conure, grows in her flights that she may help to encourage Charlie to fly, thus getting him to lose even more weight! ATM, the two don't get along, but Jayde loves to bathe, and Charlie isn't so big on bathing. That's not to say he doesn't like bathing, as he certainly does! Just, only when he decides *to* bathe, which isn't too often... and then Jayde who loves to bath several times a week, if not twice in one day! Well, since Jayde is having fun bathing, Charlie can't be left out! I end up coming home to two dry parrots, two water bowls half empty or more and the cage papers wet, or were obviously wet earlier in the day!


On the other hand, I *want* my bourke parakeet to gain weight. I need to set up a cage for just her (currently, she's in a community flight cage), and then I'll be switching her diet to HP in the hopes that she'll put on weight. She currently eats Harrison's as part of her diet, but it's AL atm... and she's getting 50/50 seeds and pellets. I plan to remove seeds from her diet temporarily, at least until she gains weight. Once she is at what I would consider a healthy weight, I plan to start adding seeds back into it until I can find a happy medium between the two where she'll keep her weight.



Somedays, I'm sad by the fact that I can't take the fat from one bird and insert it into another!

Monica, thank you *so* much for taking the time to help me! Yes, I've been searching through the posts and have printed out all the excellent dietary advice. Now, all I have to do is persuade the old toad to eat what I put in front of him. I'm trying hard to find an avian vet, as I think that's an important start. I've been told there's one at Minmi (suburb a few miles away) and will ring to find out this morning. I've got a foul head cold ATM, so the dizziness and nausea aren't helping. I'll keep you posted on our progress.

Looking at AAV for vets, found one close to your location and some within an hours driving distance.

Kathryn Loughlin, BVSc
Address: 38 Hickson St
City / State: Merewether NSW 2291, AusAfrAsia
Map: Google Map
Phone: +61 2 88830533
Email: [email protected]


Mark Simpson, DVM
Clinic or Organization: Sugarloaf Animal Hospital
Address: 67 Carrington Street
City / State: West Wallsend NSW 2286, AusAfrAsia
Map: Google Map
Phone: 011 614 955 1833
Email: [email protected]


KRISTEN TODHUNTER, DVM, MANZCVSc (pathology)
Clinic or Organization: Tails and Scales Veterinary Services
Address: 1 Durfold St
City / State: Dudley NSW 2290, AusAfrAsia
Map: Google Map
Phone: 61 2 49448686
Email: [email protected]


Those came from The Association of Avian Veterinarians | Association, and I have no suggestions or recommendations on who is best! (unless someone else on the forum may know?)



Best of luck! And finding an avian vet and talking about dietary changes and exercise (prior to looking into surgery) would be the best thing to do for Dominic!!!! Hope you get to feeling better!

Thanks for that, Monica. One of the vets has moved on and another is no longer practicing, but the third might be an option. Let's see how we get on!

Best of luck!!!!