advice and opinions for friends tiel

My friend's cockatiel has a lump on her wing that got picked at or burst so he brought her to the vet. They diagnosed it as a xanthoma and said she was overweight at 101 grams and to cut back her food to 1 teaspoon a day... yep, TEASPOON.


Few things. That's a RIDICULOUSLY small feed I don't agree with that myself from a vet...

Second, she had a nice round chest, nothing keeling over the keelbone, no "boobs" as my husband likes to call the fat on a bird... just a nice full chest. but now he's noticed since cutting her down to 2 teaspoons and a nutriberry (she used to get 2 tablespoons) he's noticed her keel is sharper when he checked.

She's on medication as well, forget what kinds, will ask if needed.

He allowed me to post photos of her and a photo showing the xanthoma

First shows the xanthoma and the second is for size comparison with a DVD case.


Buddie is a picky bird with her diet as well, my friend has been trying hard with that, but she's pretty stubborn.

My concerns are the fact that the vet claimed she was overweight due to the number, the vet DID NOT feel the keel for a weight check at all. Just weighed her and said she was overweight.

Do you think that it's risky to change the diet? Considering she's lost weight.

What do you think would be a good diet amount for her? She does eat some pellets, but eats seed and nutriberries with some veggies, but select few.

I don't know, I just really don't trust the vets opinion on the weight whatsoever.

Also, judging best you can, do you think she's overweight? It's tough to tell, but we'd like some other opinions.

If you don't trust the vet get a second opinion.

Is she flighted? If so, a full solid chest is normal. If not, or if she's a perch potato, than some keel bone prominence is not a bad thing, as long as it's not too sharp. But just looking at the photos...the first one she looks a bit chunky, and the second one looks normal.

I had both of my avian vets (one nationally known exclusively for birds) tell me that Pix (Budgie) needed no more than 1/2 teaspoon per day to lose weight. He'd gobble it down in one sitting, meaning no food for 24 hours until the next day basically. He had MANY irreversible systemic things going on (bad genetics common to Budgies) before the "diet". He was destined to a short lifespan regardless, but the severely restricted "diet" in my opinion probably pushed him over the edge a little sooner

In hindsight, we probably should have just let him eat like a pig to his heart's content and let him pass away "fat and happy" and at least not starving

So, 1 teaspoon for a Cockatiel, I'm not a bit surprised the vet prescribed that. BUT, I AM surprised that he didn't inspect his body for fat deposits instead of just the scale number. The vet should know species weights can really vary.

It's hard to tell by pics, but if the chest muscle/keel bone feels and looks pretty normal now, I personally don't see why such a restricted diet is still needed. Maybe just cut back on the see or total amount of food to less than it was originally, and see if her weight maintains that way.

Everything I can see says a normal tiel can weigh anything from 70 to 125 grams, so I hardly think 101 is obviously too fat. Maybe change the diet and add more veggies and fruit and pellets and lay off the the fatty stuff, but offer plenty, I say.

The vet also said that she's too unhealthy at the moment to do surgery for the xanthoma based on her weight?

My lovebirds which are half the size of a cockatiel eat 1 tablespoon a day and are good weights. Not fat.


And she has been flighted but was clipped for like 3 weeks before her flights grew back. So she's flighted

That does not sound like enough food to me, Casey...And how could the vet possibly know without feeling her keel bone? Weights can vary so much with different birds, it just doesn't make sense to me. Is there another vet your friend can take her to for a second opinion?

He is following this thread as a guest, but I will check with him anyways