Fischer - Lump And Closed Eye

scraff

New member
Oct 20, 2011
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Hello, I am really hoping someone can help.

We have a near 8 year old lovebird, called Uno. He had developed an lump on his right "cheek". This was barely noticeable 4 weeks ago when we first spotted it, as we were not sure if it was just has feathers sticking up. He was happy any healthy, he sometimes got tired when out the cage for half an hour, but not overly tired.

3-4 weeks ago (30th April), we were training our 9 month old cocker spaniel with our lovebirds (we have older, 8 year old cocker spaniel who is very good with the birds). Our new younger spaniel was being held on a harness. The birds had been out with him many times over the last few months, was no danger shown to them by our younger Spaniel, and he understood he shouldnt touch them. Our lovebird flew down towards our Spaniel and our Spaniel may have knocked our Lovebird to the floor (didnt see our dog's mouth open at all, but it may have), but we arent sure quite what happened, as it happened so quick, our Lovebird then tried to fly up to my wife, missed, then aimed for the glass above the door, and hit the glass on his right side (where his lump is), and fell quite far down.

His right eye was really swollen, to the point he couldnt open it, double in size. We took him to a very good Avian Vet, who examined him very well, opened his eye lid, felt round his eye socked, and said all seemed ok, its just swelling, no cuts. She pointed out the lump, which seemed about the size of a small grape / half a grape. She gave him anti-inflammatories. Over the next few days he got mainly better. After about 4 days, his eye re-opened, and all looked normal. He was a bit more tired than usual, but quite ok.

He took a bad turn on the 15th May (2 weeks after the accident). He suddenly got very sleepy, to the point he was slouched on his perch with his head hanging low. He started keeping is right eye closed, altho it is not swollen.
The eye looks ok, he opens it every now-and-then, but keeps it shut mostly. The lump and his neck/cheek seems a little larger. He stopped eating much.


The same day we took him back to the vet. The morning we took him he had white "goop" / flem looking stuff on his head. Vet said this may be regurgitated food. The vet weight him again, said he was the same weight. His heart and lungs sounded ok, altho he was breathing fast and shallow. The vet said his lump has gotten slightly bigger. She could not feel that it was attached to anything, but it was solid (she said it may be a cyst/abscess, but unlikely due to how hard it felt). She gave some anti-biotics in case it was an infection/abscess. But said it could be a tumor, or fatty lump.

After 1 week, he has not got worse, but also not any better. He is very sleepy in the morning. He will wake up, but he struggles to stay awake. He will eat (very good diet, vet said he was some of the healthiest looking feathers she had seen), hes been eating lots, then getting very tired and sleeping loads. Hes virtually lied flat on his belly on his perch. When he has eaten he seems quite lively for 3-4 minutes, then he is really drained.

The next step is to try blood tests, drain the cyst (if thats what it is), and/or an xray. All these options would possibly mean a general anesthetic, which he may (probably) not survive.

The Vet isnt convinced the lump is causing the tiredness, and thinks it could be something else underlying which could be an issue. His bad eye seems to be loosing feathers from around it, as the white area has increased, and a tuft of feathers are loose

Has anyone experienced this before? With lumps / feathers coming away from the eye (if this is what has happened) / bird tiredness / or anything else.

We are not sure what to do next and would like an extra opinion (even though the vet is good, others here hopefully have other ideas?).

Please see the pictures. He is molting. Thank you VERY much in advance.

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https://theparrotclub.co.uk/community/index.php?attachments/uno_20190521_152216-jpg.27656/
 
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GaleriaGila

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texsize

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I can't see picture.
want's me to log on/sign up.
 

texsize

Supporting Member
Parrot of the Month 🏆
Oct 23, 2015
3,916
Media
5
4,837
so-cal
Parrots
1 YNA (Bingo)
1 OWA (Plumas R.I.P.)
1 RLA (Pacho R.I.P.)
2 GCA(Luna,Merlin) The Twins
1 Congo AG (Bella)
5 Cockatiels
tierdness could be the result of concussion/brain trauma.
somthing to reduce swelling like Advil but for avian's might be of help.
I am not a vet but thats what I would try to get for my bird in the circumstances you describ.

If there was ANY contact with the dog's mouth it could lead to infection/bacteria transfer and antibiotics would be called for.

I am not going to try to beat you up about it but ANY predator species needs to be kept isolated from your birds. Cat's/Dog's or any other exotic meet eater. No mater how well behaved the animal has been in the past instinct can kick in and no human can react fast enough to prevent tragedy.
 

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