Swollen cere

Swollen cere
I am concerned with my parrot, Taino. His left cere seems to be swollen. He has been eating and playing as usual. No changes in his mood. I am not sure if his cere was bit by a mosquito or a red ant. We live in the country and there are nasty little insects everywhere. A good avian vet is difficult to come by around here. We would have to travel a good hour or so to get to one. I am closely monitoring his disposition and if the cere does not improve then off to a vet we will go. Any advise? Thanks in advance.

My GCC had a swollen cere a while back, it was just a very minor infection, meds cleared it right up. I monitored him for a few days before I took him in, when it didn't go down I made the trip.

Thanks for responding Akraya. I am doing just that-->monitoring him and see what happens. I have to say this worries me. He is my baby.

I'm dealing with that right now in a bourke parakeet, and it's been going on for several months now. I have her on milk thistle and DMG as supplements. Currently switched her diet to Harrison's HP in the hopes that that might help and to hopefully get her to gain weight. (so far, no luck!)

My a-vet and I believe that she has a blocked sinus which is causing excessive fluid build up in her nostril and causing irritation to it, causing it to swell up... it is also damaging the cells where her beak grows, causing her beak to grow abnormally. We tested her to see if she had an infection but the results came back clear!

It is only her right cere, not the left one. Left one is normal, right swollen and keeps closing shut. I've been flushing her sinuses out using saline and this *has* helped.... went from flushing a few times a week to a few times a month... at least until we had smoke for a months time causing really bad air conditions and then it got worse...


Took her to another vet for a second opinion and he probably learned more than I did! He didn't feel like comfortable doing anything invasive (considering her age) and just prescribed meds. He didn't even confirm that she *had* an infection.... just shooting in the dark.


I could let you know how that goes in a couple of weeks.... but in short, I'm not impressed with his treatment advise/plan.


What I do know is that if her sinus doesn't unclear itself (keeping in mind she's had this issue for several months now), then she may require sinus flushes for the rest of her life.

Hi MonicaMc,

I am glad to read here that your baby is doing better with the flushings. My little guy Taino's cere is waaaaay better since I last posted about his swollen cere. What I did was simply dab (very slightly) an antibiotic (cultivate ointment) on his cere when it was swollen. The following morning his cere looked great!. The redness and swelling vanished. Now, I took a risk doing that in following my instincts. I am not a vet. However, I do read a lot about holistic medicine and use it whenever I need to. Thanks for posting and I send your little sweetie endless blessings!! Namaste, my friend.

I read the update! Glad Taino is doing better!

At this point, I don't think my girl will get better without surgery... and I wont put her through surgery unless she can gain at least four grams... and she's not putting on weight. It's probably an issue we'll have to deal with for the rest of her life, however long that may be! But we'll manage, somehow!

Thanks MonicaMc....it is best not to do the surgery. I had a lovebird who developed a tumor and had little time to live if it wasn't removed. She was 9 years old and I wanted to prolong her sweet life. I truly regret that surgery. She passed away within a week of it done. I had other lovebirds and Taino at that time to comfort me. I was devastated.

When the bourke parakeet was around 14/16 years old, I had her undergo laser surgery to remove a tumor on her foot. A prior biopsy revealed that it wasn't cancerous, but I had another biopsy performed on it after it was removed and it came back positive for cancer. That was two years ago. I don't know why, but in the vets system they had her age down as 9 years old. Needless to say, they were a little shocked to find out she was actually 5+ years older than that!


You can see the mass pre-surgery and some photos afterwards.









I wasn't sure if she'd survive the surgery because she was not doing well the first night home. She could not stand up for long, and slept laying down. She had never slept laying down before... Unfortunately, the mass did grow back.






As bad as this sounds, it seems like she just don't die! Not that I want her to... She is now 16-17 years old and the expected lifespan of a bourke is 11-15 years. Her parents died at 11 and 13 years old (if I recall right). Two years ago she had the laser surgery. Then she was chronically getting sick and I was having to medicate her. It didn't help matters any that when she was sick she started laying eggs. She got better and she'd stop laying eggs. She'd get sick again and then there were more eggs. BIRDS AREN'T SUPPOSED TO LAY EGGS WHEN THEY ARE SICK?!?!?!??!?! (major facepalm! I've had some fun with her in the past on trying to get her to stop laying eggs, too! vet didn't want her to have laid an egg within two weeks of the surgery... so what did she do???? she laid an egg approximately every 2 weeks...) Finally get over that and now she's got a blocked sinus. Our current issue.


She's been on supplements and gets flushes. Flushing her nostrils involves holding her upside down and flushing 3 cc's of fluid through each nostril (a total of 6 cc's). The saline goes through her sinuses and out her mouth. Whatever is blocking her sinus cavity just wont budge.

These photos are back from May, not long after the issue originally started. Right nostril slightly swollen and misshapen. Might be able to tell that there is swelling around her eye as well.






Once the flushes were started back then, her sinuses did improve and she didn't require frequent flushes, just occasional ones. Then, smoke from California fires polluted the air in Nevada for a months time (it was recommended for people to wear the face masks or stay indoors) and that's when her sinuses got worse again... and haven't improved. The most recent photo taken this past Saturday... you can see more swelling in both areas.







In short, she's already been through a lot. It's because of the first surgery and her lack of a *good* weight (IMO) that I don't feel comfortable putting her through another surgery for her sinuses. If things were different (i.e. healthier weight), I might reconsider it! I also probably wouldn't bring her home same night of the surgery... instead, I'd leave her at the vets office for 1-3 nights so that they could monitor her recovery inside a brooder. I just don't see things changing and the two vets that she has seen do not feel comfortable doing a surgery on her anyway.

I want to do more for her and feel bad that I can't. It's not like she's deathly sick or anything. The only time she probably suffers is when she gets meds, supplements and flushes. Otherwise, she still eats fine, chirps, is (semi) active. Sleeps normally. (she used to be more active when she was younger, but being less active with age isn't necessarily a bad thing)


With all that she's gone through, and having to do flushes and feeling like the flushes might kill her or something... I'm just surprised I haven't (unintentionally) killed her yet. I've seen photos of a bourke parakeet still alive at (estimated) 24 years old and heard of one that died at the age of 21 years old. If not for those two birds, she would be the oldest living bourke parakeet that I know of. Since she is pass her expected lifespan, I honestly don't know how much longer she has to live and am surprised every day that she's still kicking along!




I'm sorry to hear about the lovebird you lost after surgery... and sorry for the long story, but I thought it'd help if you knew the entire story of what's been going on with the bourke! It's been an adventure with her, and she's not tame! I'm just glad that she's naturally a sweet natured bird. She's also gotten feisty with age and tries to boss the cockatiels around (which are easily 3x her size!) when they are in her way!

You truly are a dedicated person MonicaMc!! And your parakeet is very blessed with you. Wow!! that little gal has sure undergone a lot. BTW she is adorable Am curious as to how do you do the flushes?

Speaking of allergies, here in Puerto Rico occasionally the Island is covered with dust from the Sahara. It's called "el polvo de sahara". Everything gets dusty, allergies skyrocket, and very uncomfortable. I noticed Taino sneezes a lot particularly when he scratches his ceres. I think that is how his cere got swollen a few days ago.

Thanks!


As for those flushes? I have to hold her upside down and flush 3 cc's of saline through each nostril. When I do it, I keep thinking that I'm holding a sweet lil' ol' lady upside down as I forcefully flush saline their her sinuses! She's small!


Sounds like all that extra dust could be bothering Taino, but as long as he's doing fine and he's not really sick, that's what matters!

Hello again MonicaMc....thanks for the info....yes the dust is a nuisance, even to me. Allergies get soooo bad. As much as I dislike too much rain here, I have to say, it does help get rid of that dust. We have had torrents of rain all year!!! This past week NO RAIN and it is drier. Enjoy ur weekend!!