Small lump and bloodstained feathers around cloaca

[éan]

Hello,
I just noticed that my male cockatiel has a small lump (around the same size as his eye) near his vent and the feathers around his cloaca have a dark orange colour, which makes me believe he has probably been bleeding there. I also noticed that he has been straining to poop, but nothing came out. Otherwise his behaviour is normal right now, climbing, chirping, eating, drinking. Sometimes he's picking his cloaca. I have made an appointment at the vet, but unfortunately it is only tomorrow and I am really worried. There are no specialised avian vets either where I live. Does anyone have any idea what this could most likely be and whether there is anything I need to pay attention to? Any advice would be greatly appreciated

 

[DonnaBudgie]

Is he pooping okay now,?
You should put some clean white paper towels on the bottom of his cage tonight to collect his poops and bring the paper towels to the vet to show them what his poops look like. Maybe he has a cyst, a feather cyst maybe, near his vent that the vet can treat. Maybe it's a pimple (do birds get pimples?).
Good luck. Don't worry too much. If he's acting normal it can't be a big emergency.

 

[éan]

Is he pooping okay now,?
You should put some clean white paper towels on the bottom of his cage tonight to collect his poops and bring the paper towels to the vet to show them what his poops look like. Maybe he has a cyst, a feather cyst maybe, near his vent that the vet can treat. Maybe it's a pimple (do birds get pimples?).
Good luck. Don't worry too much. If he's acting normal it can't be a big emergency.

Hello Donna, thank you so much for your kind reply and the advice! I will do that. He has pooped once now and the dropping was larger than usual, but normal in colour and texture. I do hope it is something benign. My mind immediately went towards a tumour, but you've calmed me down a bit. Hope you have a good day/night

 

[wrench13]

Good luck, but when it comes to anythng that might require diagnosis for my parrot, I insist to vist a Avian Vet. Regular cat and dog vets are simply not trained in the special needs/physiology of birds.

 

[DonnaBudgie]

Good luck, but when it comes to anythng that might require diagnosis for my parrot, I insist to vist a Avian Vet. Regular cat and dog vets are simply not trained in the special needs/physiology of birds.

I totally agree but if there is no avian trained vet available a regular vet can treat some things like eye infections or skin parasites. It's better than trying home remedies that aren't always effective.
Sometimes I wonder what poultry farmers in rural areas do when their flock needs to be treated for some reason. Are there special farm animal vets?

 

[éan]

Thank you very much! I agree as well that an avian vet would have been much better, but in my country it is really hard to find an avian vet and I do not even have a driver's license yet. When I went to the vet yesterday, the lump had actually disappeared and my cockatiel had been able to poop a few times. The vet said it did not look like anything serious, the cloaca was still slightly swollen. They said he might have just been constipated and pushed out some tissue while straining that has gone back in (?). They told me to watch him for a few days and if he doesn't get better, they will find an avian vet and put me in touch with them. Today the cloaca already looked less swollen, so I am hopeful, but will definitely keep an eye on him (both eyes!). Thank you very much, Donna and Wrench13 for taking the time to respond!