Brittany741
New member
- Feb 9, 2015
- 384
- 0
- Parrots
-
SI Eclectus (Ruby) - 11 / Eclectus (Wrangler) - 7 / Eclectus (Pinto) - 6 /
Red Sided Eclectus (Oliver) - 4 mos. /
White Bellied Caique (Dan) - 2 /
Foster Congo African Grey (Molly) - 6
For those who don't know the backstory, she came to us after being locked away for over three years with no contact and no baths for five years.
She just got her third bath here in a week, first one using King's Feather Shine shampoo and while snuggling post-bath, I gave her a very close examination after discovering her clogged pyrogial preening gland. I found 5-6 large zit-looking things on her back, and upon squeezing, they had the same type of sebaceous cyst type stuff come out.
My opinion is it's from not bathing for FIVE freaking years. It could easily be old ingrown feathers. After all, she was greasy and dark when she came to us and now she has brilliant color. After the new shampoo today, her feathers didn't feel brittle for once.
Also, under magnification, I realized what came through the skin with her gland was actually a separate zit that popped. So her gland was blocked but not abscessed. This is GOOD news.
Edit: I found this thread http://www.parrotforums.com/eclectus/35102-high-cholesterol.html and I am terrified she has high cholesterol. These "zits" contain a yellow substance, and they very well could be cholesterol deposits under the skin. I am going to get her into an avian vet locally ASAP and do whatever I have to do to reverse this condition.
2nd edit: after more reading, the good news is I've already unknowingly begun the prescribed treatment to cure high cholesterol! She is on 95% low fat diet, with many of the special ingredients recommended for high cholesterol,including white beans, chard, leafy greens, etc. The article I read said to have a cholesterol recheck done two weeks after beginning the proper diet. It's been almost one week at this point, so I am going to schedule her with the vet next week. This should give me a better idea if these are cholesterol-related or simply a secondary response to her feather plucking and presence of excess sebum due to having no baths for five freaking years.
I looked at many photos of xanthomas and these don't look at all like anything I saw. They truly look like zits and are much flatter than any xanthoma I saw- they were in specific pores, did not move independently of the skin like a cyst would, and are present on the back only. Many xanthomas present on the wings and breast area, and hers are clear from what I can tell.
Getting into the vet is our next mission. I only leave the house once a month for my doctor's appointments so I will have to plan on adding this outing to my schedule. I am not as worked up now that I've read this excellent resource on Avian skin diseases and disorders as well as many other articles by reputable veterinarians and medical professionals.
You can kind of see them in this photo.
She just got her third bath here in a week, first one using King's Feather Shine shampoo and while snuggling post-bath, I gave her a very close examination after discovering her clogged pyrogial preening gland. I found 5-6 large zit-looking things on her back, and upon squeezing, they had the same type of sebaceous cyst type stuff come out.
My opinion is it's from not bathing for FIVE freaking years. It could easily be old ingrown feathers. After all, she was greasy and dark when she came to us and now she has brilliant color. After the new shampoo today, her feathers didn't feel brittle for once.
Also, under magnification, I realized what came through the skin with her gland was actually a separate zit that popped. So her gland was blocked but not abscessed. This is GOOD news.
Edit: I found this thread http://www.parrotforums.com/eclectus/35102-high-cholesterol.html and I am terrified she has high cholesterol. These "zits" contain a yellow substance, and they very well could be cholesterol deposits under the skin. I am going to get her into an avian vet locally ASAP and do whatever I have to do to reverse this condition.
2nd edit: after more reading, the good news is I've already unknowingly begun the prescribed treatment to cure high cholesterol! She is on 95% low fat diet, with many of the special ingredients recommended for high cholesterol,including white beans, chard, leafy greens, etc. The article I read said to have a cholesterol recheck done two weeks after beginning the proper diet. It's been almost one week at this point, so I am going to schedule her with the vet next week. This should give me a better idea if these are cholesterol-related or simply a secondary response to her feather plucking and presence of excess sebum due to having no baths for five freaking years.
I looked at many photos of xanthomas and these don't look at all like anything I saw. They truly look like zits and are much flatter than any xanthoma I saw- they were in specific pores, did not move independently of the skin like a cyst would, and are present on the back only. Many xanthomas present on the wings and breast area, and hers are clear from what I can tell.
Getting into the vet is our next mission. I only leave the house once a month for my doctor's appointments so I will have to plan on adding this outing to my schedule. I am not as worked up now that I've read this excellent resource on Avian skin diseases and disorders as well as many other articles by reputable veterinarians and medical professionals.
You can kind of see them in this photo.
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