Through the years Button has had a bunch of different health issues. I do think it is because she is a lutino (albino). She's a feather picker and tends to get yeast infections. The latest health problem is I noticed she wasn't able to fly. I thought perhaps she banged into something and injured her wings. I took her to the vet, she had x-rays and a dose of metacam (pain reliever) But the problem still existed. Then, I noticed a nod on her head like a wart. I took her back to vet and the vet found that in addition, that her uropygial gland was huge and missing it's wick feather (This is the preening gland which is important to keep the feathers oiled and cleaned)
As instructed, I gave her antibiotics fora possible infection, put warm compresses on her head to hopefully open up the little cyst on her head but for some reason the hot water from the cloth caused the skin to pull apart and she would bleed. I can not figure out why this would happen-no scrubbing or anything else would make this happen. Just the light pressure caused the area to bleed and pull apart. The same thing happened with the preening gland. I would gently press it as instructed because it might have been clogged with wax but instead it would bleed and the feather base would bleed too. The gland got bigger instead of smaller.
This was most distressing. And alarming.
I read in my bird vet books that it is not uncommon for 'older birds of especially of the variety strain" of cockatiels to develop cancer.-especially on the uropygial gland.This makes me nervous.
If it is just a major "clog" in the duct she will need an operation -which is very risky for birds.
Either way I am worried.
She has been quiet and sleeping alot.
Tomorrow she has a vet appointment. One can only hope...
No comments:
Post a Comment