today is a very sad day as if poor little peanut hasnt been through enough already.

 

the poor little guy has never flown in his life and he is constantly under the stress of his developing feathers falling out. i thought it could only get beter for him.

 

i think i have found a lump in the middle of his front. it is a little round hard brown ball. i noticed a small patch of brown tinted feathers in the area and lifted the feathers to have a closer look today. i am very worried about the poor little thing and he will be straight to the vets asap.

 

if it is a worst case scenario and it is a tumour, then i dont think he will beable to go trough treatment becuase of his other health problems. i am hoping it is just a fatty deposit but as the lump is hard i am preparing myself for the worst.

Oh no, poor little Peanut. I hope it is nothing too serious, I will keep my fingers crossed tightly for you.

 

Cat

i am really worried, i dont know what to do. poor little thing, he has been through so much in his life already and he is less than a year old. i know it will probably just make me even more worried but i cant help myself, i have been looking it up on the internet and apparently it is quite common for budgies to get tumours if they have a virus or genetic problem.

 

i hope i can get to the vets soon, its difficult because i work long hours. if i cant get him in tomorrow it will have to wait until saturday.

My heart goes out to you Pixie, it is so hard to see a loved pet with health problems, and have to watch them cope with it.

 

Rest assured your little Peanut is in the right place with you to love and care for him.

 

You are doing your very best by taking him to the vet when you can please don't feel bad, you have to work.

 

Try not to worry too much, it may not be as serious as you think.

 

He has coped with what life has given him so far so he is obviously a strong willed little chap.

 

I dearly hope it is nothing serious, keep us informed.

 

Cat

thanks cat, i will let you know what happens.

 

at the very least i think it is a lump due to him trying to fly and landing heavily. he doesnt have any flight feathers as his illness causes them to fall out so it is a possibility - even though i make every effort to keep him very low to the ground.

 

either way i think it may be putting pressure on his diagphram (sp?) as his breathing is quite laboured at times. but again this is complex due to his other problem.

 

thanks for your kind words again cat,

 

love pixie

I hope everything turns out okay. You're both in my thoughts.

I know its very worrying when you find something wrong with youre bird,

Sometimes a lump an be whats called a feather cyst which can be treated easily.

I know you will do whats best for youre bird and you must take it to a vet as soon as possible, I do hope youre bird will be okay.

GILL.

Im keeping my fingers crossed for you pixie, I really hope peanut is diagnosed with something thats treatable. As cat said, for him to cope with what he's already been though he has proved to be a very strong little bird, Im sure he will be as strong as he can be - your love and encouragement has helped up until now so it will help him again.

 

Sal.

It seems so wrong that a bird that has been through so much has to cope with even more. Poor little thing. We'll be thinking of you

I hope it's nothing serious. You are both in my thoughts.

Oh doesn't life just make you spitting mad sometimes?I can only echo everbody elses words and will wait and hope we hear something positive after the vets.Poor you and Peanut.

Julie

Sending my thoughts and prayers to you. xxxxx

oh pixie! i hope you and peanut are alright! Im thinking of you both

thanks everybody,

 

i didnt manage to get him into the vets today, they are very busy because of the heat. i will have to take him in early saturday morning instead. he is still behaving his normal self so i hope its not painful for him.

 

its interesting about the feather cysts, its hard for me to get a proper look because he wiggles around so much so the vet will be able to examine him and hopefully put my mind at rest.

 

i will post again on saturday with an update

 

thank you all for caring

 

love pixie x

Good luck! Hopefully it will be nothing to worry about

Sending good thoughts your way, pixie.

well i took peanut to the vets today, and gilliian you were right, he has a cyst. its quite large.

 

gillian do you know how feather cysts can be treated easily? it would be good to get a second opinion.

 

my vet said the only way to get rid of it would be to remove it, which she doesnt think is a good idea because of peanuts other health problems. there would be too much of a risk during the operation.

 

the cyst is quite large because of the friction when peanut lands. peanut cannot land properly as he has never been able to fly and he has no flight or tail feathers. she said to leave it for now but keep an eye on it and if it gets bigger then go back and she will try to remove it.

 

i worry that there is a risk of infection in it and a worse case scenario he could get septicemia (sp?) i will have to do some research.

 

does anyone else have any experiences of feather cysts? my vet said that it is unusual to have one on the tummy, they are usually easy to remove because they develop on the wings.

Oh! Poor old thing. I can't help I'm afraid,no experience in these things. What a good thing he is your budgie though,someone else may not have cared so much.

Julie

when i took him, my vet had the saddest look on her face julie - she just kept on saying 'but he's such a young budgie'. his record card with all his medical history on is full on one side already.

 

i love this little feather ball, i dont really know if there is anything i can do for him? i cant let him try to fly because it might cause the cyst to become infected. but i dont want to keep him in a cage all day either. i think its a matter of letting nature run its course on this one, and fingers crossed.

 

if anyone has any suggestions of what i could do, please let me know.

 

love pixie and peanut x

Me neither knows anything about these - do they really have to operate, couldnt they freeze it away, I guess the vet would have suggested that so maybe they cant.

 

If it was me I would leave it if its not bothering him and not infected but I guess if it did become infected and the only way was to operate I think I would have to do it, only because the infection would cause much worse problems and he would probably suffer more then, at least this way your at least giving him the chance to get rid of it.

 

Am praying for the little feather ball!

because its right on the tip of his keel it is going to be tricky to remove. if it was on his wing it would be a far simpler procedure and they could probably freeze it or something if it was on the wing.

 

he is fine for now but you are right, if it comes to it then he will have to go through the operation.

Oh Pixie, that is such a horrible choice you have to make. Can I suggest a second opinion? Perhaps another vet might feel there is another choice. I know it won't be easy, but whatever you decide, we all know you will make the best choice for Peanut. He's lucky to have you

i was thinking the same thing lin. maybe if i could take him to an avian and exotic centre they might be able to suggest more. its quite far away, i will have to see if i can get him there or not. its hard because i dont have a car. i will certainly look into it.

If you can get him to one that would be great - I know your vet is good with them but he/she might have missed on some other way something can be done and we have to give this little guy as much chance as we can eh?

Good luck Pixie, I know you will do everything you can for the poor little guy!