Urgent Mithu’s cheek is swollen

[Rifah3087]

Hi all,
Please help!!
I am new here and this is my first post.
my parrot is 20 years old. Suddenly found out that his right cheek is getting bigger And eye was swollen and teary. I went to local vet and gave him some antibiotics for cold as he was sneezing too. But its been 7days since he is taking the medicines. He stopped sneezing but his cheek is still big and it is soft ( like some fluid in there). Vet is suggesting togo through a surgery but i am not confident as here in Bangladesh people are not that serious about pets. He is eating, playing normally. What should I do? What it might be?

 

[Rifah3087]

Another close view

 

[Shezbug]

Boy that is swollen! I will tag a few people who can hopefully help or tag other members who can. @Hankmacaw @tka @finchly

 

[Rifah3087]

Thanks. Really need help.

 

[MommyBird]

Just some things for you to check out as I am not a vet and can't diagnose from a photo, but I have a bird who fell from a perch and got an air sac rupture, but there was never any watery eye, etc
It could be air sac rupture
Air Sac Rupture in Birds - Symptoms, Causes, Diagnosis, Treatment, Recovery, Management, Cost
also google "air sacculitis in parrots" some stuff for chickens will also show up. This does have some symptoms like you described.
So, maybe these will help you figure out what is going on

 

[Hankmacaw]

That is extreme. I think your vet may be right and surgery is needed. But before surgery the vet should perform a needle biopsy to determine what is in there. Here is an image of a parrot's airsacs. It could be a rupture of the cervical air sacs or even the interclavicular air sac and either could be infected (but the antibiotic should take care of that). Below is a picture of a cockateil with a ruptured cervical air sac

.

 

[Rifah3087]

Just some things for you to check out as I am not a vet and can't diagnose from a photo, but I have a bird who fell from a perch and got an air sac rupture, but there was never any watery eye, etc
It could be air sac rupture
Air Sac Rupture in Birds - Symptoms, Causes, Diagnosis, Treatment, Recovery, Management, Cost
also google "air sacculitis in parrots" some stuff for chickens will also show up. This does have some symptoms like you described.
So, maybe these will help you figure out what is going on

Thanks a lot. Will check

 

[Rifah3087]

That is extreme. I think your vet may be right and surgery is needed. But before surgery the vet should perform a needle biopsy to determine what is in there. Here is an image of a parrot's airsacs. It could be a rupture of the cervical air sacs or even the interclavicular air sac and either could be infected (but the antibiotic should take care of that). Below is a picture of a cockateil with a ruptured cervical air sac

View attachment 362024 .

View attachment 362026

It’s been 7 days i m Giving him antibiotics. Though watery eye is improved a bit but the swollen part is not improved at all. he is letting me touch that part. That means it doesnt hurt. But don’t know what. Is he too aged to have a surgery?

 

[tka]

You could try contacting to Zoological Society of Bangladesh to see if they know of any exotics vets who can help. This is their website: Welcome to Zoological Society of Bangladesh | Welcome to Zoological Society of Bangladesh

There is a Department of Zoology at the University of Dhaka: University of Dhaka
Again, they may know someone who can help Mithu.

Good luck - I hope you find someone. I agree that you need a fine needle biopsy to find out what's inside the swelling. That will help your vet decide how to treat it.

 

[Rifah3087]

Thanks a lot. I will try to contact them

 

[Rifah3087]

It’s been 7 days i m Giving him antibiotics. Though watery eye is improved a bit but the swollen part is not improved at all. he is letting me touch that part. That means it doesnt hurt. But don’t know what. Is he too aged to have a surgery?

can

That is extreme. I think your vet may be right and surgery is needed. But before surgery the vet should perform a needle biopsy to determine what is in there. Here is an image of a parrot's airsacs. It could be a rupture of the cervical air sacs or even the interclavicular air sac and either could be infected (but the antibiotic should take care of that). Below is a picture of a cockateil with a ruptured cervical air sac

View attachment 362024 .

View attachment 362026

Can you tell me how to take care of him after surgery? And what is the success rate? Its on his cheek so how will the vet put bandage on it? I am very scared I don’t want to lose him

 

[tka]

I'm afraid we can't tell you about the success rates of surgery because we don't know what is wrong with Mithu. We aren't vets and we can't diagnose Mithu from a photo. This is why he needs to see a vet. A vet will be able to perform the necessary tests to find out what is in that swelling. There will be different treatments depending on what that swelling is.

Vets tend to use a surgical glue on parrots because they tend to pick at stitches and bandages which aggravates the wound. A vet will prescribe painkillers and anti-inflammatories to help with healing, and may ask you to use a special kind of collar so Mithu cannot scratch at a surgical site.

 

[Hankmacaw]

Do you even know whether he is going to have surgery? That is something you should discuss with your vet, not us, along with how to care for him if he does have surgery. Like @tka said we aren't vets.

What I posted above was my guess - not a diagnosis - I'm not a vet and only a vet can diagnose.