My cockatiel, Zoe, is 20 years old now. She has been progressively getting worse, starting 2 or so years ago with some feathers right above her tail on her lower back that she was unable to preen, resulting in permanent pin feathers. Attached two photos, where you can see the many pin feathers under the surface, and also of a lump that I describe later. It's been getting much worse in the past few months where she has a considerable amount of pin feathers. Her tail feathers are at least half covered, most of her back now, under her wings. I try to help her as much as possible but the feathers especially on her lower back are a type of feather that doesn't have a sheath, instead it's like a solid pin feather that doesn't seem to fluff out if scratched. Either way it's getting worse and I'm getting more worried about her.
I took her to the vet when this all started, he said that he believes it's just due to her age and keep her comfortable, try changing some diet, etc. I am really hoping that there is an actual solution that can be done to fix it. A little bit about her: Her diet consists mostly of seed, and some human food like egg, cereals, grains, bread. She has always refused to eat any pellets or vegetables. I've had other animals and birds and have gotten them to eat better but Zoe would starve. I just am unable to change her diet. Therefore she's a bit overweight. I try to give her weekly baths but again she doesn't seem as interested as she was in her younger years. She only actively baths once a month.
Lastly, today I was inspecting her and trying to help with some pin feathers and I found, what looks like to me, an ingrown hair. It was a considerable lump, right in/above her tail feathers. It had a few pieces of loose feather inside of it that I removed. I will take her to a vet to get cleaned out and taken care of. Either way this is all due to her inability to properly clean herself. Has anyone else had anything similar to their cockatiels/birds? Any solutions?
I took her to the vet when this all started, he said that he believes it's just due to her age and keep her comfortable, try changing some diet, etc. I am really hoping that there is an actual solution that can be done to fix it. A little bit about her: Her diet consists mostly of seed, and some human food like egg, cereals, grains, bread. She has always refused to eat any pellets or vegetables. I've had other animals and birds and have gotten them to eat better but Zoe would starve. I just am unable to change her diet. Therefore she's a bit overweight. I try to give her weekly baths but again she doesn't seem as interested as she was in her younger years. She only actively baths once a month.
Lastly, today I was inspecting her and trying to help with some pin feathers and I found, what looks like to me, an ingrown hair. It was a considerable lump, right in/above her tail feathers. It had a few pieces of loose feather inside of it that I removed. I will take her to a vet to get cleaned out and taken care of. Either way this is all due to her inability to properly clean herself. Has anyone else had anything similar to their cockatiels/birds? Any solutions?
