Feather Gland

[hiriki]

Hey guys. I never remember what this gland is actually called, and always affectionately refer to it as the "bird nipple", but it's the one by the tail.

My cockatiels bird nipple looks horrendous lol. I've already contacted the vet, but as I wait for an appointment, I'm wondering if anyone has had this issue before, and if so--easily treated infection or surgical removal??

Picture should be attached if everything's working from my phone lol

 

[GaleriaGila]

Oh, wow... I'm just so very distressed at this situation. You must be terribly worried, and your bird must be in agony.
I would hope that you can find an attentive vet as soon as possible.
Certified Avian Vets
https://abvp.com/animal-owners/find-an-abvp-specialist/
If none are near you...
Avian Veterinarians
http://www.aav.org/search/custom.asp?id=1803
Please let us know what happens!

 

[ChristaNL]

Hahahahaha, bird-nipple is fun.
It is the gland that secretes oils so they can take care of the feathers with it.


The official name I cannot even pronounce with an american accent:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uropygial_gland
(but "preen gland" will do, right? )

So amputating is not a good idea!
They need the oils for maintenance.


But getting your bird to the CAV asap is never a bad idea.

 

[Laurasea]

What made you want to look at the preen gland? Is your bird not grooming? Did he smell,? I will be interested to see what the veterinarian says. What is his first like? I hope he is eating some leafy greens, and eating veggies.

 

[Flboy]

Isn’t a cockatiel ‘old world’? No oil, but powder?

 

[ChristaNL]

I think it is "mostly" powder.
Some species rely on the gland for survival, others just for "touching up the make-up" but they all have one and use it.

 

[EllenD]

That's not good...poor guy...The "Preen Gland" can get plugged-up and cause the entire gland to swell, that's common...They also can develop growths just like any other "gland" in the body, such as the Thyroid or Adrenal glands...So they can get Cysts that grow on them, they can get Tumors, etc...

It looks to me like his Preen-Gland is either plugged-up and needs to be cleaned out to have the plug or plugs removed, which will cause the swelling to go down, OR he may have a growth of some kind like a cyst or a tumor inside of his preen gland...Chances are it's plugged-up because it happens all the time, but you never know...

Either way, this is very painful/uncomfortable for your bird and he needs to get to either a Certified Avian Vet or Avian Specialist Vet immediately....Not only is it painful, but it's most-likely non-functioning right now, maybe for a while, and that also causes complications with them preening/cleaning themselves...

 

[noodles123]

Ugh---now I am having all of these weird visions of clogged milk-ducts and bird butts lol. The nipple analogy has taken my mind down a wormhole of imagery lol.
I wish you luck---I don't know much about this.


I think it is called the preen-gland, but I may be wrong.

 

[Teddscau]

I had a similar problem with sweet little Samantha. One day I walked into their room to check on them, and her beak was covered in blood. I looked her over for a few minutes (without touching her) and I couldn't see anything, so I just assumed she hurt a blood feather or something. Checked on her again a few minutes later and I caught her gnawing on her preen gland.

She'd let it start to close up, but then she'd start chewing it open again every few minutes. I had to make her an e-collar until I could get her to the vet the next day. Turns out her preen gland had ruptured due to vitamin A deficiency or something. Or perhaps it had gotten plugged up due to her advanced age, then ruptured. I think I had to just soak her gland and clean all the blood off of it, and give her antibiotics. I sat on the couch with her in my lap, soaking her preen gland with a wet cloth, for almost an hour. She wasn't hand tame, but she was actually quite calm and seemed to understand I was trying to help her. The long of the short of it is her preen gland still worked for a couple of years after rupturing, but in the year before her death (she was 16), it got all "tumour-y" looking and no longer secreted oils.

I strongly recommend to everyone to visually inspect your birds' preen glands as part of your daily health check (along with toes, eyes, nares, bum, and beak/mouth). You don't have to hold them to check. Just watch them when they're preening, as they'll often expose their nipple to get access to the oils (or in the case of Old World parrots, powder).

Your bird's preen gland doesn't actually look that bad, so the vet should be able to your cockatiel's preen gland back to normal in no time. It's important to catch these things early, as you have.

 

[hiriki]

Thanks everyone!!

I only knew to check this location as another cockatiel of mine has had issues with hers becoming clogged (not to this extent). Because I know it's what provides the gloss for their feathers, I saw bitty looked a bit messy and just gave it a glance, did NOT expect to find it so gross looking.

Don't fret--I have seven birds and a trusted avian vet in the area, her quality of care will be perfectly fine, I mostly shared the picture because 1) ew lol, and 2) if this will be a surgical procedure I'd like to be emotionally prepared. My vet told me during my other cockatiels treatment process that if tumors/growths occur on this gland sometimes removal is the best option but it sounds pricey.

Preen gland is a much better term than bird nipple though LOL

 

[Laurasea]

Thank you for the education, and yeah eew!

 

[hiriki]

Update!!

Taking into consideration what some forum members have said, and that the wait time for a vet consult is pretty long, I gave bitty a warm compress and cleaned up the area. It did bleed a bit but most of what came off was what appeared to be dry brown discharge.

I'm somewhat uncomfortable with the situation - it doesn't seem dire, but it's hard to tell how uncomfortable she actually is, and it certainly LOOKS mean. I don't think it justifies emergency vet though? Thoughts?

 

[ChristaNL]

Dont look at me- I am so used NOT having a vet around I will always try and solve it first.
(my family is the same with human ailments- my friends always act shocked we take care of things their parents would have brought them to the hospital for / but being a doctors-kid there were/are no waitinglists .. so they have *no* idea how long it takes a regular person to get some help.)

If it is just clogged up lots of warm, wet compresses will help a bit/ may actually fix it.
Maybe add a mild disinfectant to it (not suggesting you soak the area in antibacterial soap of something quite that drastic) and be carefull not to damage the skin.
(soaking and patting, not wiping)

I think it is great you are trying something to help your bird instead of sitting on your thumbe waiting and waituing for a vetappointment.


When can the regular CAV see you?
(if it is just one day or so..just do your thing and wait it out, if it is going to be next thursday... then make it a priority and go there asap. Once again...just my thoughts!!)

 

[Laurasea]

You can use dilute betadine, like a weak tea color, as your warm compress.

 

[EllenD]

What you need to worry about here is Infection...

If you got any type of "discharge" or exudate from it then it's definitely clogged, but what you don't know is "why" it's clogged...In every case of a clogged preen-gland that I've seen it was due to either a Bacterial or Fungal Infection, and was treated by simply cleaning out the gland itself (a few had to be "lanced" in order to purge them), and then doing warm compresses several times a day on the gland itself to keep it from becoming clogged again, along with both a topical antibiotic cream and an oral antibiotic, such as Cephz...

In the few cases of tumors or cysts that I've seen, the entire Preen-Gland has been extremely swollen, the entire gland usually swells-up like a balloon...That's not what your bird's looks like at all...It looks to me like it's infected and became clogged due to the infection, and the discharge usually comes back as being a mix of Purcellin (the oil that is secreted from the gland), white blood cells, and bacteria and/or fungi...

So I would be getting her to your Avian Vet ASAP because the last thing you want is for the infection to spread/become systemic, etc. She is most-likely NOT going to need "surgery" in the general sense, but at most probably a little Iso-gas to sedate her so they can properly clean-out the gland (they may want to lance the gland as well so they can fully purge it and also get a culture to send-in), take a swab to culture/gram-stain and look at under the scope to determine what medication to give her, and then she is going to have to be on antibiotics for a while.

I wouldn't worry at all about surgery or high costs from the Vet at this point, as that's not what it looks like, and honestly you really do need to get it cultured and get her on the correct meds soon, because it's quite infected. It's when you don't take them and the infection spreads that things start to become expensive, because the infection has spread and now the entire gland needs removed, and she needs IV/IO antibiotics, hospitalization, etc. So I'd get her to the closest CAV or Avian Specialist to you as soon as possible to nip this in the butt quickly...It's probably a very simple and cheap thing right now, but it does have the potential to become much more involved and serious if it's not treated soon...

 

[Squeekmouse]

Keep us posted on how this turns out. I'm grateful that you shared this story because I had never even thought to check that gland.

I hope you try out All Creatures Great and Small in Downers Grove, Dr E is wonderful.

 

[Aerski]

Do return back to us with what happened with the vet! That gland seems to be infected, the normal gland should just be a bump and not have anything yellow sticking out. If it’s bled or have had pus/any discharge then I’m half sure that gland has a bacterial/fungal infection! Thankfully, surgery is not always needed in these cases, usually some medication from the good ol’ avian vet will help. Keep an eye on that gland and clean it with warm water from a napkin or paper towel every now and then until you reach the vet.. hopefully your bird is okay!