slight bulge

[noodles123]

Noodles has a very slight bulge slightly below where here keel-bone ends. I cannot see it, but I felt it today. It is not very large, but it sticks out slightly...
I called the vet (vet is gone) but the techs mentioned things like hernia and tumors....maybe egg but probably not hard enough....SOOO

I looked up images of naked cockatoos to see their anatomy better...Mine is an Umbrella and this is a mollucan, but the slight lump under the keel is where Noodles' is and I want to make sure I am not overreacting (money is tight, car is crap and vet is an hour away)

THIS IS NOOOOT MY BIRD!!!!!!

This is the area I am referring to, but look back at the higher quality image to see it:

[/IMG]

THIS IS NOOOOT MY BIRD!!!!!!

The bulge on Noodles is NOT visible at all....it feels firm but soft, like....a firm stomach maybe, but not like abs? Not as squishy as a boob lol, but not as hard as a bone..If I push on my full stomach (as a medium-sized or thinish person with some fat on my stomach) it's about like that...Had to keep the touching short because she is hormonal and I didn't want to trigger further issues. It doesn't stick out much...It's just a small pooch (like the one pictured) BUT she did produce a very tiny dropping tonight (dime-size, with thin fecal matter) ....normal droppings in the AM...despite slightly larger (but still small-ish) droppings last night. I am at work most of the day, so her big poops happened when I was gone. She is eating and drinking normally. I never touch her there (due to hormonal risks) but I did because I was worried that she could lay an egg and wanted to check for swelling..So I have no idea what it felt like before. Vet tech said that area should be concave compared to the keel, but clearly the bird in the picture has a mild protrusion in the same spot...

 

[Scott]

Potentially a harmless lipoma, hopefully nothing. Did some palpating on two Goffins tonight and found nothing similar. Will try again tomorrow and attempt to compare those with poop compared with an empty vent.

 

[Laurasea]

I'm pretty sure you can't palpapate an egg in that location. I think it part if tge digestive system , ventriculas /gizzard?? Or the tip of the liver.
I just palpapated my bird and felt something like that im going with gizzard. So changes size due to amount if food in it?

I thi k all is ok....but yiu know yiur burd better than anyone, check her weight.
Next rout exam check liver values

 

[noodles123]

I took her to the vet (in an "emergency" visit- $57 fee..but figured it was worth it to know, given that Sunday is around the corner)...$200 later lol..We are in a wait-and-see situation...Negative gram stain and the vet couldn't feel any abnormalities on her abdomen, but the straining when pooping still has me very concerned (unfortunately, it's intermittent). She got her beak and nails trimmed at least (that was something she needed anyway)! Next step is an x-ray, but that would have added a lot of stress for her and increased my bill to 300 plus $$$..so I opted to wait (ughhhh). Said the bulge could have been her proventriculous (which could have been larger due to having eaten).

At least we know now that it is not an absolute emergency...but that's about it...Just pooped and produced a dropping with no fecal matter, which, AGAIN concerns me, but she had many normal poops today as well...The X-ray would potentially show inflammation or blockage (if any), but she is pooping normally sometimes, so it is stressful and I am pretty sure they wanted to kill me (even though they were sweet) because I kept asking circular questions!

 

[SailBoat]

Good Lord, and you "kept asking circular questions." Yup, you got a sticker on Noodles' Medical File!

It is not totally uncommon for there to be variation in the contain and volume of the poop, understanding that Parrots love to drive us crazy by switching up their intake. BUT, at the same time the bulge should vary with the volume in the digestive system and rarely be in the same spot. There is the outside possibility that it 'maybe' a Herniation (weakened wall) that poop may have become trapped.

You have a number of excellent possibilities, plus the Vets determination provided above, and none of them are with out concern. Because of the possibilities, it is going to be a 'process' to determine what's the likely cause.

 

[Scott]

So glad you ruled out an emergency with Noodles. Curious to see if it changes character over time. Hopefully nothing of concern.

 

[noodles123]

UGH!! I AM LOSING MY MIND BETWEEN THIS AND WORK!
She pooped overnight, but droppings were semi-scant compared to normal..
Today, both droppings I witnessed were just urine and urates..
Called emergency vet line (same vet who saw her yesterday) and he said he thought this could wait until Monday...Just not sure how she can hold that much poop between now and then if she doesn't start producing fecal matter between now and then...very worried...She's eaten a lot today...but no solids have come out since I got her up.

 

[noodles123]

She did produce a very small poop with solids about 30 min ago...but it was abnormally small.

 

[Laurasea]

Hmm
....tricky..
How is breathing rate?
Whats her weight? If she has eggs her weight might be up?
Any straining? Ok I see yiu said some straining
Can you look at c( cant spell) or palpapate between her legs?
With something so serious as not passing poop you'd think she would stop eating , even tho birds hide everything ugh, id still expect her to stop eating.. but of course tge whole burd thing...

 

[noodles123]

Her weight is roughly 1.4?

There is no bulge other than the one I felt.

She's still eating, but very worried she will basically get clogged..

Breathing is normal.

 

[Laurasea]

How's the weight compared to all her past weights?
Yiu ssud she had a liggt poop this morning, hiw long till she eoukd normally poop again? Im hoping the next one is more fecal

 

[noodles123]

weight is roughly the same. Poop is messed up though-- she's acting okay (ish) but it's scary. The poop she did overnight was very very small compared to normal. She hadn't produced a normal dropping since,

 

[Laurasea]

It is scary. Did she eat less with th vet visit and all tge stress tgst goes with?
The rest of the small poo was normal? Clear liquid and white urates?

 

[noodles123]

ate less dinner last night, but still....very small poops compared to normal. Clear liquid and off-white urates...mildly yellow, but not very.Shes acting okay, but I KNOW she must be needing to poop!! This behavior is very abnormal.

 

[SailBoat]

Not sure what your schedule is tomorrow, but at the very minimum assure that you have a call into your regular Avian Vet. ER Vets are fundamentally Dog and Cats Vets and the speciality of Avians can be loss on them.

In my little segment of this World, your Noodles' has hit all of my hot buttons and I would be sitting in front of my CAV's clinic What you are stating is abnormal.

 

[Laurasea]

Just checking in, how's Noodles?

 

[noodles123]

Not sure what your schedule is tomorrow, but at the very minimum assure that you have a call into your regular Avian Vet. ER Vets are fundamentally Dog and Cats Vets and the speciality of Avians can be loss on them.

In my little segment of this World, your Noodles' has hit all of my hot buttons and I would be sitting in front of my CAV's clinic What you are stating is abnormal.

The ER vet is avian, but I have taken tomorrow off because I am worried.
She's eating fine etc still, but poops are totally off.

 

[Scott]

Missed the updates today, assume the vet will see Noodles tomorrow. (Monday)

Whatever the issue(s), appears Noodles will be assessed fairly early given her stable weight.

Looking forward to a good report, keep us in the loop!!

 

[Laurasea]

Stressing out waiting for an update on noodles!!@

 

[Ceri]

Has Noodles ever laid an egg before? I hope she is okay and also...hella good eye on noticing a change within her!