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Please Note: It may take up to 14 days for the answer to appear on the site, advice has to be of a general nature because the animal is not present. MOST IMPORTANTLY if your pet is ill you must seek attention from your veterinary surgeon.

How do I treat a feather cyst?

How do I treat a feather cyst on a wing of a budgerigar?
Dennis Cairns

Feather cysts are not that uncommon in caged birds. Unfortunately for many of these birds the environment in which we keep them is rather a contrast to what they would enjoy in their native climes. Even with the best will in the world many budgies are also fed a diet which is not ideal and daylight is a big problem. Over years of captivity in this country they can easily become deficient in vitamins such as vitamin A and minerals like calcium which are all important for health and, in this case, good quality feathers.

Feather cysts are not only a worry because of the actual cyst but are often a pointer to poor health internally too. Liver damage from deficiencies is not uncommon in these birds and any outward signs like these feather problems shouldn’t be taken lightly.

Your vet may be happy to deal with it but may also want to refer you to a bird specialist because anaesthetics need special consideration in birds. Ideally it would be best to get blood taken to check the liver first. If bloods show all is well then feather cysts can be removed but some can also be plucked and squeezed, sometimes with anaesthesia, and will sometimes do well. Many of these cases need a better diet and sometimes artificial daylight and although this won’t cure existing cysts it will certainly improve the overall health of the bird and greatly reduce the likelihood of recurrence. I’d be very interested to hear how you get on.
Emma


Getting over the loss of a pet
Hi Emma, two years ago I had my pet dog put to sleep and I’m still finding it hard to get over it, he was 17 and his legs had almost given up, he couldn’t get up on his feet unless I did it for him, he could still walk but not very far and had some bad falls. He had arthritis and also become incontinent with his bowel movements, he was like this for quite a while, I feel guilty as sometimes I found this stressful, I always wanted to do my best for him but feel I failed, and let him down, I wish I had kept him until his legs had given up completely then I know I would have realised that his quality of life had gone, my vet said his legs will go in weeks or months, and also said I shouldn’t feel guilty as most people would have put him down a long time ago. I just keep wishing I could have done things differently, I don’t feel the same person anymore as this is something I’ve never had to do, and please can you give me advice to get through this. Many thanks, Gary.
Gary

Gary, my heart goes out to you because I’ve been through very similar and know how incredibly hard it is to deal with. It may not help much but all the guilt you have and all the worrying is totally normal and it’s something as vets we try and help with as much as we can. One of the most important parts of our job is helping people make the decision at the right time and I do believe that’s what your vet and you did.

I would say categorically that you did the right thing not waiting for his legs to go completely. So many people wish their pets would just go in their sleep so that that most dreadful of decisions is taken out of their hands but it is far kinder to end it before it comes to that in cases like yours. It’s very easy to always think, ‘what if’ and you are torturing yourself because you are wondering if you let him go too soon. You didn’t. His legs were very bad by the sound of things and I strongly believe that when their bowel continence goes many dogs find it very distressing because they know they’ve messed where they shouldn’t.

It seems to me that the major problem you have is guilt and this is exactly what I felt when I decided to put my own dog down. Her legs were bad just like your dog but to be honest once it was over I knew we’d let it drag on too long which wasn’t fair on her. Ever since then I’ve tried to make sure my clients don’t make the mistake we did. Your story brings that back and if there is one thing I would say is that you mustn’t feel guilty any more. You did everything you could for him and your vet’s right; you probably gave him more than many people would have. You got him through 17 years which is incredibly old for a dog, you treated him with love and kindness and, most importantly, you gave him a dignified end without suffering and that is what love is all about. Believe me; you couldn’t have been better if you’d done things differently.

My one piece of advice is this; at your lowest ebb re-read what I’ve said because it’s true. You can put your fears and your guilt behind you and concentrate on the memories you have of him in his prime. It’s really hard to start with and it may be a cliché but if you can leave the guilt behind you you will soon find yourself smiling at the memories of your brilliant times instead of dwelling on your decision. You did the right thing.

I hope this helps you at a desperate time, please get back in touch if you need to and if you’d like to you can send us a photo of your boy and we can put it on the website in his memory.


Emma


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