A day at the Vet's

[Hezz]

Smudge had a day visit with the lovely Karen yesterday. Her lump (preening gland, for anyone who has a memory like mine ) had been growing gradually but then at an alarming rate over the last few weeks, so after an email confer with Karen complete with a few photos I took her, Smudge, in so Karen could decide what we needed to do. I was expecting to come home with the little girl but only after booking her in for more surgery under GA in the new year. That wasn't to be.

While Karen was getting a good look at the offending item, with me holding Smudgey, as she was moving the lump about to see what she was working with, the whole thing came off in her fingers! I was gobsmacked, to say the least. It seems that the growth was simply a accumulation of pus - Smudge has had problems with a cyst in this area as well and while I could see that this needed attention again, there was no indication that the whole thing was simply the cyst acting up again. Poor Smudge was left with a whopping great hole where the plug had come out, and there was still some gunk that needed expressing; that was the reason she spent the rest of the day at the vet - so Karen could take her time and squeeze it out bit by bit. While there is not much that I can do long-term to prevent this happening again, after Smudge's three days of a/b's is over, we are going to try propolis as a preventative treatment and see what happens.

The best news of all is no more surgery for the time being.

[stace]

Paul Stannard (Barrie's mate) swears by that propolis stuff. I think that's the way I'd go too.

And, ew gross! But great that it's just pus and gunk and not a lump.

[jellybean]

Wow!!!! I'll bet you both got a bit of s shock when that happened Hezz, but what a relief. So pleased for little Smudge.

[Shirls]

Fantastic news Hezz, what a relief, good for little Smudgey too. What does the 'propolis' do / used for please?

[samwiseg]

I think I would have been just as shocked as you! Glad it wasn't a more serious gristly lump, at least you know what you are dealing with and wings and fingers crossed for that Propolis stuff - apparently it is stuff to do with Bees collecting the pollen from a certain poplar and cone bearing trees. Has been used for years apparently and bees use it to fill crevices and fix honeycombs.

ANYTHING bee related (IMO) has got to be good as medically we know honey is used and is a fantastic anti bacterial agent.

You have a very good vet Hezz

[OP]

Quite a surprise for both you and the vet, Hezz. Let's hope the Propolis does the job. You be careful now, climbing them trees can be dangerous.Not wishing to go off topic, but it reminds me of when I was young I got a veruca and my mother put a plain paster on it, one without the pad. When she came to take it off it was stuck to the core so she just gave it a yank. It pulled the core out and brought tears to my eyes. It worked though after the hole healed over it was all gone. Sorry for rambling.

[ffiscool]

oooh yuk but good yuk

bet Smudge feels relief too, like having a hidden boil/spot, you can feel the pressure of it...

[budgiefriend]

That was an unexpected, but excellent, result. I am so happy that Smudge can avoid surgery. Hope everything goes according to plan. Hugs to you both.

[skysmum]

well that was one of those OMG moments for sure, i bet the vet was a bit shaken too . Such good news though, ive heard great things about Propolis. I also understand that they still use honey on humans in some hospital's for some of the more persistent wounds that wont heal, bit sticky on a little bud though .

[Deleted]

Like those spots that you poke at for ages and then suddenly they erupt!

Great news that it was nothing that needed surgery! Hopefully that stuff will do the trick

[JennyB]

That must've been a huge relief and nice to go to the vets and her good news.

[Hezz]

Karen's face was a picture when I asked what she knew about propolis ........ a grand total of zilch. When I had given her the very basic rundown as I could remember it, she was happy for me to give it a go. I am not sure if it is going to make any difference as I understand it needs to be applied directly to the "wound". i just gave Smudge a drop, rather a big drop, this morning and if she preens around the area and ends up with some in her mouth, well at least I won't have to worry about mouth ulcers or gum disease!!! I wonder what the budgie version of gum disease is??

skysmum, I think you are thinking of manuka honey on burns victims.

Shirls, this is probably the best explanation for what propolis is that I have found, good old wiki:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Propolis

[Shirls]

That was/is very interesting Hezz, can be used for quite a wide variety of things then. Lets hope it works for Smudge. Thank you for the link btw.

[Hezz]

You are very welcome.

[Hezz]

Shirls, here is another link I found, while doing a little more research for myself:
www.avian.nl/EN/avian-propolis.html