non ex-foliating sarcoma?

[suzyq]

Hello,
I am new to this but i am very worried about my BFA and any advice would be terrific. My parrot whom i rescued over 20 years ago has a very swollen looking tumor on his belly. It does not seem to hurt him if i touch it and I only really noticed how big it was getting when he climbed his cage and i saw his underbelly.
So i took him to the vet, who said he thought he looked thin and wasn't sure what it could be, Maybe a liver tumor or a fatty tumor so he did a needle biopsy and sent it off to the lab. The results were inconclusive and they recommend a tissue biopsy but the vet said he didn't know about that since he bleed so much with the needle. He did say it might be non exfoliating sarcoma and i cannot find one bit of info about that on the whole world wide web and that baffles me.
The birds poop is normal and he is eating well. I do feed him seed and lots of veggies and fruits and some pellets but he doesn't like them.
Please help if you know anything, I am not sure if i like this vet since i was told by my vet that he was a bird specialist and when i met him he said i see everything and he didn't offer any advice or course of action.
Please please help me with something. I cannot afford to spend money on tests since i just lost my dog to a spleen tumor and had to put her to sleep and i thought the parrot was depressed and that was the reason his was looking bald in the tummy when he puffed up.
Thank you all for reading my rant.
Susan

[Sivin]

Hi Susan,

I wish I could help you here but I'm afraid I don't know exactly what your vet is talking about. I also tried to bring non exfoliating sarcoma up; this is merely a description of some sort of cancer that perhaps doesn't shed? I am taking that from the term "non exfoliating." What sort of bird is a BFA?

Here's what I would do. First of all, call the specialist back and ask him exactly what he meant by that term. He should at least give you the courtesy of a call back or have one of his assistants do so. I would ask him why he thought there was so much bleeding. Somewhere in the back of my mind I believe I've heard that certain tumors bleed a lot, but I'm really not sure.

I understand that money is a concern. We also had to put our dog to sleep because she had lymposarcoma of the spleen so I really feel for you. You might mention that to the office and see if they will give you payment terms. Where are you located? Does this doctor only treat birds?

Sivin

[suzyq]

Hi Sivin,
My parrot is a blue fronted amazon, so BFA for short, i thought. I will call him back and he is very nice and I am sure he will return the call. I thought he only saw birds but he see all animals. He said the lab wants a tissue biospy and I will find out what the price will be but I dont know if its worth it, Shouldn't he have use the blood to run a blood test instead of a needle biopsy. THat is only from all the many hours i spent reading this last week to find out more info on what it might be.
This group of vets had me test the dog and spend a fortune to the point that when they ran out of test they told me she never had a chance and i dont want to go thru that again.
Since all he blood came of perfect they kept searching and her xray might be showing her spleen but she had no symptoms of spleen problems and i hate to go back into that maze.
But i dont want my bird to suffer and i knew the dog was suffering.
Thank you for answering me and searching the net for me. I really appreciate it. I will tell you what he said when i hear form him later
thanks
susan
ps i live in queens--new york

[Sivin]

Hi Susan,

To give these vets the benefit of the doubt, perhaps they meant that after looking at the bloodwork they determined that your dog was fatally ill. At any rate, I can't address how things should be handled with your parrot but you might want to find out how many birds and/or reptiles this particular vet cares for. Having been both the generalist vet route (the person who sees mostly cats and dogs) and the avian specialist route, I can tell you that the latter is far better versed in the care and maintenance of our feathered friends! It's a completely different science.

I realize that it isn't always possible to find a specialist and further, there are certainly some general vets who can handle birds decently enough. You can just do what you can do! Please let us know what this vet tells you.

I lived in Queens from the time I was a baby until junior high. We first lived in Auburndale and then in Beechurst. Ring any bells?!?

Regards,
Sivin