Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Multisite integumentary squamous cell carcinoma in an African grey parrot (Psittacus erithacus erithacus).
- Journal:
- The Veterinary record
- Year:
- 2006
- Authors:
- Klaphake, E et al.
- Affiliation:
- Department of Small Animal Clinical Sciences · United States
- Species:
- bird
Plain-English summary
A 22-year-old male African grey parrot had been dealing with chronic feather picking and self-mutilation for the past 10 years. It developed two wounds, one on its right side and another on its left wing, which were found to be squamous cell carcinoma (a type of skin cancer) after biopsies were taken. The left tumor was successfully removed, and the parrot received weekly treatments with a chemotherapy drug for the right tumor, which initially seemed to help. Unfortunately, after a month, the parrot's health worsened, leading to euthanasia. The postmortem examination confirmed that the cancer had spread to nearby tissues, possibly due to long-term injury.
Abstract
A 22-year-old male African grey parrot (Psittacus erithacus erithacus) had had episodes of chronic feather picking and self-mutilation for 10 years; it had a 5 cm diameter right axillary wound and a 2 cm left dorsal patagial wound. Initial treatment with azithromycin and wound management was unsuccessful. Biopsies of both masses indicated squamous cell carcinoma. The left patagial tumour was removed completely by electrocautery. Cisplatin was administered weekly into multiple sites on the right axillary tumour and it initially appeared to regress; however, the bird's condition deteriorated after a month of treatment, and it was euthanased. The tumour was confirmed postmortem to be squamous cell carcinoma, which had invaded local tissues. The aetiology of the carcinoma may have been secondary to chronic focal trauma.
Find similar cases for your pet
PetCaseFinder finds other peer-reviewed reports of pets with the same symptoms, plus a plain-English summary of what was tried across them.
Search related cases →Original publication: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16648440/