Pet parakeet

Question
Dear Chrys,
    I have 2 pet birds. This morning I went to change their water and I noticed that my mom's bird wouldn't move off of the dish. I found this odd because her bird is usually very aggressive when anybody puts their hand in the cage. I then noticed that a small sac-like object was protruding from the bird's behind. (It's probably the rectum but I don't know a lot about bird anatomy.) I cannot afford to take my bird to the vet so I wanted to know if you had ever heard of anything like this before. It's just sitting at the bottom of it's cage and I don't want it to suffer! Please write me back if you know of anything I can do!
Thank you,   Katie Mazur

Answer
Hi, Katie.  Thanks for posting your concern.  You need to take this bird to an avian veterinarian IMMEDIATELY...as an emergency patient or take it to an emergency vet office IMMEDIATELY.  This bird is suffering and without proper medical attention RIGHT NOW, it will probably die within a matter of hours.  What you can do until then is take the bird in a cage into the bathroom and turn on the shower or faucet with hot water only creating a lot of steam (keep the door shut tight).  Keep the bird in the cage in the bathroom.  The steam will help keep the bird comfortable.  The protrusion is either the bird's insides coming out or it is an impacted egg.  Thus the need for emergency treatment.  If the object is white and looks like it could be an egg stuck in the vent, put 1-2 drops of mineral oil or vegetable oil down the bird's throat (use your finger to drop the drops into the bird's mouth or use an eyedropper) and put some oil around the egg where it meets the vent.  If the protrusion is bloody-looking and looks like bird tissue (skin), do not use the oil.

I cannot stress enough that this bird must be seen by a bird vet IMMEDIATELY or it will most likely pass away before today is out.

If you cannot afford veterinary care for your pets, you should not own them.

Chrys