Growth Inside Parrot Beak

[ParrotParty22]

My 21 year old Triton Cockatoo has developed a yellow growth in her beak near her tongue. She was taken to two avian vets to be evaluated and put on antibiotics. Two weeks later the growth persisted in her mouth and the vet suggested bloodwork and a biopsy. The bloodwork came back mostly normal other than additional white blood cells, but the vet said this was likely due to fighting off the infection.
The biopsy results came back and the vet told us that they noticed abnormal cells. The vet said that this could be a tumor and suggested freezing the tissue and removing it via cryosurgery. She soon got surgery for the growth and had it removed. The vet said that 1/3 of the birds undergoing the surgery have to have it removed again. The surgery required painkillers twice a day due to swelling around the surgery area.
It has been almost three weeks since the surgery and it appears the growth may be back. Has anyone's parrot experienced this growth or heard of anything like this? I am worried we may have to continuously remove these growths and the biopsy didn't give very clear results. I would really appreciate it if anyone could share their experience if their parrot has had something similar.

[Pajarita]

Hi and welcome to the forum. I am so sorry you are going through this. It's terrible when there is a recurring health problem... I never had a bird with a tumor in the beak but, for what I have read, it's not uncommon for birds to develop squamous carcinomas and, yes, they can come back. I recently took in a Galah with a tumor in her belly but my vet successfully removed and the biopsy came back as benign, so my experience is completely different from yours. If the bird was mine and the tumor was coming back so soon after surgery (which indicates an aggressive kind of growth), I would have it removed again with as much tissue around it as possible - I would not even mind if part of its tongue was also taken out... Furthermore (and, again, no personal experience but what I have learned from avian medicine texts), apparently, birds do quite well with chemotherapy and radiation only it's not as effective as it is in mammals.

I am sorry I could not help you with your specific question and I hope from the bottom of my heart your bird gets better. If you don't mind, we would love to hear what you decided and how he is doing.

[ParrotParty22]

Thank you for your response. This was very insightful information and the options are helpful. Hopefully chemo will help with the growth. I will ask about this suggestion and see if this is possible at her appointment on Tuesday.