Blizzy is Dizzy? (Started out 'dizzy', can't walk, won't eat)

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

Her crop still had some food in it this morning, but I wanted to make sure she would be okay for the duration of my class. She ate 10 mL of food, not enough to overfill her, but hopefully enough to keep her going. She also drank a lot. I've noticed that water is passing through her just fine, it's just food that seems to be passing slowly.

I just got back from school to find that her crop has emptied. I also found her partially hanging out of the back of her sling because she's managed to snap one of the leg loops that was keeping her from getting too far back. Stubborn old bird.

She is getting something of a tic now. Whenever I try to feed her, she turns her head to the left, only the left. This has been going on since I started force-feeding her. This morning, though, she's started twisting her head to the left for no apparent reason.

She's sleepy, but has enough energy to occasionally stretch her wings and try to walk. She's still reacting to her environment, looking around when she sees or hears something.

I understand what you mean by there being something holding her back. As long as it won't make her any worse, I'm perfectly willing to try anything at this point. I will have to look for fenbendazole tomorrow or the day after. For now, though, what is the dosage? I've given amprolium before at the rate of one teaspoon per gallon, but that was for chicks. Any different dosage for an adult bird, or for a bird in this condition?



As I said before, I won't have her linger here if it becomes obvious that she's in too much pain. I already have a humane way to cull her ready if that time comes. I've had birds that I thought for certain would not make it through another night, but they still bounced back. I don't want to give up on her, either.

I know Blizzy. I know how she acts when she doesn't feel good. That's what I am waiting for before I make the decision to put her down.

 

[cowcreekgeek]

Her crop still had some food in it this morning, but I wanted to make sure she would be okay for the duration of my class. She ate 10 mL of food, not enough to overfill her, but hopefully enough to keep her going. She also drank a lot. I've noticed that water is passing through her just fine, it's just food that seems to be passing slowly.
I just got back from school to find that her crop has emptied. I also found her partially hanging out of the back of her sling because she's managed to snap one of the leg loops that was keeping her from getting too far back.

Stubborn old bird.
She is getting something of a tic now. Whenever I try to feed her, she turns her head to the left, only the left. This has been going on since I started force-feeding her. This morning, though, she's started twisting her head to the left for no apparent reason.
She's sleepy, but has enough energy to occasionally stretch her wings and try to walk. She's still reacting to her environment, looking around when she sees or hears something.
I understand what you mean by there being something holding her back. As long as it won't make her any worse, I'm perfectly willing to try anything at this point. I will have to look for fenbendazole tomorrow or the day after. For now, though, what is the dosage? I've given amprolium before at the rate of one teaspoon per gallon, but that was for chicks. Any different dosage for an adult bird, or for a bird in this condition?
As I said before, I won't have her linger here if it becomes obvious that she's in too much pain. I already have a humane way to cull her ready if that time comes. I've had birds that I thought for certain would not make it through another night, but they still bounced back. I don't want to give up on her, either.
I know Blizzy. I know how she acts when she doesn't feel good. That's what I am waiting for before I make the decision to put her down.

Still say I admire you for your efforts ... you've shown great courage, and dedication.

Dosages shouldn't be adjusted for the bird's condition, but only for their size(s) ... it's based upon the weight, and targets specific ppm, by the usual form of milligrams of the available active ingredient per kilogram of the total body weight of the bird. I can help you do the math, once you determine which form you've obtained, and concentrations.

Rather than dosing via free-choice, I'd just incorporate into the food/water offered, splitting the dosage up into two half doses per day. Knowing the more precise weight of Blizzy would be the best idea, so as to target very specifically the correct dosage, even though overdosing w/ Amprolium or Fenbendazole isn't really considered particularly hazardous to any bird.

Here's Merck Vet Manual's information on coccidiosis, and here's an exhaustingly thorough report on Amprolium, including the specific dosage:
Dosage for Amprolium, EMEA/MRL/767/00-FINAL
Yet another new study on the use of Fenbendazole to treat nematodiasis, from PubMed.gov, where I also found this study, reporting an even higher dosage:
Vet Rec. 1983 Apr 30;112(18):433-4.: But, by far, my favorite study on the use of Fenbendazole provides the following dosage:
Efficacy of fenbendazole against helminth parasites of poultry in Uganda.


Which is why I suggest 20 mg/kg for 3 consecutive days as the minimum amount req'd so as to eliminate helminths, including gapeworms, as the possible cause of Blizzy's symptoms ~'-)

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

Sorry for the delay in updates.

The news is... not good. Blizzy's getting more and more droopy, and is starting to get that look like she's not comfortable. She still has her moments of 'brightness', where she's looking around and taking in her environment. Her crop has returned to emptying normally and she is finding the water sometimes on her own. At this point, though, I am just keeping her fed and hydrated until she gives me a sign for sure that she's done.

 

[seminolewind]

Kristin, I'm sorry about Blizzy. I just saw this thread and read the whole thing. I don't think there's anything more you could have done. You did everything.

Think about having a necropsy done.

She is very cute. It sounds more like something not right with her organs . Maybe her heart is getting weak.
I'll be thinking of you and Blizzy.

 

[cowcreekgeek]

Sorry for the delay in updates.
The news is... not good. Blizzy's getting more and more droopy, and is starting to get that look like she's not comfortable. She still has her moments of 'brightness', where she's looking around and taking in her environment. Her crop has returned to emptying normally and she is finding the water sometimes on her own. At this point, though, I am just keeping her fed and hydrated until she gives me a sign for sure that she's done.

Sorry to hear that ...
There's really nothing to lose, based upon the current prognosis, if you choose to attempt dosing her. But, seminolewind's suspicions are most probably true -- if things don't work out, and you want to have a necropsy performed, I can take care of that if you wish.

And, again ... you've done remarkably well, in your efforts to help Blizzy get better ... and I still hope she does ~'-)

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

She is gone.

She didn't look very comfortable this morning. It was just the look in her eyes. Then, as I was feeding her, she pulled away from the syringe and gave me this long, sad look. At that point I knew she was done.

We chose as peaceful of a way as we could. My mom and brother and I were all there with her when we did it, so she was not alone. I hope she wasn't too scared.

Thank you, cowcreekgeek, for sticking with me through this all. At least we tried.

We've decided against a necropsy. Blizzy was very important to us all here, and we just want to let her rest now.

 

[cowcreekgeek]

She is gone.
She didn't look very comfortable this morning. It was just the look in her eyes. Then, as I was feeding her, she pulled away from the syringe and gave me this long, sad look. At that point I knew she was done.
We chose as peaceful of a way as we could. My mom and brother and I were all there with her when we did it, so she was not alone. I hope she wasn't too scared.
Thank you, cowcreekgeek, for sticking with me through this all. At least we tried.
We've decided against a necropsy. Blizzy was very important to us all here, and we just want to let her rest now.

You're welcome, Kristin; it's an honor to help those that try so very hard, when so very few do ...

I'm not likely to cry over my own chickens, but have shed a few over those that have lost their own, as I know Blizzy was far more than 'just a chicken' to you: I'm truly sorry she didn't make it ...

The individual chicken is fragile and temporary, so that the flocks they form can be most resilient, and more quickly adapt to their environments. Therefore, by God's very design, He's chosen which is, or isn't, to survive. And, at times like this? I put back on my own armor of logic, which serves to help guard my heart, and remember that I've flocks to tend to ...

 

[seminolewind]

So sorry.

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

Okay, so as one final post, I would like to summarize all of her symptoms and all of the treatments I administered. Hopefully this will help if anyone else comes across this thread looking for help.


Blizzy started out 'dizzy'. By this, I mean she would be standing still, but be unable to keep her head still. She would look around, but as she tried to focus on things, her head just kept moving slowly. She could still walk fine, but was unable to see things like a foggy shower curtain in her way. I know she wasn't blind because she could focus on more solid objects.

Just two days after I noticed this, she was unable to walk at all. This did not present as paralysis, but more as weakness in her legs. She was still able to sort of waddle along on her 'knees'. At this point she had stopped eating solid food, but would still drink on her own and eat raw eggs.

The first treatment I tried was Epsom salts, at the rate of 1 teaspoon of salt dissolved completely into one ounce (1/8 cup) of warm water. I gave her this treatment twice, the second dose about 24 hours after the first dose. I made her drink almost all of the ounce of water for both treatments.

I had been feeding her 2 or 3 raw eggs a day from the start with vitamin/electrolyte water (you can probably get packets of this at your local feed store; just follow the instructions on the package for dosing). I switched at some point to a raw egg/crumble/yogurt mixture, which she would peck at at first. She stopped eating on her own completely, though, and so I pureed this mixture and syringed it directly into her mouth 3 times a day until her crop felt full enough (which was at about 30-50 mL usually). Around the same time, I began giving her ACV water and giving her access to it at all times during the day.

By week two of treating her, while she was out of the sling both of her legs would stretch out straight behind her. All the while she was in her sling, I exercised her legs by stretching them out and then gently pushing them up against her belly. I think this helped initially.

About three days before we put her down, her crop mysteriously stopped passing food while still passing water. After 36 hours and a crop massage or two, this resolved itself.

She became increasingly stubborn about eating at this point, even from the syringe.

She eventually became too visibly uncomfortable for me to justify keeping her around.

There was never a sign of anyone else in the flock showing symptoms.


So if I had to do it over, I probably would have done things like this:

1. Start treatment as soon as the first-noted 'dizzy' spell! Don't wait until she can't walk!

2. Start with the Epsom salt treatment--two doses, 12 hours apart (1 teaspoon of Epsom salt dissolved completely in 1/8 cup of warm water; make her drink most, if not all, of both doses). Keep her on vitamin/electrolyte for the next two or three days, then switch to ACV water at the rate of 1/4 teaspoon per 1 cup of water.

3. Try treating with Amprolium and deworming her a few days after the Epsom salt treatment. (Post #52 by cowcreekgeek on this page has dosing info.)

4. Keep a closer eye on her weight! Make sure she is fed at least two times a day and until her crop feels full (but not over-full! again, I found about 30-50 mL was enough when syringing her, but this was three times a day).

5. Offer water 24/7 instead of trying to get her to drink enough when I syringed it to her. Also, feed egg/crumble/yogurt mix from the start instead of just raw egg. My mixture was one raw egg, one handful of crumbles, and a heaping spoon of plain yogurt. I found toward the end that the egg could be scrambled and then pureed and would mix into the crumbles and yogurt pretty well with some water added to loosen it up.

6. Lastly, if she began to lose weight too rapidly, try tube feeding her sooner! (Tube feeding info HERE or HERE.)


I hope, hope, hope that if anyone sees these symptoms in one of their chickens that this thread can help them. The most important thing is to keep trying and don't give up on him or her until he or she is ready!

 

[Suzie]

I never did post on your thread about Blizzy but have nothing but admiration for you in all of your efforts to aid your beloved girl, I read through every comment you made on her care and progress and also the help you were given by other more experienced people on this site than me.. I was a bystander, hoping that Blizzy would get well - my thoughts are with you at this sad time. Thank you so much for providing such information that may well help any of us here to understand and act upon the symptoms you have described and the action you have taken to aid our feathered friends!

You and Blizzy have given us all an intensive insight into how to take care of our chicken(s) when they show such symptoms....

Thank you for sharing... your post will help save lives!

Suzie