Hi all-
My 2 year old Easter Egger came to me last year (owner didn't like her egg color) with a mild foot infection. I treated it, or so I thought, and then about 6 months ago it blew up. There was/is no obvious plug or site of injury. I attempted to treat it for a month with epsom salt baths, some tetracycline, but I couldn't get it under control. By the time we went to the vet it was in the bone. It was a VERY expensive surgery with x-rays, but I went ahead and did it because I thought it was over.
I did the follow up care, kept it wrapped, gave her the antibiotics and it looked healed. 2 months later and her infection is showing up again, a different part of the foot.
The vet told me that she would likely need surgery again, and that she would quite possibly need to have it again in the future.
I told her that I just can't afford it, so she was kind enough to give me 30 days of amoxicillin 100mg, 1.5 tablets every 12 hours. She also gave me 30 days of meloxicam, but I'm very wary of that due to risk of harm to the liver.
Currently we are on day 12 of antibiotics, and one of her lumps opened up and liquid pus came out.
Here is where I'm in need of help, advice, support.
What I've learned is that foot infections are slow to treat and treatment can take months. Apparently it is a good thing that there is now an opening for pus to drain- and the antibiotics should keep a worsening infection at bay.
What I'm doing in addition to keeping her on amoxicillin is epsom salt bath 1tbsp to 1 cup water daily for 30 minutes.
Squeezing as best I can the pus, and then using a long nosed syringe to flush opening with a 1:9 ratio of betadine to water.
After that I'm spraying a Silver Manuka spray on the open wound, and at night covering with gauze and vet wrap. In the morning I wash the area with a diluted Tea Tree soap and redress.
She is eating fine, can put weight on her foot, can walk on it but it's obviously bothering her. Still laying eggs which I'm tossing.
I'm giving her high protein foods, flax seed, supplements with Vitamin A and E. She is with a smaller flock of older birds, she doesn't like to be alone at all. I'm keeping her inside at night after her bath and wrap.
What else can I do? There is no accessible plug to remove, the pus that is draining is very liquid. The swelling is not getting worse over all, and if the infection goes haywire I definitely have no choice but to take her back to the vet.
The vet will not entertain an amputation due to quality of life issues, but I can't imagine putting her down- I'm too invested at this point and she honestly is a great chicken. Very sweet, very docile.
Does anyone have a similar experience? I understand that I need to commit to treating her every day for a while, but I also want to be realistic. I don't think her quality of life is poor by any stretch and I don't want to see her suffer. At this point I don't believe she is.
Attaching most recent photo of her foot.
My 2 year old Easter Egger came to me last year (owner didn't like her egg color) with a mild foot infection. I treated it, or so I thought, and then about 6 months ago it blew up. There was/is no obvious plug or site of injury. I attempted to treat it for a month with epsom salt baths, some tetracycline, but I couldn't get it under control. By the time we went to the vet it was in the bone. It was a VERY expensive surgery with x-rays, but I went ahead and did it because I thought it was over.
I did the follow up care, kept it wrapped, gave her the antibiotics and it looked healed. 2 months later and her infection is showing up again, a different part of the foot.
The vet told me that she would likely need surgery again, and that she would quite possibly need to have it again in the future.
I told her that I just can't afford it, so she was kind enough to give me 30 days of amoxicillin 100mg, 1.5 tablets every 12 hours. She also gave me 30 days of meloxicam, but I'm very wary of that due to risk of harm to the liver.
Currently we are on day 12 of antibiotics, and one of her lumps opened up and liquid pus came out.
Here is where I'm in need of help, advice, support.
What I've learned is that foot infections are slow to treat and treatment can take months. Apparently it is a good thing that there is now an opening for pus to drain- and the antibiotics should keep a worsening infection at bay.
What I'm doing in addition to keeping her on amoxicillin is epsom salt bath 1tbsp to 1 cup water daily for 30 minutes.
Squeezing as best I can the pus, and then using a long nosed syringe to flush opening with a 1:9 ratio of betadine to water.
After that I'm spraying a Silver Manuka spray on the open wound, and at night covering with gauze and vet wrap. In the morning I wash the area with a diluted Tea Tree soap and redress.
She is eating fine, can put weight on her foot, can walk on it but it's obviously bothering her. Still laying eggs which I'm tossing.
I'm giving her high protein foods, flax seed, supplements with Vitamin A and E. She is with a smaller flock of older birds, she doesn't like to be alone at all. I'm keeping her inside at night after her bath and wrap.
What else can I do? There is no accessible plug to remove, the pus that is draining is very liquid. The swelling is not getting worse over all, and if the infection goes haywire I definitely have no choice but to take her back to the vet.
The vet will not entertain an amputation due to quality of life issues, but I can't imagine putting her down- I'm too invested at this point and she honestly is a great chicken. Very sweet, very docile.
Does anyone have a similar experience? I understand that I need to commit to treating her every day for a while, but I also want to be realistic. I don't think her quality of life is poor by any stretch and I don't want to see her suffer. At this point I don't believe she is.
Attaching most recent photo of her foot.
