Duck with Liver mass inflammatory response in lungs

[Urban Waddler]

Hi. Has anyone heard of soft tissue masses on or near the liver. Loretta is 2 years old, and pekin. My vet said it was a bleak prognosis but they have no way of telling what it is or how it will hurt her, only that hope is not scarce. She was seen for fast breathing and fatigue, and they ruled out peritonitis, and her lungs showed up extremely inflamed on X-ray. We are treating her with heavy dose of metacam and antibiotics and nebulizer (twice a week). I refuse to accept this fate for my sweet little girl. She is spunky and happy during the day, and seems to be responding to meds, but certainly not perfect. I am wondering if anyone has experience with masses like this and has insight to share, for if we get her lungs back to normal I want hope for recovery. I have an appointment with a specialist next Friday. I’ll do anything to save her. I love her so very much.

 

[Urban Waddler]

I can do a little research for you and see if I come up with anything, but I think talking with that specialist will be your best bet.

Thank you. The vet I spoke with today was very bleak. She said she couldn’t be sure from the images what exactly it was, but typically with birds a mass near or on the liver is bad prognosis. She said typically she wouldn’t expect them to live more than a year, but with her other issues she doubts that long. As I was sobbing, she said, she wasn’t sure, that she very well could bounce back, but it didn’t seem very likely. I’d never seen this vet before. I know the images were not the best because I wouldn’t let them sedate her, and thank god I didn’t, as her lungs were very inflamed, either from allergy or virus. They don’t even know if it’s related to mass or not. I am hoping the specialist can say more hopeful things. I am just decanted. She is like my baby. I hatched her, and she’s always by my side. Such a trooper. She seems to be responding, but slowly to antibiotics and metacam.

 

[Urban Waddler]

Hi. Has anyone heard of soft tissue masses on or near the liver. Loretta is 2 years old, and pekin. My vet said it was a bleak prognosis but they have no way of telling what it is or how it will hurt her, only that hope is not scarce. She was seen for fast breathing and fatigue, and they ruled out peritonitis, and her lungs showed up extremely inflamed on X-ray. We are treating her with heavy dose of metacam and antibiotics and nebulizer (twice a week). I refuse to accept this fate for my sweet little girl. She is spunky and happy during the day, and seems to be responding to meds, but certainly not perfect. I am wondering if anyone has experience with masses like this and has insight to share, for if we get her lungs back to normal I want hope for recovery. I have an appointment with a specialist next Friday. I’ll do anything to save her. I love her so very much.

I meant to say hope is scares...ie bad prognosis. I got her to say it is possible she could bounce back. But that took some effort.

 

[Miss Lydia]

I haven’t but I just wanted to say I hope your sweet girl recovers @casportpony May be able to help.

 

[Isaac 0]

I can do a little research for you and see if I come up with anything, but I think talking with that specialist will be your best bet.

 

[Urban Waddler]

This is what I have gathered,


"Broadly speaking anemia can occur one of three ways:

1. Loss of red blood cells: The most obvious of which is blood loss (bleeding) following trauma, however blood can also be lost in less obvious ways through the bowel and urogenital system.
2. Destruction of red blood cell: Animals may eat certain toxins such as lead (common in older household paint), zinc (found in some bird toys and household items), or onions which can cause red blood cells to rupture within the bloodstream. It takes time for these ruptured cells to be replaced, and in the meantime anemia can develop. Another type of destructive anemia can occur when an animal’s immune system targets red blood cells and destroys them. Fortunately this type of anemia is very rare in avian and exotic pet medicine. Diagnosis of this last form is difficult and may require advanced diagnostic tests.
3. Decreased production of red blood cells: One relatively common cause of decreased production of red blood cells is iron deficiency. This can occur when pets are on substandard diets. Diagnosis and treatment of this condition must be made by a veterinarian since excess iron supplementation may be toxic. Chronic inflammatory or infections disease may also lead to this type of anemia."

View attachment 2203741


http://www.poultrydvm.com/condition/anemia

Thank you, this is very helpful. I guess we are checking for lead, but I wonder if we should be checking for other toxins. I did give her some Poultry Cell (2ml sprinkled over some lettuce), so I hope this will not hurt her. Sounds like I should check with the vet before trying to give her any iron supplementation. I could throw some peas into her diet, as these are higher in iron--hopefully that wouldn't. Thank you so much again!

 

[DucksOhio]

How frustrating. I hope the specialist can give more positive direction.

 

[Urban Waddler]

Hi. Has anyone heard of soft tissue masses on or near the liver. Loretta is 2 years old, and pekin. My vet said it was a bleak prognosis but they have no way of telling what it is or how it will hurt her, only that hope is not scarce. She was seen for fast breathing and fatigue, and they ruled out peritonitis, and her lungs showed up extremely inflamed on X-ray. We are treating her with heavy dose of metacam and antibiotics and nebulizer (twice a week). I refuse to accept this fate for my sweet little girl. She is spunky and happy during the day, and seems to be responding to meds, but certainly not perfect. I am wondering if anyone has experience with masses like this and has insight to share, for if we get her lungs back to normal I want hope for recovery. I have an appointment with a specialist next Friday. I’ll do anything to save her. I love her so very much.

UPDATE: we got Loretta a CT scan and ran a comprehensive blood test. The good news: there is no mass, period, on liver or otherwise. There are no signs of respiratory disease. The specialist believes that because the vet who did the X-ray, did so while she was awake, her leg bones, wings, superimposed organs all worked to create a really unreliable and inaccurate image.
The bad news: blood work showed anemia (low red blood cell count), low iron, and this is either due to lead poisoning or an underlying chronic illness (in her case, likely reproductive disease just by nature of her being such a prolific layer and so reproductively active, i.e. tons of follicles being produced).

We tested her sister who passed a year ago due to unknown reasons for lead poisoning and she was the one who seemed to actually peck at the outside of the house, and it was negative. So, my hunch is that Loretta doesn’t have lead poisoning, which is a bummer because we can treat that real easily with medication.

Does anyone have any experience treating anemia in poultry??? My vet is looking into whether iron supplements work on birds, he hasn’t heard of it in the past, while they do sometimes treat dogs with anemia. We scheduled a lead test for next Tuesday. But it breaks my heart to know she is struggling to get Oxygen to all her tissues, explaining her intermittent panting and Fast breathing. Maybe electrolytes or other mineral supplements?

 

[Miss Lydia]

400 Mgs of iron! I just looked it up. I believe @Isaac 0 may have recommended this before. But if added to water it’s going to get diluted.

 

[Urban Waddler]

Did the vet specify the % Blood Loss?

He only said she a low red blood count, indicative of anemia. If her blood come back positive for lead, we can treat with metal chelation, but our hunch is that it’s related to underlying disease (reproductive). She is laying fine, but doesn’t want to stop laying for nothing, which is hard, as implants have a very short term affect on her. She never lost any blood, per se, via injury or otherwise, but her body isn’t creating enough red blood cells—maybe that’s what you mean when you say blood loss, as this whole concept is new to me.