EMERGENCY!! I think she may be dying!!!

Date sort Score sort
She is very skinny. It was a very fast weight loss too. She wants to eat but can't seem to get her beak to go where she want it to.
Idk her age maybe 6 months or so. She came into the animal shelter where I work after being found in a park unable to walk and her skull bone showing on the top of her head. Vet stitched her back up for me an I had gotten her back walking which made me think not Mareks since she had gotten better. Then her legs gave out again and she couldn't walk but she seemed fine. Shes been doing well for the past couple months, could use her legs to scoot/ roll around enough to cause chaos and drive me nuts... All of this new stuff happened within 24 hours, she was fine then suddenly she wasn't .

Shes been on B vitamins since I got her 3 months ago.
 
I feel like i will be making a very sad vet visit tomorrow... :'( my poor girl isn't doing very well at all, i'm pretty sure she doesn't even know i'm here at all now... kind of wish she would just let go and make this easier for both of us... i hate seeing her like this. i think it may be Mareks though, or whatever it is it's most likely neurological and i don't think it's fair to allow her to continue like this.
 
koakritters said:
I feel like i will be making a very sad vet visit tomorrow... :'( my poor girl isn't doing very well at all, i'm pretty sure she doesn't even know i'm here at all now... kind of wish she would just let go and make this easier for both of us... i hate seeing her like this.  i think it may be Mareks though, or whatever it is it's most likely neurological and i don't think it's fair to allow her to continue like this.
Click to expand...


I'm sorry, I know how hard it is. I've tried very hard to save quite a few with tube feeding and fluid therapy, but it always ends the same way. I had three, not including the one I posted about, all with slightly different symptoms, that I kept alive for months with tube feeding, hoping that they would get better. Perhaps it would be best to talk with your vet...

I don't want to sound insensitive, but will you be sending her off for necropsy? They're free for us in CA and they'll even let you use their FedEx account to save on shipping. Dr. Shivaprasad said that next time I send a body, that I should also send a blood that was collected prior to euthanasia... He said to send a few cc's in a "red top tube".
 
RE: Necropsy: They need the whole bird, refrigerated, not frozen. In CA, there are four labs that do necropsies on poultry for free. The lab I use is the one in Tulare, CA.

CAHFS
Attn: Dr. Shivaprasad
18830 Road 112
Tulare, CA 93274-9042
(559) 688-7543
(559) 686-4231 (FAX)
[email protected]


The other labs are listed here:
http://www.cahfs.ucdavis.edu/services/lab_locations.cfm

Since it's Friday, unless you want to overnight for Saturday delivery, which is more expensive, I would suggest shipping on Monday for Tuesday delivery. You'll need to find a box, line it with styrofoam (I use the 4'x8'x1" stuff from Home Depot, but you can anything, I guess... you can also get smaller pieces at an art store like Michael's, but is way more expensive). Click here to see foam options. You'll also need at least one ice pack. Here are some pictures that I took of the last bird that I sent:

Box lined with foam on four sides and bottom. Seams of foam taped sealed.


Box, sides, bottom and and top.


Frozen ice pack in ziplock baggie.


Brown paper on top of ice pack.


Hen in ziplock baggie on top of brown paper.


Brown paper on top of hen.


Ice pack on top of brown paper.


Lid on top of brown paper.


Inside the box you should also include a submission form in a ziplock baggie.
http://www.cahfs.ucdavis.edu/local-assets/pdfs/StandardSubmissionForm 10-2012.pdf

Do not tell anyone at FedEx that you're shipping a dead animal... that seems to really worry them. Just make sure that nothing will leak.
 
Last edited:
she seemed almost a bit better this morning... not much but she's not shaking as much, her head is still doing that thing though
i think i may wait until tuesday and bring her with me back to the shelter when i go in to work and see if the vet there has any idea, or maybe we can get her on some sort of antibiotics and try... shes been through so much and she's always been this little fighter i just don't want to give up on her too soon, she's come back from having surgery and infections and all sorts of stuff before... :/ if he feels that it's not fixable i'll just have to have him put her down i guess...
 
koakritters said:
she seemed almost a bit better this morning... not much but she's not shaking as much, her head is still doing that thing though
i think i may wait until tuesday and bring her with me back to the shelter when i go in to work and see if the vet there has any idea, or maybe we can get her on some sort of antibiotics and try... shes been through so much and she's always been this little fighter i just don't want to give up on her too soon, she's come back from having surgery and infections and all sorts of stuff before... :/ if he feels that it's not fixable i'll just have to have him put her down i guess...
Click to expand...


Since you have a vet to work with, I'd probably try to save her, but that will mean tube feeding. I have tons of experience tube feeding, so if you need some advice, just ask. FWIW, I have tube fed day old pigeons, chicks, ducklings, poults and peachicks as well as much larger ones.
 
casportpony said:
Since you have a vet to work with, I'd probably try to save her, but that will mean tube feeding. I have tons of experience tube feeding, so if you need some advice, just ask. FWIW, I have tube fed day old pigeons, chicks, ducklings, poults and peachicks as well as much larger ones.
Click to expand...
do you have any sites/pictures to show how to do it at home? and what should i use? i'd like to get more food into her now instead of waiting. i've been grinding up oat meal and mixing it with water and when i put a bit in her mouth she will eventually swallow it...
 

Similar threads

BelovedBirds
    • Sad
Duck with bumble foot, please advise!
Replies
9
Views
180
BelovedBirds
BelovedBirds
A
    • Like
Is my chickens neck broken?
2
Replies
14
Views
564
MROO
MROO
BlossomSilkies
    • Like
Update: She died overnight. Breathing funny, video
Replies
4
Views
387
Chicken_Obsesser
Chicken_Obsesser
R
    • Sad
    • Like
Initially improving hen now dying
Replies
3
Views
328
Bsmac
B
Z
    • Sad
Button Quail Balled up and Seemingly in Pain
Replies
6
Views
256
Nabiki
Nabiki

New posts New threads Active threads

Back
Top Bottom