Euthanasia Options for Abdominal Adhesion

[tgooberbutt]

Hi, so sorry to read about Phineas. I am wondering if your vet was able to give you any answers as to the cause of the adhesions, was it due to some sort of inflammatory process? I just went through almost the same thing with one of my hens. The vet did a necropsy today, said there were adhesions causing a functional bowel obstruction, that he had never seen this in a chicken before. It sounds very like my situation- two weeks of antibiotics, subQ fluids, metacam, tube feeding... her crop was emptying very very slowly. She died at home on my lap, I had checked on her and thought she was probably on her way, so I held her. It is a difficult decision, it seems often with chickens the proper diagnosis isn't arrived at until after death (by necropsy). A bowel adhesion isn't going to show up on an ultrasound...maybe an obstruction would show on an xray, but in your case (as mine) it presented more like an infection, so the treating with antibiotics etc. I may have missed part of it but how did they determine she had adhesions? I think is always good to give things a try and have hope, but I feel sad that I may have worsened her situation by tubing, if she had a partial obstruction. I think you probably made a good decision for your friend. It's a tough choice either way but my normal thought is if the animal is suffering and they are terminal and in dying process...euthanasia is probably the humane choice. I wish in a way I had made the choice for my girl... very sad, either way.

@Twixie , I'm so sorry about your hen. What was her name? My vet did a physical exam and went into her vent with gloved hand/fingers and felt around. She said the intestines were far tighter and more constricted than they should have been, and the tightness was very likely caused by a build-up of scar tissue around the intestinal walls. The cause of the scar tissue formation couldn't be determined, be the vet said that it could be a number of things: if Phineas had eaten some sharp object that got lodged in the intestinal wall; if she had egg-yolk peritonitis,and there was yolk-matter on the outside of the intestine; could have been worms burrowing in the walls of the intestines (though my entire flock has been on a worming schedule); infection?; mold?.....

The x-rays did not reveal any dense foreign matter in the intestines though, so there was no physical blockage other than the diameter of the intestines narrowing from tight, inflexible scar tissue forming around the intestines. For Phineas, tube-fed food and liquids passed through her in about an hour, and it would leave her through a projectile-like, fluid mess.

I was raking leaves in part of the yard yesterday, and ran across so many black and white striped feathers among the leaves and just started crying in the middle of the yard. It's amazing how a simple little creature can affect you so much. I still miss her a lot.

 

[Twixie]

@tgooberbutt , Thanks so much for your reply, and thank you about my hen ..her name was Laurel. She was a Rhode Island Red, beautiful glossy feathers, even when she was sick. I'm sorry about Phineas too... and yes, very sad about finding her feathers... I can relate to that. Phineas sounds gorgeous.
My vet had a "rescue hen" they had just done surgery on, and I adopted her last week...she is also black and white striped- was Phineas a barred rock?- I think that's what this hen is, she sounds the same as Phineas . All of the rest of my girls are Rhode Island Red or Golden Sex Link. One of them might be Buff Orphington? - not sure, she was also a rescue bird from the vet (she'd been attacked by a racoon).
Yes, it is funny how such a little creature can affect you; I'll always miss Laurel. She was the first hen I had; I raised her from a chick. She was the leader of the flock...the others would come looking for her each morning while she was sick, and even still now they do. The two new hens are providing some distraction. Laurel would jump on my lap if I was at my picnic table or in the hammock, and snuggle...she was the sweetest chicken I've been around before.

That's very interesting, to hear what your vet found with Phineas. My vet wasn't sure what would cause adhesions (he hadn't seen them before though)..he felt probably inflammatory process of some sort, which goes along with what your vet said- like, the egg peritonitis. She originally presented with fluid in her lower abdomen, we drained it off, then put her on antibiotics and Metacam (anti inflammatory), and she improved for a month, then suddenly got much worse again. Tried 2nd course antibiotics.. mild improvement then downhill again. Tried 3rd course, different antibiotics...again mild improvement then way down hill. Also interesting that Phineas was still able to pass food through intestine, though it was narrowed. I think this was case with Laurel for a long time... she had basically water passing through, then watery stool, then somewhat formed when on antibiotics before she crashed again. The adhesions with her were forming a "functional blockage" meaning, I think, they made the intestine walls stick together at a certain point...hence the food had nowhere to go. That was just in her last few days.

When I talked with my vet I asked about culturing for specificity re antibiotics, but then thought to ask...but we dont' know where the infection is, do we? He said yes, that's the problem- could be reproductive tract or elsewhere, and could still cause fluid buildup in abdomen and other symptoms. Really interesting, the other stuff your vet said. I will pass it on to my vet. I'm glad you were so willing to take good care of her and get her to the vet... it's hard seeing them struggle when they're ill. I figure that the first and second course of antibiotics (even the third, a bit) gave Laurel some pretty good quality of life for her last two months. (After the first course she was running around with the others, eating well and acting normal for almost a month- then she crashed).

 

[tgooberbutt]

It sounds like Laurel appreciated your company just as much as you appreciated hers. And I do wonder what the others in the flock are thinking when their friend (and leader) is not around anymore. But I'm glad to hear that your rescue chickens are providing a bit of a distraction. In the couple of days before I took Phineas to the vet, I was giving her Baytril (off-label) in case the underlying cause was an infection. My vet said that if there was an infection inside of her, that the Baytril should have taken care of it. But since she could not prescribe or condone the use of Baytril for chickens, she prescribed Sulfatrim and told me to dose her with that instead of the Baytril just in case there was any remaining infection. So Phineas was on Baytril for about 4 days, and Sulfatrim for another week or so....neither antibiotic improved her spirits. Phineas' downhill progression occurred over the course of about a month.

But one similarity between Laurel and Phineas' situation is a general build-up of fluids. I've attached a picture of one of Phineas' x-rays. Phineas' is on the right, and the vet put up one for another chicken (on the left) for comparison. The overall haziness was the film catching fluid. Nothing but the densest particles could be discerned due to the fluid buildup.

Phineas was a Dominique. They look almost exactly like Barred Rocks, but Dominques have rose-combs, a more random black and white barring pattern, and slightly thinner bodies with longer tail feathers. She came as one of 15 chicks in a brown egg-laying mystery pack from Meyer.

 

[fuscia]

My favorite hen, why does it have to be my favorite is probably dying from adhesions or cancer. She could make a recovery, but it looks bleak. If she stops eating I’ll have to have her euthanized by the vet who will give her a shot that makes her sleepy. Which I think is very humane at least.