Five-month old Australorp suddenly lame. Update: Now another pullet going lame!

[texsuze]

Fay Update: excuse my interruption again. My most recent post was a few pages ago.

Fay, at vet's request, had her x-ray Monday. As I suspected, negative for any gross abnormalities-no masses, no fracture, etc. as read by my vet. Their office is doing curbside, no clients in the building due to the cootie, so I couldn't be present during either exam. Vet said, "when we put her on the floor, she walked and looked almost normal...." Well. Yes. She's in strange surroundings and wanting to get out of there. He asked if the meloxicam was helping, which it was not, since she apparently doesn't have trauma, and I don't feel this is 'arthritis', as we know it. I could be wrong.

Vet prescribed/provided oxytetracycline soluble, which I'm preparing daily, in the water founts (shout out to casportpony for dosage mathematics). He's supposed to have ordered tylosin soluble for me to have on hand, but has not indicated if/when that would be used. He couldn't truly offer any definitive diagnosis, but from what I've read I'm going on a "synovitis situation", since Fay is MS/MG positive.

Fay is understandably underweight but has appetite and motivation to be with her flock. She can go about +/-10' with difficulty. She preens and talks and wants to do what everyone else is doing, but she is somewhat depressed. During barn chores each a.m. I've been shuttling her around the barn as the other girls undertake their daily routine. All I can hope for right now is some type of alleviation of some symptoms. I'm thinking that improvement to her mobility would be a miracle, but I'm not giving up. Will probably check back in after 7 days of oxytet. Thanks for listening.

 

[Maiahr]

@texsuze what is MG positive? Excuse me, I haven't read all previous posts.

 

[azygous]

This is maddening. The USPS is maddening. The test kit is on its way through the mail but won't be delivered until Monday afternoon.

May had accumulated a load of poop on her body so she got a bath and blow-dry, then spent a few hours sunning herself in the garage window. She appeared to be enjoying the spa treatments.

If these are to be her last days, I think they're about as good as a sick pullet could have.

 

[Allsfairinloveandbugs]

Hi @azygous. Want to let you know that due to your continued updates re May, an idea popped in my head this past weekend. The "idea" was Guillain-Barre syndrome. The reason i thought of Guillain-Barre was that my (now ex) father-in-law contracted Guillain-Barre. He went from a very healthy 65 year old man, to COMPLETELY paralyzed. He remained in the icu/hospitalized for 4 months, hooked to a respirator because he was too paralyzed to even breathe on his own. I just googled "Guillain-Barre chicken mareks" just to see if anything popped up. Lo and behold there are many similiarities! A study from 1981 titled "Mareks Disease: A Natural Model for the Landry-Guillain-Barr Syndrome" begins by stating "The early lesions of Mareks disease in chickens are indistinguishable from those of the Landry-Guillain-Barre syndrome in human beings." Article also states "in the chicken, Mareks disease virus induces a demylenating peripheral neuropathy." That is EXACTLY what happens when humans contract Guillain-Barre. Both viruses destroy the myelin sheaths of cells. I found another research paper from 2010 titled "Acute Paretic Syndrome in Juvenile White Leghorn Chickens Resembles Late Stages of Acute Inflamatory Demylinating Polyneuropathies in Humans." That study concluded the leghorns did NOT have mareks disease even though the symptoms were the same. With Guillain-Barre, myelin Does grow back. Slowly. With physical therapy and passing time, my father-in-law regained Most of his mobility. He walked with a limp for the rest of his life, but he lived until age 95. The main point is that even if May is no longer under viral attack, she will remain paralyzed until the myelin sheaths surrounding her cells grow back. I dont know how long that takes in chickens. Too late to do any more research tonight, but i will follow up soon as i can. Unless someone beats me too it!

 

[azygous]

@texsuze what is MG positive? Excuse me, I haven't read all previous posts.

MG is short for Mycoplasma gallisepticum. My pullet was tested for Mycoplasma synoviae and was negative. Each has different symptoms. The first is mostly upper respiratory, and the second involved swelling of the legs and feet and lameness.

 

[azygous]

@Allsfairinloveandbugs that is remarkable information! You are a wonder at research! So glad you joined this thread! You've just turned on some lights for us!

 

[azygous]

Just did some quick research on the treatment options for this disease. B-6 and vitamin E are both good for myelin repair. I now have new hope for May.

 

[Allsfairinloveandbugs]

You have given May more individual special care than i have ever seen anyone put forth. No doubt others have made herculean efforts to save their chickens, but you have Documented your efforts and treatments. All of us following this thread are doing our best to give you moral support, but You are the one caring for her daily. I think You are remarkable!!

 

[micstrachan]

This is maddening. The USPS is maddening. The test kit is on its way through the mail but won't be delivered until Monday afternoon.

May had accumulated a load of poop on her body so she got a bath and blow-dry, then spent a few hours sunning herself in the garage window. She appeared to be enjoying the spa treatments.

If these are to be her last days, I think they're about as good as a sick pullet could have.

Oh, geez, Carol. I’m sorry. This is crazy! I’m glad sweet May enjoyed her spa.

 

[HiEverybirdy]

Wow, @Allsfairinloveandbugs . Thank you for excavating that research. One of the reasons I've followed this thread is experience with a non-ambulatory pet. I didn't share because it was off-thread, but now it seems relevant. One of our dogs was diagnosed with the canine version of Guillain-Barre nearly 2 years ago.

In dogs, it's acute idiopathic polyradiculoneuritis, or "coonhound paralysis." Her case history would take pages, but basically, an active 3-year-old dog lost the use of her legs over 5 days. Research shows prognosis at 90%+ recovery, so we dove into therapy and learned to deal with a dog who couldn't walk.

While our dog couldn't move her legs, and for 2 weeks couldn't lift her head, she could always wag her tail and never lost bowel or bladder control. She could always feel her legs and feet. That version of paralysis is specific to this disease. For some, it spreads to the lungs, but briefly. Different for every patient. Some breeds demonstrate more susceptibility to the condition. It wouldn't take much to find parallels with this disease and the experience with May and the flock.

While onset is "idiopathic," or unknown, the suspected cause is a combo of outside trigger and genetic predisposition. You can easily fall down a deep rabbit hole about demyelinating disorders, but here's quick description of the canine condition:
https://www.vetstream.com/treat/canis/diseases/acute-idiopathic-polyradiculoneuritis

Our case is unusual in that our dog is still not walking (most canine cases resolve in < 6 months) and she's still here. That's a personal choice, and I'd obviously not judge anyone for euthanizing a non-walking pet. In our case, she has an evident desire to keep being here, and our lifestyle is amenable to making sure she has a life worth living. She does daily therapy, plays with the other dogs, has recently reclaimed the ability to dig (inspired by our puppy, whoops), rides the golf cart, swims in her hot tub, is a good chicken sentry, etc. Two years in, she still makes weekly gains, which is fascinating, but we don't know where she's going since she didn't hit the 6-month mark for recovery, and research is mighty thin.

A big reason there's so little research is that many dogs are euthanized at onset. Vets may not know what they're seeing – 2 of the 5 we've worked with didn't – and the first few weeks of care are intense. This is likely happening with severe cases of Mareks, too, because bridge care for chicken tetraparesis has to be pretty rare, yeah?