Fluffy Butt Acres: Stories of our flock

[MaryJanet]

For all you Goths out there an update on Bella Dracula.

It was a high drama vet visit with no ultimate conclusion. Here is how it played out.

I show up to the vet and am explaining everything I have observed (I previously sent the vet videos of Bella's strange breathing). I just got to the point where I am explaining that it is getting neither better nor worse each day, when Bella stops even trying to stand and then she can't hold her head up. So definitely worse.
Then she closes her eyes and loses all muscle tone.
The vet and I jump to the same conclusion - heat stroke. The vet gets me water which I put in Bella's mouth drop at a time (she dutifully swallows each drop without opening her eyes), the vet tech grabs a portable A/C machine to get the room cooler.
And slowly Bella comes around.
The vet tech even managed to get her to eat some of the mash I brought by feeding it to her with a spoon (seems Bella prefers to be spoon fed than eat directly from the bowl).
I think she must have over-heated in the car - I had her in the back and maybe the A/C doesn't reach there? Or maybe the A/C isn't working so well because I confess I was pretty hot too.
If I had remembered it was Thursday I would have got the vet tech to take a picture of me dropper feeding Bella water!
Anyway, drama over, but the mystery illness is still a mystery. The vet is consulting others and will get back to me.
It was good to have a professional confirm that there are no abnormal chest/lung/upper respiratory sounds, that her mouth, throat and nares all look clear, that she doesn't have parasites on her skin and her vent looks healthy.
So there is really no hint as to what is going wrong.
The vet confirmed that her action is indeed gaping (as in gape worm) but agreed we shouldn't jump to that conclusion as it is very rare. She agreed it is far from typical for mycoplasma, but on the other hand that is very common.
She asked that I continue supportive care while she consults. That means getting calories into her however I can (I have discovered that Bella loves scratch grain, yellow melons and red peppers), and keeping her hyrdated.
It will be hot tomorrow so I think I will bring Bella into the house for her meals so she can get a break from the heat. I don't want to move her in entirely because she is very bonded to Bernadette and Lulu and I think it would be stressful to separate them for any length of time.

I am emotionally drained now and ready to roost!

Well done RC and vet!

You've probably already considered evaporative cooling, but if not maybe there's a way to set something up?

 

[featherhead007]

Xzit is talking to her egg? I haven’t seen any action yet with it. But maybe mama knows best. (More than me anyways) ?

 

[BY Bob]

For all you Goths out there an update on Bella Dracula.

It was a high drama vet visit with no ultimate conclusion. Here is how it played out.

I show up to the vet and am explaining everything I have observed (I previously sent the vet videos of Bella's strange breathing). I just got to the point where I am explaining that it is getting neither better nor worse each day, when Bella stops even trying to stand and then she can't hold her head up. So definitely worse.
Then she closes her eyes and loses all muscle tone.
The vet and I jump to the same conclusion - heat stroke. The vet gets me water which I put in Bella's mouth drop at a time (she dutifully swallows each drop without opening her eyes), the vet tech grabs a portable A/C machine to get the room cooler.
And slowly Bella comes around.
The vet tech even managed to get her to eat some of the mash I brought by feeding it to her with a spoon (seems Bella prefers to be spoon fed than eat directly from the bowl).
I think she must have over-heated in the car - I had her in the back and maybe the A/C doesn't reach there? Or maybe the A/C isn't working so well because I confess I was pretty hot too.
If I had remembered it was Thursday I would have got the vet tech to take a picture of me dropper feeding Bella water!
Anyway, drama over, but the mystery illness is still a mystery. The vet is consulting others and will get back to me.
It was good to have a professional confirm that there are no abnormal chest/lung/upper respiratory sounds, that her mouth, throat and nares all look clear, that she doesn't have parasites on her skin and her vent looks healthy.
So there is really no hint as to what is going wrong.
The vet confirmed that her action is indeed gaping (as in gape worm) but agreed we shouldn't jump to that conclusion as it is very rare. She agreed it is far from typical for mycoplasma, but on the other hand that is very common.
She asked that I continue supportive care while she consults. That means getting calories into her however I can (I have discovered that Bella loves scratch grain, yellow melons and red peppers), and keeping her hyrdated.
It will be hot tomorrow so I think I will bring Bella into the house for her meals so she can get a break from the heat. I don't want to move her in entirely because she is very bonded to Bernadette and Lulu and I think it would be stressful to separate them for any length of time.

I am emotionally drained now and ready to roost!

That was truly frightening. How are YOU doing?

 

[RoyalChick]

Tax for going on so long about the vet visit. For all you Bella fans here she is getting ice cold kitchen scraps as we got back from the vet.
Lesson learned, don’t put an animal in the back of the car on a hot day.

 

[BY Bob]

Xzit is talking to her egg? I haven’t seen any action yet with it. But maybe mama knows best. (More than me anyways) ?

That is a great sign!

 

[RoyalChick]

Well done RC and vet!

You've probably already considered evaporative cooling, but if not maybe there's a way to set something up?

It is very humid so there are limitations, but I do soak some areas of dirt which seems to help.

 

[BY Bob]

Thirsty Thursday

 

[BY Bob]

Pullet TV

I caught Hattie watching Pullet TV this morning.

 

[RoyalChick]

That was truly frightening. How are YOU doing?

Better now we are back and Bella is over her heat event!
In the moment I was fine because adrenalin kicked in and I knew what I needed to do and just did it. Now I am pretty washed out and going to bed!
I also feel more optimistic as she is young and if her lungs aren’t shot and I can keep getting food into her then maybe she will recover on her own.
I will buy all the yellow melons she wants!
I will wait for the vet to consult but if there is no improvement and still no clue on what is going on, then I might just treat for mycoplasma anyway. I might need your help on dosing etc.

 

[Ponypoor]

For all you Goths out there an update on Bella Dracula.

It was a high drama vet visit with no ultimate conclusion. Here is how it played out.

I show up to the vet and am explaining everything I have observed (I previously sent the vet videos of Bella's strange breathing). I just got to the point where I am explaining that it is getting neither better nor worse each day, when Bella stops even trying to stand and then she can't hold her head up. So definitely worse.
Then she closes her eyes and loses all muscle tone.
The vet and I jump to the same conclusion - heat stroke. The vet gets me water which I put in Bella's mouth drop at a time (she dutifully swallows each drop without opening her eyes), the vet tech grabs a portable A/C machine to get the room cooler.
And slowly Bella comes around.
The vet tech even managed to get her to eat some of the mash I brought by feeding it to her with a spoon (seems Bella prefers to be spoon fed than eat directly from the bowl).
I think she must have over-heated in the car - I had her in the back and maybe the A/C doesn't reach there? Or maybe the A/C isn't working so well because I confess I was pretty hot too.
If I had remembered it was Thursday I would have got the vet tech to take a picture of me dropper feeding Bella water!
Anyway, drama over, but the mystery illness is still a mystery. The vet is consulting others and will get back to me.
It was good to have a professional confirm that there are no abnormal chest/lung/upper respiratory sounds, that her mouth, throat and nares all look clear, that she doesn't have parasites on her skin and her vent looks healthy.
So there is really no hint as to what is going wrong.
The vet confirmed that her action is indeed gaping (as in gape worm) but agreed we shouldn't jump to that conclusion as it is very rare. She agreed it is far from typical for mycoplasma, but on the other hand that is very common.
She asked that I continue supportive care while she consults. That means getting calories into her however I can (I have discovered that Bella loves scratch grain, yellow melons and red peppers), and keeping her hyrdated.
It will be hot tomorrow so I think I will bring Bella into the house for her meals so she can get a break from the heat. I don't want to move her in entirely because she is very bonded to Bernadette and Lulu and I think it would be stressful to separate them for any length of time.

I am emotionally drained now and ready to roost!

Oh here is a huge hug

You must be exhausted, and stressed I can only imagine how the vet and you leapt into action

Can you put a big fan on her? I have this huge round fan I sometimes use in the barn alleyway, it's really good and helps cool things down. Maybe use a fan like that?