Gander refusing to eat

[Goosebaby]

How's Parsnip doing? I've been thinking about him.

He was having good days where he felt good and would eat a little and bad days when he wouldn’t hardly eat at all and he would stand with his feet spread apart and constantly shift his weight back and forth from foot to foot so I think he had pain in his feet or joints.
In the past I’ve seen him or the girls stand with their feet spread apart like that if they had stomach aches, I don’t think it was that though because they tuck their heads a bit and their eyes sink in a little when they’ve had stomach pain, Parsnip hasn’t been doing that so I’m pretty sure the pain is exclusive to his legs or feet. The last two days he’s been eating most of his mash and he hasn’t been doing the leg thing, yesterday his beak looked pale again but today it looks oranger again.
I’m not really sure what to think at this point.

 

[MGG]

He was having good days where he felt good and would eat a little and bad days when he wouldn’t hardly eat at all and he would stand with his feet spread apart and constantly shift his weight back and forth from foot to foot so I think he had pain in his feet or joints.
In the past I’ve seen him or the girls stand with their feet spread apart like that if they had stomach aches, I don’t think it was that though because they tuck their heads a bit and their eyes sink in a little when they’ve had stomach pain, Parsnip hasn’t been doing that so I’m pretty sure the pain is exclusive to his legs or feet. The last two days he’s been eating most of his mash and he hasn’t been doing the leg thing, yesterday his beak looked pale again but today it looks oranger again.
I’m not really sure what to think at this point.

Have you checked his feet? Maybe he has sores, or bumble, or some cuts or something. That's odd, I've never noticed mine do that thankfully. I have read that cayenne pepper sprinkled over food can increase appetite, maybe you could try that? I don't know. Have you given him any vitamins? He might benefit from some poultry cell or nutridrench.

 

[Goosebaby]

Have you checked his feet? Maybe he has sores, or bumble, or some cuts or something. That's odd, I've never noticed mine do that thankfully. I have read that cayenne pepper sprinkled over food can increase appetite, maybe you could try that? I don't know. Have you given him any vitamins? He might benefit from some poultry cell or nutridrench.

No wounds on his feet, he’s still getting his vitamins periodically. Today he’s feeling fairly good, he’s eaten a lot of mash and grass on his own and so far it’s day 3 that his feet seem like they aren’t hurting as much.
I compiled a timeline from notes I’ve been keeping of his health since December and I think it’s clarified what might be going on, the pain in his feet might be gout from zinc toxicity. A few weeks ago I found tiny pieces of red paint possibly from a rusty red wagon in his droppings. I couldn’t get ahold of any vet that sees geese then so I had to deal with it as best I could and I couldn’t tell whether his symptoms were due to cancer or poisoning “they present themselves exactly the same” and his ongoing anemia had me thinking it was cancer and the paint was just a horrible coincidence and he’d be having these symptoms anyway regardless.
He was already taking milk thistle prior to whenever he swallowed the paint so I think that may have lessened the blow from the zinc paint to some degree “hopefully.” I gave him activated charcoal, omega 3, and was feeding him tomatoes to flush his system that week. His appetite seems improved and his droppings this morning seem more normal than I’ve seen in months.
I’m now cautiously hoping that his anemia was already mostly cured “his beak is definitly oranger than it was a month ago” and that his anemia was unrelated to his recent illness and that he’s already recovering from the paint poisoning.
Only time will show how his organs have faired from zinc overdose, his urates seem normal so far.
I’m going to continue giving him omega 3 and milk thistle to help his liver and kidneys as much as possible.

 

[Goosebaby]

This mornings droppings.

 

[MGG]

This mornings droppings.

Those look pretty good!

 

[MGG]

No wounds on his feet, he’s still getting his vitamins periodically. Today he’s feeling fairly good, he’s eaten a lot of mash and grass on his own and so far it’s day 3 that his feet seem like they aren’t hurting as much.
I compiled a timeline from notes I’ve been keeping of his health since December and I think it’s clarified what might be going on, the pain in his feet might be gout from zinc toxicity. A few weeks ago I found tiny pieces of red paint possibly from a rusty red wagon in his droppings. I couldn’t get ahold of any vet that sees geese then so I had to deal with it as best I could and I couldn’t tell whether his symptoms were due to cancer or poisoning “they present themselves exactly the same” and his ongoing anemia had me thinking it was cancer and the paint was just a horrible coincidence and he’d be having these symptoms anyway regardless.
He was already taking milk thistle prior to whenever he swallowed the paint so I think that may have lessened the blow from the zinc paint to some degree “hopefully.” I gave him activated charcoal, omega 3, and was feeding him tomatoes to flush his system that week. His appetite seems improved and his droppings this morning seem more normal than I’ve seen in months.
I’m now cautiously hoping that his anemia was already mostly cured “his beak is definitly oranger than it was a month ago” and that his anemia was unrelated to his recent illness and that he’s already recovering from the paint poisoning.
Only time will show how his organs have faired from zinc overdose, his urates seem normal so far.
I’m going to continue giving him omega 3 and milk thistle to help his liver and kidneys as much as possible.

Wow, that's scary. Sounds like you took good care of him though. Does zinc cause gout? I've never even heard of that lol. It makes sense though. I hope he'll be ok. I have a question though, aren't tomatoes poisonous to birds? Just curious

 

[Goosebaby]

Wow, that's scary. Sounds like you took good care of him though. Does zinc cause gout? I've never even heard of that lol. It makes sense though. I hope he'll be ok. I have a question though, aren't tomatoes poisonous to birds? Just curious

Gout occurs when the kidneys can’t get rid of excesses in the bloodstream, it can cause crystals to form in the organs or joints or both, which cause damage and inflammation, it’s just a hunch of mine but I think that may be what Parsnip was dealing with, zinc toxicity also causes muscle weakness so that’s a possibility.
Tomatoes aren’t poisonous, though being related to nightshade I don’t know if the plant is safe or not.

 

[MGG]

Gout occurs when the kidneys can’t get rid of excesses in the bloodstream, it can cause crystals to form in the organs or joints or both, which cause damage and inflammation, it’s just a hunch of mine but I think that may be what Parsnip was dealing with, zinc toxicity also causes muscle weakness so that’s a possibility.
Tomatoes aren’t poisonous, though being related to nightshade I don’t know if the plant is safe or not.

Ok, thanks for explaining that. I learn something new everyday here! I hope Parsnip gets over it.

 

[Goosebaby]

Researching gout makes me heavily doubt that’s what’s causing Parsnip’s foot discomfort, now I think it may be leg stiffness /weakness from the zinc.

 

[MGG]

Researching gout makes me heavily doubt that’s what’s causing Parsnip’s foot discomfort, now I think it may be leg stiffness /weakness from the zinc.

That makes sense. How is he doing today?