Goose off food, lethargic and lost weight- x-ray shows enlarged liver

[HorsechickCC]

This might be a long shot but worth a post. I have a 4 year old gander, who just over a week ago went off all feed, but drinking water and eating some dirt. Subsequently, he's lost a lot of weight now and fairly lethargic but still walking around. He seems somewhat interested in food at times but will poke at it a bit and then shake his head to get it off his bill. I have tried everything he likes to eat- no success. He's basically living on 'Stress-aid' electrolytes in his water right now. All my other birds are healthy. Took him for a vet appt today and she couldn't find anything remarkable on examination, other than the extreme weight loss. I opted for x-rays and bloodwork (my geese are my babies), won't have blood results til tomorrow but the x rays showed an enlarged liver that might be pressing on the gizzard, and everything else looked normal. If the blood shows elevated white cells, we might be able to treat him for an infection. Otherwise, the vet said she would be suspicious of cancer (seems strange for an only 4 year old goose).
Im heartbroken but haven't given up hope. If anyone has any ideas, experience or words of wisdom, please let me know.

 

[Percheron chick]

Has he been dewormed?

 

[HorsechickCC]

Has he been dewormed?

No, he hasn't had any kind of dewormer or anything. Bacteria or parasites were one of my first thoughts but the vet didn't say anything about that yet. I would also kind of assume that any wormy-ness would be accompanied by more appetite, but he went off food pretty suddenly.

 

[Percheron chick]

No, his symptoms are pretty much in line with gizzard worms. Is the vet a fowl vet? They are so few and far between that finding someone who will even work on a goose is a major victory. I know it's a risk to deworm a compromised animal but it seems like everytime a goose goes downhill, it's from heavy worm loads. I do not know if they show up on fecals but I would guess yes. I will admit it that I do use horse dewormers on the geese and chickens. Either panacur or ivermectin.
Make him a lettuce slurpy for breakfast and try feeding him with a syringe. I have never had to tube feed a bird so can't help you there.

 

[Goosebaby]

I would start tube feeding him, if he doesn’t get anything soon he’s just not going to make it no matter what treatment he gets, if you can get a 60 millimeter syringe and gastric tube from your vet that would be good.

How I feed my gander is to sit him on the floor, pin him with one leg over his back, squeeze the corners of his mouth till he opens it, insert the tube down the RIGHT side of his throat, you’ll see it go down his throat from the outside a little bit, and when it’s down at the base of his neck squeeze the plunger.
Right now I’m using Purina Flock Raiser soaked in boiling water to dissolve it into a loose mash, after it’s cooled suck it up into the syringe, try not to get too many bubbles.
An adult goose’s stomach empties around every 2 hours, so you should aim for feeding him around every 2 hours.
If you can get Encore Avian Gro-rite it’s an even better formula substitute because it’s so high in protein, though maybe try the flock raiser the first week because a sudden shock of high protein might not be great on an inflamed liver.

As for his liver you can add squeezed lemon or grapefruit into his water, it has a calming effect on the liver, you can also feed him milk thistle extract for the same thing, they can also help to protect it from further injury. If you can get Denamarin for small dogs it does a lot for protecting and healing the liver, my gander Parsnip was on that during his bouts with pancreatitis.
If you can crush fresh blueberries into his water the extra antioxidants would be beneficial, even more so if he eats them on his own.

You can also try fresh aloe for the liver, the gel, not the peel, or you can get lily of the desert aloe detox to cleanse the liver.

If the blood tests come back with high amylase in the blood he may also have a pancreatic issue, which is easily a possibility if his liver is enlarged because it can be both a symptom and a cause of liver problems.

 

[Goosebaby]

Here’s a great guide for administering meds/supplements if it helps https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...dications-to-all-poultry-and-waterfowl.73335/

 

[HorsechickCC]

No, his symptoms are pretty much in line with gizzard worms. Is the vet a fowl vet? They are so few and far between that finding someone who will even work on a goose is a major victory. I know it's a risk to deworm a compromised animal but it seems like everytime a goose goes downhill, it's from heavy worm loads. I do not know if they show up on fecals but I would guess yes. I will admit it that I do use horse dewormers on the geese and chickens. Either panacur or ivermectin.
Make him a lettuce slurpy for breakfast and try feeding him with a syringe. I have never had to tube feed a bird so can't help you there.

Thanks for your replies! That's an interesting thought. It is tough to find vets that will work on geese, and especially in these covid times, where you can't even go into the vet office with your pet for the exam. I sort of assumed that any worms or suspicion of them would have come up on the exam, but no mention, so I'm going to ask her. His symptoms did come on quite suddenly. A fecal test was my other thought to rule out worms. I would definitely be nervous to give him any de-wormer in such a compromised state especially if there's already possible liver issues I have had to syringe medication into him in the past (after surgery for wing amputation) so it's not too complicated, and now that we've ruled out a blockage I think it's probably ok to squeeze a bit of food down there. I did have one tiny glimmer of hope last night when he ate some watermelon that I got him in a last ditch effort with his favorite treat.

 

[Goosebaby]

Thanks for your replies! That's an interesting thought. It is tough to find vets that will work on geese, and especially in these covid times, where you can't even go into the vet office with your pet for the exam. I sort of assumed that any worms or suspicion of them would have come up on the exam, but no mention, so I'm going to ask her. His symptoms did come on quite suddenly. A fecal test was my other thought to rule out worms. I would definitely be nervous to give him any de-wormer in such a compromised state especially if there's already possible liver issues I have had to syringe medication into him in the past (after surgery for wing amputation) so it's not too complicated, and now that we've ruled out a blockage I think it's probably ok to squeeze a bit of food down there. I did have one tiny glimmer of hope last night when he ate some watermelon that I got him in a last ditch effort with his favorite treat.

You can also try mixing his feed with water to make a soupy mash which will encourage him to at least play with it, if he’s feeling well enough to play with it he has a good chance of eating it.

 

[HorsechickCC]

You can also try mixing his feed with water to make a soupy mash which will encourage him to at least play with it, if he’s feeling well enough to play with it he has a good chance of eating it.

Thanks Goosebaby, I did try that and he plays in it a little bit. I'll keep that out for him.

 

[Goosebaby]

I’ve been thinking about the wormer, @Percheron chick is right to suggest it, and even though there’s a risk you have to treat the source of an illness or it won’t improve.
On the other hand treating for worms with a liver problem is very dangerous, you won’t have much of a choice if that is the problem, but maybe if you can test him for worms to see if that’s the issue first rather than treat unesesarily.