Help.....Sebbie- Possible Lead Posioning?????

[chickenzoo]

Took Sebastian to the vet today because he is still unable to walk after recovering from sand impaction in his gut about 2 months ago. He still has a white color to him, not the orange beak & feet like his sister has now. He is about 5-6 months old. I have him on Flock Raiser and Avia-charge 2000. He refuses to eat any lettuce etc. but will eat some grass when i sit him out side for some sunshine, and to swim in the kiddy pool.
Vet doses not think he is anemic, but suspects possible lead poisoning even though none showed on x-ray, due to his impaction, slow recovery and atrophy in the limbs.
He could not yet find a RX that carries Cuprimine, a med given to children for possible lead poison. If any one has an ides let me know, or if you have had this problem before. I'm going to google it and see what I can find. Any other suggestions/treatment?

 

[chickenzoo]

I found some on PetDrugs.com. Put in an order................ Am I the only one who's bird ever was suspected of having lead poisoning???? i don't even know where he could have gotten it.........

 

[chickenzoo]

Anyone............................?

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

I've heard of zinc poisoning.

 

[8hipchicks]

"Highly Probable" Lead Paint Poisoning Diagnosis Today and Thought I Would Pass this Info Along....


I just got back from taking Josie-Marie (6 mo./aracauna hen/4.5 lbs) to the vet for what I thought might be an impacted crop.

Vet is not a general practice vet. She is a "poultry vet" as well as an exotic animal vet trained at Tufts Veterinary Medical. She treats backyard flocks all the time and we were their 3 chicken of the day (and it was only 10:30 am).

Josie-Marie's crop was not impacted but had lots of grit and other stuff in it and a possible "foreign body" deeper in preventing her from passing her food through and decided to do a crop wash to see if she could palpate better.

She did a "crop wash" with saline solution as best she could because the crop was so full it was distended in an odd way that made it difficult for her to really suck stuff out.

She took some samples from the fluids to check for candida and something else (I forget what) but basically it was to check to see if the stuff in her crop was fermenting.

She ran a cytology and gram stain. Both showed very low levels of yeast and a "something" bacteria (I didn't catch what she said) which means all the stuff in there was just beginning to ferment.

To nip all that in the bud and to counter any further build up, Josie-Marie has been put on 2 oral medications administered with a syringe - 2 ml. of Nystatin Oral Suspension 2x a day and 5 ml. of Enroflaxin (40 mg) 2x a day. Treatment lasts five days. She had her first doses in the office.

She decided to do an x-ray.

The x-ray taken by our vet showed 2 very small slivers or "flecks" of very bright foreign matter in her crop. She immediately suspected lead poisoning and asked if there was any possibility of Josie-Marie getting into some lead paint because chickens will eat paint flakes. I said, "Yes. We scraped our 1958 house 2 weeks ago. We were very diligent about prep and clean up and we also removed the soil around that area."

The vet was very focus on those two tiny flecks and said she thought she was "looking at the culprites, right there" and that it was "highly probable" that she had early stage lead poisoning. A very small amount is all that is needed to kill a 4-5 lb. bird and this may be what's left in her crop.

We made the decision to have 2 lead poisoning blood tests done. One was a "snap test" (done right there in the office) that provides a "reasonable level of expectation" that the lead poisoning is present while the rest of the blood work can be sent to NY for in-depth testing. We should have those results tomorrow.

The "snap test" was positive for lead poisoning and we elected to start full treatment before receiving the in-depth blood work because she told us that left untreated lead poisoning is 100% fatal in a 4-5 lb. bird. If lead poisoning is caught early enough in can be cured with daily injections of EDTA-Calcium 20 mg (I don't know the dose amount though.

Josie-Marie had her first injection this morning.

She said that lead poisoning in chickens presents itself with diarrhea and the crop really slows down which is why we thought her crop was impacted. It's very full, heavy and thick feeling - but not impacted. They are droopy and look like they just feel lousy. If not caught early enough they begin to stop eating and drinking.

Lead poisoning in a chicken is not cumulative - all they need is to eat a small amount and that's that.

She is to be monitored by being kept separate from the rest of the girls. They can have some fresh air and playtime together to keep her spirits up. She can eat whatever she wants.

If the in-depth blood test also comes back positive she will go daily for 3-4 days for EDTA-calcium injections.

I had been taking pics of Josie-Marie's poops when she did them and I brought printouts of them. I felt a little stupid but the vet was surprised but said that she wished other people did that because it is "vital" help to see what has been happening.

I know alot of people on this board are very experienced and clever about finding over the counter solutions for things the vets use so I hope this info helps other people if this happens to them.

Pam