HELP - tongue paralyzed, goose can't swallow

[Anna R]

Henry is a 20 years old gander, a wild living domestic goose. About 2 weeks ago he started having problems swallowing his food (mainly lettuce, apple and some grains). He took a tiny little bit, shook his head, and the food flew out of his beak again.

There's no vet available who really knows something about geese. The vet we took Henry to couldn't find anything unusual about Henry, x-rays and blood count are ok.

Henry still can't swallow food, he seems to be able to drink at least, just letting the water pour down his throat without swallowing. The tongue seems to be paralyzed.


- Do you know, which kind of disease causes such symptoms?
- Is there anything we can do for Henry?
- Are worms able to cause such symptoms?

Thanks a lot for any help or idea or advice!

 

[johnskoi]

.. my two guesses would be that he either got stung by something or may have had a stroke... you may want to look into tube feeding so he maintains some strength until you find an answer...

 

[Anna R]

Thanks a lot! Interesting idea, that he got stung by something, we haven't thought about that yet!

If it has been a stroke, do you know if he can recover from it and how long it may take? Is there anything special we can do for him?


edit: I forgot, yes, from now on Henry will be tube fed, until he regains some strength. Thanks!

 

[johnskoi]

honestly, i have no idea.... i hope he pulls through for you

 

[Anna R]

Thank you nevertheless!

So far Henry is doing quite well, he still can't swallow food, but seems to recover a little, enjoys bathing and his wild living friends come to visit him for many hours each day.

Tomorrow we'll have his poo examined in case he needs to get de-wormed.

 

[MySweetChickens]

Have you looked at it to see if it is swollen or has any abnormalities

 

[Anna R]

Henry's tongue could be slightly swollen, hard to tell though since it is paralyzed. His tongue is mostly blue-greyish, sometimes it has a healthier color.

Everything else about Henry seems to be okay. Ah, one more thing: he scratches quite often below the beak - perhaps his tongue is numb and feels strange, perhaps it's something else. There's no tick to be found.

Thank you for asking and sharing your thoughts!

 

[MySweetChickens]

Is a sinus infection a possibility?

 

[johnskoi]

Henry's tongue could be slightly swollen, hard to tell though since it is paralyzed. His tongue is mostly blue-greyish, sometimes it has a healthier color.

Everything else about Henry seems to be okay. Ah, one more thing: he scratches quite often below the beak - perhaps his tongue is numb and feels strange, perhaps it's something else. There's no tick to be found.

Thank you for asking and sharing your thoughts!

could there possibly be something like a piece of string acting as a tourniquet?