Is this gout?

[PearlTheDuck]

This is my chicken Vanilla’s feet, after a long while of doing research I’m thinking it’s gout, can anyone confirm that or is it something else? She’s almost 2 years old. There’s also a few small sores on the top of her feet, noting at all on the bottoms.

 

[azygous]

It does appear at first glance that it may be gout The right leg looks very swollen, too, though I can't see very much of it. If this hen has genetic kidney problems, it might account for this showing up in one so young. If it is gout and it's genetic, there isn't much you can do about it.

If it's gout from dietary excesses or from excessive use of antibiotics or electrolytes, you can try to increase her water consumption to try to flush the urate crystals. Besides water, offer plenty of "treats" that are high in water content such as raw carrots, raw squash, and melons.

If it's gout, it's painful. That's another way to diagnose it. If she prefers to sit and preen all day instead of ranging and scratching in the dirt, and if she pecks at her feet or holds one up under her belly and then the other, it means she's experiencing pain. Aspirin may help alleviate some of the pain.

It may not be gout, though. There's viral arthritis, and infection that could be behind this swelling. It's impossible to diagnose from a photo, though. An avian vet would be advisable if you have access to one and have the financial means.

 

[PearlTheDuck]

It does appear at first glance that it may be gout The right leg looks very swollen, too, though I can't see very much of it. If this hen has genetic kidney problems, it might account for this showing up in one so young. If it is gout and it's genetic, there isn't much you can do about it.

If it's gout from dietary excesses or from excessive use of antibiotics or electrolytes, you can try to increase her water consumption to try to flush the urate crystals. Besides water, offer plenty of "treats" that are high in water content such as raw carrots, raw squash, and melons.

If it's gout, it's painful. That's another way to diagnose it. If she prefers to sit and preen all day instead of ranging and scratching in the dirt, and if she pecks at her feet or holds one up under her belly and then the other, it means she's experiencing pain. Aspirin may help alleviate some of the pain.

It may not be gout, though. There's viral arthritis, and infection that could be behind this swelling. It's impossible to diagnose from a photo, though. An avian vet would be advisable if you have access to one and have the financial means.

Yeah the right foot is swollen as well, both feet look the same. She does stay in the coop a lot and she pecks at her feet unfortunately I don’t have a vet near me, the closest is 3 hours away and I can’t afford it anyways. If it’s an infection or viral arthritis what could I do to treat those? Do you have any ideas on why she has small sores on the tops and sides of her feet? That’s the only thing that’s keeping me from thinking it’s absolutely gout

 

[azygous]

The swelling in her joints makes walking difficult because the toes won't bend, and that can cause blisters that turn into sores. So the sores do accompany gout. Trimming her toe nails can help make walking more comfortable. Be careful to trim slowly and watch for the "dot" signalling the quick is approaching.

Without a diagnosis, it would do more harm than good to try to treat for anything else. But you could possibly make her more comfortable with Epsom salt warm water soaks several times a week. Try getting more water into her, too. Since she's young, it's possible the urate crystals can be flushed. Even partial success would give her relief.

 

[PearlTheDuck]

The swelling in her joints makes walking difficult because the toes won't bend, and that can cause blisters that turn into sores. So the sores do accompany gout. Trimming her toe nails can help make walking more comfortable. Be careful to trim slowly and watch for the "dot" signalling the quick is approaching.

Without a diagnosis, it would do more harm than good to try to treat for anything else. But you could possibly make her more comfortable with Epsom salt warm water soaks several times a week. Try getting more water into her, too. Since she's young, it's possible the urate crystals can be flushed. Even partial success would give her relief.

Ok thank you so so much. I noticed her nails and ordered a nail trimmer yesterday. I’ve been doing epsom salt soaks for her the past few days and I’ll continue doing that.

 

[Eggcessive]

Can you get more pictures of her entire legs? The ones of her feet do llok like those with articular gout, but bacterial or viral synovitis could be possible if her leg joints are also swollen. Mycoplasma synovitis is a common bacterial-like illness that is very hard to treat. Tylan is one drug commonly used, and tetracycline drugs may also be used. You might want to get her checked by a vet.

 

[azygous]

Having additional treatment options is good, however, it's usually best to treat for one thing at a time. It also can help with a diagnosis by treating for a specific condition, and if that produces no improvement, it can help rule out that condition. Then you can target the next likely condition and try treating for that one.

Since you are not likely seeing an immediate life threatening condition, I would take it one possibility at a time, beginning with what seems most likely, which to my observation would be gout.

In cases where my patient is losing ground fast, I will throw an antibiotic at it first off, hoping to pull her back from the brink. But in this case, I would move on to an antibiotic if/when treatments for gout fail.

 

[PearlTheDuck]

Can you get more pictures of her entire legs? The ones of her feet do llok like those with articular gout, but bacterial or viral synovitis could be possible if her leg joints are also swollen. Mycoplasma synovitis is a common bacterial-like illness that is very hard to treat. Tylan is one drug commonly used, and tetracycline drugs may also be used. You might want to get her checked by a vet.

I will try to get some pictures tomorrow. Unfortunately going to the vet is not an option

 

[PearlTheDuck]

So turns out there was a vet 35 minutes away and I didn’t know, we just got home from the vet and its very bad news, she will have to be put down. The vet says she got cut somewhere on her feet and it got very infected, so that’s why her feet are so swollen and she has these sores with pus, and it’s very painful. It would be a couple hundred dollars just to do an X-ray to see if the infection is in her bones, and we could pay all that and find out it’s in her bones and we can’t do anything, or we could do all that and then she’d have to be put under anesthesia and have surgery done to remove all the infection and be on antibiotics (soaking and orally) which who knows how much that’d be. It’s just not affordable. I’m absolutely devastated. I’m thankful for the 2 years we got to spend with her, she hatched 3 babies and was a wonderful mother, and she’s always layed the best eggs for us. I will miss her so so much. I put my heart and everything I can into everything I do for my birds so it really feels like a punch to the gut when they get sick and you can’t really do anything, and i try so hard to prevent them from getting sick or hurt.