- Thread starter
- #21
Lady Di, my going-on-fourteen Light Brahma has been struggling with a tumor on her head that appears to be causing extended bouts of wry neck, torticolis. She can't eat and drink on her own when she's like this. She goes to eat and her head involuntarily flips upside down.
So, she has been getting tube fed for the last few days, along with vitamin E and tumeric to fight wry neck. Weakness from hunger and dehydration probably have exacerbated the torticolis and prolonged it.
I have been tube feeding egg and rice cereal with Nutri-drench with sporadic tubing of water. She's been indoors at around 60F for the past couple days since it's been zero degrees. Today, she's trying out being back in the run. At one point in her recent struggle, she discovered that by propping her head against a low perch, she can keep her head straight, something that impressed me. She did it for a good stretch of time, so I think she was doing it on purpose to help her deal with the problem.
Underlying this struggle is the question of when to euthanize. When I see her standing in a hospital crate with her head and neck hanging down and her head upside down on the floor of the crate, it just tears at my heart, and I struggle between ending her struggle and not wanting to take her chance of a few more months of a very long life if there's a chance she can get through this current bout of wry neck.
So, she has been getting tube fed for the last few days, along with vitamin E and tumeric to fight wry neck. Weakness from hunger and dehydration probably have exacerbated the torticolis and prolonged it.
I have been tube feeding egg and rice cereal with Nutri-drench with sporadic tubing of water. She's been indoors at around 60F for the past couple days since it's been zero degrees. Today, she's trying out being back in the run. At one point in her recent struggle, she discovered that by propping her head against a low perch, she can keep her head straight, something that impressed me. She did it for a good stretch of time, so I think she was doing it on purpose to help her deal with the problem.
Underlying this struggle is the question of when to euthanize. When I see her standing in a hospital crate with her head and neck hanging down and her head upside down on the floor of the crate, it just tears at my heart, and I struggle between ending her struggle and not wanting to take her chance of a few more months of a very long life if there's a chance she can get through this current bout of wry neck.