Methotrexate use in poultry for Mareks..........?

[chickenzoo]

I have a Bantam mille hen about 6 months old. Two months ago she started showing Marek type symptoms with her right leg. I used some Predisone which helped for a day but then she got worse...was unable to stand...etc...typical Mareks stance..... I really fell in love with her of course.....so Hubby suggested I try some of his Methotrexate he no longer used. They used in place of steroids and it is also used as a cancer med. I figured it was worth a shot... I broke one pill into 4 pieces and gave her 1 piece every other day.....waited a week then gave another round....all the while expecting her to die. Somehow she started.to get use of the leg....then walked....now she acts totally normal. I thought it might be short lived...and perhaps it still may..but she is still good after a month. A younger cochin near her developed it also about a week after she showed signs...I did not give him it on the same regionmend and I had to put him down. Another chick started showing leg trouble and I started them on it and it has better use of the leg and walks. I don't know what it does...or if it is truly helping...but it would be nice if it is looked into and see if it can help birds with those symptoms....

 

[Suzie]

That is amazing!

I used to have Methotrexate and Prednisone for my Rheumatoid Arthritis....!

I am now having TNF blockers ( injections ) and a drug by the name of Arava... now I am interested in whether or not Prednisone or Arava could be of some help to any of mine that may be debilitated through pain ( which may be rheumatic ) ... I too may still have some Methotrexate .... going to look now through my "indoor Pharmacy".... I think I have more drugs here than a human being can consume in a lifetime....!

Thanks!

This has given me food for thought....

 

[casportpony]

Very interesting... I just looked it up in my Vet drug handbook and it used in cats and dogs. I'll take pictures of the pages and post them later.

 

[Haunted55]

Chickenzoo I was told about this thread yesterday and I hope you will keep it up to date!

After reading it, I did a little research into what this drug is and how it works. It's a vitamin B blocker and the way it works is it starves the rapid growing cells of this vitamin which they need to replicate. You probably already knew this, I didn't. So far I haven't been able to find something natural that would do the same thing. This drug was an accidental find from what I was told by someone in the business. Off the top of their head they couldn't think of anything that would do the same as the drug and my searches haven't found anything either.

 

[chickenzoo]

She is still with me although she has repressed some after not having the medicine since I last posted. She only got a few treatments.....then I had no more to give her....but it had seemed to really help her as before she just sat and could not rise or control the one leg.

 

[chickenzoo]

Suzie. ..I have used Predisone on many birds either to help respiratory illness.like fowl pox type symptoms or to help reduce inflammation. Have used banimine for horses also for pain...inflammation....

 

[Haunted55]

That is good news Chickenzoo. I wonder if the same thing can be found from a Vet as Casport was saying before.

 

[ten chicks]

Interesting that someone has tried Prednisone. I have been curious as to how a steroid type drug would work on Mareks. Prednisone is a immunosuppressant drug,supresses the immune system and inflammation is a corticosteroid. Interestingly enough Prednisone is used to treat among other things Hodgkins lymphoma, acute lymphoblastic leukemia. This in interesting because Mareks is a lymphomatous and neuropathic disease. It also used as a antitumor drug for certain cancers. Used to treat some infammatory diseases like Crohn's Disease(family member has crohns,that is how i know about prednisone).

Methotrexate is used for basically the same thing as Prednisone,but Methotrexate you can stop taking anytime,Prednisone you have to been weaned off.

 

[Haunted55]

Interesting that someone has tried Prednisone. I have been curious as to how a steroid type drug would work on Mareks. Prednisone is a immunosuppressant drug,supresses the immune system and inflammation is a corticosteroid. Interestingly enough Prednisone is used to treat among other things Hodgkins lymphoma, acute lymphoblastic leukemia. This in interesting because Mareks is a lymphomatous and neuropathic disease. It also used as a antitumor drug for certain cancers. Used to treat some infammatory diseases like Crohn's Disease(family member has crohns,that is how i know about prednisone).

Methotrexate is used for basically the same thing as Prednisone,but Methotrexate you can stop taking anytime,Prednisone you have to been weaned off.

Good information Ten Chicks. I know there are foods that have naturally occuring steroidal properties. Somewhere here I have a list and I'll post when I find it. I'm thinking though, that any of this would have to be done with the parent stock as well as the chicks from hatch to have the benefit of the tumor suppression.