My guinea might not walk again. (this might just be a vent)

[Nyxish]

A couple weeks...er...months? ago i posted that the neighbor's dog got one of my guineas. Her wound is totally healed, but the underside of her leg is really still swollen... to the point it's pushing her formerly wounded leg completely out of place. she can't walk well because of it, tho she's trying her damnedest - she does little backwards circles (which would be really funny if it wasn't so ...sad)


right now i have her in the cat carrier out with the rest of the birds for the first time (while i wash and bleach everything she normally touches. (ugh!!) The other 2 Guineas are very interested in her - they seem to have enough braincells to recognize there if another GF in the strange grey box - but i can't tell if they are being flock-friendly or trying to pick on her.

i'm thinking i might build a small poultry tractor/mini run for her, since i ...don't know if she would be ok with the flock. But she's miserable and lonely (ok, and disgustingly dirty) in the house and i ... really... kinda need my bathroom. i ...hope maybe the swelling will go down enough that she will be able to hobble around. There's not much more i can do for her in here.

i donno. Mostly i'm just really sad. i really wanted her to b ok, and she so clearly seems to want to live, so i can't just give up on her. Ok, i could, but... i'm too much of a sucker to give up in her. i just feel badly for her.

 

[crtrlovr]

are you certain there's not an abscess in there? After this length of time, it doesn't sound like it should still be that swollen. It really sounds like something is still going on... If you can't or choose not to take it to a vet, I'd go to a farm supply place and get some antibiotic and give it to the GF or 10 days or so.

 

[robin416]

I agree, sounds like there is infection in there. Any chance at all of putting a pic up?

The leg may require opening to let the infection out, then a course of injectable antibiotics. Probably PennG. If that's what it is, she can make a full recovery and lose her awkward gate.

 

[Nyxish]

We just got back from the vet - i'm totally That Person who takes her poultry to the vet. They even know me (and her) by name.


She was on 2 weeks of antibiotics for the wound itself (Skye - the dog in question - split Penny's leg open from hip ish to ankle ish, but didn't actually rip a lot of muscle. Aside from a few very small puncture wounds, she was very lucky, all things considered). She's even had x-rays (the vet was worried the swelling might be herniated organs, which seems not to be the case.) The vet thinks it may be swelling and scar tissue, but he is loathe to open it up because how how easily birds get infections - and considering how filthy she is, like a bird is, i can't totally blame him. She seems to have a sinus infection now (her poor nose is all plugged) which will mean another round of general medication, but she's feisty, moving, alert, and pissy as all hell. She now seems to *expect* that i will come down to feed her and hold her steady (a hand under her keelbone while i kneel on the bathroom floor in some modified child's pose kinda situation) while she eats.

(What? My birds? Spoiled? No, never. Never!)

Now, granted, my vet will be the first to admit he's never treated poultry before, much less a guinea fowl. He's not a farmyard vet. i just have no idea even where i would go to even get a 2nd opinion. (Anyone in the southern tier of NY and have a vet suggestion?)

 

[robin416]

Nothing wrong with taking one of your birds to the vet. They are a living, feeling being and if a medical professional can help and you have one willing to try then do it.

The problem with most vets is that the time they spent on birds and their health was about a nano second. The focus of all their training involves four legged beasts so the birds are left out of the mix. Even if you find an Avian vet, our birds are very different from cage birds.

When I take one in, I go with as much information as I can provide, including medical treatment. It gives them a base line to work from.

Now that I've said those things I'm questioning the diagnosis. If there was so little outward physical damage where does he/she get that its scar tissue? That doesn't jibe with what we know at this point. Its not uncommon to have to do a push in a certain direction when dealing with the unknown with these guys.

You did not mention the antibiotics the bird was on in the past, they could have been the wrong ones. Yes, again a vet is taking a stab in the dark with our birds even when it comes to medications. If she appears to have a URI then I still strongly suspect an absess and that it has now gone systemic.

Oral antibiotics for this type of thing is not first choice, injectable will be so much more effective. Please post a pic.

 

[cracking up]

I agree with robin. I took a turtle to an avian and reptile vet and he didn't even realize that you can't just give antibiotics - their abcess is chunky and it has to be dug out. I finally took it to turtle people who fixed it after hundreds of dollars spent on a vet. Chickens have chunky abscesses too. If that's what it is it needs to be cut open, dug out and disinfected. There are probably web sites that give detailed instructions. Good luck with it.

 

[Nyxish]

An update on Penny (her name is Pretty Penny, because that's what she costs me!):

i took her to a new vet yesterday, one who specializes in exotics and birds and they at least knew what a GF was. He sampled and drained the swelling under her leg - it was about a cup of fluid...wow! poor bird - it was pretty gross but mostly just old blood and fluid, and while there was a higher then normal/good white blood cell count there wasn't really any pus and no real sign of serious infection...it just seems to be fluid. So that is good, at least somewhat. She's currently on another round of oral antibiotics, just in case.

Let me tell you, i think that poor bird hates me in ways new to non-raptor avian kind. (i worked a t zoo once, and am pretty sure the great horned owl has cursed me and all of my bloodline to infinity in horrible ways - and everyone else she saw, too.)

However, with all the swelling gone, she wasn't able to walk any better, tho i am trying to convince myself it at least must...feel a little better for her. He says that while it's possible her hip may improve somewhat, chances are it just healed wrong and she really will never walk property. Currently, she kinda crab-walks/flaps/flings herself in a general direction, and can't actually Stand on her 2 feet without her chest or belly on the ground. She can move at a decent pace when she wants to get the h*ll away from me, tho she'd never be able to get out of the way of a hawk. If i am there to watch over and let her out with the other birds, 2 out of 3 times the flock...mostly... leaves her alone if she is out with them (which is of course what she wants) otherwise i am swatting little fluffy feathered toockuses away from her and standing guard over here, which oddly enough she does not appreciate.
We just moved her out to the coop - modified half of the nesting box space into a little apartment for her with a hardware cloth divider so she can see and be near the rest of the birds, but they can't hurt her. The last 2 days i let them out to range around the woods and yard, i barricade her in the as yet unfinished run, and spread seed and scratch outside it so at least she feels like they are all near.




i just... i feel so badly for her. She very much wants to live and be part of the flock. she is aware and alert and willing to take on just about anything and anyone in order to keep herself alive - including Luke or Pipkin, my other guineas. (she's kind of a raging bi*ch, honestly... tho i can't in any way blame her) i really wanted them to tell me she would walk again.


i think we'll build her a tractor so when i take her out she can enjoy the lawn and fresh air and still be safe. i just feel so sad for her. i have to wonder if this is a good enough quality of life for her. i just don't know. i'm just sad.

 

[robin416]

So its been two weeks plus since you posted about her original problem and she's just gone to the vet who sounds like they dealt with it properly.

Now the thing for you to do is relax, after this long having parts and pieces being constricted by fluid its going to take her a while to get her feet under her.