Sorry for the delay here folks. I thought I'd update on my rooster, in case this information ever helps anyone.
This rooster was vaccinated as a chick with the HVT vaccine, both at hatch and a second time at approximately 3 weeks old. He was not brought onto my property (where there is no doubt some lingering virus) until he was about 3 months old.
Timeline:
Jan 13th - Slight limp noticed. Suspected injury or maybe twisted blood feather in foot (he's a cochin).
Jan 17th- Severe limp; bird did not want to put any weight at all on the bad leg. Scheduled a vet appointment.
Jan 20th - Seen by vet, various x-rays taken and the bird's history was discussed. Due to history and lack of other signs, we treated for a soft tissue injury with a 7-day course of Metacam (anti-inflammatory and painkiller).
Jan 28th - Went from limping to suddenly having no use of either leg to bear weight upon. Suspected Marek's at this point, and scheduled a vet appointment to run tests or even possibly put him down as I suspected he would degrade.
Jan 31st - Visited the vet. Various blood tests were run, and a PCR test was sent away for Marek's detection (though I can almost guarantee that it will be positive as even if he is not suffering from Marek's, he has likely been exposed). We were given more Metacam and a 10 day course of antibiotics (Trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole) just in case he has an infection that is causing swelling and paralysis (see white blood cell count below). We were given this stronger antibiotic because he's a roo and we don't have to worry about him laying eggs.. and we are not going to eat him. This medication is NOT RECOMMENDED for use in animals to be used for food (including egg laying hens).
Today (Feb 10th) - No degradation in health; he continues to eat with vigor, his droppings are as healthy as any I've ever seen, his comb and wattles are a healthy color (and growing), he continues to gain weight as one would expect for a "teenage" rooster, he has started to crow, attempts to do all normal chicken activities such as preening, "dust bathing" in a towel, is chatty, alert, happy. He can raise himself up onto his hocks (ankles) but can not straighten the ankle joints. If I didn't get him blood tested, I'd almost think that he didn't have Marek's. But, the blood test really suggest that he does. I will explain them below.
His health has remained unchanged since the day he demonstrated paralysis (Jan 28th). He has neither gotten better nor gotten worse. It will be two weeks tomorrow since he started demonstrating paralysis. I was expecting some degradation of health by now; be it a loss of appetite or digestive problems or signs of organ failure. So far none of these things have happened.
Steps I am taking:
- Continuing his medication, as might be obvious, for the full course.
- Continuing to feed him high quality feed (that has vitamin supplements in it). I have been adding additional supplements of water soluble vitamins in case they can help, such as B-12 complex. I am trying nutritional yeast as well, which works out because he loves to eat it. I'm offering small amounts of cold pressed coconut oil too, as it may or may not be helpful for neurological problems. It can't hurt at this point.
- Varying the surfaces he sits on, from soft towels on the flat floor, to the arm of a chair (he can still 'roost' and likes to sit this way, and can hold his balance) to putting him in a sling so that he can get off his legs. We gently work his legs, too, just in case it helps him. It does not seem to cause him any distress.
Here is a scan of his bloodwork, as taken on Jan 31st.
Explanations:
PCV - This stands for Packed Cell Volume, and normals for birds are 35%-55%, so this number is good.
TS - I forget what this stands for, forgive me, but this number is normal.
RBC - His polychromasia is listed as slight, which is normal.
WBC - This stands for White Blood Cells. This is where things get hairy. His Lymphocytes are high (the highest you'd expect to see in a normal, healthy bird is 50%). His blood contains Reactive Lymphocytes, which means that they are actively fighting a disease. A few reactive lymphs are normal in any blood smear but his were elevated and this means his body is responding to some sort of disease. He also has lymphoblasts (blast lymphs), which are a normal part of a bird's immune system, but normally are not found in quantity in the blood stream. Their presence in the blood are often seen with cancerous lymphomas.
Smudge Cells - Smudge cells are broken cells that are not distinct. Large numbers of them, such as indicated here (Severe) indicate that the cells have probably been damaged by cancer; this is really simplifying this but when combined with the other test results is suggestive again of lymphoma.
TWBC - Total White Blood Cell count-- this is a bad number. Normals for birds are generally 5,000 - 15,000. My rooster scored 51,852 ... very high. Something is very wrong in his body and his immune system is going nuts.
Blood Chemistry- His blood chemistry is good, and indicates nothing like anemia, obvious deficiencies, etc. The only number that is high is the CK count (forgive me as I do not know the normals for this). CK count is Creatine Phosphokinase and high numbers for this usually indicate muscle damage, which may be from him bumbling around due to paralysis, or perhaps he is having muscle damage to his legs; it is hard to know.
One of the other results was mentioned by the vet as being suggestive of possible nerve damage, though I regret that I've forgotten exactly what she said (it was all a lot to take in at the time, as I had some other things going on as well).
Again I do not know how helpful this would be to anyone else, but just in case it is, I wanted to share it. I am not a vet nor do I have anything other than the most basic knowledge of hematology, so if my interpretations or memory of any of this seems wrong to you please let me know. I'm just a lay person trying to figure this all out rationally.
I will let you all know of any changes. We really want to try and save this rooster as he's more like the family dog than 'just a chicken' but I am also being realistic in knowing that if he has the Marek's Lymphomas, his time is limited with us....
Further reading on hematology in avians in case anyone wants it:
http://www.oldworldaviaries.com/text/miscellaneous/blood_count.html
http://www.parrottalk.com/cbc.html
This rooster was vaccinated as a chick with the HVT vaccine, both at hatch and a second time at approximately 3 weeks old. He was not brought onto my property (where there is no doubt some lingering virus) until he was about 3 months old.
Timeline:
Jan 13th - Slight limp noticed. Suspected injury or maybe twisted blood feather in foot (he's a cochin).
Jan 17th- Severe limp; bird did not want to put any weight at all on the bad leg. Scheduled a vet appointment.
Jan 20th - Seen by vet, various x-rays taken and the bird's history was discussed. Due to history and lack of other signs, we treated for a soft tissue injury with a 7-day course of Metacam (anti-inflammatory and painkiller).
Jan 28th - Went from limping to suddenly having no use of either leg to bear weight upon. Suspected Marek's at this point, and scheduled a vet appointment to run tests or even possibly put him down as I suspected he would degrade.
Jan 31st - Visited the vet. Various blood tests were run, and a PCR test was sent away for Marek's detection (though I can almost guarantee that it will be positive as even if he is not suffering from Marek's, he has likely been exposed). We were given more Metacam and a 10 day course of antibiotics (Trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole) just in case he has an infection that is causing swelling and paralysis (see white blood cell count below). We were given this stronger antibiotic because he's a roo and we don't have to worry about him laying eggs.. and we are not going to eat him. This medication is NOT RECOMMENDED for use in animals to be used for food (including egg laying hens).
Today (Feb 10th) - No degradation in health; he continues to eat with vigor, his droppings are as healthy as any I've ever seen, his comb and wattles are a healthy color (and growing), he continues to gain weight as one would expect for a "teenage" rooster, he has started to crow, attempts to do all normal chicken activities such as preening, "dust bathing" in a towel, is chatty, alert, happy. He can raise himself up onto his hocks (ankles) but can not straighten the ankle joints. If I didn't get him blood tested, I'd almost think that he didn't have Marek's. But, the blood test really suggest that he does. I will explain them below.
His health has remained unchanged since the day he demonstrated paralysis (Jan 28th). He has neither gotten better nor gotten worse. It will be two weeks tomorrow since he started demonstrating paralysis. I was expecting some degradation of health by now; be it a loss of appetite or digestive problems or signs of organ failure. So far none of these things have happened.
Steps I am taking:
- Continuing his medication, as might be obvious, for the full course.
- Continuing to feed him high quality feed (that has vitamin supplements in it). I have been adding additional supplements of water soluble vitamins in case they can help, such as B-12 complex. I am trying nutritional yeast as well, which works out because he loves to eat it. I'm offering small amounts of cold pressed coconut oil too, as it may or may not be helpful for neurological problems. It can't hurt at this point.
- Varying the surfaces he sits on, from soft towels on the flat floor, to the arm of a chair (he can still 'roost' and likes to sit this way, and can hold his balance) to putting him in a sling so that he can get off his legs. We gently work his legs, too, just in case it helps him. It does not seem to cause him any distress.
Here is a scan of his bloodwork, as taken on Jan 31st.
Explanations:
PCV - This stands for Packed Cell Volume, and normals for birds are 35%-55%, so this number is good.
TS - I forget what this stands for, forgive me, but this number is normal.
RBC - His polychromasia is listed as slight, which is normal.
WBC - This stands for White Blood Cells. This is where things get hairy. His Lymphocytes are high (the highest you'd expect to see in a normal, healthy bird is 50%). His blood contains Reactive Lymphocytes, which means that they are actively fighting a disease. A few reactive lymphs are normal in any blood smear but his were elevated and this means his body is responding to some sort of disease. He also has lymphoblasts (blast lymphs), which are a normal part of a bird's immune system, but normally are not found in quantity in the blood stream. Their presence in the blood are often seen with cancerous lymphomas.
Smudge Cells - Smudge cells are broken cells that are not distinct. Large numbers of them, such as indicated here (Severe) indicate that the cells have probably been damaged by cancer; this is really simplifying this but when combined with the other test results is suggestive again of lymphoma.
TWBC - Total White Blood Cell count-- this is a bad number. Normals for birds are generally 5,000 - 15,000. My rooster scored 51,852 ... very high. Something is very wrong in his body and his immune system is going nuts.
Blood Chemistry- His blood chemistry is good, and indicates nothing like anemia, obvious deficiencies, etc. The only number that is high is the CK count (forgive me as I do not know the normals for this). CK count is Creatine Phosphokinase and high numbers for this usually indicate muscle damage, which may be from him bumbling around due to paralysis, or perhaps he is having muscle damage to his legs; it is hard to know.
One of the other results was mentioned by the vet as being suggestive of possible nerve damage, though I regret that I've forgotten exactly what she said (it was all a lot to take in at the time, as I had some other things going on as well).
Again I do not know how helpful this would be to anyone else, but just in case it is, I wanted to share it. I am not a vet nor do I have anything other than the most basic knowledge of hematology, so if my interpretations or memory of any of this seems wrong to you please let me know. I'm just a lay person trying to figure this all out rationally.
I will let you all know of any changes. We really want to try and save this rooster as he's more like the family dog than 'just a chicken' but I am also being realistic in knowing that if he has the Marek's Lymphomas, his time is limited with us....
Further reading on hematology in avians in case anyone wants it:
http://www.oldworldaviaries.com/text/miscellaneous/blood_count.html
http://www.parrottalk.com/cbc.html
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