Please Help Quickly!

LilBitCuckoo

In the Brooder
Mar 18, 2015
14
1
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My 4 week old Polish chick was attacked by a cat 2 days ago. There were small open wounds to the chick's neck. Since the injury I have kept her isolated to allow her to recover. I have been medicating her with tetracycline in the water, cleaning the wound with antiseptic and putting on triple antibiotic (without benzocaine). I am keeping her "sick cage" very clean. The first night she just rested a lot, but perked up by yesterday morning and her wound had scabbed over. By last evening it seemed her injury was healing very nicely. She has been eating and drinking normally the entire time. However, this morning she is making strange neck movements. Her head and neck slowly move to the right, much like an oscillating fan. Then she jerks it back to normal position. It immediately moves back to the right and she jerks it back again. This is going on constantly. *Edit: She is also moving her head and neck to the left in the same manner.* She has also started walking in circles counterclockwise. It makes me think she is dizzy. She is still eating. Could she have developed some sort of inner ear infection so quickly after the injury even though on antibiotics, or could this be a nerve injury? Do I even have her on the correct antibiotic?I know cat bites can cause serious problems. It was my own cat and it is up to date on all vaccinations. Someone please help. I am afraid she will go downhill quickly.
 
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My 4 week old Polish chick was attacked by a cat 2 days ago. There were small open wounds to the chick's neck. Since the injury I have kept her isolated to allow her to recover. I have been medicating her with tetracycline in the water, cleaning the wound with antiseptic and putting on triple antibiotic (without benzocaine). I am keeping her "sick cage" very clean. The first night she just rested a lot, but perked up by yesterday morning and her wound had scabbed over. By last evening it seemed her injury was healing very nicely. She has been eating and drinking normally the entire time. However, this morning she is making strange neck movements. Her head and neck slowly move to the right, much like an oscillating fan. Then she jerks it back to normal position. It immediately moves back to the right and she jerks it back again. This is going on constantly. *Edit: She is also moving her head and neck to the left in the same manner.* She has also started walking in circles counterclockwise. It makes me think she is dizzy. She is still eating. Could she have developed some sort of inner ear infection so quickly after the injury even though on antibiotics, or could this be a nerve injury? Do I even have her on the correct antibiotic?I know cat bites can cause serious problems. It was my own cat and it is up to date on all vaccinations. Someone please help. I am afraid she will go downhill quickly.


Some things only a veterinarian can help with. But the cost... I don't think it is nerve damage since it did not start right away. I think tetracycline is for intestinal infections, but I am not sure. You can find this information on the net. Is it possible that the wounds/scabs are the cause of this odd head movement? hey might be irritating the skin. Cat bites, even with shots, carry a lot of bacteria. If you can take her to a vet.
 
Sorry to not know anything about this kind of injury, but I do know that tetracycline hydrochloride seems to be helpful for an array of ailments. It's packaged as useful in treating respiratory infections, and was recommened to me when I was trying to prevent infection in my injured chicken last year. She recovered very well, and didn't seem to have trouble with infection.

Dunno at all about the strange head movements, but glad she is eating. Hopefully somone will know more.
: )
 
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Sentry AV Ornacycline Tetracycline For Birds 8pk - PetGuys.com
Sentry AV Ornacycline Tetracycline For Birds 8pk - Ornacycline is a tetracycline for birds that aids in the treatment of respiratory and intestinal bacterial.
Treatment will include using Tetracycline to treat birds. The antibiotic can be given intravenously, orally or mixed with food. Calcium must be withheld since it binds.
Tetracycline-based bird antibiotic treats avian intestinal ailments and Ornacyn-resistant respiratory problems. Safe for parakeets, conures, cockatiels, or parrots.
Sentry AV Ornacycline Official FDA information, side effects and uses.


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This product must not be used in laying birds and in lactating dairy cattle. Description. Tetracycline HCl is an antibiotic similar to oxytetracycline and chlortetracycline.
Tetracycline 1000 (Canada) Veterinary Information from Drugs.com

You may need a different antibiotic. The possible infection you are dealing with is not respiratory or intestinal. Good luck. I hope your bird begins to thrive,

Mardel ornacycline tetracycline for birds 8pk in Bird Supplies.
Ailing birds - For small birds (i.e. canary) use one packet per eight ounces of. TETRACYCLINE HYDROCHLORIDE (TETRACYCLINE) TETRACYCLINE HYDROCHLORIDE: 250 mg in 0.6 g
If you have to treat birds, doxycycline, a fifth generation tetracycline, is the drug of choice. Doxycycline or tetracycline derivatives may be.
Ornacycline: Tetracycline Bird Antibiotic in Easy-to-Use Powder Form
 
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Caught-by-cat flesh wounds

Cat bites may range from tiny puncture wounds to lacerations. The muscle underneath a puncture wound may be lacerated due to the action of the teeth in immobile muscle (relative to the skin). Many wounds cannot be detected with the naked eye and the need for antibiotics may not be recognised in cases where there is no evidence of a puncture wound or scratch [18]. Septicaemia is a common sequel to a cat bite, while other routes of infection have also been suggested. Birds may ingest organisms from cat saliva-coated feathers during preening leading to gastrointestinal disease and septicaemia [18]. Cats carry Pasteurella multocida on their gingival tissue and teeth and antibiotics are therefore always indicated in any bird attacked by a cat [19], [20]. In addition to Pasteurella spp, a mixed aerobic/anaerobic population has been recovered from the majority of cat bite wounds [18]. Selecting the right antibiotic (or antibiotic combination) is therefore of vital importance. Penicillins have been cited as the antibiotic of choice due to their efficacy against P. multocida [20] and their broad spectrum of action. Fluoroquinolones, such as the much-favoured enrofloxacin (Baytril) should not be used on their own as they lack action against anaerobes and provide incomplete coverage against Streptococci spp. For infected bites clavulanate-amoxycillin or combination therapy with penicillin, or clindamycin, and a fluoroquinolone is recommended. Ideally culture and sensitivity testing should be performed, but this will often be impossible for time and cost reasons.

Bite wounds should be aggressively cleaned and flushed with saline or 0.05% chlorhexidine [20]. Flushing may need to be repeated. Puncture wounds can be left open to drain but lacerations should be dressed to protect the underlying tissues. Some puncture wounds may need to be opened up to facilitate access to the underlying traumatised tissues.

Where the pectoral muscles have been lacerated, aggressive cleaning and debridement is indicated under general anaesthesia. Torn, necrotic muscle should be removed and the wound packed with a hydrogel. A hydrocolloid dressing (eg Duoderm Extra Thin) can be applied over the wounds to provide additional protection. The wounds should be reassessed after 24 to 48 hours and a decision made as to whether wound closure is appropriate (Figure 15 to Figure 18).
 
It sounds like you're doing exactly the right thing with cleaning the wounds, considering how bacteria-ridden cat's mouths are. I feel like the head and neck movements are most likely not nerve damage, considering they weren't there from the beginning. If it is an inner ear problem, it may be fluid leakage, that is the only thing I can think of that wouldn't affect her immediately after the attack. Unfortunately I don't have much advice. Hopefully somebody more experienced can help you.
 
hi everyone. I wanted to post an update because all too often we wonder whatever happened to someone's sick or injured chick. My young Polish girl has made a full recovery! For about 3 days she exhibited the odd neck movements. From doing much research, I learned that there are different types of wry neck, those caused by injury and those caused by nutritional deficiency. This is clearly what she had although it was due to injury and not vitamin deficiency. Her wry neck was caused by swelling and possibly nerve damage in the area where she was injured. I put her on antibiotics to ward off any infection caused by the cat bite. I kept her wound clean and covered with antibiotic ointment. She got higher protein feed, yogurt and eggs as well. After about 3 days they swelling in her neck had gone down such that the wry neck disappeared entirely. She never stopped eating or drinking or being active. Looking at her now you would never know anything happened it all. Thank you all for your help! She is now happily back with her flock mates for the past several days :)
 

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