Pullet with bulging eye and blindness w/pics UPDATE....am I making the right decision??

[LCEchickens]

I have a 14 week old BO that has a swollen, bulging eye. Since I got her at the age of 6 weeks, I noticed her eyesight was poor. She has no depth perception and I believe she is blind in the right eye. She would hold it closed or half closed frequently. At first I thought she has scratched the eye so I flushed it and applied antibiotic cream. She stopped squinting as much, but her eyesight is still off. The right eye is seems to be pushing out some. There is no discharge of any kind. The eye itself looks normal except that the pupil is large and doesn't constrict as much as the other eye. She seems normal in every other way. She eats, drinks and poops. Doesn't seem to be in pain. She is a little underweight, but I have been supplementing her with extra food to make sure she is getting enough. I am wondering if she has a tumor behind that eye that is pushing on the eye and affecting her vision. I have become quite attached to little Maggie. Any thoughts or ideas would be so appreciated!! Thank you!

 

[LCEchickens]

Has anyone experienced this before? Just wondering what the outcome was and if there is anything I can do for Maggie...

 

[chickmama1662]

Hi, I have a young chick with similar problems. He sits around with his eye shut most of the time. Today it was swollen and looked like it was bulging. I had some teremycin eye ointment that I had been treating his eye with once a day but it wasn't helping. Today after work, I took him to the vet. Dr. said that he had an infection in his eye (the teremycin should have been helping but my chick apparently has a resistance to it). Dr. gave chick a baytril injection and some neo/polymyx.B/Dex drops. One drop in eye morning and night for 5 days. Dr. said it did not appear that his eye was damaged and that he should recover fully. I'm not sure how much of this is exactly like yours, but thought I would pass on the information. I hope your chick gets better.

 

[LCEchickens]

Thank you for the reply! I have been debating whether or not I should take her to the vet. It just didn't look like any eye infection I had ever seen, but maybe that's what it is. I have a vet that is also a chicken owner, I think I will give her a call later today. Thank you again and I hope your chick is doing better!

 

[LCEchickens]

I took Maggie to the vet last Thursday and she suspected an infection so we started her on drops and oral antibiotics. As of today, the eye is significantly worse. There is so much swelling that the eyeball has been completely pushed below the lower eyelid. I took her to an avian vet today and he thinks she has an abcess behind her eye and the infection has spread to her jaw bone. The only chance of saving her is surgery and even that is iffy. I have worked with animals my whole life and I know how hard it is to recover from something like this. I've decided to euthanize Maggie tomorrow. It's so hard because she has such high spirits...eating, drinking, dust bathing with her EE buddy. I wish I hadn't gotten so attached, but it was impossible! She is such a sweetie! I just hope I am making the right decision....I didn't take any pictures, but trust me when I say it looks awful. Thanks for reading