Sick feral chick pooped out a long white worm

[Olivia or Oliver]

Rescued feral chick diagnosed with Avian Pox and secondary eye infections has been getting worse by day.

Her breath smelled sour and her crop was mushy so I had been feeding her plain yogurt and pureed zucchini for the past 2-3 days on top of a small amount of starter feed. This seems to have cleared up, mostly.

Just now I was watching her poop and noticed that her poop was like a linked sausage, with what seemed like a piece of string holding each poop together and also hanging out from her vent. I tried to pull out the string but it cut off and the rest went back inside her vent. I went through her poop with a Q-tip and noticed that it is a thin, flat, and white worm with segments.

What kind of worm is this?

Her appetite is ravenous and she won't stop eating until she starts wheezing due to her crop being so full. We've been controlling her food intake to feed small amounts very often. It made me happy because I thought at least she is getting her nutrients. Now I'm not so sure anymore.

 

[Olivia or Oliver]

Not sure if anyone will read this but I just wanted to share some progress with our birb!
She knocked on death's door multiple times and then turned right around I am so proud of her.

 

[Olivia or Oliver]

Happy to hear! Is she still good to this day?

Yes! The last picture is her today (marked 6/14). She is eating fine, breathing fine, and pooping fine. Her dry pox lesions have mostly fallen off and her wet pox lesions have completely cleared from her throat! Also, no more eye worms. She is finally starting to open her eyes, but cannot see. When she opens her eyes, I can see the swollen nictitating membrane covering her eyes. But when I shine light into her eyes I do see some photosensitivity, so I have hope that she will be able to see when she's fully healed

 

[Olivia or Oliver]

I took her to the vet yesterday. The vet that we were seeing previously was unavailable so I had to see a different vet. He said her eyes are so swollen that she cannot even see and kept pushing euthanasia. I refused (and I understand this is a controversial opinion). I told him that I would consider euthanasia if she was in so much pain that she was quiet, listless, not eating or drinking. But right now she still gets extremely excited about food and drinks, will eagerly come to cuddle with us, respond when I call her name and very much enjoys sleeping under the heat lamp. I don't want to euthanize an animal that clearly wants to live and has the will to live. He was very unhappy with my answer.

He started changing his narrative and said that Avian Pox is very contagious and it would be irresponsible not euthanize her when it can threaten the native bird population. I responded that she is living indoors. He said transmission is still possible if a mosquito comes inside, bites, and goes outside ???? Like yes, that is technically possible, but the chances of that happening are so minuscule that it doesn't justify putting down an animal ??? I really did not appreciate how he portrayed my action as some kind of environmental terrorism when I'm just trying to save a damn chicken. He said, also even if she gets better, I can't sign off the veterinary health inspection to take her back to your state. I gritted my teeth and said, I don't care. That is not my biggest concern right now. Can you treat the tapeworm. At this point I think he gave up. We left with three 0.1ml doses of Panacur, meant to be given in 3 consecutive days.

Anyway, remember when he said her eyes are very swollen? It is partly due to the pox, but mainly because she is scratching her eye area nonstop. So I was looking into her eyes and noticed there are actually tiny little worms in her eyes. I think that's why she's been scratching it so often, because it bothers her. I wanted to take her back to the vet but didn't want to argue with that asshole again about why I should just put her down instead.... So I diluted a tiny bit of prescribed Panacur in some contact lens disinfecting solution and put it into her eyes. Wow. It's been a few hours and the difference is like night and day. She still scratches, but every so often instead of every 10~20 seconds. I'm going to try another dose in the afternoon.

Lastly, the Panacur seems to be working well for the tapeworm. We gave her the first dose last night and this morning she has pooped out at least 5 long tapeworm segments. She still has voracious appetite and will gobble up anything we give her. She still responds to her name and will will come cuddle with us. So we are hopeful. Fingers crossed.

Sorry for the rant and thanks for reading.

 

[dawg53]

Excellent job. Hopefully she hasnt lost her eyesight.

 

[Olivia or Oliver]

Good thing you didn’t listen to That terrible vet and euthanized her.

I know right, and that was when I brought her in on 5/26 (first pic). Imagine what he would have said if I brought her in on 5/31 or 6/7

Speaking of vets, @casportpony and @dawg53 were completely right about the tapeworm. That terrible vet didn't even prescribe the correct medication for the tapeworm. It did clear a lot from her intestines and she's been steadily gaining weight, but I saw another tapeworm today in her morning poop so I need to re-treat her for that.

 

[Olivia or Oliver]

I can't kill a chicken that obviously very much wants to live.. Please see video

 

[demonic]

Yes! The last picture is her today (marked 6/14). She is eating fine, breathing fine, and pooping fine. Her dry pox lesions have mostly fallen off and her wet pox lesions have completely cleared from her throat! She is finally starting to open her eyes, but cannot see. When she opens her eyes, I can see the swollen nictitating membrane covering her eyes. But when I shine light into her eyes I do see some photosensitivity, so I have hope that she will be able to see when she's fully healed

Good thing you didn’t listen to That terrible vet and euthanized her.

 

[Olivia or Oliver]

You're using Equimax, correct?

Yes Not the exact brand but I have both praziquantel and niclosamide now. I'll give it to her when she is finished with her course of antibiotics. She's steadily gaining weight so it's fallen off the priority list but I plan to do it in the next few weeks.

 

[Vickischics]

I know right, and that was when I brought her in on 5/26 (first pic). Imagine what he would have said if I brought her in on 5/31 or 6/7

Speaking of vets, @casportpony and @dawg53 were completely right about the tapeworm. That terrible vet didn't even prescribe the correct medication for the tapeworm. It did clear a lot from her intestines and she's been steadily gaining weight, but I saw another tapeworm today in her morning poop so I need to re-treat her for that.

Within one week after joining BYC, I've consider them " Experts". They're knowledge is incredible and their devotion like others on BYC is FANTASTIC!!! I love reading and always learning something from them. Truely a Godsend to BYC.