Surgery for sinus abscess?

[Lnzsmith]

We finally took our Lavender to the vet. She's had a bubbly eye that has now turned into something worse. Denagard, Tylan, Terramycin, nothing has helped, so we thought we'd get the vet to drain it. He tried but she was so stressed "he was afraid she'd die". So he suggested doing it under anesthesia. What would you do? She is PERFECTLY fine, eating, drinking, and laying, yet her eye is so swelled up. I just don't know if she will live with this very long, but I am also afraid she will die from the anesthesia. This vet does work on birds some, so he isn't just guessing about it, although I don't know how much he does with chickens.
What do you think? It seems like she might live happily ever after if she survived the surgery, but???

 

[azygous]

You're wise to think this through. Some vets, meaning well, but not knowing chickens, can make things worse. That doesn't happen very often, but we've had people report that from time time time on this forum. So you need to ask questions about what the vet intends to do and then decide if it sounds right to trust them.

It's necessary to clean out the pus in an infection such as your hen has. It will not heal with that bacteria remaining in the tissue. Here is a link to a thread that shows what the procedure involves. You can inform yourself and then ask the vet all the right questions to make a decision that you're comfortable with. https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...w-to-know-which-one-youre-dealing-with.73607/

 

[Misfits Farm 92]

You're wise to think this through. Some vets, meaning well, but not knowing chickens, can make things worse. That doesn't happen very often, but we've had people report that from time time time on this forum. So you need to ask questions about what the vet intends to do and then decide if it sounds right to trust them.

It's necessary to clean out the pus in an infection such as your hen has. It will not heal with that bacteria remaining in the tissue. Here is a link to a thread that shows what the procedure involves. You can inform yourself and then ask the vet all the right questions to make a decision that you're comfortable with. https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...w-to-know-which-one-youre-dealing-with.73607/

That's a link to an article about crop issues. I'm not sure if you meant to post that.

 

[azygous]

Here it is. Sorry about that. https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/sinus-infection-removal-by-george-conner.1328808/

 

[RosemaryDuck]

We finally took our Lavender to the vet. She's had a bubbly eye that has now turned into something worse. Denagard, Tylan, Terramycin, nothing has helped, so we thought we'd get the vet to drain it. He tried but she was so stressed "he was afraid she'd die". So he suggested doing it under anesthesia. What would you do? She is PERFECTLY fine, eating, drinking, and laying, yet her eye is so swelled up. I just don't know if she will live with this very long, but I am also afraid she will die from the anesthesia. This vet does work on birds some, so he isn't just guessing about it, although I don't know how much he does with chickens.
What do you think? It seems like she might live happily ever after if she survived the surgery, but???

Honestly you have to look at it this way. The infection she's suffering from will kill her.Untreated infections are really nasty. You can get a secondary opinion from another vet, but the fact remains, if you do nothing she will die. Surgery will likely be your only option since they need to completely flush out any pus and debris. I hope everything works out for you and her.

 

[azygous]

Yes, absolutely. Surgery will be required for healing. The alternative is not healing.

If after you talk with this vet you aren't comfortable having them do it, you have the option of doing it yourself. Many of us do this, and if you have a road map so you understand what you need to do, it's possible to do it with a good outcome.

You are going to ask about pain and anesthetic. When chickens are undergoing surgery, they do feel pain. No sugar coating it. But they are almost always extremely cooperative and hold very still, offering no complaint.

There are precautions to take, of course, but the only obstacle to doing this is whether you are up to it.

 

[Myrshine]

Is there a foul smell coming from her face at all?

 

[Lnzsmith]

Yes, absolutely. Surgery will be required for healing. The alternative is not healing.

If after you talk with this vet you aren't comfortable having them do it, you have the option of doing it yourself. Many of us do this, and if you have a road map so you understand what you need to do, it's possible to do it with a good outcome.

You are going to ask about pain and anesthetic. When chickens are undergoing surgery, they do feel pain. No sugar coating it. But they are almost always extremely cooperative and hold very still, offering no complaint.

There are precautions to take, of course, but the only obstacle to doing this is whether you are up to it

Here's the thing though, we've tried to remove the pus, and so did the vet, and she just can't handle it. So it seems to me that surgery under anesthesia is the only way now. I don't know that I am uncomfortable having this vet do it.

 

[Lnzsmith]

Is there a foul smell coming from her face at all?

Nope.

 

[azygous]

Another thing you could try is steroids instead of surgery. In the past, I have used steroid eye drops in the eye of a chicken with a sinus infection. The swelling wasn't as large as your chicken, but the med was very effective. I also used an antibiotic drop in her eye as well. These drops are prescrition meds so you would need to ask your vet about prescribing them.