The Evolution of Atlas: A Breeding (and Chat) Thread

[getaclue]

Are they going to fix it?

 

[speckledhen]

I had a horrible, stressful morning. It was storming here and my husband went to do errands, said to wait to go to the barn and he'd help me with chores when he got back. The rain let up around 9 a.m. so I decided to go out anyway and I'm glad I did. Atlas's pen is the first on the left and I usually plug in a light on dark days that shines into his pen, but I was having trouble getting the plug into the outlet in the dark. He was sitting on the floor sort of behind/under the roost bar, as per usual when he either loses his balance and falls off or jumps off before I get out there to do chores and he crowed. I said, "Hang on, buddy, I'm getting your light". Then I went to the last pen, checked on Cricket and her chicks, then to Druscilla and Mina's pen, got her some fresh water and food, went to Hector's and gave his girls some of the scratch grains he waits for every morning, then back to Atlas to give him some of that, too, before I started the cleanup-he loves the corn and the dried peas, especially. When I opened his pen door, I found him leaning against the wall by the waterer, head down, semi-collapsed, comb almost black. I immediately grabbed him before he fell, sat on the floor, pulled him between my legs and pushed lots of shavings underneath him. He laid with his eyes closed, just breathing quietly. I sat and sat and sat. Occasionally, he would gasp or twitch and I just talked to him. Sat for what felt like an hour, hoping Tom would come through the barn door. The landline in my pocket was dead, the steel barn interfering with the signal so I couldn't even use the intercom feature.
Finally, I yelled so the baby monitor in the back would hopefully pick it up, "Tom, if you're home, come to the barn NOW!" I had to yell a few times. Apparently, he had just gotten back, was putting away the cold stuff and heard me say something over the receiver so he came to the barn and found me on the floor cradling Atlas between my legs (which were pretty much gone and my back, ugh). I had been sitting with my guy for over an hour, with what I thought was a dying Atlas. Tom started doing the chores for me when suddenly, Atlas jerked and tried to get up. So I let him while keeping my hands on him. He was very shaky, his color horribly dark, but he was up and began to groom himself. Then, he crowed and crowed and crowed....and crowed some more. I thought I was going to have to announce that the King of the Barn was gone. And I still may have to make that announcement. I believe he had some sort of stroke. After all, he's 8 1/2 years old, our longest surviving BR rooster to date. When they begin having these episodes, their time is short, in my experience. My big Buff Orp/RIR cross hen, Meg, had a few episodes that would lay her flat out on the ground, her eyes vacant, then she'd recover and stand up and seem fine. Not long after that, she passed on so I expect Atlas won't be with us too much longer. I mean, he was literally out for over an hour, which is a very long time. My big, sweet protector, he's out there crowing now, telling Hector not to celebrate just yet.

 

[getaclue]

That makes me sad, and happy all at the same time. Enjoy him, and the time you have left with him.

 

[speckledhen]

He's still on his feet today, though he sits more than usual. His crow was in the chorus this morning as well. Bless his big old heart. I've never had a chicken down like that for that long, really out of it, and then, suddenly get up and seem to recover. It was draining for me, felt it all day long afterward.

 

[speckledhen]

Atlas is still here, seems okay for now. I did lose my head Brahma hen, BJ, if you saw the Brahma thread. That was unexpected though I knew she had some sort of reproductive issue.
Finn, my orange tabby, had another trip to the vet. They gave him an anti-inflammatory pill and antibiotic pills, plus antibiotic eye drops and need to see him back on Monday. His eyes were so tightly closed, she had trouble even opening them so she wanted the meds in him so she could check him better on Monday after taking them for a few days. I'm still giving him the lysine supplement, which he really likes. He weighed 13 lbs so he hasn't lost weight. I thought he had, but apparently not. Getting those pills down him twice a day isn't any fun. The anti-inflammatory isn't every day, but the antibiotic is twice a day. Dogs are so much easier in that regard! He is always very good at the vet, though, very sweet.

 

[robhuncor]

Poor Finn, I hope the treatment works.

 

[speckledhen]

Me, too, Robin. I am afraid he may lose his eyesight. That scares me.
My husband had laser treatment in one eye a week ago after months of shots in both eyes. Oddly enough, he still has 20/20 vision and had no idea anything was wrong (they found something off in an eye exam), but it was a case of blood vessels growing wildly and potential loss of vision. One eye was doing better, but the other needed some lasering of vessels to stop a few from spreading into places they didn't belong, not sure why they do that. At least the VA is paying for his treatment. So, now his cat is having eye problems. Cat hater (formerly) and cat on the same page, go figure. Finn is such a good cat, even with me holding him in a vice so his dad can put pills in his mouth and drops in his eye.
I wasn't sure if we should keep doing the Terramycin or just continue it when the drops run out. I think we'll do the drops and if it seems he needs it after that and after his appointment with the vet tomorrow, we'll start the Terramycin again. That tube is very tiny so it won't last very long.
I may have a squeeze or two left in the old tube we have had here for awhile that we kept for the chickens. Atlas got poked in his right eye by something and we had to use it on him as well as my Blue Orp hen, Dusty, when she detached her comb blade and it would flop in her eye and throw dirt in it, causing irritation. The vet said they couldn't get Terramycin eye ointment for some reason, if you can believe it. It's very expensive, but the pet store in town has it and we got it cheaper at Walmart online.

 

[speckledhen]

I was searching for something and came across these two photos of my dear friend, Ladyhawk (Cetawin here on BYC), surrounded by my chickens on one of her visits. She didn't even change out of her pj's before going out to see them that morning. They loved to see her because she always baked them special treats like seed cakes. All those birds have gone now except for Dru, and as most of you know, Ladyhawk passed away suddenly last November. I really wish she was here to commiserate with me over this horrible summer. She hated heat as much as I did, but I never experienced a devastating loss like she did of most of her flock in one afternoon when the heat index was up to 114*. She especially loved Atlas's sire, Rex, who is in the pictures. She met him when he was just two weeks old and flogged his daddy, Isaac, in the face three times before she snatched him up to save his silly little life, LOL. She called him the DelaRex, loved roosters like I do.

 

[speckledhen]

Finn is at the vet again. I posted on Finn's thread-did not realize it has been 3 years since I added to his thread, wow, time really flies. They are doing more tests today. They said the problem may not be his eyes, but something causing his eye issues. They want to do a CBC panel, but the vet said they'd do one certain test first and if that was positive, there would be no need to do the others, that the condition is fatal and incurable (feline leukemia or something else? Relayed to me on the phone by my husband). If it's negative, the other tests will take 45 minutes to come back with results. So, I'm sitting at home, finally raining here and waiting for Tom to get back with poor Finn. He's had days and days of antibiotics internally and in his eyes, plus anti-inflammatories and daily lysine supplement and he is still squinting most of the time.
UPDATE: He has an ulcer on one eye, the very squinty one. The other has a cataract and he may have glaucoma. They say there is some pressure on both eyes. The ulcer is probably from being poked in the eye or scratched by something. We'll finish his antibiotics tomorrow and have to put different drops in each eye several times each day (not easy, but he forgives us). The vet and staff kept remarking what a good, sweet cat he was. The tests were all negative for anything concerning, thankfully!

 

[getaclue]

That's not too bad of a report about Finn's eye problems. They do CATaract surgery on felines too, but I'm not sure what the cost is.