UPDATE 6/29: RIP Olivia. :-(

[hmmcc123]

Sorry you lost your Olivia. You did all you could and more. Hope time heals your heart.

 

[pawsplus]

I have to say that my vet is AWESOME. When I went in yesterday to pick up Livvy's body, my carrier, etc. he spent 30 min. showing me her x-ray, talking w/ me, etc. He really thought that despite how bad things had been in there, that she was going to make it and it was clear he was beating himself up over her death. What a truly Good Guy. Somehow it all made me feel just a little bit better.

When I went to pay my bill the total was only the amount I had originally been quoted for if everything went perfectly fine w/ no hitches (which was clearly FAR from the case). There was a HUGE discount noted on the bill. I fully expected to pay 3x more than the original quote, since after all if the patient doesn’t make it that doesn’t change how much work went into the effort to save her, but I certainly appreciated the steep discount. I sent him a card w/ Olivia’s pic on it this a.m. thanking him for that, and for all his hard work.

I have a client who has chickens—once I get back from my vacation I will go over there and select one. I got Svetlana specifically b/c I worried about what would happen if/when something happened to one of the girls—as we all know, single chickens are just NOT happy chickens, even for a short time, and since you can’t just bring a new chicken in and toss them into the mix w/out quarantining, etc., it would be weeks before the chicken left behind could have a new friend. I'm so glad that Clarice has Svetty now!

So once I get back from vacation I’ll deal with all that. The girls need time to settle down, anyway. Dr. Lutz agreed w/ me that Clarice was harassing Olivia b/c she knew she was sick—prey animals simply cannot allow sick animals to draw predators to the flock. Both Clarice and Svetlana stopped laying abruptly last week as well—again, you don’t lay eggs when you are stressed out and worried about predators swooping in. So they need to relax and get back to normal now.

Of course, they're getting TOTALLY spoiled--usually I only make them fancy oatmeal in the wintertime, but they've been getting it every day lately. They also got mealworms yesterday (what was left from what I took to Olivia in the hospital). So that should help, too.

 

[GoChick]

Nice to hear how the vet handled the case. he seems to be a wonderful caring guy!

Hugs to Svetlana and Clarice - I hope you find them a new buddy soon!

 

[flowergirl60]

Hand me some Kleenex.

I'm so sorry for your loss. Chickens are very special pets. We grieve for them like people do other pets. It's good you have a caring vet with experience with chickens.

 

[shelley31904]

So sorry for your loss...you and your vet did everything that could be done. Your chickens are lucky to have someone who takes such loving care of them.

 

[Veggie4life55]

Quote:
Hi - How long ago did your girls have surgery and how are they doing now?

It has been about 8 to 10 months for the first chicken and we just recently had another one done about 2 weeks ago... they are both doing great! Both of ours had similar issues during surgury.... Where everything had joined together and they were under for 2 to 2 1/2 hours... and our vet also said he had never seen anything like it... The chicken (Gaia) that just had a surgery two weeks ago was up and doing great the next day.. and after that she acted like she felt better than she had in the last 6 months...

 

[Veggie4life55]

I just finished reading your posts ... I am so sorry for your loss...

 

[pawsplus]

I'm so glad your girls did well! Who knows what happened . . . she was doing so well that a.m. after the surgery, but there are so many factors. It's good to know your girls did well, just in case (god forbid) this ever happens to one of my Chix again.