[Catsmuvva]

Hi all. I spoke to my vet yesterday about Spike, one of last year's ex-bats, as I was concerned that her abdomen has become a bit swollen & tight. The vet has seen her before, in a much sorrier state, and said that she thought "poor old Spike has come to the end of her days", suspecting the swelling could be an indication of a tumour as she hasn't laid for over 3 months now. She seems very well in herself apart from the swelling - eating, drinking, running around with the others especially at corn time, head & tail up, singing away to herself and looking at her this morning I wonder if I'm doing the right thing even making that visit. I guess I'm being silly as the vet surely won't put her to sleep without a very good reason, but after a mostly sleepless night interspersed with dreams of chickens turning into rabbits, a Bengal cat the size of a small tiger (with deer ears!) and a cat casualty that survived with its wings removed (those are just the sane ones) you can probably see that I'm in a bit of a state about taking her.

Help please, before I go mad! Anne

[joyfull]

sorry to read this, but if your hen is in pain and suffering then your vet will know best - just make sure she does a thorough check first just in case it is something treatable.
The problem is with ex batts they have had such a bad start to life and this can throw up all sorts of problems later on - such as kidney failure etc. hugs to you and Spike xxx

[dizzylizzie]

Hi, i have lots of ex-batts so re used to the problems they can throw at you I have a couple that are classed as 'ill' living their lives quite happily in the garden. I have 1 with failing kidneys. Every so often she hides, looks under the weather and very sorr for herself. Most of the time she is like yours, happily plodding around the garden doing chickeny things, i have another with egg peritonitus that is on antibiotics long term, but again is happily plodding around the garden, and another that had injuries from being crushed that again is quite happy. The vet said all of them should be PTS, but i have decided that they must be quite happy living their lives as they are part of the flock, the eat, drink, come for treats, do chickeny things but have the occasional 'off' day when they need to be brought in somewhere warm and spoilt for a few days. I think you have answered your own question as you say she is happy, eating etc, and you are having nightmares about taking her. Personally i think if she was really suffereing and in pain, you would know that it was the kindest thing to do, and it was 'time'.  Sending hugs x

[Catsmuvva]

The good news is that Spike & I are back home & still mates. It seems she may be going the way Lady G went last year but for the time being my vet is happy that she isn't suffering, in fact she spent most of the time wandering around the floor looking for something to eat and chirruping! I can't remember the technical name but sometimes they get a bit of a blockage and fluid builds around the cavity. Despite her knowledge (20 yrs keeping chooks as well as being a vet) she referred to a book in case there was anything we could give her but said that anti-b's wouldn't really help, nor any other treatments, but she's happy for me to keep going with her and keep an eye on the swelling as long as she stays alert, feeding and happy to run around with the other girls. I will sleep sounder tonight...
Thanks for your replies, it's good to be able to share concerns with likeminded folk.

[dizzylizzie]

Im so pleased. So often a vet will struggle to understand the bonds we build with our feathered friends and suggest 'putting them out of their misery' all too quickly. Im a firm believer that if they are suffering you will know. They wont eat ,drink and run around the garden if they have had enough . Really pleased with your news xx

[joyfull]

so pleased for you and at least taking her to the vets has put your mind at ease.

[Miss Bean]

I'm very pleased to have read this thread as I think one of my birds has the same problem. I was filled with dismay when I saw her yesterday evening: just before we went away last week I'd had to dispatch a poorly girl and I really don't want to go through that again just yet.