Roxie Tendon Injury, 3 Columbus Trips to the Veterinary Medical Center, and some Vegan food!!!

Roxie: Abrasion on back of leg turned Tendon injury!

Initial injury after 1st set of staples... and Roxie getting all but one back out!

 A few months ago Roxie cut the back of her Left leg around her achilles tendon. I took her to have it stitched and examed to make sure it didn't cut any of the legiments and tendeons. They said it looked fine... They stapled it closed and sent her home... 3 different times because she kept tearing them out...

On her 2nd set of staples with no wrap and a cone to keep her away from the staples.... Problem...
She ended up breaking the very pretty pink cone and getting out the 3rd set of staples...

I'm Free!!!

But the last time they stapled her the Vet also wrapped her leg very tight and told me to leave it that way for 4 days. It was wrapped so tight that I took it off on the 2nd day because it was cutting into the back of her leg. It had also caused a very bad burn/rub injury on the front of her leg... but when I took the wrap off there was something else wrong... she would not put any presure on her leg and when she finally started walking on it again a day of 2 later her hock was all the way to the ground...

Kinda hard to see the wrapped leg... But it was wrapped at length and tight! In three layers...

This is me cutting it off....Because it was leaving abrasions

Front of foot after wrap removed.. This was caused by the wrap!

This is the front view of the damage the wrap caused!

When the wrap was removed the actual original cut is almost done healing... But there is now swelling in the tendon...

This picture is upside down... The bottom part is the muscle in the top of her leg.... and the is the other abrasion caused by the wrap... The one I could see above the wrap.. Just sawing away at her skin...

Took her back to the vet he said she needed surgery on the top part of her leg wear the muscle connects into the tendon... I took her to my Family vet and she said she thought the problem was lower in her leg were the staples had rubbed the tendon and caused the tendon to stretch and maybe rupture but not totally away from each other... So she sent me to a specialist at the Ohio State Animal Veterinary place... But the only appointment they could make me was Neurology.. and she thought there was some nerve damage as well so she said once I got in the door they would also have a Orthopedic surgent look at her....

Well on our first trip we went and seen neurology which said yes she had some nerve damage that may correct its self.... And he said he asked orthopedics... but come to find out he just asked an orthopedic student to look at her... So he came back and told us she need surgery.... The Neurology consult cost $250.00 even after they had told me on the phone that it was only going to be $125.00 for the consult!!! They decided to try to schedule for surgery with Dr. Au and said she would also exam her right before the surgery the next day. I asked a million questions, booked a hotel room, and then he went to mark down on Dr. Au's schedule but come to find out then they didn't have any room for her... and because they had an emergency come in they wouldn't be able to do it at all and Dr. Au's first surgical appointment available would be in 2 WEEKS! O but this needed fixed asap!!! what the heck was there issue?.. I was pissed considering I had drove 5 hours to get here and was promised I would be seen by both for full exams and they charged me double what they initially said... I left and drove home! Swearing...

Alot happened in the next two weeks and Dr. Au would be just as astonished and happy as we were...I had spoke with several Vets again in that 2 weeks. Our family vet for a check up and her vaccinations. Since we were taking her for surgery. Then I called Dr. Fallon.. ( He is our Chicken vet but he also does orthopedics) He said that if it isn't fully cut into and even if it is sometimes it can find itself and heal itself.... and I thought yeah I don't think so with Roxie because her hock was totally dropped... But I had hope...

Trip 2 to Ohio.... We go to see the very nice Orthopedics Specialist (Dr. Au) .. She checked her out and I told her how many consults I had had on her and that they all said something different.. and she looked at the chart and said the last orthopedic person was a student that looked at her... I had been lied to.. again ...so I was livid... considering I was told a specialist had looked at her on my first trip... Come to find out also... It wasn't as bad as we thought it was... Because over that 2 week wait she had started walking on her leg again... her hock had actually started to rise on its own and although she was shaky she was doing great!!! Dr. Au... Said she thought instead of it being tore, that it had just stretched because of the way it was wrapped and because of the staples... She said we would order a brace to support her tendon so it would not have further damage and see if she heals on her own. but there is a possibility that she would still need surgery to shorten them tendon. We  got the mold made and ordered her brace... $125.00 consult charge and $450.00 for a specially made orthopedic brace.... that should be in in 2 to 3 weeks. I was supposed to keep her in her kennel and not let her jump around or run outside... We did stay in Columbus at a dog friendly hotel that night...They pissed me off too... because I was promised a room with a fridge and Microwave.... Was it there .... Hell no and the manager said it would cost extra for that.... Well that not what the last guy said... err.... I hate bait and switch and Columbus was full of it...

at the hotel... Pibbie was excited to be an only dog for the night!

The next morning she had taken over and was relaxing on her mound of blankets while we got ready to go home

She was having an awesome time.. and i hope she left the bed full of Pibble hair so they had to change and wash the whole Damn thing.. considering I was supposed to have a fridge and microwave and I didn't!!! A-holes!

Well over the next 3 weeks the vet and I talked a couple of times... And finally week 4 she got the brace.... But it was made wrong so she had to send it back... So another week and a half later (total weeks to get brace 5 1/2)  we started on our journey back to Ohio State... I had not let her outside at all but I didn't keep her in her kennel all day every day either...

19 miles outside of Columbus Ohio we pull over to use the rest room at a Dairy Queen that was right off the side of the road... I am sitting in the car waiting on John and My cars starts smoking really bad.. Someone yells your car in on fire... and what do you know... it was... It totally burnt... See my other post....

after all that fun... I did finally make it to get her brace.. About an hour after her appointment.. The vet was glad to see she was doing so well and said to make her wear her brace outside and work her way up in time don't just put it on her and leave...

Pibbie looks awesome ine pink so we had to get Pibble Pink!!!!  :)

And then we were on our way to Whole foods and then home...

7/18/2011
To tell you the truth unless we have her out side... She doesn't wear the brace at all....and when she does wear it I am afraid she will jump and hurt her self. but even without the brace she has been doing awesome and now the scar tissue is even shrinking and her tendon may still look a little bit bigger but you can't even really tell she hurt herself if it wasn't for the scars...She had the best temperament all the way through this... Never once did she snap or act irritated with the vets or with messing with her hurt leg.. She did wonderfully!

While we were there on our 3 trips we found a couple of nice places to get vegan food.. They were so yummy but can be a little pricey!

My Fave Place....

Patty Cakes bakery.... Every trip we made we had such scrumptious, lovely, awesome cupcakes and cookies!!! I love this place and if I lived near it I would be broke and weigh 500lbs... lol.... My fave Cup cake.... The lemon cupcake was so awesome and lemony and just one of the best cupcakes i have ever had!!! the flavor was rig ht on and I have yet to match it at home and I have tried several times!
But they also had great Everything cookies, Chocolate chocolate chip cookies, Chocolate chip cookies, Blueberry Crumb Muffins... I don't know what else we had but we had quite a few things!!!

Merry Me Blueberry Muffin

Everything Oatmeal Cookies

Chocolate xo Cookies..I Think

Lovely Lemon.... Is very Lovely YUM!!!!

We also stopped by the Global Gallary Coffee shop and juice bar for half a vegan pizza.. It was pesto with pine nuts and daiya.. It was expensive but really yummy... I have craved that pizza ever since I had it....  (This place isn't all vegan but has vegan options)

Very small but very yummy....

We also tried some vegan muffins from Whole Foods My fave was the Orange Cranberry Muffin... But none of their muffins stand a chance next to Patty Cakes Bakery!

I think we are all glad that Pibbie's leg is doing awesome and that we don't have to make any more trips to Ohio any time soon!!!

4th of July: Parade, Food, & the Raptor Rehab

There are horses in the Parade every year.... I have been watching this parade for over 20 years and not one of them have urinated! But This fourth... They ended up stopping and pausing in front on the house and the horse flooded the road! It was awful and funny all at the same time.... so of course thats how our day started...lol

 So on the cooking list for the 4th!

Vegan Chocolate Chip cookies from The Joy of vegan baking (My Faves)

Both Cupcakes recipes from The Joy of vegan baking... The chocolate chocolate cake recipe with an extra 1/2 tsp of dutch processed chocolate... The Vanilla Cupcake recipe with a tsp of vanilla and a little extra vanilla. Then I made Raspberry frosting and Chocolate Peanutbutter Frosting... I think The chocolate frosting was really strong... I icing some of the Vanilla cupcakes with some artificiality clue colored icing.... I made some Raspberry and Blueberry syrup but I didn't have time to drizzle them...

I love the Raspberry Icing... But I liked it on the vanilla more than the chocolate...

A Hawaiian Rhubarb Pineapple Crumble pie... I thought this was really sour.. John liked it... It never got finished.. I through it out....

For dinner I Made Igors Special Pasta from Vegan Vittles )I love that recipe) I also made hotdog sauce and used it as sloppy joes.. John did have some hot dogs though...I just skipped those...

The West Virginia Raptor Rehab
On the 4th the West Virginia Raptor Rescue also came and spoke at the towns celebration. They did a great Job. The person who spoke is also our chickens vet! Dr. Fallon, from Cheat lake animal Hospital

This is Owlice (Like Alice but Owlice) she also has a wing injury and an eye injury after being hit by a car..Click for her story.

Annie the Red Tailed Hawk- Was found with leather tethers around her ankle begging for food and was raised by humans before she was found so should could not hunt on her own.  Click for Story

I am pretty sure this guys name is Mike and I had met him before at the vet clinic with this same Eagle. Her name is Thunder and was shot when she still had her brown head feathers... she was shot in West Virginia through her wing and leg. She now is missing part of her wing and can not be release. Click for Her Story...

Dr. Fallon

At the end of the night, John, Chey, Chey's find and I went to watch fireworks.. The kids stayed down on the play ground though and John and I had the fireworks to ourselves :)

Gaia: Egg bound Chicken #2

Well last year we had to take Big Red to the vet several times because she was egg bound. We ended up having her spayed and she is doing great. She is happy and loves to run up to us faster than all the other chickens looking for treats....

Over the last few months we have noticed Gaia our New Hampsire Red from time to time looked egg bound but would always pass it herself without to much problem. Today I went out to see all the chickens and give them some treats and noticed her all fluffed out and her comb was very pail. Now if her comb wasn't pale I would have given her more of a chance to pass the egg herself before I interveined. But I had my husband catch her and for the first time this year I stuck my finger in and found a whole yolk stuck just inside the rectum at the end of her cloaca. It was at the very end and everytime she would try to pass it her cloaca would particly come out with it. I tried to coax it out a few times but then decided to call our Avian vet. He was leaving in an hour and we live more than an hour away so... He told me to use equal parts mineral oil to water and use a syrunge and put it in around her cloaca to rehydrate the area. He said alot of the time the chicken will be dehydrated and it will just get stuck right there. He said to administer it and then wait to 15 minutes and check on her again. She had not passed it but it would now turn when she would try to push it out. So you could tell it was loss now. So I decided to try a 2nd method of bringing her in the house and soaking her for 20 to 30 minutes in warm water. Remember that a chickens normal body temp is 102F to 103F so remember when you soak her that it needs to be a little warm to you to be warm to her. so about the temp you would comfortably wash dishes in. (Not hot!). we soaked her and she seemed not to mind so much and even sat there for a few extra minutes by herself. We took her out and checked her bottom which was still very protruded. I put a glove on and was able to work it out with her help. I would have left her to push it out herself. But she was visibly in pain, clapping her beak, and making noices when trying to lay. We kept in side for the rest of the night under a heat lamp drying and trying to get her stress level back down. I was worries about shock that evening but she was still eating. We gave her an egg, some apple, a couple grapes, and some lettuce to eat.. and she happily ate them although kind of slowly.

When we let the chickens out the next morning we let her go into the coop so she could walk down like she was never missing. No one seemed to care.. and the only Chicken that really picked at all was Isis and that was just a couple little pecks. She is still fluffy but she is doing ok. I am still waiting on the swelling to finish going down and I am sure she will go back to her normal self considering she is eating and drinking...

Update: She is doing well it has been 5 days now. She is still fluffy from time to time but she runs around with the rest of the chickens, eats, and drinks normally...Her comb has taken time to get a good amount of color back into it but it is looking better as well. I assume by the end of summer we will have her spayed just to make she she has not further problems. If she stops being egg bound and has no further issues then we won't spay her but she has been egg bound several times and has been able to eventually pass it. So I figure it is only a matter of time before she will need spayed. Big red did so well and she is so happy now and has had no problems since her spay so I want Gaia to have that same happy go lucky life! I will update later...

Looking alert wondering whats going on. Her comb was really really pale even though you can't really tell from the pictures.

Taking a trial dip... Seems ok....

Waiting on the tub to fill up a little more

John helping her sit low enough for 20minutes....They were both good little troopers :)

A little wet and annoyed.... egg still stuck....

This is the yolk I helped her pop out....We were all releaved when it came out...

Still wet, under the heat lamp, eating her much needed egg to give her some energy after all the stress. when ever any of my chickens have problems and have been stressed I feed them raw eggs. Its always something they love that I know they will eat and it has fat and protein to help them rebuild there health issues while giving energy.

Chicken Report- Big Reds Surgery, Jasmine & Stewie's Release

Not posted at time of surgery posted months later when I realized I forgot to post it!

Big Red one of our hens was laying internally. Some of you may remember some earlier posts about her
"jelly eggs". While she was in our recovery house I found out she had totally stopped laying eggs and had totally started laying internally. Which is a big problem. If a hen lays her eggs internally she will become infected and will die. So I hunted down an avian vet and started going to see him. He said as soon as most of her wounds heeled she could have surgery. He had done this surgery on many types of birds but never a chicken. I was a little worried but learning some more about his back ground, he works for the national aviary in Pittsburgh and is one of the top guys for the local Raptor Rescue, so I figured with all the animals he had treated he would do a great job.
She did finally heal enough to have the surgery. So I took her and dropped her off. What was supposed to be a 30 minute surgery turned into hours worth. She had laid alot more eggs internally than originally thought. Though she didn't have the muscle trauma which he really thought was part of the problem. The vet was awesome brought her through it great and even charged us way less than the bill would have been. But the bill was still pretty expensive. He said she was the worst case he had ever done surgery on and that he had never seen a distention like that in a living bird. So she was very lucky.

She came home with us that day on pain meds & antibiotics. She wouldn't take the liquid antibiotics that he gave me and it took us 3 doses the first day to get a whole dose into her. The next day I took pictures to send the vet via email to show how great she was doing when I noticed she had pulled out a bunch o stitches. So of course back to the vet. He put in some internal stitches and glued it good were she had pulled it apart. He is only in 3 days a week so I could not see him till the following Tuesday (4 days later). Of course by the time we got home, even though she was half sedated she pulled out the stitches above and below the internal stitches. Luckily he said the holes would be ok. He also has her another injection of Antibiotics so that we wouldn't have to fight with her.

After that we did run back and fourth the 2 hour drive a couple times but luckily it has been smooth sailing. She is doing very well and being very spoiled. I was feeding her Organic raspberries, organic blueberries, organic strawberries, organic grapes, and organic greens with a sprinkle of sunflower seeds every morning. She was loving it. but with the cost I had to slow down after she healed and got all her strength back. But her recover has been pretty fast and she is ready to go. I am just afraid to put her back with the chickens because of the whole getting a new pecking order thing. Mabon, the other hen that lived through being attacked by the raccoon still hasn't made friends with the top of the pecking line again. So she gets picked on alot. I am not really sure how to stop this. I have been thinking about pulling Gaea (Top Hen) out so that Mabon can settle in and so Gaea will have to climb her way back up the pecking order ladder. I am also a little worried about the roosters being frisky with her after all her internal issues. So Big Red is still living on our back porch. Hopefully the inflammation she does still have will go down a little more by mid December so I can reintroduce her to the group.

Mabon almost all healed.

Mabons release

Please if you have any questions about internal laying please ask and I will do my best to answer them or ask my Avian vet. My vet was nice enough to email me the pictures of her surgery so I though I would post them. For some they may be a little gross so beware.

After looking at these pictures I have had several  people say they will never eat eggs again...  :)

Day after surgery. Taking pics for the vet.
Noticed she has ripped out about an inch and a half worth of stitches.
She is also still very swollen. (We ended up getting 3 sets of staples and the stitches & glue. That worked alot better
But we still had to keep her wrapped up to keep her away from the incision.  It took awhile for all the swelling to go down and about 2 more months before I felt safe releasing her with the other chickens. But today 5/14/2011 she is doing awesome! and is super friendly with us, wants all of our attention and is the first to run up and get treats from us. She loves life and I am so happy she made it through all the issues she had. I know we truly made the right decision when I see her happy little face running through the chicken yard! :)   )

another look at the stitches that were ripped out.

We had two chicks hatch this year. Jasmine and Stewie. Jasmine is a small feather footed black Cochin and Stewie, my best guess, is Ivy's egg and Titans Son.... maybe.. I don't know what that makes him. But they both have been released with the other chickens and are doing good.

Stewie has grown alot since the day I watched him hatch.
He is looking more like his daddy every day.

Didn't relise I didn't post this..so I didn't re-read or edit it sorry in advance....