Last week was a rough one.
Some of you may remember my hen Escher, who died before she was quite a year old to what turned out to be Peritoneal cancer.
She had hunkered in a corner, not quite loafed, like she was getting ready to lay, but couldn't.
X-rays showed no egg, and agonal seizures after a second vet's violent mishandling prompted me to rush her to our regular vet to have her put to sleep.
Her necropsy revealed that her peritoneum was thick, fleshy, pink, and highly vascular.
It appeared to have coopted blood flow from the organs it was supposed to have been supporting.
So when Taffeta went into laying mode late last tuesday, and then refused food... The similarity had me immediately worried.
This is a view of the fecal sample I took.
I have been performing fecals on pigeons for over a decade now.
I have never seen those crystals before.
I didn't get to sleep until 5am. I just couldn't.
I woke up at 7 to call my vet as soon as they opened.
But it was a surgery day, just before a hospital wide vacation.
There was not going to be space to see her.
So I called the ER that saw Cheeto on Christmas eve, as soon as they opened at noon.
They had a single walk in slot before an emergency surgery.
Those crystals in her fecal are apparently called Struvite crystals, and the vet said that doesn't occur in birds, but in a dog or cat, it would indicate kidney stones.
They were not comfortable x-raying her, for lack of safe means to intubate someone so small with such a delicate trachea.
I agreed that an injection of anesthesia was too risky, and they suggested she be treated like the usually would for egg binding: with a strong pin killer and some sub-q fluids to flush her kidneys.
She was at least comfortable on the way home.
I set her up a hospital cage in sight of her husband, and attempted an assist feed.
Sadly, when I woke up the following morning, she had passed.
I fret all day while I was cleaning over what I had done wrong, what I could have missed, anything at all I should have done differently.
Taffy was not just my favorite.
She was not just a sweet, happy, playful, gentle bird that, like her brother who chose to be my husband's ESA, lit up any room she was in by existing...
Her temperament was the culmination of everything I had been working towards.
She was the cornerstone I was going to build the Assistance Pigeon Project up from when the new facilities were finished and I could resume hatching.
Her presentation and timeline were identical to Escher's because Taffy's necropsy confirmed peritoneal cancer.
The peritoneum had coopted blood flow from her abdominal organs and grown thick, fleshy, and pink.
Tumblr's rules have changed, so I will not post necropsy photos here.
Our Patreon is free to join, and the full necropsy is documented in the necropsy channel of the veterinary category.
In Rigby's case, we've observed a lymphoma develop in a span of days.
It's very possible that a cancerous peritoneum could grow similarly rapidly.
I wish I'd had the presence of mind to take a sample for later study, but between days of sleep deprivation, physical exhaustion, severe dehydration, and soul crushing heartache... I just didn't.
I need to keep sample collection jars on hand and find out what preservation fluid to use.
There is no warning for that last stage. The bird appears to be in perfect health right up to the end, and the end hits like a truck.
72 Hours from onset of symptoms and she's gone.
It presents exactly like egg binding... I wonder how many cases have been dismissed as just another egg binding death with no further investigation?
Is this condition really so rare?
It is genetic, so all birds related to Taffy have to retire.
And her husband, Cirrus, are Taffy's Nephew and Niece out of different half siblings.
Taffy and cirrus are a bonded pair and may only be adopted together.
Sterling is a cousin with only one shared ancestor: a Danzig named Ruby.
Cirrus and Sterling should not need specialized medical care, as PC only effects females, but they may still carry the genes for the disease.
I don't know what could even be done for Firma to predict, prevent, or treat Peritoneal Cancer, should she develop it.
Her family should just focus on living with her in the moment and hatch controlling like lives depend on it.
As with all of my bonded pairs, a pair of fake eggs will come with them, as will both of their harnesses.
I have had a lot of time to think about how I would start over from scratch if I need to.
For now, I will simply focus on saving up for construction of the new facilities and continuing harness work for the available birds until they find their families.