Despite all of the commotion of the recent holiday season, turkey soup never managed to become a reality in our household, so my wife, Michele, decided to cook up another one recently. We were both scheduled to work only half a day and I looked forward to an encore of the Christmas dinner that evening. The day turned out to be a busy one and when Dr. Ian Lawrie asked if I could help him with one of his patients I decided to stay and help out.
One of the interesting aspects of our veterinary hospital compared to many others is the vast array of wild and exotic species we see. A client of Dr. Lawrie's had pet Bronze turkeys and her 'turkey therapy' as she called it gave her peace. I grew up on a farm and had a few turkeys I could call friends myself so I knew where she was coming from but I could not help but also feel guilt about the bird roasting at home.
I helped to examine Mrytle, the turkey and discovered her to be a peaceful pet. Her abdomen was distended however, and x-rays revealed several eggs where they shouldn't be. Normally one egg is formed at a time and after it is laid another egg is formed. Having multiple eggs in her abdomen most likely meant she had a tear in her reproductive system and eggs were landing her abdomen instead of on the ground. The egg yolk, if free in the abdomen, can cause severe inflammation of the abdominal wall called peritonitis, a very serious disease.
A cloacal examination revealed it wasn't a simple matter of 'birthing' the eggs, and despite a poor prognosis surgery was our only option. Everyone at the hospital had grown to love Ethyl and Dr. Lawrie and myself scrubbed in to surgery. Myrtle's caregiver came for what might be one last visit knowing that Myrtle's chances of survival wasn't good.
After opening her abdomen we discovered she did indeed have eggs free in her abdomen and if we could remove them we might save her. The second part of the operation would be to remove her ovary to prevent further eggs from developing.
Despite our best efforts, it soon became obvious that the peritonitis was even more severe than we thought and there were severe adhesions between most of the bowels and the eggs in the abdomen. We could remove some of the eggs, but others were walled into tissue and the amount of blood and tissue loss would not be compatible with life…. Myrtle had to be humanely euthanized.
Myrtle's caregiver was very upset about the loss but accepted it as a necessity to prevent suffering. She came to take Myrtle home for a proper burial.
I went home for my dinner and thought that Christmas turkey will never seem the same to me …. the irony of knowing that the dinner could have been one of my patients.
My wife and I are moving to an acreage and we have decided that one of the first pets we will get is a pair of turkeys - we even decided on their names - Lily and Dale - but they will be pets and not Christmas dinner.
