4 Month old Pekin, Really sick, Swollen leg

[ethanj357]

@casportpony Yeah we filled up a milk jug with water, and added one table spoon of this stuff:



The things we've been giving him are: Electrolytes, Corn (He highly prefers this over dried corn), And Aleve, but now he has some Epsom salt in his system

 

[casportpony]

@casportpony Yeah we filled up a milk jug with water, and added one table spoon of this stuff:



The things we've been giving him are: Electrolytes, Corn (He highly prefers this over dried corn), And Aleve, but now he has some Epsom salt in his system

One tablespoon = ~550 mg. I would use 1.5 tablespoons (825 mg). No more Aleve, no more drinking epsom salt water.

-Kathy

 

[ethanj357]

Alright, thanks

Do you have any idea how we would be able to get his feet in some Epsom salt water without him drinking it?

 

[ethanj357]

@casportpony

He doesn't seem to be getting better, we've been giving him the right amount of Tetra, and soaking his feet in Epsom salt water for ten minutes twice a day.

Here are some pictures of his feet, could he have bumble foot









I know the last one is pretty blurry, but those are black lines on his foot (bumblefoot scabs?)

Now we might think it's botulism, I've read that we would need to give him either, a charcoal, Epsom salt, or Molasses flush? It seems he has the symptoms of botulism, he hasn't walked AT ALL, he barley moves his neck unless we tough him, and he hasn't stretched his wings once. We're so lost on what could be wrong with him.

 

[Amiga]

It doesn't look like bumblefoot to me. The feet seem swollen, but that could be from water retention.

His internal organs are probably very stressed right now - he could be retaining water. He is on antibiotics and that can be hard on the stomach, as well.

I wish this were more straightforward, but he could have congestive heart failure, could have been bitten or stung by something and had a bad reaction, could have reproductive system issues, an antibiotic-resistant strain of bacteria in the bloodstream, cancer.......

As long as he is willing to hang in there, I would try to help him, but without knowing what's going on through blood tests or a vet exam or at least a fecal test, we can only suggest possibilities.

A fecal test is often relatively inexpensive - perhaps you can get that done.

 

[ethanj357]

@Amiga So what should we do? Some say not to give him Epsom salt, others say we should for a flush.

 

[Amiga]

At this point it has been a while since he got into anything, I would think. So that, to me, means Epsom salt would cause more trouble than it would help. If he is on antibiotics, a flush would get those out of his system, too.

You may need to consider changing antibiotics to see if something different works better.

Food grade activated charcoal removes toxins - but it may also bind to antibiotics. In fact, I have read (and I have not researched as to whether it is helpful or not) some people giving antibiotics to help with botulism.

 

[Amiga]

@casportpony - other thoughts?

@ethanj357 - are you giving vitamins, probiotics, electrolytes? Because I would do that - there is a Vitamins with Electrolytes Plus poultry vitamin powder I have used. You may need to provide supportive care, to help him get through.

Is he eating? I would begin weighing him at least once a day to make sure he's not losing weight.

 

[ethanj357]

@Amiga We've been giving him little bits of Pediatric Electrolytes, whatever he would drink. As for his anything else, just the Tetra, we stopped giving him Aleeve as @casportpony suggested so that's all he's on. Again, seems pretty tired all the time, but sometimes he "wakes up" and he would wiggle his "tail" and stretch his neck as much as he could. Also, we've been soaking his feet in Epsom salt, to maybe ease the pain if there is any in his feet.

 

[Amiga]

Have you weighed him?

He may need syringe feeding or tube feeding.

There is information about tube feeding at Go Team Tube Feeding thread.

Majestic Waterfowl has a video demonstrating syringe feeding on their FB page.

You need to be careful not to push food down the wrong tube, but he needs nutrition and if he's not eating, he needs help.