Broken toe?

[Flowerduck]

Hello all,

could use some help treating my duckie. Noticed that she was limping a few days ago and her left foot was swollen. Both feet had scabs on the underside so I started Epsom salt soaks with iodine, cleaning with vetricyn, and wrapping it up with ichtammol thinking she had bumble foot. Tried to remove the biggest bumble but there was nothing to express or pull out when I cut.

She’s in her own crate with fresh clean bedding. I kept her crate in the duck run so that she’s not separated from her friends. Foot doesn’t feel hot to touch, the undersides are healing.She doesn’t like her left foot being handled and now I’m wondering if the toe is broken?

Yes we’ve called vets in the area, they don’t do ducks. Her appetite is diminished, some mouthfuls of duck feed, but she’ll eat the peas and greens I give her (albeit slowly unlike before where like my other pekins, she’ll eat all the time). Added some nutridrench to her peas so she’ll get some nutritional boost.

Any other suggestions on what I should do for my beloved duckie?

 

[JacinLarkwell]

@Isaac 0

 

[shawluvsbirds]

Hello all,

could use some help treating my duckie. Noticed that she was limping a few days ago and her left foot was swollen. Both feet had scabs on the underside so I started Epsom salt soaks with iodine, cleaning with vetricyn, and wrapping it up with ichtammol thinking she had bumble foot. Tried to remove the biggest bumble but there was nothing to express or pull out when I cut.

She’s in her own crate with fresh clean bedding. I kept her crate in the duck run so that she’s not separated from her friends. Foot doesn’t feel hot to touch, the undersides are healing.She doesn’t like her left foot being handled and now I’m wondering if the toe is broken?

Yes we’ve called vets in the area, they don’t do ducks. Her appetite is diminished, some mouthfuls of duck feed, but she’ll eat the peas and greens I give her (albeit slowly unlike before where like my other pekins, she’ll eat all the time). Added some nutridrench to her peas so she’ll get some nutritional boost.

Any other suggestions on what I should do for my beloved duckie?

when you get a chance take some good clear pictures of the bottoms of its feet too to post.

I can see why you think that toe is broken it looks crooked.
But with all of that swelling it's really hard to tell.

 

[Isaac 0]

I agree, with Shaw, it would be helpful to see pictures of the bottom of her feet.

In some cases, birds will develop "bunions" in their toe joints due to the strong internal pressure caused by the swelling accompanied by pododermatitis (bumblefoot). If anything I would find that to be the cause, however, a good lot of the times the localized swelling appears to make the toe look crooked. If you gently bend the toe, do you feel cracking, or slipping of sorts?

Sometimes bunions do not cause problems, but over time they can become irritated, and may require surgical intervention by a vet.

 

[Flowerduck]

Just got done with soaking her. Left foot is considerably warm today (hot to touch). I forgot to mention in earlier post that after I tried to cut the bumble out 4 days ago, I did start her on penicillin (0.2cc of the 300,000U pen G procaine, IM, daily).

First photo is from Monday when I noticed that she was having trouble walking. Photos 2-4 from today. You can see where I made the incision on the heel pad. Nothing oozed out, there was cheese/ cottage cheese like substance. It was mildly bloody.

I checked her feet as suggested above and don’t feel any slippage or bones moving/ crackling.

her appetite is definitely down, she’s not even eating her peas that she usually gobbles.

 

[shawluvsbirds]

Just got done with soaking her. Left foot is considerably warm today (hot to touch). I forgot to mention in earlier post that after I tried to cut the bumble out 4 days ago, I did start her on penicillin (0.2cc of the 300,000U pen G procaine, IM, daily).

First photo is from Monday when I noticed that she was having trouble walking. Photos 2-4 from today. You can see where I made the incision on the heel pad. Nothing oozed out, there was cheese/ cottage cheese like substance. It was mildly bloody.

I checked her feet as suggested above and don’t feel any slippage or bones moving/ crackling.

her appetite is definitely down, she’s not even eating her peas that she usually gobbles.

I'm going to say it's still a really bad bumblefoot infection.
And that last picture it kind of looks like maybe you cut straight into the center of the bumble instead of cutting around it and pulling the plug it out.
I have never had to do that myself so I can't really instruct you further.
But I have heard it said cutting straight into the bumble actually spreads it.
Hopefully someone else can elaborate on that.
The small bumbles I have dealt with have cleared up by just soaking the feet and applying clear iodine.

 

[Isaac 0]

Unfortunately, Penicillin has very poor effectiveness in bumblefoot cases, as staphylococcus, the bacteria that is most frequently prominent in bumblefoot cases has become very resistant to the antibiotic.

Is a vet an option? I ask because there are a lot of areas that need to be worked on, and performing surgery on all areas may prove too stressful for the duck. It can be done, but a vet will likely get it done better, and faster.

 

[Flowerduck]

We called multiple vets today again. They were all closed. Left voicemail with many. When we last called, we were told ducks were exotic birds and they wouldn’t see such animals. We called about 8 places.

Is there a better antibiotic I could have used? I have a stash of antibiotics (for humans) at my disposal.

What areas do you see that need work Isaac? The three areas with scabs were the heel, third digit and top of middle toe by the nail. There is no scab along the middle toe (the dark colour is from the drawing salve).

 

[Isaac 0]

We called multiple vets today again. They were all closed. Left voicemail with many. When we last called, we were told ducks were exotic birds and they wouldn’t see such animals. We called about 8 places.

Is there a better antibiotic I could have used? I have a stash of antibiotics (for humans) at my disposal.

What areas do you see that need work Isaac? The three areas with scabs were the heel, third digit and top of middle toe by the nail. There is no scab along the middle toe (the dark colour is from the drawing salve).

Cephalexin, Clindamycin, and Enrofloxacin would be a good choice for a bumblefoot infection. If you name all the antibiotics you have, I can see if any will work.

In both feet, I am able to see at least six infected areas, but only two that should require surgical work.

 

[Flowerduck]

Cefuroxime 250 and 500, and moxifloxacin 400mg.