10 week old stumbling

[Ellauk3]

Hello all,

posting here for some expert advice.My 10 week old duck has always been a bit wobbly. He was born with one eye but recently it’s gotten a lot worse. He keeps stumbling backwards and falling onto his back.

I took him to the vet on Monday and they looked him over and said he had a very high temperature and they thought it was an infection. They were very happy with his weight etc and said he was doing very well in all other respects. They also said he would either get better or die basically. They prescribed antibiotics and painkillers which I’ve been giving him everyday. His last antibiotic is this evening.

The problem is he is still stumbling. He is perhaps slightly better and doesn’t feel as hot. Today he’s also bathed himself without my assistance which he hadn’t been doing so I see that as a plus.

Theyve had brewers yeast with their feed and peas and mealworms forever.

I’m not sure what else to try. I don’t think it is a niacin or vitamin b deficiency as they’ve had access to food containing it but just in case I bought this. I went to four pharmacies and three pet shops and no one seemed to stock a liquid version. Would this be okay to take? It is for human consumption. I did think of chopping it into four and giving him a quarter but I can’t find what dose they should have. He can take small tablets (has had to with the antibiotics).

please help. I’m stumped. All of his hatchmates are absolutely fine.

 

[Magnolia Ducks]

I see your in the UK. Try a farm feed store and ask if the have injectable b vitamins for cattle. You can put that over a treat. If her infection has cleared up you may have a neurological issue you could try some vitamin E. One of those squishy capsules a day. We could help more if you take a video for us. Use Vimeo or YouTube and upload the link here. Also tell us what your feeding, housing and bedding.

 

[Isaac 0]

Could you post a video of him? What kind of antibiotics, and pain killers did they give you?

 

[Ellauk3]

Thank you so much. Yes I am in the U.K.

The vet gave me Synulox palatable tablets (antibiotic) 500mg twice a day. He has now finished the antibiotics (5days worth) The pain killer is Metacam 1.5mg once a day.

The ducks are housed in a shed we built for them with wood shavings as a first layer and then meadow hay as the top layer which we buy from pets at home.

Their feed is Heygates duck and goose pellets. I was giving them brewers yeast but I was told nutritional yeast is better so I bought Engevita from amazon but they haven’t had that yet.

They also have Johnson’s poultry tonic in their water which I’ve given them a few times.

I will try to get a video of him today and upload ASAP.

 

[Ellauk3]

They also have peas, watermelon, cabbage leaves, lettuce and access to our flowers

 

[Ellauk3]

And mealworms. I tried to give them scrambled egg but they wouldn’t eat it

 

[Ellauk3]

I’ve took some videos. He seems somewhat better yesterday and was getting around a bit but today he’s definitely worse. I feel terrible. I just don’t know how to help I don’t mind taking him back to the vets but I don’t think think the treatment particularly helped.

 

[Isaac 0]

Poor guy, sorry you're having to deal with this.

Judging from the video it appears he has some serious neurological problems that's not letting him properly balance himself correctly and is causing ataxia (unsteadiness). There are several things that might cause him to do this at his age, like toxin ingestion, nutritional deficiency in thiamine (B1) or vitamin E, bacterial or viral infection, neurological damage to the head or neck area, neoplasms, or some sort of metabolic disease.

Now your vet came to the conclusion that he has some sort of bacterial infection, did he do any tests, like Culture and sensitivity, to isolate what bacteria she has, and do a sensitivity test to see what antibiotic would be most effective? Did he take any blood samples, or fecal samples from her?

If he hasn't done any tests on her, my suggestion would be to bring her back and have more tests done, yes it'll be pricy, but it will be extremely helpful in figuring out what she might have. Now, on the other hand, you could just start treating for some of the conditions I mentioned above, and basically cross them off one by one. I would be inclined to think it's not bacterial related, however, some bacteria are resistant to Clavamox. If she were mine, I might start her on thiamine (B1) and vitamin E and see if there are any improvements, after a few weeks. For vitamin E, give her one 400iu soft gel human tablet a day. For vitamin B, give her one of the tablets you have once a day.

I would also recommend setting up a little per for her, where it's soft padded, and she can eat and drink easily, without floppy over the yard all-day.

 

[Ellauk3]

He’s in a more confined space with food and water. I just took him out to get the videos of him
moving.

The vet didn’t do any tests except for looking him over physically. It was the head vet of the practice that saw him. They pretty much implied he was going to die if im honest. I will get the vitamin E tablets, talk to my husband about seeing the vet again and nurse him as I’ve been doing.

 

[Isaac 0]

Let us know how he gets along.