2 Cayuga Girls & 1 Cayuga Drake

[TheHighlandChick01]

I understand what your saying, and I totally agree this can’t go on indefinitely. I hope progress is made today. Did they mention surgery? Not saying you should do it but just wondering if it was brought up at all.

I understand what your saying, and I totally agree this can’t go on indefinitely. I hope progress is made today. Did they mention surgery? Not saying you should do it but just wondering if it was brought up at all.

Yeah, both docs @ the clinic said surgery really isn’t an option due to the anesthesia.

The other thing both have said is this: we still don’t know the underlying reason as to why Mama was consuming so much grit. When ducks do this it’s always b/c there is an even bigger issue.

 

[TheHighlandChick01]

The beginning of lithotripsy was drilling holes in the stony mass so that it would crumble. These days, it is done with lasers or shock waves. Some vets do it, but I have no idea how this would work if the stony mass includes granite. Just putting it out there in case it leads to an idea.

The stool softener is sweet, and your duck may reliably drink it in her drinking water. I do think she is adapting to it, and both animals and people have survived for long periods of time with large foreign objects in their guts. They tend to round off over time, and don't necessarily cause pain.

Thinking of you.

Thank you so much for your encouragement!

I will most definitely ask about laser & shock waves. Thank you for mentioning this.

Both doctors have said that b/c Mama is in a fragile state she needs to stay inside as warmth is important in order to avoid hypothermia.

The other thing: they want me to monitor her eating habits which would be impossible if she were with her friends out in their enclosure.

If she gets through this they want me to change the way we handle food. We have always had food & water available for them 24/7. They said we would have to change this to a set meal schedule with two meals and maybe 30 minutes per meal. They said it’s obvious she was being obsessive about eating grit so it would also more than likely mean she would likely be obsessive about eating food too.

Finally, they said Mama can’t go outside for free ranging due to our sandy high desert soil. I honestly haven’t been able to wrap my head around how we would allow Gilbert & Anne Shirley out to free range but not Marilla (Mama).

 

[Miss Lydia]

Maybe they are concerned with her eating sand and making matters worse.

 

[TheHighlandChick01]

Maybe they are concerned with her eating sand and making matters worse.

Yes, they don’t want her to eat any more as it would just make matters worse.

IF she gets past this they don’t want her near sand or gravel ever again.

 

[Miss Lydia]

How are you going to keep her from? Did they give you an update on all she had done today?

 

[TheHighlandChick01]

Maybe they are concerned with her eating sand and making matters worse.

They’re afraid that even if we get past this

How are you going to keep her from? Did they give you an update on all she had done today?

She ate, swam & pooped today. Three pieces of gravel came out.

The Dr on duty would like us to wait & see if there’s any improvement this weekend. It was late in the day & he was anxious to be done.

He said laser would not be beneficial for this type of blockage.

We go back on Monday & unless she’s able to pass the grit over the weekend we’ll have no choice but to have her put to sleep on Monday. Neither Dr know what else can be done at this point.

As to keeping her away from grit & sand: the recommendation is that she’s never allowed time to free range with her siblings EVER AGAIN.

 

[Miss Lydia]

That would be sad she couldn’t free range but if she was to make it through this free ranging would not be that big a deal she could still be out side right. I tell you y’all have really hung in there with her and gone the extra mile. Are you allowed to try the stool softener on her?

 

[TheHighlandChick01]

If she gets past this they said she can go back outside to live in the enclosure with her friends. When I let them out to free range she would have to stay in the enclosure & watch them.

In all honesty I don’t know if the other two would go out if Mama couldn’t. They stay together so I just don’t see it working to be honest.

The other thing: they still don’t know what caused all of this. Why did her system stop working? Why isn’t she able to pass it? She had access to the same food as Gilbert & Anne Shirley & yet they’re all fine so there’s something else going on with Mama that we can’t see.

Both doctors think there is an underlying issue & both think it’s likely that if the blockage was gone they would probably be able to see something out of place on an X-ray.

Since she’s smaller than her siblings they also said she may not have fully developed. It’s just a guess at this point but as the docs have said there is probably one more health issue which needs to be treated but it’s a matter of whether or not we even get that far.

Mama has been on the stool softener since Tuesday or Wednesday, the days are all running together to be honest, and we will continue this weekend. She’s still on pain meds & then one other med to fight any bacterial infection which may be present.

We’ll take her in tomorrow morning so they can show my husband how to best help me so we can continue with the meds over the weekend.

I’m really sad & I’m really tired, Lydia. We’ve been praying while doing our best to give her every possible chance. Neither doctor think there’s anything else we can do going forward other than giving her this weekend to see if more grit comes out. I honestly don’t even know what else to say @ this point.

Thank you for your support & prayers! We sure appreciate it!!!

 

[Kiwibird]

I just did some reading and came to the wild conclusion that a coke enema may help. A gut concretion on is also called an enterolith. An enterolith which forms around non-food items which have been swallowed is called a bezoar. For reasons unknown, someone decided to do some research on whether cola (not sure whether Coke or Pepsi) helps to break up bezoars. Weirdly it does. Still reading the article, will say what else I learn, if only for a bit of mood-lightening at a difficult time. Like, who'dathunkit, right?

 

[Kiwibird]

The study mentioned above was human research. The bezoars had formed around fruit pips and other plant matter. Three litres of cola always made a difference and sometimes solved the problem completely: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2682243/
Who knows what cola does to ducks, though?