Administering antibiotics

[JeanLynott]

My Pekin duck, Scruffy, was chased by a dog about 2 months ago and injured his left leg. It appeared to be slowly getting better at first but then became more swollen. He was examined by a vet and x-rays show no fractures or other abnormalities. There appears to be a soft tissue injury that is now infected. He took liquid Clavamox at first but that didn't work. He's now on a higher dose of Clavamox (500 mg) that is 2 large pills. (They are each about the size of a thick nickel.)

Thankfully, he's great about taking liquid medicine. So I've been crushing the pills the last 2 days and mixing them in applesauce. I use a needless syringe to feed him the medicine. He seems to like the applesauce.

Because the pills are so big and he has to take them every 12 hours, he's eating what seems like a lot of applesauce. It's probably 6 tablespoons total per day.

I hate to change this up because it's going so well but, do you think giving him applesauce will be OK during the full 7 days that he's supposed to take the medicine? So far, I am not seeing any signs of diarrhea.

 

[Miss Lydia]

Bless your heart and his. I think if your not I’d switch to unsweetened. Other than that I don’t see a problem since he needs these by pills to get well. Please keep us updated on how he is doing.

 

[JeanLynott]

Thank you, Miss Lydia. That's a great idea. I'll keep you posted. The swelling seems to be slowly going down. Praying this does the trick!

 

[Miss Lydia]

I sure hope so too!

 

[JeanLynott]

An update on Scruffy:

We have given him three rounds of oral Clavamox but the swelling persists. Our vet took a sample from his swollen leg. The liquid is is thick and pink. No bacteria was found by the lab but she said there's clearly an infection.

He's had the liquid in his leg drained twice. His temperature has gone down but he can only take a few very slow steps at a time. He's eating and drinking well. We have him separated from our other ducks though he can see his friends through chicken wire and they stay close to him. We take him for a short swim each day by himself in a small pool so he can clean himself. We keep his pen clean and dry and he has clean water and food.

We started twice daily injections yesterday of a stronger antibiotic and will be administering them through Wednesday.

Has anyone experienced something like this? Our veterinarian said that if this antibiotic does not work, she'd recommend taking him to the Cornell University Veterinary Hospital.

We've spent a lot of money so far on veterinary care, much more than I really should have. I can't afford to take him to Cornell. And I don't want to torture poor Scruffy if he's not going to get better. He seems happy but his quality of life is not good like this.

Any thoughts or suggestions would be appreciated.

 

[Mother-Hen-Michele]

I hate to write this, but my first duck to pass away showed her infection in a swollen leg. She had no injuries, it just swelled up with what looked like an infection, I never got a straight answer, but I took care of her until the end (much like you, but with a different setup). She died in our arms, we did not cull, but I never found an answer during or since and I have been reading and googling since she first got sick.

Please keep posting, maybe someday we'll put up enough to help someone else save a duck with this.

I don't know know that more vet bills will save him. Sometimes they just go, there are not always answers.

Please focus on the amazing life he had in your garden if he does pass.

I've got you in my heart and prayers.

 

[JeanLynott]

Thank you for responding @Mother-Hen-Michele. After many weeks of administering antibiotics and anti-inflammatory medication to Scruffy, the swelling persisted. It was evident that Scruffy was in pain and we made the difficult decision to cull. We still miss him (the original post was from 2021), but we're thankful that his suffering ended.

 

[Mother-Hen-Michele]

Thank you for responding @Mother-Hen-Michele. After many weeks of administering antibiotics and anti-inflammatory medication to Scruffy, the swelling persisted. It was evident that Scruffy was in pain and we made the difficult decision to cull. We still miss him (the original post was from 2021), but we're thankful that his suffering ended.

I am so sorry for your loss, thank you for sharing the final chapter. I wish you had found the right meds, part of me still wants to know what I should have done, but at least our mutual experience might ease the guilt of someone else who also had this outcome: we all did our best, these roads did not lead to an answer, but not for lack of loving them.

I have shed those same tears, sometimes I still do. For such a small creature... weighing often no more than a small feather pillow... they leave such a big gap when they go...

Your final act of kindness, taking his loss into your heart in order to ease his suffering was very kind and loving. He was very lucky to live in your garden.

What a lucky duck that Scruffy

 

[JeanLynott]

Thank you @Mother-Hen-Michele.

Here's a bit of a happy ending -- Scruffy's buddy, Nibbles, was sad without his friend and was on his own for a few months. (We have three other ducks that never accepted Scruffy or Nibbles.)

A few months ago, we found a new buddy for Nibbles, a little mallard named Quackers. His duck friends had been lost to predators, and we brought him home with the hope that he would bond with Nibbles. It took a bit, but it worked out. Now they are inseparable.

 

[Mother-Hen-Michele]

Thank you for sharing, happy endings are a balm for our hearts.

What kind of duck is Nibbles? Are both Nibbles and Quackers drakes ?