Advanced bumblefoot but no obvious point of entry.

[Aunt Angus]

Beautiful!

 

[SirGoose]

Well, we are nearly 4 months into treatment. Doc has kept her on the TMS (antibiotic) and Meloxidyl for pain management. Right leg is completely healed. Left leg finally healed enough for the doc to make a confident decision about if/where to operate. Surgery last Thursday. Doc removed a substantial amount of infection from the foot. X-ray (attached) revealed septic joint has been mostly destroyed, and some bone has been eaten away! Surgical wound (incisions at the top and bottom of foot) was left open to drain, and we have been caring for her accordingly. Restricting movement, no bathing til next week, and betadine soaks a couple of times a day. She is healing very quickly, and her attitude is fantastic, as usual! She’s such a good, strong duck! The hardest part is keeping her immobile and out of the water lol! Will update again soon.

 

[SirGoose]

Update: Clover is still doing well! Her right leg is completely healed, but her left leg remains about the same. The surgical sites have healed, but swelling remains. Something has been working its way to the surface at the top of her foot, and tonight the wife pulled it out! Viewer discretion advised! It was unbelievable! Bleah! Will update again, as we expect a big jump in the healing from here!

 

[Aunt Angus]

WTF is that thing???!! I'm so glad y'all got it out and she's doing well. But... holy cow!

 

[BigBlueHen53]

Wow, was that a sliver of BONE??? Poor Clover! I just discovered this thread and in the early posts I wondered if the swelling could have been gout. But here I'm flummoxed. Can you take this thing to your vet for identification? And possible further x-rays? Just, wow!

 

[-Flash-]

Oh yuck! Poor clover!

 

[BigBlueHen53]

In the x-ray, on the right-hand side, see that little bone sticking out? Could the thing that came out of her foot be that little bone? Or is that on the other side of her foot? I don't know much about duck anatomy. I sure hope she feels better now that's out of there and that she heals quickly!

 

[Aunt Angus]

In the x-ray, on the right-hand side, see that little bone sticking out? Could the thing that came out of her foot be that little bone? Or is that on the other side of her foot? I don't know much about duck anatomy. I sure hope she feels better now that's out of there and that she heals quickly!

I think that's her toe in the x-ray, if I'm understanding what you mean. Think of a duck's foot like a chicken's foot except webbed. They have a little back claw. If I'm looking at the same thing you are, you can see the faint image of the toenail on the end of it in the x-ray.

But I still cant figure out what that thing is.... I'm floored...

 

[BigBlueHen53]

Thanks, Aunt Angus. You're probably right.

 

[SirGoose]

So, this thing started presenting after the doc removed what he believed to be all of the infectious debris. If you notice, the photo of it protruding under the skin is taken from behind the foot looking out to her toe. There is a scar near her toe that is from her life before us, and is probably what caused the Bumblefoot in the first place. We think the new, thinner skin at the surgical scar allowed this to surface. We cut a very small hole and gave a little squeeze, and that is what started popping out! After enough protruded, my wife simply grabbed and pulled, and we both were dumbstruck at what came out! We emailed it to the doc and he is very pleased. He called it “debris.” She is doing very well