breathing from the mouth (duck)

[HappyDuckie]

I asked the vet (before rejecting ducks) and they said that he doesn't have anything lodged in his throat.

and yes he has 24/7 access to deep enough water to submerge his whole head into.

I know the vet said he wasn't before- but if he suddenly got worse again, it is possible he got something lodged in his throat.

 

[_oxbl]

I know the vet said he wasn't before- but if he suddenly got worse again, it is possible he got something lodged in his throat.

oh okay, how can I check? if he has something stuck

 

[HappyDuckie]

oh okay, how can I check? if he has something stuck

You should be able to look in his mouth, or you might be able to feel his throat.

 

[DucksAreBest]

It's most likely Pneumonia or Air sac infection. @SolarDuck @KaleIAm @Isaac 0?

 

[KaleIAm]

Hello,

I'm concerned about my male duck, he is breathing from his mouth for 2 weeks now. I went to the vet they said that he has a lung infection and they gave me 3 medicines (unnamed). He got better but suddenly he got worse today, and the vet said that they don't accept ducks anymore so, does anyone have a clue of what can I do, or what disease he has? Is it life-threatening?

A video

He is a Muscovy, will turn 5 months old in a week, he refuses to eat (he hardly just eat a piece of lettuce, nothing more), his poop is white cause he doesn't eat, but when he eats a little bit of lettuce his poop became normal colored but very small. Last week he was 2.3 kg, but now I feel like he got more lighter.


In the picture he was outside the place that he lives in, he is living in a sandy place with other birds (ex: zebra, budgies) and also with some plants.

I'm very sorry to hear about your duck.

I would trust your vet, if they say he has an infection. They likely listened to his chest with a stethoscope and could hear abnormal respiratory sounds indicative of a respiratory infection. Maybe they did radiographs, or bloodwork. Duck's bodies are very good at "walling off" infections, but that makes it so that systemic antibiotics aren't as effective as we would like for treating the infections.

In my experience inhaled medications work a lot better for respiratory infections in birds. It is unfortunate that the vet you used doesn't treat ducks anymore. Can you find another avian vet? With my birds once they stop eating they are in critical condition and need tube feeding and immediate medical care.

Also, it isn't unheard of for medications to work and then stop working with respiratory infections. That happened with my duck as well. Then we switched to inhaled, and that worked for a while and then stopped working, too. Respiratory infections in birds can be very complicated and even require surgery, depending on what you are dealing with.

Of course, I don't know what you are dealing with - so I recommend you take him to another vet. He will have the best chance of survival that way.

 

[_oxbl]

I'm very sorry to hear about your duck.

I would trust your vet, if they say he has an infection. They likely listened to his chest with a stethoscope and could hear abnormal respiratory sounds indicative of a respiratory infection. Maybe they did radiographs, or bloodwork. Duck's bodies are very good at "walling off" infections, but that makes it so that systemic antibiotics aren't as effective as we would like for treating the infections.

In my experience inhaled medications work a lot better for respiratory infections in birds. It is unfortunate that the vet you used doesn't treat ducks anymore. Can you find another avian vet? With my birds once they stop eating they are in critical condition and need tube feeding and immediate medical care.

Also, it isn't unheard of for medications to work and then stop working with respiratory infections. That happened with my duck as well. Then we switched to inhaled, and that worked for a while and then stopped working, too. Respiratory infections in birds can be very complicated and even require surgery, depending on what you are dealing with.

Of course, I don't know what you are dealing with - so I recommend you take him to another vet. He will have the best chance of survival that way.

I went to a vet and I just came from there. They said that he is not breathing from one of his lungs and that he is really hardly breathing because of that. They gave me antibiotics pills, and also, some vitamins that I should mix with his food (I have to force-feed him). The duck, nuggets, has lost 0.3 of his weight in just 2 weeks.
Hope that he will get better soon.

Thank you for your comment.

 

[KaleIAm]

I went to a vet and I just came from there. They said that he is not breathing from one of his lungs and that he is really hardly breathing because of that. They gave me antibiotics pills, and also, some vitamins that I should mix with his food (I have to force-feed him). The duck, nuggets, has lost 0.3 of his weight in just 2 weeks.
Hope that he will get better soon.

Thank you for your comment.

I'm very sorry to hear about the weight loss and breathing. I hope Nuggets recovers. I know how hard it is to see our pets struggling to breathe.