Bumble Foot Question

[JeanLynott]

One of my pekin drakes, Danny, appears to have bumble foot on both of his feet. One foot looks worse. It feels warmer and appears to be swollen. I soaked his feet today in warm water with Epsom salt and applied Neosporin (with no pain reliever) to both feet. I put gauze pads on both feet and wrapped them with vet wrap and waterproof tape. He appears to be more comfortable standing now. He's eating, drinking and preening but sitting most of the time.

I plan to soak his feet, apply new Neosporin and change his bandages daily. From what I've read in previous posts, eventually the scabs should come loose and then I can remove the yellow core inside. I'm looking for thoughts on whether this sounds like an OK treatment plan. I'm a new duck owner and this is my first time treating (what I think is) bumble foot. Thank you!

 

[BunnyEberhart]

You need to get a topical antibiotic. Do the soak. Then put the antibiotic on the bumblefoot. I then use polysporin over top of that and wrap it up.the polysporin is to keep it wet so the antibiotic can seep in and kill the bacteria.

 

[Ratchnick]

I would hit those feet with antiseptic like iodine, betadine or vetracyn after the soak. Just hold him for 10 minuets with the antiseptic on his feat. Then bandage if you want. I stoped bandaging mine after i talked to a vet and it seems to work fine. With that form of bumble there are no scabs, and no core. The areas will just shrink and go away.

 

[Isaac 0]

What you see on the toes, is not such much as bumblefoot then it is the erosion and degradation of the plantar surface. That is often how bumblefoot starts out, but it doesn't look to the point where you're going to see serious problems. For the flaking, you can either soak the foot in salts or an antiseptic like Chlorhexidine, or apply an ointment to the area, and bandage.

The first picture is what is more concerning. Could be the angle, but the ankle appears to be quite swollen. Soaking may help reduce inflammation, but if bacteria are under the skin, soaking won't be able to penetrate the bacteria. A few more pictures of the ankle, and a description, of how it feels would be helpful.

 

[JeanLynott]

What you see on the toes, is not such much as bumblefoot then it is the erosion and degradation of the plantar surface. That is often how bumblefoot starts out, but it doesn't look to the point where you're going to see serious problems. For the flaking, you can either soak the foot in salts or an antiseptic like Chlorhexidine, or apply an ointment to the area, and bandage.

The first picture is what is more concerning. Could be the angle, but the ankle appears to be quite swollen. Soaking may help reduce inflammation, but if bacteria are under the skin, soaking won't be able to penetrate the bacteria. A few more pictures of the ankle, and a description, of how it feels would be helpful.

I'll get more pictures tomorrow in the morning light and more info on how the ankle feels. It definitely is quite swollen and feels warm. For more background, this came on suddenly a week ago. He was fine one day and then the next day could barely walk. To make matters worse, he's in an all-drake flock. And the other drakes seemed to think that he wanted to mate. They were piling on top of him. I have him separated from the other drakes now.

 

[Isaac 0]

I'll get more pictures tomorrow in the morning light and more info on how the ankle feels. It definitely is quite swollen and feels warm. For more background, this came on suddenly a week ago. He was fine one day and then the next day could barely walk. To make matters worse, he's in an all-drake flock. And the other drakes seemed to think that he wanted to mate. They were piling on top of him. I have him separated from the other drakes now.

If the whole leg problem occurred very suddenly over a few days, it's more likely trauma/injury is responsible for the swelling your seeing in the ankle. To add to that, there is no evident laceration that I can see suggesting the bacteria we're able to enter in the first place.

I would keep the duck in a pen for now, where he can easily reach feed/water. Adding padding to the pen would be good to relieve some of the weight off his feet. A little pain is good as it prevents the bird from reinjuring the site, but if you want you can add one 325mg aspirin, into 250ml of drinking water to reduce some of the swelling. Letting him swim in cool Epsom salts may help as well.

 

[JeanLynott]

Here are more photos. I hope they are helpful. Danny seemed a little better today. He was standing more. I felt the swollen area around his ankle. I could feel the bone inside and nothing felt pointy or broken. It just felt swollen.

Isaac, what kind of ointment do you recommend I should apply? Is Neosporin OK?

 

[Isaac 0]

Here are more photos. I hope they are helpful. Danny seemed a little better today. He was standing more. I felt the swollen area around his ankle. I could feel the bone inside and nothing felt pointy or broken. It just felt swollen.

Isaac, what kind of ointment do you recommend I should apply? Is Neosporin OK?

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Neosporin would work. If you want to pick up some DMSO, you can dilute that half way down with water, and apply it to her leg to reduce some of the swelling.

 

[JeanLynott]

Neosporin would work. If you want to pick up some DMSO, you can dilute that half way down with water, and apply it to her leg to reduce some of the swelling.

Thank you!

 

[JeanLynott]

Update: Danny is doing much better. He's still limping a bit but getting around much better. The erosion on his feet are almost healed and we're no longer bandaging them. Best of all, we were able to reintroduce him to the flock a few days ago and he's continuing to do well. Thank you all for your advice. It's so appreciated. Happy new year!