Complicated duck foot injury.

[Luminide]

I believe a snapper got ahold of one of my duck's feet. The dewclaw is torn, one toe pulled from the rest, and (most importantly) the spongy tissue in the center of the foot is exposed. I've washed with alcohol, dried, put baking powder on it (there was so much blood...) but I'm very concerned about that exposed 'palm'. It is out of the foot, and I can't tell if there is skin to go back over it. I need to know if anyone else has had experience with this kind of injury. A webbing or toe amputation seems easy enough to take care of, but I fear if this tissue isn't recovered by skin, that may decide if she needs the foot manually amputated or not.

Btw, none of them are going back in the pond until I stop catching snappers. No worries there.

 

[Amiga]

For future cleanings, I would go with something less drying than the alcohol - I know it is a germ killer, and that is a big concern, but for the tissue to grow back - and I think it may - something less tough on tender cells is what I would use.

Such as . . . saline solution with table salt, or an Epsom salts solution, even strained cooled chamomile tea.

Keep the duck where flies cannot get anywhere near. Flystrike is awful.

Is the duck in shock?

I'll send more thoughts in a few minutes, Lord willing.

Okay.

You might try the Emergencies Forum, though sometimes there is no response there. I confess I tend to hang out here on the Duck Forum, myself.

I am thinking that I would get some triple antibiotic cream, not ointment, and put it on a gauze pad and wrap the foot - yes it is tricky and can be done - lightly, so that air can get to the wound but it is covered to keep it clean.

There are also products like BluKote you may want to consider. I haven't used that, myself.

Veterycin spray, if you can get it, would be something else to use.

My overall strategy would be to protect the wounded foot, keep flies away, keep the duck in a quiet place with fresh water and food, and soak the foot in Epsom salts water (don't let the duck ingest it, it is a laxative) and change the dressing two or three times a day, watching out for infection. I feel that the skin can grow back over that injury, it just needs some help.

Also, if it were me (because I do things like this) I would put comfrey salve on the top of the foot to help healing. I don't put it on open wounds, but I think it would get into the skin and stimulate healing. Just my own feeling.

Please let us know how it's going.

 

[Deleted member 94844]

One day at the vet we saw a Pekin duck that had the top of her head ripped off by a raccoon... it was totally gruesome. Being the duck-freak-slash-amateur-witch-doctor that I am I pressed them for every detail. All they did was clean the wound and dress it with medicinal honey... much more effective than topical antibiotics. The vet said that the skin would just grow back, and the entire top of her skull was exposed. I would clean the foot, coat the injury with medicinal honey (or Veterycin if you can't get it) and wrap it in a safe non-stick gauze, securing with an avian bandage or bootie if you can get one. So long as you can keep infection at bay, the damaged tissue might be able to heal itself. Daily soaks in Chlorhexidine or epsom salts will also help. Definitely keep that duck in a CLEAN pen, pref indoors away from flies, filth, etc. If it doesn't improve, or starts looking worse, you can always resort to surgery... I'd give it a chance to heal first. If the tissue is badly torn and needs sutures, go to the vet.

 

[LuckyDuck411]

Last summer my pekin drake was limping around. I picked him up and one of the bones in his foot was protruding from his skin. I'm a vet tech for a dog/cat hospital so I called up my boss and he agreed to help me treat him. After a month of twice daily antibiotic and changing of the wrap on his foot, his skin grew over the protruding bone. Now he gets around just fine. Ducks have an amazing ability to heal themselves.

To wrap his foot I used a piece of an adaptic non-adhering dressing (its important to not use just a sterile gauze pad as it can pull off healthy tissue/skin as it is prone to sticking to the wound). Then I used a vet wrap or co-flex to hold that to the foot. Thankfully I had booties from another member of this site a year prior and I would then put the foot in that. Unfortunately for my duck no swimming until the foot was healed. The antibiotic was SMZ-TMP - its an older drug but it did wonders to keep out bacteria and staph infection.

Please if you have any questions please feel free to contact me.

 

[Deleted member 94844]

I want to turtle-bomb your pond... how is she doing?

 

[Miss Lydia]

 

[Luminide]

Thanks so much you guys- I took a bunch of advice you offered and she's doing a lot better now. No more alcohol, in a nice cool place way away from flies (I even bought some fly ribbons in case), keeping the area ridiculously clean, etc etc...Getting some episom salts and meds tomorrow. Those incidents mentioned are interesting, too. I didn't know they could heal that well...it's encouraging.

She's doing fantastic physically...a good amount of energy, but she's staying 99% immobile. I made her a nice little box nest with towels and doors on each side for cleanup and water/food access. Bandages have been changed several times by my [nurse] mother, and all looks good. She's pretty mad about all this though. Putting her down after changing the wrappings tonight, she smacked me in the face with a wing and gave me some good kicks. Considering all the good things that means for her physical state, I'm not mad a bit!

Lastly, she has a little group of buddies to keep her (quiet) company. Originally her boyfriend stayed with her, but he fled back to the group the second he was physically able to. :/ Now my 4 baby muscovies and a compromised baby robin are with her. All the little ones seem to have a better effect on her than the bigger ducks. There's much less moving around.

 

[Deleted member 94844]

That sounds so promising... Hugs to all of you!

 

[Miss Lydia]

So happy to hear she is doing good, It's great your mother is a nurse and can help. thanks for updating.

 

[Luminide]

Likewise, thanks for your interest; it's so sweet.



Here's her current setup. What you can't see is the copious amounts of bedding under her. I'm a little worried about her sitting still all the time...any advice on what to do there? I know people can get bed sores, and I'm mainly worried about that. She doesn't move around or shift her position at all.