Conjunctivitis?

[veronicasmom]

Took one of the ducks to the vet months ago because she was holding her eye shut. Seemed totally fine except for that. Vet did exam and corneal stain and because the stain was negative for a scratch or injury, diagnosed with conjunctivitis. Treated her for 10 days with ophthalmic salve, was ok, it came back some time later, used salve again, again was better. I noticed her holding eye closed again. Ugh. I made an appointment for her again for tomorrow. No discharge, no redness, no swelling. She will willingly open it if she wants to look for or at something, eating, drinking, walking around free ranging. She is in a molt right now, but I cannot see that having any bearing on her eye.
Soooo, any ideas from any one? I suspect it is not conjunctivitis (I worked in an optometrist's office for 5 years, I saw my share of it) because of the lack of traditional symptoms. Conjunc. is usually contagious, no other ducks are having issues. No signs of injury at all.
Like I said I will take her tomorrow, but wondering if anyone else has dealt with this before.

 

[TNchickies]

nope, never even owned a duck. however, don't ducks have tear ducts? could a sort of tear duct infection be a problem? i'm not an expert, especially on ducks. sorry!

 

[Miss Lydia]

Do you have Veterycin spray? one of my hens[chickens] had a lot of bubbles in her eye a while back so I used the Vspray since it's safe to spray on the face and eyes, cleared it up in 2 days. Might be worth trying if you have some on hand. Or can get some. TSC carries it. It's around 30.00 for a 16oz bottle but lasts a long time.

 

[veronicasmom]

Miss L-Oh yes, you mentioned that before. I am not very close to a TSC. It is just strange that this keeps happening. I am so hesitant to try to treat her myself, but I am not sure the vet knew what we were up against. I am seeing a different vet tomorrow, so I hope he has a better handle on what is going on. I was just wondering if anyone had ever had this happen with a duck before and what it might possibly be.

TNchickies-might be some sort of infection, but I think if it was the tear duct there would be some discharge.

I am starting to think that it is more injury than infection type thing. Although the corneal stain did not show corneal damage, maybe something else happened. She is a VERY docile duck, maybe one of the bullies got her. I really hope she will be ok, I lost two already in the past 6-8 months. I hope this is not serious,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,.

 

[Miss Lydia]

Miss L-Oh yes, you mentioned that before. I am not very close to a TSC. It is just strange that this keeps happening. I am so hesitant to try to treat her myself, but I am not sure the vet knew what we were up against. I am seeing a different vet tomorrow, so I hope he has a better handle on what is going on. I was just wondering if anyone had ever had this happen with a duck before and what it might possibly be.

TNchickies-might be some sort of infection, but I think if it was the tear duct there would be some discharge.

I am starting to think that it is more injury than infection type thing. Although the corneal stain did not show corneal damage, maybe something else happened. She is a VERY docile duck, maybe one of the bullies got her. I really hope she will be ok, I lost two already in the past 6-8 months. I hope this is not serious,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,.

I hope it's nothing serious either. This time of year with so much pollen maybe it's something as simple as dust or pollen getting into the eye and causing discomfort. Does she do a good job of washing her face? Seems like you say if infection there would be swelling, discharge etc. Hope you can find some answers out tomorrow please let us know what the vet says.

 

[Going Quackers]

That is too bad, honestly i wouldn't hesitate to treat myself, i couldn't get a vet around here to touch a duck of mine, unless it was to put it down. Sounds like an injury to me, who knows.. sometimes ducks just have stuff happen, i have 19 running in the big flock and stuff just happens sometimes, heck even with the smaller ones my one female call ripped her nail out the other week... blood everywhere took me two days to get it fully clotted.

I hope ducky is ok.. but i like ML idea, sounds like it cannot hurt at this point.

 

[Amiga]

Thinking about my own eyes, if I have had an injury, sometimes bright light hurts the eye till it is fully recovered. Do you suppose that the injury has just left her eye sensitive to light so she keeps it closed more often?

Might a mild saline solution sprayed over the eye help assure there is no early infection trying to take hold?

 

[Haunted55]

Just for giggles....buy one of the saline sprays for the human noses. Use that to 'wash' the eye and I hesitate to say this....use a triple antibiotic cream as well as a 7-10 day course of Duramycin-10. sometimes birds and peoples can get into somethings that give the 'gift that keeps on giving'. Your poor baby may have gotten into something that can't quite be 'cured' by the normal means. If it were me, I would use the Duramycin-10 to get to the root of the problem. Just MHO.

 

[Haunted55]

Just for giggles....buy one of the saline sprays for the human noses. Use that to 'wash' the eye and I hesitate to say this....use a triple antibiotic cream as well as a 7-10 day course of Duramycin-10. sometimes birds and peoples can get into somethings that give the 'gift that keeps on giving'. Your poor baby may have gotten into something that can't quite be 'cured' by the normal means. If it were me, I would use the Duramycin-10 to get to the root of the problem. Just MHO.

 

[veronicasmom]

Miss L-THe first time this started I got some eye wash/saline and irrigated her eye quite a bit. It really did not help. The first time there were eye bubbles and a tiny bit of discharge. So I did think that there might be a foreign body in her eye, hence the rinsing. But this time there is no bubbling and no discharge at all. She is not good about washing her face. I don't think I have ever seen her bathing. I always thought that was because when she was a duckling the people that had her kept her in the house and I figured she never got to swim. Then she developed angel wing, so I also think that being in the water makes her unsure. She pretty much just drinks, I cannot remember ever seeing her dunking her head. She preens a lot though. And she seems to dislike the rain.

Amiga-that is what I thought, that she is light sensitive due to an injury in that eye. Not sure what they can do for that. It seems like the sensitivity comes and goes, that is what is worrisome and confusing. I will let you know what the vet says.

Haunted-I am not one comfortable with planning out my own treatment plans for my animals illnesses. I wish I was, but I am always too scared I will do more harm than good. And that they will suffer more if I make a mistake. I do treat some things that I am familiar with, especially with the dogs, cats and horses. But while I have had ducks a long time, I still don't feel secure making decisions about their medical care on my own.

I hope this is an easy fix, for both our sakes. I hate watching her be even a little uncomfortable. Fingers crossed.