(reposting from the medical forum)
This 8-week-old duck has an issue with his left eye, and I sadly can't afford to take him to the avian vet at the moment after expensive urgent surgery for a different duck a few weeks ago wiped me out.
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For about a week I rinsed it with saline and gave gentamicin eye drops that I had on hand from a vet previously, then I've been doing saline rinse + terramycin ointment for the past 3 days after the drops ran out. He's been staying inside so I can give the eye meds 2x a day, has a bath at least once a day in the tub, and he's able to wash his face in his water cup.
The wetness/discharge around the eye has improved, but I haven't seen any improvement in that white/pink part in his eye returning to normal. And sadly as of yesterday he's suddenly acting as though he may be blind in that eye and his pupil is only barely reactive to light from a flashlight check.
Not sure if it's related but he also sometimes has a strange kind of head movement that I've never seen any other duck do. Best way I can describe it is his head/neck drifting backwards while he's otherwise standing still and looking alert. Almost a motion like someone starting to nod off to sleep except leaning back. He'll straighten back up after a moment, but his head will immediately start drifting back again. Usually it repeats several times. And a couple of times when he's been held up for getting the eye meds, he's slumped his head/neck over as if he was falling sleep but then suddenly wakes up. But not even my tamest ducks are ever that relaxed being held, so it seems like something's wrong. Makes me wonder if he may have some neurological/other internal issue that could be affecting his eye. But otherwise he acts pretty normal (except for being easily startled ) and has been eating, drinking, and pooping as expected.
Any thoughts? Should I keep giving the terramycin ointment or try something different since it's not improving? Would something else be better if it doesn't look like infection?
This 8-week-old duck has an issue with his left eye, and I sadly can't afford to take him to the avian vet at the moment after expensive urgent surgery for a different duck a few weeks ago wiped me out.
View attachment 3609615
View attachment 3609616
For about a week I rinsed it with saline and gave gentamicin eye drops that I had on hand from a vet previously, then I've been doing saline rinse + terramycin ointment for the past 3 days after the drops ran out. He's been staying inside so I can give the eye meds 2x a day, has a bath at least once a day in the tub, and he's able to wash his face in his water cup.
The wetness/discharge around the eye has improved, but I haven't seen any improvement in that white/pink part in his eye returning to normal. And sadly as of yesterday he's suddenly acting as though he may be blind in that eye and his pupil is only barely reactive to light from a flashlight check.
Not sure if it's related but he also sometimes has a strange kind of head movement that I've never seen any other duck do. Best way I can describe it is his head/neck drifting backwards while he's otherwise standing still and looking alert. Almost a motion like someone starting to nod off to sleep except leaning back. He'll straighten back up after a moment, but his head will immediately start drifting back again. Usually it repeats several times. And a couple of times when he's been held up for getting the eye meds, he's slumped his head/neck over as if he was falling sleep but then suddenly wakes up. But not even my tamest ducks are ever that relaxed being held, so it seems like something's wrong. Makes me wonder if he may have some neurological/other internal issue that could be affecting his eye. But otherwise he acts pretty normal (except for being easily startled
) and has been eating, drinking, and pooping as expected.Any thoughts? Should I keep giving the terramycin ointment or try something different since it's not improving? Would something else be better if it doesn't look like infection?
