Emergency! Need advice ASAP

[skyjams]

I found my runner duck injured yesterday, covered with flies. She has an injured thigh.chest, I think from a snapping turtle. I washed her off, gave her 1 shot of Penicillen, & covered areas with antibiotic oint. Well today she has millions of tiny squirmy crawly things looks like very tiny maggots. I gently hosed her down, poured hydrogen peroxide on them & nothing is killing them. Should I put her down or is there any hope? She has diarrhea, not eating, shivering. She did drink some water. Right now she's wrapped in a towel.

 

[newchickmom09]

That sounds terrible. For the maggots to be hatching already she has to have been out there for a few days. I would assume infection has already set in. I know it would be hard but putting her down might be better then making her little body go threw all of this.

 

[katharinad]

Maggots live of dead tissue. They are a good and a bad sign. Bad meaning dead tissue that is totally infected with bacteria. Good they are eating the dead tissue, which prevents spread of toxins into the bloodstream. As disgusting it is they are actually helping the duck. On the other hand we know that the damage to your duck is really bad. The key is to get the wounds to dry up which means you need air exposure. So do not try to cover it up. Antibiotics are great. Lets hope your duck will pull through. Mix some food mush for your duck to get at lest a few calories in.
Good luck,
Katharina

 

[chickboss]

If you decide to keep trying get her on some electrolytes and vitamins ASAP if you haven't already. Keep the wound as clean as you can, which it sounds like you are trying to do. The maggots will only be eating the dead skin cells, and by all means try to get them off because they carry bacteria of their own, but their presence, IMO, does not mean that she is too far gone, and I would go with small gentle cleaning sessions rather than trying to get them off all right away and causing more stress to her system. You can only decide if her condition is to the point of putting her down, which it may be. How does the wound smell? Does it smell like rot? Or just exposed flesh? I would watch for signs of blood poisoning from bateria in the wound, but if you have already administered Penicillen, I think you have pretty much done what you can. I hope she pulls through for you.

 

[skyjams]

Quote:
Thanks for all the advice . I want to help her so badly, if it was just the wound I feel like I can deal with it. But these maggots are something else.
She smells bad but more like diarrhea , How do I make an electrolyte drink & what vitamins should I give?

 

[ranit]

I had a yellow golden pheasant that was injured one time. He had a puncture on the back of his neck. It was summer and no matter what I seemed to do I couldn't keep the maggots out of it. I finally stopped by the vet and he gave me nitrofurazone ointment - used a lot with horses. Said to just keep that on the wound pretty heavily and it would suffocate any maggots in the hole, keep them out and help to heal. Worked wonderful!

 

[chickboss]

Quote:
Thanks for all the advice . I want to help her so badly, if it was just the wound I feel like I can deal with it. But these maggots are something else.
She smells bad but more like diarrhea , How do I make an electrolyte drink & what vitamins should I give?

Infant vitamins. I'm using by the recomendation of others here Poly-Vi-Sol, put out by Enfamil. It is a liquid. Get the one with out Iron, you'll have to read the back to be sure. Mine wasn't labeled on the front. The dosage for infants and toddlers is 1ml. If it were me, I would try and give her a half dose because you are going to have some waste that rolls out of her mouth. You can get electrolytes in powder form from the feed store, just be sure to follow the instructions carefully so that she doesn't get too much of a good thing. I have had to use Gatarade in a pinch, watered down, but it does contain a lot of sodium. Some one else on another thread suggested Pedialyte, used for children. I think I would go with that if I couldn't get anything else. You may get some other opinions here, from some more experienced people, but I hope this helps. I rescued a dog once who had a horrible abcess, maggots and the whole bit. They are disgusting, but not the worst of your problems right now. If you don't smell a rotting type smell that is good, and you would most likely know it. Sounds like you are doing what you can, I would be worried about shock more than anything, so keep things calm, warm, treat her, but don't fuss too much unless she is used to being handled and is more comfortable that way.

ranit~ Can you buy that ointment over the counter, or is it perscription only? Sounds like something I might like to keep on hand.

 

[skyjams]

Called a feed store about the furacin ointment, they're out but it is over the counter. Called another feed store, they recommended permitherin, says its ok for poultry. they have a spray & powder, suppose tokfill maggots. I put the RD in the tub, tried to spray off the "things", then I sat & picked them off with tweezors. There are millions of them, down in the wound areas. Major grossness. She's resting now. Going out in a bit to get pedialyte & permitherin powder.
The wounds look really clean, but scared maggots are going to eat good tissue next.
Anybody know of anything else to try?
Thanks everyone!

 

[ranit]

Nitrofurazone ointment is available over the counter. I just picked some more up (had given what was left of the other to a friend who had a calf with a problem) at Rural King. It comes in a white plastic jar and is a yellow ointment. I'm sure if a farm store in your area doesn't have it that you could order from an online pet med/vet supply place. I'm very lucky that the vet in my area is also very reasonably priced on over the counter type medicines.

 

[skyjams]

Quote:
I found some Nitrofurazone ointment too, I also bought a can of permethian spray for flies, maggots & wounds. I tried it & so far it seems to have killed some. She has been thru alot today, I'll start again in the am.