Emergency wounded drake - lost him

[Amiga]

Correction - Saturday night - raccoon attack on drake. Dealing with maggots on head wound and chunky waxy yellow guck. Just got here. Gimme some help.

As many of you know, the guck was fly eggs. shudder.

 

[Amiga]

Additional info. Duck has been on tetracycline for over 24 hours. No other apparent injury. Most concerned about maggots

 

[fried green eggs]

Poor duck! I did a quick search and thought this might help. http://www.ehow.com/how_7684285_flush-maggots-out-animal-wound.html
Hope it heals up

well!

 

[Miss Lydia]

Poor duck! I did a quick search and thought this might help. http://www.ehow.com/how_7684285_flush-maggots-out-animal-wound.html
Hope it heals up

well!

Very good info I just bookmarked. Hope you can help Amiga...

 

[Tahai]

That's a good link, FGE.

That's pretty much how I was taught to deal with fly-strike on rabbits. Tweezers and peroxide, 2x per day till positive all eggs are gone,cover between treatments. Then blue-kote it up and cover. Check wound 2x daily to make sure no infection or new maggots till new skin has formed. (Luckily, I've not had to use this knowledge yet)

 

[Kevin565]

Is the wound large enough it needs to be sewn up?

The above link is pretty good. Just make sure not to dilute the hydrogen peroxide. It works best at normal strength.

 

[Amiga]

Thanks, all! Just got back, have a few minutes to fill in details.

We had someone who posted my emergency, but was not able to see responses. Oh, well. Technology is great when it works.

Don't know where to start . . .

In brief, raccoon attack night before last, duck owner new to serious injuries, with other relative crises going on at the same time. I went over there to try to help out.

The head wound, which involves the ear, seems to be the only one, but I know that's just how it appears right now. I irrigated it first with saline solution, then combed fly eggs off the head, then irrigated some more with DE solution. Yes, I know some people say DE doesn't work when wet, but some say it does, we had it, and with the gaping wound I was not about to squirt some toxic bug killer into his head.

We brought him to a deep, clean, sink, got him in some cool to lukewarm water with a splash of white vinegar, and rinsed and rinsed. He was not lethargic, he was pretty calm, hissed a little and nibbled at us but seemed cooperative. His head is warm, there is slight swelling near the base of the bill on the right side of his head which is the injured side, and his eyes were slightly puffy, very slightly.

While floating in the sink, I noticed he held his tail sideways . . . guessing the ear is messed up and affecting his sense of balance. But he remained upright in the water, swam a bit, played with water dripping from the faucet.

As I wrote, he is on tetracycline oral in his water, and is being given apple cider vinegar. He is eating, some, pooping, and drinking.

I plan to take him to a vet tomorrow.

Meanwhile, after bath time, we put some DE water paste on gauze, with some povidone iodine (generic betadine) on the gauze, and wrapped it on him with vet wrap, which he wiggled a little bit but it still covers most of the wound.

I got the owner to bring him indoors, where flies won't be such a problem. I left him with some chopped thawed veggies, some cat kibble with a tad of water, his tetracycline drink on a thick towel in a large dog crate. He seemed to be walking okay.

I shall now check out the link. Thanks so much.

 

[Amiga]

Is the wound large enough it needs to be sewn up?

The above link is pretty good. Just make sure not to dilute the hydrogen peroxide. It works best at normal strength.

Kevin565, I don't know what we could sew together. That's why I'm taking the plunge and going to a vet. It is a comparatively large wound, I am guessing at least half to three quarter inch diameter, involves the ear and possibly the jaw.

Tonight I wanted to concentrate on cleaning it out, covering it, getting him into a better place for recovery.

I did not cut feathers away from the wound, or put sevin dust around it as I am aware Storey's Guide recommends, because sevin was not available and I did not want to prolong the trauma tonight, for any of us.

Seems we pretty much followed that protocol, using saline. I have some reservations about hydrogen peroxide on fairly fresh wounds, as it sometimes seems to delay tissue regrowth. This is just my limited experience, but hey, that is the only experience any of us have.

I may rethink the peroxide. I am still processing this whole tragedy (this is just part of it . . . ).

 

[Kevin565]

Sounds like your doing everything you can. I hope he has a speedy recovery

Kevin565, I don't know what we could sew together. That's why I'm taking the plunge and going to a vet. It is a comparatively large wound, I am guessing at least half to three quarter inch diameter, involves the ear and possibly the jaw.

Tonight I wanted to concentrate on cleaning it out, covering it, getting him into a better place for recovery.

I did not cut feathers away from the wound, or put sevin dust around it as I am aware Storey's Guide recommends, because sevin was not available and I did not want to prolong the trauma tonight, for any of us.

Seems we pretty much followed that protocol, using saline. I have some reservations about hydrogen peroxide on fairly fresh wounds, as it sometimes seems to delay tissue regrowth. This is just my limited experience, but hey, that is the only experience any of us have.

I may rethink the peroxide. I am still processing this whole tragedy (this is just part of it . . . ).

 

[Miss Lydia]

Hows the duck doing this morning Amiga?