mcduckie
In the Brooder
- Jan 20, 2017
- 7
- 9
- 32
I just wanted to share the story of my girl Effie to give some hope to anyone looking for info on slipped tendons.
I first found out something was wrong when she was about 3 weeks old. It was raining on concrete and she couldn’t stop falling over. I freaked and took her to the vet. They showed me how one of her tendons has already slipped and the other was on the way. They encouraged me to put her down but I wanted a second opinion. The second vet told me there were surgeries but they were expensive and unlikely to work. They however told me there was no need to put her down. She was still able to walk she was just constantly tripping over her own feet and falling on her face. We were concerned she was in pain but I was assured that her behaviour was encouraging.
Sure enough 4 years later she is still a clumsy duck who spends more time sitting than her brother but is generally quite happy. She stands lower than A normal Duck and her belly nearly touches the ground. I have her checked up on every six months. They live in a grassed pen and I regularly check her feet for bumblefoot. She has callouses on her feet due to the weight on them but this is good because it means it’s not hurting. She loves swimming as it takes the weight off her legs entirely but she’s not in pain, that being said though her pool needs steps as she isn’t flexible enough to get out. I do have pain medicine for any emergencies but it hasn’t been needed. I am aware that she will have a shorter life than her brother as one day the pain will be too much for pain medicine and when that day comes I will put her down.
All in all she lives a semi ordinary life. I am incredibly glad that I didn’t put her down. She is a little more high matinence in that she needs regular check ups but that’s basically it.
I hope this helps someone out there make the very difficult decision of what to do when given this very upsetting diagnosis.
I first found out something was wrong when she was about 3 weeks old. It was raining on concrete and she couldn’t stop falling over. I freaked and took her to the vet. They showed me how one of her tendons has already slipped and the other was on the way. They encouraged me to put her down but I wanted a second opinion. The second vet told me there were surgeries but they were expensive and unlikely to work. They however told me there was no need to put her down. She was still able to walk she was just constantly tripping over her own feet and falling on her face. We were concerned she was in pain but I was assured that her behaviour was encouraging.
Sure enough 4 years later she is still a clumsy duck who spends more time sitting than her brother but is generally quite happy. She stands lower than A normal Duck and her belly nearly touches the ground. I have her checked up on every six months. They live in a grassed pen and I regularly check her feet for bumblefoot. She has callouses on her feet due to the weight on them but this is good because it means it’s not hurting. She loves swimming as it takes the weight off her legs entirely but she’s not in pain, that being said though her pool needs steps as she isn’t flexible enough to get out. I do have pain medicine for any emergencies but it hasn’t been needed. I am aware that she will have a shorter life than her brother as one day the pain will be too much for pain medicine and when that day comes I will put her down.
All in all she lives a semi ordinary life. I am incredibly glad that I didn’t put her down. She is a little more high matinence in that she needs regular check ups but that’s basically it.
I hope this helps someone out there make the very difficult decision of what to do when given this very upsetting diagnosis.
