Joints

[sourland]

@Miss Lydia has given great advice. If the other drake is bullying him, separate them with a fence that they can see through but can't access one another. Good luck.

 

[NewAtThis8]

Just an update - I weighed him a couple days ago and while he hasn’t lost anymore weight, he hasn’t gained any either. He did not like the dog food so I thought I’d increase mealworms maybe and treats? It’s probably not enough to cut it. Meanwhile I’ve tried to encourage him to eat more of his pellets as his appetite goes up and down, by adding a good probiotic, still the niacin supplementation (not flush-free, powder capsule direct on top of their food) and today I gave him some nutri drench direct (not diluted) but also added some to their water thinking it probably couldn’t hurt. Now I feel like I’m throwing everything at the wall and I don’t want to overload him. But I’m desperate to help him thrive. Is there anything else I can be doing that we haven’t already gone over here? I also felt his right joint pretty good while he got out of the pool last week- it pops and clicks while he walks which is what the vet felt and said it was deteriorating. He basically said no more antibiotics and this is going to be him for now and I’ve got mixed feelings on that- i know that being on antibiotics for months isn’t helpful and probably is the reason for his weight loss, but I also don’t want to stop any treatment and then have a septic joint take his life. If it’s arthritis and the swelling is due to that (and the vet seemed to lean toward this since we joint tapped and it didn’t grow anything) would a brace of sorts to help keep his ankle stable also help reduce the pain due to the movement? I did ask the vet this (about if I should be wrapping it) and he said it wouldn’t help. I kind of get the sense that he’s given up but I don’t think Stan is ready to give up so I’m just trying everything…

 

[Miss Lydia]

Just an update - I weighed him a couple days ago and while he hasn’t lost anymore weight, he hasn’t gained any either. He did not like the dog food so I thought I’d increase mealworms maybe and treats? It’s probably not enough to cut it. Meanwhile I’ve tried to encourage him to eat more of his pellets as his appetite goes up and down, by adding a good probiotic, still the niacin supplementation (not flush-free, powder capsule direct on top of their food) and today I gave him some nutri drench direct (not diluted) but also added some to their water thinking it probably couldn’t hurt. Now I feel like I’m throwing everything at the wall and I don’t want to overload him. But I’m desperate to help him thrive. Is there anything else I can be doing that we haven’t already gone over here? I also felt his right joint pretty good while he got out of the pool last week- it pops and clicks while he walks which is what the vet felt and said it was deteriorating. He basically said no more antibiotics and this is going to be him for now and I’ve got mixed feelings on that- i know that being on antibiotics for months isn’t helpful and probably is the reason for his weight loss, but I also don’t want to stop any treatment and then have a septic joint take his life. If it’s arthritis and the swelling is due to that (and the vet seemed to lean toward this since we joint tapped and it didn’t grow anything) would a brace of sorts to help keep his ankle stable also help reduce the pain due to the movement? I did ask the vet this (about if I should be wrapping it) and he said it wouldn’t help. I kind of get the sense that he’s given up but I don’t think Stan is ready to give up so I’m just trying everything…

It may be worth trying getting a brace to see if that helps Did the vet give Stan and pain and inflammation drug like Meloxicam or medicam both the same.

I'm pretty sure my Muscovy drake who is going to be 13 yrs old this coming June has arthritis in his legs, I have been giving him Cosequin with MSM for about 8 months now and it does help him walk better. His dad just about lost all ability to walk when he turned 10 so when a friend took her Pekin to the vet with leg problems the vet recommended the Cosequin with MSM and she sent me some to try for my drake.

I would definitely ask the vet about the Meloxicam though.





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d think that he would.

 

[NewAtThis8]

It may be worth trying getting a brace to see if that helps Did the vet give Stan and pain and inflammation drug like Meloxicam or medicam both the same.

I'm pretty sure my Muscovy drake who is going to be 13 yrs old this coming June has arthritis in his legs, I have been giving him Cosequin with MSM for about 8 months now and it does help him walk better. His dad just about lost all ability to walk when he turned 10 so when a friend took her Pekin to the vet with leg problems the vet recommended the Cosequin with MSM and she sent me some to try for my drake.

I would definitely ask the vet about the Meloxicam though.





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d think that he would.

We are on Meloxicam + tramadol now for pain management. Since the vet leaned toward it being arthritic vs infectious based on the joint tap, he added the tramadol but we’ve been on the meloxicam it does seem to help but the addition of the tramadol really helped improve things in terms of him wanting to eat and move around a bit more (but he isn’t and probably never will be walking normally again). I’ve heard of cosequin, it’s pretty pricy on Chewy/etc because I guess it’s such a large container as it’s for horses - I’m willing to get it if it’s helpful though! How do you dose it? That’s also prevented me from adding to cart right now because i couldn’t find any info online of dosage for non-horses or dogs.

 

[Awaytome]

Mind if I ask about the Tramadol? What form is it and what is the dosage? I was surprised to see it being given to ducks.

 

[Miss Lydia]

We are on Meloxicam + tramadol now for pain management. Since the vet leaned toward it being arthritic vs infectious based on the joint tap, he added the tramadol but we’ve been on the meloxicam it does seem to help but the addition of the tramadol really helped improve things in terms of him wanting to eat and move around a bit more (but he isn’t and probably never will be walking normally again). I’ve heard of cosequin, it’s pretty pricy on Chewy/etc because I guess it’s such a large container as it’s for horses - I’m willing to get it if it’s helpful though! How do you dose it? That’s also prevented me from adding to cart right now because i couldn’t find any info online of dosage for non-horses or dogs.

I know it’s expensive I haven’t had buy it yet since it in the my friend sent me half her container. I honestly can’t say it will help. I just know it’s helped my drake. Maybe if you can find it in a smaller container just to try it out? I put half a tablespoon over a small amount of dog food( he loves dog food ) I put just a small amount of warm water on it just to get the food to soak up the Cosequin then he gets it. So I do this in the morning and he gets it in the afternoon

 

[NewAtThis8]

Mind if I ask about the Tramadol? What form is it and what is the dosage? I was surprised to see it being given to ducks.

Not at all! Its in a pill form- he’s prescribed 50mg 2x a day but it was a little too intense for him so we backed it to half a pill (25mg) twice a day and it’s helped. I was surprised too but I had done some research in another disabled duck group I’m in and apparently tramadol + meloxicam is an effective and somewhat common thing so I felt better about it.

 

[Awaytome]

Not at all! Its in a pill form- he’s prescribed 50mg 2x a day but it was a little too intense for him so we backed it to half a pill (25mg) twice a day and it’s helped. I was surprised too but I had done some research in another disabled duck group I’m in and apparently tramadol + meloxicam is an effective and somewhat common thing so I felt better about it.

Thanks for the info. Poor duckie. Seems like a lot for such a little guy, but I'm glad it's helping!