*Just brought home a duckling with no nostrils. PICS*UPDATE pg3*

[xfilesnumber1fan]

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My husband also had an idea like that some way to maybe drill some holes..I know the word drill sounds bad..But I would if theat could work??

 

[TheDuckCrew]

i'm glad you took the little baby. you gave her/him a good chance, and probably a better chance than she/he would've gotten with anyone else. i hope it does okay! keep us updated.

 

[chicktwit]

Even if she doesn't make it she will know she is loved. I'm worried about her survivability without nostrils though. Keeping my fingers crossed. Good luck.

 

[Sparrow]

Thanks guys. She is very loved.

She even knows her name, Primrose, and loves to snuggle up under my hair.

Just thought I'd provide an update about something I found fairly shocking this morning. I was holding her and noticed that she wasn't struggling to breathe. I started looking really closely at her bill, and I noticed two *tiny* slits where her nostrils should be!! She had been scratching at that area a lot last night, and the skin in between her "nostrils" looks like a thick, dry, peeling scab. It doesn't appear gooey or painful...it's just like the skin is coming off. Not exactly what I expected to see!

She ate a ton of food today, but she still sleeps a lot snuggled next to her teddy bear. When I pick her up and take her out for a minute, she likes to toddle around a bit, but she wears out quickly. And her legs are overly wide set with the feet turned inwards, so it takes some effort for her to balance properly. She behaves almost like a newly hatched duckling.

So, I hope that her nostrils actually form properly, and that there is nothing else seriously wrong with her aside from her noticeable physical oddities. I wonder why she has the beginnings of nostrils today when she had NONE at all before? Perhaps she has been underdeveloped from the time she hatched and is still "forming" now? I don't know, but I love her and hope she keeps doing better with as much help coming from me as I can possibly give her.

 

[EngieKisses]

Thats great!!

 

[Jstkiddn]

Holy Cow!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[AhBee01]

Maybe wipe the area and see if the skin wipes off,
maybe it is just scabbed over.
Worth a try.

 

[Robin'sBrood]

Awwww, how sweet are you for taking her and loving her just the way she is.

 

[brandywine]

Well, I'm about to make myself really popular at this party.

This poor animal is beset by a suite of congenital defects that have her suffering every minute of her short life -- the bill defect, the failure to thrive, the skeletal deformities, the cranial deformity that is suggestive of an underlying brain defect.

That stinks, that's not fair, and that's Nature. This duck lost the healthy life lottery, and nothing veterinary science can do will make her whole or pain-free.

By prolonging her life, you are prolonging her suffering, which is irremediable. Why? For her benefit? So you can "love" her? So you can congratulate yourself, and be congratulated by others, for your kindness?

One of the things I envy my animals is their right to be relieved of suffering when it becomes irremediable, and my duty to relieve it. That's no different for a deformed hatchling than for a beloved twenty-year-old cat. It's the hardest duty of a compassionate animal owner. But a duty it is.

Take this poor little animal to the vet and have her euthanized. Please. For her sake. It's a lonely, and ultimately losing, fight that she's waging.

 

[Judy]

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These are concepts that any responsible animal owner must consider seriously.

Sometimes the problem is where to draw the line. I have euthanized for an injury, then regretted it, I have treated an injury when I should have euthanized, and I have waited too long to euthanize. Hindsight is always....