Lethargic Duck Overnight, Possibly Egg Bound or Poisoning?

[DuckyDonna]

tldr: I am terrible at solo feeding still haven't seen vet yet (since I did a curbside drop off for emergencies rather than an in-office appointment) but will ask for more pointers!


I can now tube feed like a champ when I've got an extra set of hands, after several trial-and-error feedings with booby, but no matter what I do, I'm always like two fingers short when I try to tube feed solo! Because my brother/housemate recently moved out, I'm on my own! The part that kills me is, while keeping the mouth open with one hand, having to push the tube down AND hold the syringe in the same hand kills me. Its like if I leave the syringe dangling or on the floor while I get the tube in, it pulls itself out because I don't have enough slack in the catheter line
Even so, I've managed to get the tube in, but then I don't have enough fingers to push the syringe AND squeeze the tip of the syringe/tube so it doesn't shoot off! By the time I had given up, Josh was traumatized, and I almost passed out because my circulation got cut off from kneeling over her for so long LOLOLOLOL like as if josh didn't have it bad enough as it is but now there's this large ugly featherless duck panting in her face and keeling over on top of her... lol poor girl. I don't know if its part of her illness or if I truly gave her Trauma with a capital 'T' but now whenever she sees me her legs LITERALLY buckle and shake...

this may sound weird but try putting the syringe in your mouth until you get all set. I mean the end of the syringe, not like a dog bone in your mouth.I do that when giving oral meds in a syringe while holding the ducks.

 

[graypes]

Okay y'all sorry for the late update:

Was prescribed 10 days of Sulfameth and 5 days of Pancur for ALL ducks

So far, on day 5, Josh has made pretty great progress, she is eating on her own and acting like herself

HOWEVER!!!!!!!! My other duck, a 4 mo old drake named Booby, has stopped eating AGAIN. Booby was sick last month and went to the vet and was put on 12 days of sulfamethoxazole and one dose of pancur. The only symptom besides anorexia was green stools. An x-ray showed he had enteritis (inflamed GI tract) but it was unknown whether it was viral (duck plague), bacterial, or parasitic. After a lot of tube feeding, he finally started eating on his own. However, the second I started oral medications, he's stopped eating. No interest in anything.

I left a text message telling the vet this, and I think they got confused with the names of the ducks. The Vet Tech called me back and said that Booby may have Duck Viral Enteritis and they'd only know after necropsy. But this doesn't exactly make sense, doesn't DVE kill rapidly? Like Since it's viral, and he got over it a month ago, wouldn't that be unlikely that he's slowly suffering from it?

Booby is energetic aside from not eating a thing. He still plays, fights, and *loves* his duck pals like normal. He is nowhere near as sick as Josh was, he doesn't even seem sick at all. But now that the doctor said it, IM FREAKING OUT... ugh

also, Booby has been out of quarantine for awhile now, so if it were DVE wouldn't everyone else be sick by now?
I personally think maybe he could have stopped eating due to stress? The fact that I'm giving medicine and tube feeding solo is not easy for him (or me!) and maybe the fact that I am like dominating him by squatting over him and then shoving plastic down his throat is stressing him out? Other than food refusal, he is acting COMPLETELY NORMAL.. he won't even eat mealworms though.....

ANYWAYS Josh's bloodwork came back and I was told it was completely clear, everything seemed normal. But then the next day I asked about white blood-cell counts, curious if she had an infection and then they told me that her WBC actually was high, indicating infection. That made me a little frustrated at what I perceived to be a lack of transparency with Josh's care?
My vet is super busy right now, like they are booked out for weeks, so maybe that's why things are jumbled. They also sent me home with only half the amount of antibiotics I'd need for 5 ducks (whose weights I gave to them), which also feels like an oversight?

IDK my frustration is really with my ducks' immune systems not with the vet, but would it be crazy for me to ask for a copy of the blood test results? I just feel like I'm playing telephone with the vet through receptionists and techs and I just want to know all that I can possibly know...

 

[graypes]

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/my-duck-has-green-poop-should-i-go-to-the-vet-pics.1476395/ a link to last month's thread about Booby