My Muscovy isn’t eating

[Miss Lydia]

I'm so sorry no one responded. How is she doing today?

Actually, tube feeding is much safer than syringe feeding because you are putting the tube into the crop and feeding her slowly so it doesn't come back up and cause aspirating.

 

[Dmira91]

Hi Miss Lydia!

It’s all weird. Her mood is much better but she’s still not eating.

Yesterday I went to get her tube fed and they ran some exams etc. it turns out her kidney levels were a bit off so they added fluids into her body. Everything else was perfectly fine.

She was walking weird too and stumbling over her feet a bit , and some how physically she was getting worse but mentally she’s more alert and playful. As for her leg, you can tell one is bothering her more than the other, and we suspect either bumble foot, a pinched nerve or (and worse case scenario) that she has an egg lodged in her ovary (sort of like a cyst). We started applying the cream for her foot and so far there has been a huge improvement. She’s almost back to walking normal. However, for whatever reason she is still refusing to eat.

Her poop ranges from brown, to light pastel green (which I heard it’s okay because it’s not neon green?) and again, her mood is great which is extremely confusing. She’s obviously losing weight but she’s still grooming herself and playing.

Does anyone have any answers? For a second I thought botulism but she’s in a good mood.

 

[Miss Lydia]

Are you tube feeding her now? What did the vet say about her not eating?
Honestly, tube feeding is the way to go, my Runner would be dead now if I hadn't tube-fed her. 3X a day for 6 days.
So she has bumble foot? how bad? What cream are you using[can always help someone else]
They can sure be hard to figure out what is going on with them. But she needs nourishment they can deteriorate pretty quickly without it.

 

[Dmira91]

Hi Miss Lydia,

So yes, I am tube feeding her now. The syringe method was working but only up to a point. She was still losing weight and I wanted to get more food in her. I asked her doctor to teach me how to do it and now I’m doing it at home multiple times a day and that’s been a huge improvement, especially since it’s helping get more fluids down and she needs that for her kidneys.

they did do an X-ray finally so that rules out any eggs that may have gotten stuck and broken legs/wings etc.

She’s still not eating on her own but she’s SUPER alert and chatty and she seems happy even tho she still has a hard time stepping on her left left a bit. One of her doctors is now suspecting she might have a mild case of botulism, the other is suspecting maybe the avian flu. But we’ll see what they say tomorrow during her follow up.

And The cream they sent her for her foot is called Silver Sulfadiazine and they told me To apply it every 12 hours. It seems to be helping her a lot.

 

[Miss Lydia]

Sounds to me like if she had AI she would be going downhill fast and it sure doesn't sound like she is other than not eating on her own. Oh please don't let them try and convince you it's AI. That will be a death sentence for her and any other birds you have.

So glad you are now tube-feeding her it will help her so much. Great to hear no stuck egg or broken legs or wings.

Plee update tomorrow after her follow up.
Thanks for the info on the cream I have heard good things about it

 

[Dmira91]

Sounds to me like if she had AI she would be going downhill fast and it sure doesn't sound like she is other than not eating on her own. Oh please don't let them try and convince you it's AI. That will be a death sentence for her and any other birds you have.

So glad you are now tube-feeding her it will help her so much. Great to hear no stuck egg or broken legs or wings.

Plee update tomorrow after her follow up.
Thanks for the info on the cream I have heard good things about it

Will do! I don’t think it’s AI either since she hasn’t interacted with any other birds and her main think is that she’s not eating, she’s scratching at her skin a lot and she’s having that walking problem. But again, she seems extremely alert.

I’ll update you tomorrow on what it could be.

Thanks!

 

[Dmira91]

Sounds to me like if she had AI she would be going downhill fast and it sure doesn't sound like she is other than not eating on her own. Oh please don't let them try and convince you it's AI. That will be a death sentence for her and any other birds you have.

So glad you are now tube-feeding her it will help her so much. Great to hear no stuck egg or broken legs or wings.

Plee update tomorrow after her follow up.
Thanks for the info on the cream I have heard good things about it

Also, she seems extremely irritated with her skin and is itchy. Any idea what this could be? Is it molting?

 

[Miss Lydia]

Are you seeing feathers laying around? did the itching start before the meds or after? Just wondering if she may be allergic to the meds.

Vitamin E is a good one for skin may be get the 400 IU and open one end and squeeze it over her feed?
Is she inside or out? heating can dry the skin out and make it itchy it sure does mine. If she is inside try some warm baths and let her preen herself dry hopefully spreading her oil over herself can help too.

 

[Miss Lydia]

Sorry, it's taken me this long to check in but sure would like to hear an update.

 

[Dmira91]

Are you seeing feathers laying around? did the itching start before the meds or after? Just wondering if she may be allergic to the meds.

Vitamin E is a good one for skin may be get the 400 IU and open one end and squeeze it over her feed?
Is she inside or out? heating can dry the skin out and make it itchy it sure does mine. If she is inside try some warm baths and let her preen herself dry hopefully spreading her oil over herself can help too.

Hi! It’s okay, I know the holidays has everyone busy.

The itching was actually her first symptom along with not eating. It seems like she’s plucking her feathers out and she seems angry at them. Like if I hold one in front of her she’ll attack it.

The weird part is that where the new feathers are growing she’s not picking at it.

She’s still not eating on her own and she’s still not walking entirely. It’s more like a crawl. She is, however, still extremely alert, drinking water on her own and stubborn as ever (which is good considering that sick animals who are near death are usually out of it.