Mystery illness (Smeagol the rescue duck)

[bsides2007]

Smeagol and Gollum have finished their course of antibiotics and I have seen no consistent results. I have NO idea what this could be. Gollum seems fine 99% of the time except for bouts of panting heavily. No other signs that anything is wrong. Smeagol on the other hand is a mess. I have no idea what I can do for her. She has bouts of open mouth breathing and some wheezing. She will literally look like she's about to die, gasping for air and closing her eyes after a while and then she'll just pop right up and start preening herself like nothing is wrong. One day her breathing will seem a lot better and the next day it's horrible and I think she's taken a turn for the worse. She has been doing this on and off since we got her (we've had her for a month now!) with no indication of really getting better or getting worse....I noticed also when we first got her that her bill was blue-ish and at times it seems like the blue is more prominent. She starts to struggle to breath when she's up and around or when being handled, even if she's not scared. When I go to give them breakfast in the morning she seems perfectly fine, or after she's been laying down a while. At first I thought it might be pneumonia or respiratory infection since they both had red eyes as well, but antibiotics did nothing, oregano oil did nothing, and I've been keeping up on good vitamins. Their eyes have gotten better but Smeagol's issues continue. I have also been putting Vet RX directly on their nares to try to ease the heavy breathing but it doesn't seem to help at all. I also figured if this was infectious in nature, she wouldn't have made it this long...She still has a good appetite and poos normally so I just don't get it. Anybody? My only other thought was air sac problem but she has no air under the skin anywhere and after a month you'd think that would start to heal...then I thought maybe lung puncture? Heart problems? Has anyone seen anything like this before? I don't want her to suffer...she just struggles so much with her breathing, but when she's not in a fit, she is still playful, wiggling her little tail, dunking her head, picking at Gollum, and eating...and she's still growing and continuing to get her feathers in. I just don't understand how she'd continue to develop if she had a serious disease. Sorry for the long post, and thanks in advance!

 

[Miss Lydia]

I can only rec a vet I wish I knew could be her heart.

I had a lil Muscovy duckling hatch here she never did have much energy most of the time mama would go off with everone else and she would just lay and wait for them to come back. One day her breathing was very labored I put her into her own lil pen so we could watch her better. She passed away at around 3 months old and I don't really know but I felt it was her heart.

If you can't take her to the vet then I guess just love her and care for her like you are sometimes supportive care and TLC is all we can do.

 

[bsides2007]

@Miss Lydia how long from when you separated her to when she passed? Smeagol seems to actually have a lot of energy, but it's like her body can't keep up and she just starts gasping. Poor girl. She doesn't seem totally miserable though....And she's even starting to quack and use her voice more. It's just so odd