Newbie needs help with bumble foot!

[joesandy1822]

I didn't soak my duck twice a day for nine months! She had an ongoing scab that would never go away, and her foot pad developed a lot of extra tissue. So sometimes I would take a couple of weeks of just letting her go without soaks or bandages, then the scab would get worse and I would start working on it again and keep her bandaged for a few days. I wanted her to have a life and she needed to swim. I felt bad for her, it was quite an ordeal. She was a really heavy duck and I think that made it worse. At once point I took her to the vet but he said the infection was gone, and we were just dealing with the scabbing and extra tissue, which he said wasn't going away because of the pressure from walking on it. He made her this giant donut bandage which was supposed to take the pressure off the scab area. It was ridiculous and she was tripping all over the place, so I took it off as soon as I got home. Eventually her scab did go away and the foot pad shrank back.

As for vets, if you find a vet that understands bumblefoot could you say you just want the scab removed and the foot cleaned out, and refuse any x-rays or further testing? It's worth a try in this case since it's so large and seems difficult. Don't feel bad about not having unlimited funds for vets. With my first set of ducks I had an issue at 5 months where one of them had bare skin on her neck, looked like a wound, and I ran to the vet, who had no idea and gave me antibiotics. The "wound" started appearing on her sides and since the meds at the first doc didn't work, I found an avian vet and proceeded to spend hundreds there on various drugs and injections as we tried to figure out what her problem was. In the end, I discovered it was another duck pulling her feathers. Ugh, I don't have much confidence in my vet, and feel that it's a matter of trial and error for them. Since I have a flock of 8 I'm not prepared to spend thousands on each of those animals either. I usually have just as good of luck reading this forum and trying things on my own. But if you can find a good one that won't charge you an arm and a leg, it can be comforting to have someone else take charge.

Ok, that makes me feel better. I thought maybe I was under committing. Your story sounds a lot like mine lately, only with doctors.

May I ask, is your duck still with us?

 

[CoriM]

Yes, I feel like doctors are guessing a lot as well! I'm sorry for your troubles. In the worst twist of fate, the day that I was celebrating because her scab was completely gone, she went lame. I have no idea what happened, her leg seemed fine, but she could only walk with using her wings to balance. I carried her around place to place for two months and then had the vet euthanize her because it didn't seem like a happy life for her.

 

[Miss Lydia]

One thing the drawing salve should do is make the skin easier to work with. Bumble is def a challenge.

 

[joesandy1822]

Get some drawing salve and try that on this bumble after soaking apply the drawing salve and wrap. Keep her out of the pond for a couple days so the salve has a chance to work. I'm not sure if the drawing salve will help but def worth trying since the scab didn't want to budge on it's own.

Thank you!

 

[joesandy1822]

Yes, I feel like doctors are guessing a lot as well! I'm sorry for your troubles. In the worst twist of fate, the day that I was celebrating because her scab was completely gone, she went lame. I have no idea what happened, her leg seemed fine, but she could only walk with using her wings to balance. I carried her around place to place for two months and then had the vet euthanize her because it didn't seem like a happy life for her.

I am so sorry to hear that. This is what I fear, but you can only do so much. And it sees like you went above and beyond for sure!

This duck (Georgie) was definitely loved and cared for well by her previous owner, and I will do the same to the best of my ability and means. It’s unfortunate it got overlooked until now, but I can definitely see how. I only noticed it because when ducks swim in a pond or largish body of water, their feet turn upside down when they paddle, making it real easy to spot. The previous owner used a kiddie pool, which is totally fine and acceptable for sure. Just doesn’t give a real good view of the bottoms of the feet, and unless you know about bumble foot, a person wouldn’t even know to check regularly. You can bet I will be checking BOTH ducks now that I know. I’ll just do my best and pray we can get this sucker out, one way or another.