Pekin duck is sick and sucking in air: Any help Please?

[donaquijote]

My female Pekin duck is sick, listless and sucking in air with her beak wide open. Any thoughts? I have a $550. vet bill and no idea what has happened and no idea what to do. Thank you to anyone who can suggest some help.

 

[JLynnsDuckies]

There are many wonderful and knowledgeable duck owners on here. I hope some of them can chime in with some advice... Some more details would probably help. 1) Does she have access to slugs and worms? I ask this because they carry gapeworm. One symptom of that is open mouth breathing. 2) What other symptoms does she have? Is she wheezing? Eating and drinking and pooping normal? 3) When did it all start? Anything new introduced into her environment? Changes can stress them and cause them to Pant.

I hope she will be okay...
@Amiga is one person I can think of at this moment that could help.

 

[Amiga]

Aspergiliosis? A fungal lung infection
Bacterial lung infection?
Gapeworm?
Predator injury?
Advanced sinus infection with upper respiratory involvement?0

 

[Amiga]

@donaquijote are you getting notifications? How is your duck?

(I need to turn in soon - just want to make sure you see the responses)

 

[JLynnsDuckies]

Thanks Amiga... I do hope she is okay. Please let us know how she is doing when you can.

 

[donaquijote]

Posey is not eating anything other than some chopped tomatoes and drinking water. She has been panting all afternoon. I took her to the vet yesterday and other than ordering arithomyacin, which I will pick up at mid-day tomorrow, I don 't know much more. The vet said her insides were all jumbled together, there was no egg to be seen on the X-ray and that's about it. $550. Frankly that's hard to pay and not know much else except for a drug being ordered for pick up tomorrow. Right now I'm running a vaporizer with warm steam, not-too-near her crate, but just enough to aid her breathing. When healthy, she weighs 1.8 kilos or almost 4 lbs. She spends her days in my garden, gets Bar-Ale duck food, chopped tomatoes and lettuce daily, has access to lots of fresh water changed daily, and I just don't know what has made her so sick, but very sick she is...If anyone has any thoughts or ideas that could be helpful, I will be most grateful!!!!

Diana

 

[donaquijote]

By the way, the drug the vet ordered for Posey is erythromycin. She also said to keep Posey confined to her crate.

Diana

 

[Amiga]

Ask the vet about aspergillus fungal infection. Laddy at Majestic Waterfowl had it and was successfully treated.

The antibiotics may be what she needs.

 

[donaquijote]

Correction: The drug the vet prescribed for Posey duck is Azithromycin 100mg/ml suspension 0.8ml by mouth once daily for 21 days.
She has stopped sucking in air but is totally listless and is not eating but does drink water. On top of everything else, I stupidly left her in the morning sunlight at the top of the stairs with the gate closed this a.m. but she moved through some plants and fell about 3 feet down, catching her neck under a plant stand. I've kept her confined in her dog crate today in the sunlight and now she is back in the garage with a heat lamp (not too hot) nearby. I've read through Storey's Guide to Raising Ducks "Health and Physical Problems" and there is nothing in the book that seems like what is wrong with Posey: Listless, not eating, almost immobile, and clearly just very sick.
PLEASE CAN SOMEONE OFFER SUGGESTIONS?

 

[donaquijote]

I just added more information and would like to hear from you if you have any additional thoughts!