Please help! Duck with severely injured toe!

[Trisseh]

Looks to me that he’s damaged/severed the blood supply and nerves to that toe from whatever he cut it on, which is why it’s kind of dry and funny looking. It will probably slough (fall off) and yeah, the biggest thing will be to keep it clean and dry, and monitor for infection. Similar to frostbite, really. The tissue becomes devitalized, dies and falls off. Since he’s getting around well and doesn’t seem too bothered by it, I would think he’ll do fine. I wouldn’t go too crazy with putting various ointments or treatments on it though, sometimes you actually trap bacteria in there and cause more harm than good. It’s also easier to see if it’s beginning to have any discharge or color changes if there isn’t a ton of other things on it. (Is it dried ointment, or pus?) I would also try to keep him out of bath water, etc until it decides where it’s going to let go from. That’s my 2 cents, lol, based on cases we’ve seen at the clinic. of course, nothing any of us say on here will be as good as having a vet actually see him. There’s a reason nobody will diagnose based on pictures alone. good luck with him! He sure is a cutie.

 

[Miss Lydia]

So you don’t rec putting any antibiotic ointment ? What about the blue kote she has been using?

 

[Trisseh]

I tend to avoid blukote, haven’t seen any evidence that it helps and it makes it really difficult to see what you’re working with, and a huge pain to try to clean off. and it’s been recalled and discontinued here (in Canada) due to it containing carcinogenic ingredients, apparently...
I’m not saying that antibiotic ointment would be inappropriate for a wound like this, but not multiple different treatments with different products. That’s not to say that a cleaned, dry foot that has ointment applied and a nice bandage, changed daily, isn’t an option, if that’s something the OP can do. I wouldn’t apply ointment without bandaging, though; it just picks up dirt and nastiness that you wouldn’t want on/in the wound. And then that bandage needs to be kept clean and dry. A soggy, dirty bandage is a guarantee for infection, antibiotic ointment or not.
I guess it also depends on where he’s being housed while recovering from this type of injury.

 

[Trisseh]

Forgot to mention too, if it doesn’t slough off and is causing problems with the rest of the foot, sometimes it’s best to have a vet debride/amputate the dead portion, once it’s clear where the good tissue ends. (My boss just did this with a calf’s toe that had severe frostbite earlier in the winter.)

 

[FunnyfarmMidwest]

I tend to avoid blukote, haven’t seen any evidence that it helps and it makes it really difficult to see what you’re working with, and a huge pain to try to clean off. and it’s been recalled and discontinued here (in Canada) due to it containing carcinogenic ingredients, apparently...
I’m not saying that antibiotic ointment would be inappropriate for a wound like this, but not multiple different treatments with different products. That’s not to say that a cleaned, dry foot that has ointment applied and a nice bandage, changed daily, isn’t an option, if that’s something the OP can do. I wouldn’t apply ointment without bandaging, though; it just picks up dirt and nastiness that you wouldn’t want on/in the wound. And then that bandage needs to be kept clean and dry. A soggy, dirty bandage is a guarantee for infection, antibiotic ointment or not.
I guess it also depends on where he’s being housed while recovering from this type of injury.

He is being housed inside right now on a puppy pad and is being checked hourly. I am thinking I will wait to bandage until his toe falls off as it has come off even more since the last photo. It is almost completely off. I am probably going to put Neosporin or A & D or something of the type (if that’s ok). There doesn’t seem to be discharge and there is no blood. His toe is almost completely off by now. I still can’t tell if his bone is exposed but I figure I will be able to tell once the toe falls off. Bob and I say thank you to everyone for all the help. I will continue to update and I am grateful he seems to be doing well.

 

[Trisseh]

He is being housed inside right now on a puppy pad and is being checked hourly. I am thinking I will wait to bandage until his toe falls off as it has come off even more since the last photo. It is almost completely off. I am probably going to put Neosporin or A & D or something of the type (if that’s ok). There doesn’t seem to be discharge and there is no blood. His toe is almost completely off by now. I still can’t tell if his bone is exposed but I figure I will be able to tell once the toe falls off. Bob and I say thank you to everyone for all the help. I will continue to update and I am grateful he seems to be doing well.

Perfect, sounds like you’re all set. once the toe is off it’ll be a lot easier to monitor the stump, too. Ointment in conjunction with a bandage is ok if you want to, especially since you’ve got him nicely contained inside and it’ll stay clean and dry. hopefully you won’t have to bandage for too long.

 

[FunnyfarmMidwest]

Perfect, sounds like you’re all set. once the toe is off it’ll be a lot easier to monitor the stump, too. Ointment in conjunction with a bandage is ok if you want to, especially since you’ve got him nicely contained inside and it’ll stay clean and dry. hopefully you won’t have to bandage for too long.

Thank you I am hoping so too! But I am ok with however long it takes to get him better. I will keep him clean and happy.

 

[FunnyfarmMidwest]

The toe is hanging on by a literal thread. It will be off very soon . In the meantime I checked him and it appears that the bone is covered by new skin. It surprisingly looks pretty good (in my perspective). I will check it again in the morning and post a picture. It will probably be easier to tell then since the toe will probably be gone by then.

 

[FunnyfarmMidwest]

I checked on Bob this morning and the toe is still barely attached. He seemed happy enough so I let him walk around while I cleaned his cage. He walked over and ate out of his food bag then continued to run around all while flapping his wings! He seems like he will adapt just fine to being short a toe, as long as it heals properly.

 

[FunnyfarmMidwest]

I have an update. Bob has been doing ok recently up until today. He wasn’t walking good but he was still getting around and putting some pressure on it. Today however he seems worse. He is putting less pressure on it but still standing up to eat and walk a couple steps. He is off balance so he is using his wing to help him get around today. The thing that worries me is his foot and is swelled slightly and it wasn’t before. It doesn’t seem to be infected and I have been spraying it with Vetricyn. The darn toe won’t fall off it is attached by what I think is possibly a tendon or piece of skin. He seemed ok before but he is starting to worry me. Do you think I should go ahead and cut the toe? Is there an antibiotic I can get for him to help with infection? I can maybe get something but I do not think I will chance going to a vet while quarantine is in place. Any advice is appreciated. Thank you in advance.