Poor Mallard...Look at her feet, yikes!

[azhenhouse]

Quote:
She doesn't live with the Pekin drakes anymore. She is with us now, and I have a Crested drake that might still be too big for her. We will have to see once she is better, and I introduce her to the others.

So you and chikky mentioned frost bite, and I would have never thought that. Duh, we do live where it can get cold! However, our last super cold weather was probably February, and for sure in January. In January it dropped down to -18 where she is from, and -21 here. Could this be frost bite damage from back then? If so, would the anti-fungal cream be harming her recovery, and should she be on pain medicine? How well will her feet recover, and can she live a good quality of life with severely damaged feet? Thanks

 

[The Duck ABC's]

The fungal cream will not hurt her, if she had frost bite. It actually moisturizes the skin so it is a good thing. You can also get vitamin e for her feet. Either as a cream or as gelcaps you simply cut it open and apply directly to the skin. I have to say it does not really look like frost bite to me. Perhaps she had it and then the fungus got hold of it. I would continue the treatment and see what happens. Nutrition will probably take care of the other issues.

 

[azhenhouse]

The Duck ABC's :

The fungal cream will not hurt her, if she had frost bite. It actually moisturizes the skin so it is a good thing. You can also get vitamin e for her feet. Either as a cream or as gelcaps you simply cut it open and apply directly to the skin. I have to say it does not really look like frost bite to me. Perhaps she had it and then the fungus got hold of it. I would continue the treatment and see what happens. Nutrition will probably take care of the other issues.

Thanks, I will keep applying the cream. It does seem to be helping.​

 

[treldib]

Keep up with the meds and provide as much TLC as you can. The vitamins are a good idea as well...

 

[maralynn28]

I don't know anything, so haven't been posting but have been keeping an eye on this thread. I just wanted to say I'm glad things are improving for poor Mallerie!

 

[DurhamDuck]

Oh that poor baby!

I've never seen anything like that before. I hope your home-treatments work on her.

 

[Sweetfolly]

Quote:
She doesn't live with the Pekin drakes anymore. She is with us now, and I have a Crested drake that might still be too big for her. We will have to see once she is better, and I introduce her to the others.

So you and chikky mentioned frost bite, and I would have never thought that. Duh, we do live where it can get cold! However, our last super cold weather was probably February, and for sure in January. In January it dropped down to -18 where she is from, and -21 here. Could this be frost bite damage from back then? If so, would the anti-fungal cream be harming her recovery, and should she be on pain medicine? How well will her feet recover, and can she live a good quality of life with severely damaged feet? Thanks

I'd say that her feet are frostbite damaged - that's EXACTLY what it looks like. Yes, the damage is most likely from back in January and February - at first, it just turns black. Then after a few months, the black parts begin to peel off. The damaged tissue WILL NOT grow back, but what's left of the feet will look MUCH better once all the icky black parts are gone.

I have a Sebastopol goose named Lucy who kept staying outside in the snow this past winter when the temperatures were dipping really low (she's sort of a runt, so I wonder if bullying wasn't part of the issue) - she ws in a sheltered corner right next to the pen, and I piled some straw bales there, and put some straw on the ground for her, but her feet still ended up extremely frostbitten. I think the snow melted one day, her straw got wet, and then everything froze back up overnight, because it was all of the sudden. She ended up losing both outer toes on both feet and nearly all of the webbing. After the damaged tissue sloughed off, all she has left is the one middle toe and a bit of the webbing to either side of it on BOTH feet - so, her feet are V-shaped. I was worried I'd have to put her down, but she gets around perfectly fine! She can keep up with the other geese, get in and out of the pool, and she doesn't appear to be in any pain. In fact, she's still as sweet and curious as always, and still likes to follow me around the yard like a puppy!

Anyways, the point of that story - there may not be much left of her feet once the damaged tissue's gone, but she CAN live a good quality life with severely damaged feet - once everything is healed and she's out of pain. Anti-fungals and anti-biotics can't hurt in the meantime, in fact it could really help prevent any secondary infections. You're doing a great job with her!