should I pull this scab off?

[CoriM]

@Isaac 0 Thanks for the links Isaac. What dosage for cephalexin - I see 250 mg and 500. same for the ciprofloxacin. Do you think one is better than the other for bumblefoot?

 

[Isaac 0]

@Isaac 0 Thanks for the links Isaac. What dosage for cephalexin - I see 250 mg and 500. same for the ciprofloxacin. Do you think one is better than the other for bumblefoot?

That is up to you. Ciprofloxacin is part of the same family class as Enrofloxacin (Baytril) so it is a stronger type of antibiotic. Cephalexin is a bit milder, and safer as far as side effects, but it's used quite frequently in case's skin infections.

If she were mine, I might go with Cephalexin. The dose is 35-50mg/kg PO four times daily.
So, if she weighs around five pounds, and if we went with 40mg as a dose. You could dose as suggested,

5lbs=2.26kg. 2.26 x 40mg= 90.4mg four times a day.

If you get the 500mg pills, crush one tablet using a mortar and pestle, then mix the powder into 10ml of sterile water. The powder won't dissolve completely to its important you shake the container during the process for even distribution. After the powder is mixed in with the water, you'll be left with a solution that contains 50mg of cephalexin per ml. That said, you can give her 1.8ml of the solution four times a day.

 

[CoriM]

@issac O Thanks for the info. She is ten pounds, so I wonder if I could use a pill cutter and cut a 250 mg. in three parts and just dose her with a pill. I've had good success in the past getting a pill down over liquid. What do you think?

 

[Isaac 0]

@issac O Thanks for the info. She is ten pounds, so I wonder if I could use a pill cutter and cut a 250 mg. in three parts and just dose her with a pill. I've had good success in the past getting a pill down over liquid. What do you think?

If she weighs ten pounds, she would be getting around 180mg four times daily. If you want to split the pill up, and give it to her that route, I would suggest getting a milligram scale so you can accurately dose her. Just realize, that cephalxein pills are quite large, around the size of a tums.

 

[CoriM]

@isaac o - I just want to confirm dosage. You said 40 mg 4x a day for a 5 pound duck. My duck is ten so I thought splitting the 250 mg into three parts would be close to double that - 80 mg. But your last message said 180 mg 4xs a day. Can you confirm whether it would be 80 or 180 4xs a day?

 

[Isaac 0]

@isaac o - I just want to confirm dosage. You said 40 mg 4x a day for a 5 pound duck. My duck is ten so I thought splitting the 250 mg into three parts would be close to double that - 80 mg. But your last message said 180 mg 4xs a day. Can you confirm whether it would be 80 or 180 4xs a day?

When I said this,

" So, if she weighs around five pounds, and if we went with 40mg as a dose. "

I'm not implying that's the amount she should be getting, that's simply the dose I'm choosing to base off of. So using the 40mg/kg dose, she would be getting 180mg four times daily orally if she weighs ten pounds.

 

[CoriM]

When I said this,

" So, if she weighs around five pounds, and if we went with 40mg as a dose. "

I'm not implying that's the amount she should be getting, that's simply the dose I'm choosing to base off of. So using the 40mg/kg dose, she would be getting 180mg four times daily orally if she weighs ten pounds.

Got it, thanks.

 

[KaleIAm]

@KaleIAm Thanks Kale - so generous! Sorry, I'm just seeing your message now. I'll pull the bandage off this afternoon and take a look and a photo before I put a new one on. I'll order the fish antibiotics just in case but if it seems bad maybe I'll take you up on your offer of meds. I also have a neoprene booty but I ordered a size too large and she was tripping on it. The bandage I placed seemed to stay pretty well.

It's my pleasure, anything to to help a duck! I have plenty of extra so I am very happy to share. We can bring it to you, or leave it on my porch and you can pick it up anytime - I'll be home after 5 today. If she is limping she is probably in pain and it will help her. But totally your call. I know how stressful giving meds is.

I also have a bunch of extra 6 duck egg clear cartons I don't need anymore. Would you like those?

Have we talked about their environment and bumblefoot prevention? I used to get recurring bumbles, but I asked my vet how I could prevent them and she recommended I make changes to their substrate and aviary. I did and haven't had bumbles for years!

Ultimately everything my vet recommended had to do with getting their feet on softer surfaces. I had pine or aspen wood shavings in their barn room and my vet told me to switch to a very thick layer (minimum 4 inch) of hay or straw. I felt that the shavings were soft, as I used to hang out with them in there quite often, but she assured me that to small feet it was like standing on a hard board for many hours for days on end. For outside she told me to remove all rocks, boards and gravel from their aviary and only have dirt or grass. I was pretty sure she was delusional and it wasn't going to work, but decided since I was paying her thousands of dollars I might as well do what she said. It worked! It was inconvenient switching everything, but a lot nicer than dealing with repeated bumbles.

If I've already told you this stuff, sorry!

 

[CoriM]

I just changed the bandage after close to 48 hours. I dabbed with some colorless iodine and triple antibiotic and rebandaged. The part where I pulled the center of the scab out looked good, (sorry, a tiny bit of bandage stuck and is in the way) but there is still scab to edge obviously. I assume I will need to go in again and get that out, but not sure when I should do that.

 

[CoriM]

@KaleIAm Thanks again for your generous offer. I ordered the fish antibiotics. Do you think I should also try your meds along with that? I would be happy to pick it up from you.

Regarding substrate, arghhhh! I started with straw, some shavings mixed in, and river rock pebbles around the pond area. When I got my first bumble I freaked out and took out the pebbles and put in sand around the pond. That was a disaster. It was constantly wet, wouldn't drain, and so hard with poop. You would literally have to scoop the poop off the top of it several times a day, replacing the sand constantly. I got some more bumbles so figured maybe it wasn't the pebbles after all and I put them back and it's way easier to keep clean as I can easily hose them off several times a day. I switched to wood shavings in their sleeping area because it became so hard to scoop poop out of straw. It's an area much smaller than yours, so I clean it every morning. And, the last time I got straw at the beginning of summer, it was the coarsest straw I'd ever seen. Huge long pieces and sharp. I wouldn't even put it in their coop and stuck it in my garden instead. It's hit or miss with the straw, which I get from the Issaquah Grange. Sometimes it's soft and like a more chopped straw, which is awesome, but there's no way of knowing what type you're going to get when you buy it there. And putting straw right up to the edge of the pond was so messy also as it got so wet and they were constantly getting it in the water. That's how I've arrived at river rock and wood shavings, which I thought lots of people use for their ducks. My ducks do go out a couple times a day and also walk on soft grass and also regular wood chips, which they love to dig in and I can't keep them out of since they're all over my property. I will have to think on this issue as I HATE dealing with bumblefoot. Where do you get your straw?