Sick duck, being treated for aspergillosis

[amyami]

Ok before anyone asks, yes she has been to the vet, yes she is on intraconazole, me and vet pretty sure it’s aspergillosis my question is is there anyone out there who has dealt with this? Is her struggle due to medication? I have never dealt with this before and she is breaking my heart. She has been on medication for two days and at night especially after I dose her, it’s like she can’t breath, she keeps her bill open and opens wide to catch her breath. The vet did xrays but it’s hard to tell what’s going on as all her organs are covered in this crap, couldn’t afford blood test but getting one next week, I’m just trying to get prepared if it’s cancer and I have to have my baby out down. If I know how other ducks act and this is more typical I might actually get some sleep. Thanks so much.;

 

[Miss Lydia]

Isn’t it brooder Pneumonia? That is why she’s having trouble breathing. How old and what breed?

 

[amyami]

Isn’t it brooder Pneumonia? That is why she’s having trouble breathing. How old and what breed?

She is a 2 year old crested. We treated for pneumonia never got better, so vet did an X-ray, she is covered all organs in a white mass, and she shows all symptoms of aspergillosis so we changed treatment I couldn’t afford blood test however I can this week, I’m just trying to keep her from wasting away as she can’t eat. What can I do? How can I help? Sugar water? Anything I cannot lose my girl.

 

[Duckworth]

Has your vet recommended tube feeding? Are you sure she is not aspirating the medication when you give it? When I was having to dose my ducks, I had to give the meds a couple of drops at a time into the corner of the bill to keep any of it from entering their windpipes. Other than that, I know nothing, but hope you are able to save your girl.

 

[amyami]

Has your vet recommended tube feeding? Are you sure she is not aspirating the medication when you give it? When I was having to dose my ducks, I had to give the meds a couple of drops at a time into the corner of the bill to keep any of it from entering their windpipes. Other than that, I know nothing, but hope you are able to save your girl.

I’m going to talk to the vet about the tube feeding on Monday if Birdie is still here, I gave her some sugar water down her throat, I’m hoping I’m getting it in the correct spot, I have no help, and it’s hard by myself, plus I stress her out and it’s worse. All I know is they told me to do it on the side so that’s what I do. Yesterday I gave my hand the dose verses her mouth lol, so I had to try again. I just pray I do it right, guess I’ll see soon enough.

 

[casportpony]

Would it be possible for you to take a video of her breathing, upload it to YouTube or Vimeo, then copy and paste the link here?

We treated for pneumonia

What antibiotics were prescribed?

 

[amyami]

Would it be possible for you to take a video of her breathing, upload it to YouTube or Vimeo, then copy and paste the link here?

What antibiotics were prescribed?

Yes I can but for the moment she is good breathing trying to sleep, but won’t be long till she has another fit. Her tail drops to the floor, she stands up, stretches neck and sounds like help as she is trying to catch her breath. We first did tylan powder, she got semi better, kept cough, so vet upped the dose and we tried again, didn’t respond so I had to give injections of naxcel, after a few days she was doing better, started eating but never got quack back and still sounded sick, so we did a chest X-ray, which she has a white mass covering her lungs and we can’t see heart because of it and since she shows all signs of aspergillosis we are treating with intraconidazol. She could still have cancer though , vet not sure, if she is still alive I’ll get her a blood test this Wednesday and we should know exactly what’s wrong. That’s if she is still here I got to figure out how to feed her no food since Friday she drinks water, no food

 

[amyami]

Oops not sure what I did wrong there I’ll post a video in a bit when she can’t breath, right now sounds like she is snoring

 

[Duckworth]

I know it’s really hard! I had three ducks survive being attacked by a predator several weeks ago and had to do the twice a day dosing for a couple of weeks. One of mine stopped eating, too, and lost a lot of weight. It’s nerve wracking and heartbreaking.

What worked for me was to prepare the medication in the oral syringe and set it up in the bathroom where my ducks were in the bathtub hospital. (I lined the tub with lots of newspaper and just kept layering more on as it got dirty, then rolled it up and bagged it when I cleaned. The thicker layers of damp paper were easier to manage.) I picked up each duck I turn and wrapped her in a large towel, then set her on the counter and held her like a football in/under my non dominant arm/hand. I wrapped the towel high up around the front of her neck, gently, so that it helped keep her steadier and restricted the amount of moving around. I think it was less traumatic for them to be wrapped in the towel because it kept their wings and feet close to their body and they fought less.

When I had them positioned, I picked up the oral syringe with my dominant hand and placed it at the corner of their bill, right where the bill meets the feathers. There is a little space there that is a bit softer and liquid inserted there will go into their mouth without having to get their bill open. I gave only a couple of drops at a time and waited a few seconds before trying the next drops, to give my duck a chance to swallow. If I couldn’t hear noises that suggested she was swallowing, I gently tipped her bill up slightly to encourage the liquid to go down. The duck’s windpipe is the big hole you see in the center of the back of the mouth when they open their bill. The liquid needs to go down the crevasses on either side of the windpipe to get to their stomach. That is why I gave only a couple of drops at a time. I didn’t want any medicine to enter the windpipe. It often took five minutes of giving a couple drops at a time to get the whole dose in.

Because the meds were crushed powder suspended in the liquid, I had to keep shaking it and even so, it would get clogged up in the syringe near the end of the dose because all of the liquid would be squeezed out and the powder remained. I kept a cup of water on the counter so I could draw a little more water into the syringe to dissolve the remaining powder and give it to my duck. My vet told me to do that to make sure she got all of the meds.

The towel really helped me keep my ducks feeling safe and secure. Use an old, large one, since your duck’s claws will snag it. Had I been able to lower the lighting somewhat, I would have, just to lower the stress for both of us.

You will get better and better at this each time you do it. If you feel calm, your duck will feel calmer. After a couple of weeks, I felt like an old pro, but up front, I was really worried and stressed out.

 

[Miss Lydia]

@casportpony can also dhow you how to tube feed she’s got great info.