Sick--Pekin--3.5 yrs old--HELP!!

[amdolphinlvr]

My girl is sick and I just don't know what to do.....she is a pekin roughly 3.5 years old....I feel like our vet is "guessing" what could be wrong with her and I feel like she is getting worse-not better. she has been seen by a vet but we believe they are just guessing what could be wrong with her. they have her on pimobendan (they are guessing heart disease) but we believe that medication might be causing her open mouth breathing to be worse? she has had an X-ray, negative fecal test, blood work--which showed one parameter that was outside the normal range was heterophiles. the percentage of heterophiles among the various types of WBC's was high...she has been tested for aspergillus but we do not know the results of that test yet. she is eating and pooping normally. I have noticed when she's in her house area that she lays with her neck stretched out. she coughs every so often and has had some sneezing. she is disabled (can't walk) so she is kept on the screened in porch area. they do have her on carprofen indefinitely for her disabled leg. at first he thought it was respiratory and had her on ciproflaxin but after 3-ish days it didn't seem to be helping. it seems like something is in her throat but that could be from the mouth breathing. the vet also did a sinus flush and only got out a little bit. does anyone have any ideas? I have been giving her some nutridrench in her water.

 

[Papaye]

Hi.

Some more details would be appreciated...
...and pictures of your girl, too, if possible - so we can see for ourselves if there is something wrong with her that you would have not noticed...

Trying to help here...!

My girl is sick and I just don't know what to do.....

• Since when has she been sick, exactly?

• Apart from her cough, her sneeze, and her neck stretching out : does she have other symptoms?

• Has the vet looked at her crop?

they do have her on carprofen indefinitely for her disabled leg.

• What do you mean by "disabled leg"?

• Since when has she had issue with her leg?

• Since when is she on Carprofen?

does anyone have any ideas?

Tell us EVERYTHING you can think about your girl, even if you think it is not necessary - it can only help.

• Do you have other ducks to keep your girl company?
If so, do they have any worrying symptom as well?

• Has she already been sick in the past?

• What do you use as her bedding?
And do you clean it regularly?

• What do you feed her?
And does she have an unlimited access to grit?

• Is her waterer big enough for her to plunge her head in the water...?

Etc...

 

[amdolphinlvr]

Hi.

Some more details would be appreciated...
...and pictures of your girl, too, if possible - so we can see for ourselves if there is something wrong with her that you would have not noticed...

Trying to help here...!



• Since when has she been sick, exactly? For about 3-ish weeks

• Apart from her cough, her sneeze, and her neck stretching out : does she have other symptoms? open mouth breathing

• Has the vet looked at her crop? I would assume so? He felt her neck and listened to her lungs.



• What do you mean by "disabled leg"? She had a bad limp when I found her and her 2 bones did not go back together like they should have. That leg sticks out to the side of her.

• Since when has she had issue with her leg? Since I found her--3-ish years ago.

• Since when is she on Carprofen? They started her on that October 1.



Tell us EVERYTHING you can think about your girl, even if you think it is not necessary - it can only help.

• Do you have other ducks to keep your girl company? Yes--2 other disabled girls

If so, do they have any worrying symptom as well? No

• Has she already been sick in the past? No except for her leg issue

• What do you use as her bedding? She has a soft cushion with a protective covering over it, a soft rug on top of that and a towel on top of that.....all for softness for her leg.
And do you clean it regularly? absolutely

• What do you feed her? mazuri waterfowl floating food
And does she have an unlimited access to grit? we do not give her grit since she hasnt laid an egg in over a year.

• Is her waterer big enough for her to plunge her head in the water...? definitely and she gets time in the bathtub or outside pool to swim/dunk her head and clean out her nose

Etc...it's almost like there is something stuck in her throat but the vet has looked down there---i guess it could be from the dry mouth causing her to do that way? i will send a video of her breathing as soon as my husband gets home. these are the notes from her vet appts--Pearl's CBC was mostly unremarkable. I say "mostly" because all parameters but one were within normal range. The one parameter that was outside the normal range was heterophils, the kind of white blood cell (WBC) that fight bacteria. The percentage of heterophils among the various types of WBCs was high. This could mean infection or stress. However, the way the WBS appeared ("morphology") was normal, not angry, or "toxic" like we usually see with infection. We saw Pearl for recheck, additional blood test (Aspergillus panel) and to start her on a heart medication (pimobendan). Based upon the results of her aspergillus test and response to pimobendan, we will know how to proceed.

 

[amdolphinlvr]

This is a video of her breathing. She does not do it all the time---mostly when she is stressed or gives out from scooting around. But she didnt start it until about 3 weeks ago.

 

[Jenbirdee]

I replied to your pm and will tag @Miss Lydia

 

[Miss Lydia]

This is a video of her breathing. She does not do it all the time---mostly when she is stressed or gives out from scooting around. But she didnt start it until about 3 weeks ago.

Bless her heart. They are guessing she has a heart condition? Or they know for sure?
I am going to tag @casportpony to me she is like an avian vet with her knowledge. She isn't one but she knows more than most of us.