Very sick (dying?) Pekin with peritonitis & pneumonia -- crop full/stuck?

[turtlefrog2]

My 2-year-old Pekin duck Cotton developed peritonitis, apparently from internal laying, while I was busy caring for a family medical emergency for a week. Then she stopped walking so I took her to the vet yesterday where they told me she also had a lung infection. She was also pretty underweight and felt bony and thin to me.

They said she doing very poorly and was a candidate for euthanasia but said I could try antibiotics & warm baths for a few days (to help her expel stuff) and see what happens. I have done that and she still looks very bad but on the other hand she still eats and just now even tried to groom herself after I took her out of the tub, reaching for her oil gland which she could not do yesterday. She has been pooping out big clumps of green & white stuff in the tub several times a day. She still cannot stand or walk, only scoot herself along with her wings.

I thought she was starting to die this evening, as I could her her breath rattling and she was opening her bill trying to breathe. However I then realized that she seems to have one of the peas (her favorite treat) I gave her sometime today stuck in her mouth somehow (there's a pea-sized bump at the base of the lower bill) and she keeps trying to straighten her neck out as if she is choking. That could just be related to her not being able to breathe though from the infection? I also realized that her crop seems to be sort of full? right after I fed her some more dried mealworms which she still ate with reasonable gusto. I am not sure though as this is the first time I have ever felt it. She has not eaten that much today either.

I don't know what to do. The vet said she would stop eating and drinking when she was dying but she still wants to do both. I tried to get her bill open to get the pea out but I couldn't do it and I didn't want to torture her anymore trying. It's night so there's no vet to take her to. Should I just leave her be and see if she's still with us in the morning?

 

[Miss Lydia]

@turtlefrog2 how is your duck this morning?

 

[Daphne_loves_mealworms]

My 2-year-old Pekin duck Cotton developed peritonitis, apparently from internal laying, while I was busy caring for a family medical emergency for a week. Then she stopped walking so I took her to the vet yesterday where they told me she also had a lung infection. She was also pretty underweight and felt bony and thin to me.

They said she doing very poorly and was a candidate for euthanasia but said I could try antibiotics & warm baths for a few days (to help her expel stuff) and see what happens. I have done that and she still looks very bad but on the other hand she still eats and just now even tried to groom herself after I took her out of the tub, reaching for her oil gland which she could not do yesterday. She has been pooping out big clumps of green & white stuff in the tub several times a day. She still cannot stand or walk, only scoot herself along with her wings.

I thought she was starting to die this evening, as I could her her breath rattling and she was opening her bill trying to breathe. However I then realized that she seems to have one of the peas (her favorite treat) I gave her sometime today stuck in her mouth somehow (there's a pea-sized bump at the base of the lower bill) and she keeps trying to straighten her neck out as if she is choking. That could just be related to her not being able to breathe though from the infection? I also realized that her crop seems to be sort of full? right after I fed her some more dried mealworms which she still ate with reasonable gusto. I am not sure though as this is the first time I have ever felt it. She has not eaten that much today either.

I don't know what to do. The vet said she would stop eating and drinking when she was dying but she still wants to do both. I tried to get her bill open to get the pea out but I couldn't do it and I didn't want to torture her anymore trying. It's night so there's no vet to take her to. Should I just leave her be and see if she's still with us in the morning?

Thinking of you and your poor sweet duck. I hope she is feeling better today!