- Apr 24, 2013
- 48
- 1
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Long time lurker first time poster and this will be long, my apologies. We have already been to the vet but I feel something is still not right and want the opinion of people I feel may be more experienced here.
We bought 6 pekins that arrived 2/20, everyone is happy and healthy but 1. We've had ducks for years and this is the first time we added pekins to our flock... never again! I love them but their legs just can't handle that much weight so quickly, seriously makes me a wreck worrying about it.
So here's the deal. One of the ducks, a female pekin named Ducktor (Doctor Who theme) was limping at the end of March, I think the 27th and she was just a little over 1 month old. I brought her inside so she could get special care. She stays in my bathtub which allows me to keep things very clean and give her between 4-6 baths a day. She seemed to be doing better so I assumed the sprained it or something she also seemed to have some heavier breating but again it never got worse. Days passed and still no difference, she wasn't worse but she wasn't better which by then I felt I should be seeing more of an improvement. Still though she was bright, alert, happy, and eating and drinking like a pig and pooping just fine so I kept doing what I was doing and watching for anything else. 2 weeks later she was still lame and it appeared that the hock was not just swollen looking but really really hot so at that point I felt infection. She was also starting to have issues bearing weight on the good leg which I felt may have been due to the strain from not using the other leg. Again though she was still alert and all just the hock was now extremely hot to the touch. I called the local avian vet but it would be almost another week befor they could fit me in. She was still eating, drinking, and pooping normally and still as happy as could be. I was also adding supplements to her water while she was in the house as well in case of niacin or any other deficiency. She had by this point developed a sore on her hock, I'm not sure if it was due to the infection or because she was basically walking on her hocks. I tried to keep her as softly bedded as possible but she was constantly moving around and ending up on the harder surfaces.
By the time I brought her in her personality and all was still the same but now she was barely moving and using her head to help her get around. Kind of looked neurological but wasn't, although she seemed to get her head too far under her at times and not be able to pull it back out. I monitor her closely so I was able to help when that happened but still not fun to see her doing that. The night before the visit the wound on her hock opening up and it was confirmed infection at that point. I brought her to the vet who said septic arthritis and that she wanted to admit her into their hospital so she could flush the joint and monitor her for a few days. They gave me an estimate for 3-5 days but said it would most likely be 1-2. Well I find out 5 days later while she is still at their hospital that they never flushed her joints and they've only been giving her a bath 1 time a day! They say the wound has gotten bigger and draining which draining is good but it never should have gotten bigger if they had been bedding her properly and giving her more water time.
7 days later (this past Monday) they tell me she's doing much better and I can come and pick her up. I get there to find nothing has changed and on top of it she was way too dirty to have felt that they were keeping her wound clean. To say I was livid is putting it nicely but by that point I just wanted to get her home and in better care. They were injecting her with SMZs for the infection and Rimadyl for the pain. The sent me home with oral smz and rimadyl to continue dosing.
So right now she is 2 months old, can barely walk, the heat is mostly gone from her hocks but now both of them have scabs. The left one is the one that is larger and the original problem leg, the right one just has a small scab. She seems to hold the left leg weird, like she is keeping her toes closed, pics below. She is still bright, alert, happy, eating, drinking, pooping (sorry forgot to mention that it is sometimes green and there is nothing extra than her feed and supplements that should be doing that) she still loves her bath time although again I have to watch her closely because once the water starts draining and her feet start touching the floor, she puts her head under her to try and move but ends up stuck with her beak under water. So I stay in there until the tub is completely empty to make sure she is ok. She can move both legs in the water which is a good sign but I feel like we are not making progress and at this point she should be better. I also made her a wheelchair sling to get her off of her hocks and while she seems to be comfortable in it she has to be watched closely because she does try to move too much and it's not meant to really be a walking device, just a relief for her joints. When she is not in the sling she is either in the water or on her memory foam mattress which she really loves.
I am still giving her meds but I do not feel that the dosage is right for the SMZ. For the Rimadyl she gets .5 ml of the 75mg one time day. The SMZ she only gets .02. yes, .02 which I feel is barely anything. So I am posting here in hopes that someone may have other thoughts because honestly if I have to bring her back to the vet it is going to be for euth. I love this duck, she's very sweet and has always been very personable and fun (see profile pic) so I wanted to give her more of a chance but with my husband on lay off right now and them holding her hostage for a week of halfassed care I have nothing left to spend on anything major. I am posting a bunch of pics and hoping someone here can offer another suggestion. I know she is still battling an infection but at only 2 months old I feel like even if we get her better from that she may never walk again. I am okay with that as I would still provide for her like I am now but really she should have been showing improvement by now. Thanks in advance for any help!
We bought 6 pekins that arrived 2/20, everyone is happy and healthy but 1. We've had ducks for years and this is the first time we added pekins to our flock... never again! I love them but their legs just can't handle that much weight so quickly, seriously makes me a wreck worrying about it.
So here's the deal. One of the ducks, a female pekin named Ducktor (Doctor Who theme) was limping at the end of March, I think the 27th and she was just a little over 1 month old. I brought her inside so she could get special care. She stays in my bathtub which allows me to keep things very clean and give her between 4-6 baths a day. She seemed to be doing better so I assumed the sprained it or something she also seemed to have some heavier breating but again it never got worse. Days passed and still no difference, she wasn't worse but she wasn't better which by then I felt I should be seeing more of an improvement. Still though she was bright, alert, happy, and eating and drinking like a pig and pooping just fine so I kept doing what I was doing and watching for anything else. 2 weeks later she was still lame and it appeared that the hock was not just swollen looking but really really hot so at that point I felt infection. She was also starting to have issues bearing weight on the good leg which I felt may have been due to the strain from not using the other leg. Again though she was still alert and all just the hock was now extremely hot to the touch. I called the local avian vet but it would be almost another week befor they could fit me in. She was still eating, drinking, and pooping normally and still as happy as could be. I was also adding supplements to her water while she was in the house as well in case of niacin or any other deficiency. She had by this point developed a sore on her hock, I'm not sure if it was due to the infection or because she was basically walking on her hocks. I tried to keep her as softly bedded as possible but she was constantly moving around and ending up on the harder surfaces.
By the time I brought her in her personality and all was still the same but now she was barely moving and using her head to help her get around. Kind of looked neurological but wasn't, although she seemed to get her head too far under her at times and not be able to pull it back out. I monitor her closely so I was able to help when that happened but still not fun to see her doing that. The night before the visit the wound on her hock opening up and it was confirmed infection at that point. I brought her to the vet who said septic arthritis and that she wanted to admit her into their hospital so she could flush the joint and monitor her for a few days. They gave me an estimate for 3-5 days but said it would most likely be 1-2. Well I find out 5 days later while she is still at their hospital that they never flushed her joints and they've only been giving her a bath 1 time a day! They say the wound has gotten bigger and draining which draining is good but it never should have gotten bigger if they had been bedding her properly and giving her more water time.
7 days later (this past Monday) they tell me she's doing much better and I can come and pick her up. I get there to find nothing has changed and on top of it she was way too dirty to have felt that they were keeping her wound clean. To say I was livid is putting it nicely but by that point I just wanted to get her home and in better care. They were injecting her with SMZs for the infection and Rimadyl for the pain. The sent me home with oral smz and rimadyl to continue dosing.
So right now she is 2 months old, can barely walk, the heat is mostly gone from her hocks but now both of them have scabs. The left one is the one that is larger and the original problem leg, the right one just has a small scab. She seems to hold the left leg weird, like she is keeping her toes closed, pics below. She is still bright, alert, happy, eating, drinking, pooping (sorry forgot to mention that it is sometimes green and there is nothing extra than her feed and supplements that should be doing that) she still loves her bath time although again I have to watch her closely because once the water starts draining and her feet start touching the floor, she puts her head under her to try and move but ends up stuck with her beak under water. So I stay in there until the tub is completely empty to make sure she is ok. She can move both legs in the water which is a good sign but I feel like we are not making progress and at this point she should be better. I also made her a wheelchair sling to get her off of her hocks and while she seems to be comfortable in it she has to be watched closely because she does try to move too much and it's not meant to really be a walking device, just a relief for her joints. When she is not in the sling she is either in the water or on her memory foam mattress which she really loves.
I am still giving her meds but I do not feel that the dosage is right for the SMZ. For the Rimadyl she gets .5 ml of the 75mg one time day. The SMZ she only gets .02. yes, .02 which I feel is barely anything. So I am posting here in hopes that someone may have other thoughts because honestly if I have to bring her back to the vet it is going to be for euth. I love this duck, she's very sweet and has always been very personable and fun (see profile pic) so I wanted to give her more of a chance but with my husband on lay off right now and them holding her hostage for a week of halfassed care I have nothing left to spend on anything major. I am posting a bunch of pics and hoping someone here can offer another suggestion. I know she is still battling an infection but at only 2 months old I feel like even if we get her better from that she may never walk again. I am okay with that as I would still provide for her like I am now but really she should have been showing improvement by now. Thanks in advance for any help!
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