Yet More Limping Duck Questions

[loofa]

Hi everyone,

Okay, I've spent some time reading through many threads on limping ducks. I don't see any sign of bumblefoot or injury, but one of my ducks is on day three of limping. I cannot telling from palpating her foot and leg where the pain is coming from. I'm putting liquid Durvet vitamins in her water, I've got her penned (which makes her so sad), and I just got some DMSO that I massaged into her foot and leg. I'm going to do an epsom salt soak on her in a bit. Here are my questions:

1. many threads regarding limping ducks have mentioned letting them have some water to sit in to take the pressure off their hurting leg/foot. Since it's not possible to stop a duck from drinking some of that water I figure I need to wait for the DMSO to absorb such that it doesn't come off of her in the water and then get consumed. Any thoughts on how long you would wait between putting DMSO on and letting them swim?

2. How often do you all like to reapply the DMSO on a hurting duck? I'm thinking of putting it on her before bed, then again in the morning about an hour before giving her water to swim in - but I'm just making this up without experience, so will listen to the words of the wiser.

3. Epsom salt soaks - warm water? cool water? I think I'll do the epsom salt soak before the next application of DMSO.

Anything else I might be missing in my care for her?

 

[loofa]

Also, for anyone else who might read this, I stupidly just applied the DMSO using my bare hands and then realized what I was doing. I know because I used to work in a health food store back when DMSO got popular in the 90s, that it's really dangerous stuff. I just wasn't thinking just now. But also realized that none of the threads here where I was reading about using it on ducks mentioned the potential dangers of it so I want to share with anyone who doesn't know much about DMSO.
DMSO will cause your skin to absorb anything touching it. For instance, nicotine can be absorbed right into your blood stream if say, you put DMSO on your skin right before or after rolling a cigarette or filling a pipe - this can be incredibly toxic. Likewise, we should probably make sure to wash out ducks before applying DMSO to them as any bacteria that might be on them can be absorbed into them. I really should have been wearing gloves just now when I applied it to my duck and I feel like an idiot because I know better.

 

[416bigbore]

I am currently using DMSO on two of our ducks who have a similar limp with no signs of bumble or open sores, Bad sprain I am thinking? The DMSO from TSC says it's 99% pure and not accepted for human use. So out of curiosity I looked up DMSO for human use and it was 99.99% pure and safe for humans

My question is this, is that .99% going to make that much of a difference if a person gets a little on their hands? If so, I am in big trouble then. I tried to use rubber gloves at first and after breaking the first two xxxl gloves trying to get them on my hands, I said the hell with it and applied the slimy gel to their legs and foot anyway.

I wash off their leg and foot first with mild soap and water, then dry them before I apply the gel. The gel seems to soak in quite quickly and dries shortly after. Then when we let them down they rush over to their pool to rinse the Human off them! LOL They don't like to be held and messed with.

 

[loofa]

In most cases DMSO will be safe, it's just that if you touch something toxic that it can transport into your body there is danger. I was aware of a few stories back in the day that made me leery of the stuff.

 

[Isaac 0]

I have read several articles stating its slight toxicity in humans, others use it regularly on there skin with no problems, so I don't know what to believe. I always do tend to apply it with gloves however to be on the safe side. It does seem most toxicity reports out there are related to intravenous or ingestion of the DMSO, not via dermal exposure.

1. many threads regarding limping ducks have mentioned letting them have some water to sit in to take the pressure off their hurting leg/foot. Since it's not possible to stop a duck from drinking some of that water I figure I need to wait for the DMSO to absorb such that it doesn't come off of her in the water and then get consumed. Any thoughts on how long you would wait between putting DMSO on and letting them swim?

2. How often do you all like to reapply the DMSO on a hurting duck? I'm thinking of putting it on her before bed, then again in the morning about an hour before giving her water to swim in - but I'm just making this up without experience, so will listen to the words of the wiser.

3. Epsom salt soaks - warm water? cool water? I think I'll do the epsom salt soak before the next application of DMSO.

Anything else I might be missing in my care for her?

To answer your questions,

I'm not to specific about it, I'll apply it on, and as long as its on for an hour or two I'm fine. I'll reapply it a couple times a day, usually once before night so it stays on longer without getting washed off.

I'd go with cool epsom salt water, the cold will better help reduce swelling or inflammation then warm water.

It;s sounds like you're doing the most you can for her, keep us posted!

 

[loofa]

Update: Paprika continued to limp badly despite being kept penned, DMSO, vitamin B and wading pool to cool her injury in - between covid and wildfires, it's been a rough time to try to take her to a vet. But then last week the air quality where I am got so bad from nearby fires that I had to bring all of my ducks inside (also wanted to keep it easy to round them up in case of evac) where I made a makeshift pen in a converted garage. With very little space to move around, her leg seems to have finally made significant healing progress. I just let them back outside today and she's barely limping. Will keep an eye on it but I think (fingers crossed) that she is over the healing hump.

 

[Isaac 0]

Thanks for the update, glad to hear she's doing better.