vet is mystified - antibiotic advice for lump on foot

[CoriM]

My duck developed a sudden lump on her middle toe joint about a month ago - no puncture wound or bumblefoot infection. I was able to get her to the vet a week after discovering the lump. We did an x-ray and a blood draw. White blood counts were only on the high side of normal, and x-ray showed a lot of inflammation but nothing else. For two weeks she was on Clavamox and Celecoxib and I didn't see any real change, other than that she was no longer favoring the foot and running around as normal. She was then off antibiotics for a week and then a week ago we started Trimeth Sulfa. Her foot appears unchanged - maybe a tiny bit bigger than it was the first round of antibiotics. I will keep her on this new one for a few more days, but the vet said if there's no improvement I should go off it after 10-14 days. I'm wondering whether I should try another antibiotic, or not. I'm concerned about exposing her little system to so many antibiotics! I have Baytril and Doxy as options. I have a re-check appointment at the vet for end of this coming week, but I don't know if there's any point in going as he has no idea what the problem is and everytime I go it ends up being a few hundred dollars. Attaching the x-ray and a photo of her foot.

 

[Eggcessive]

Does it feel hard or soft? Is there any break in the skin? Could it be a tumor or fatty tumor (lipoma?) I would be reluctant to try any more antibiotics, since the ones you have used already are good for skin infections. I would suggest giving probiotics for the next couple of weeks to help get her gut bacteria back to normal. There are duck shoes available for her to wear to pad the foot. Hopefully it will go down. Here are some duck hotties, and you can do a search for more or make your own:
https://www.amazon.com/Chicken-Bootie-Standard-Chickens-•-Leopard/dp/B0841L3419?th=1

 

[CoriM]

It's actually kind of medium, not super hard or soft. I had her foot wrapped for the first few days, but the vet said it wasn't necessary, and she runs around on it now like it's not bothering her. There's no break at all in the skin. I had checked all my ducks feet for bumble within 5 or 6 days of discovering the lump, so I feel like it came on fairly sudden - one day I just saw her pulling up her foot.

If it was lipoma, would that have shown as a distinct blob on the x-ray?

Okay, thanks for the advice on the antibiotic. That's kind of what my gut (no pun intended!) is saying - they don't seem to be making any difference. I have probiotics, so I'll get those going. I have a little bit of the celecoxib left, which is for arthritic inflammation, and I've considered trying that alone just to see - because it's definitely more swollen than it was when we were doing that and the first antibiotic.

Thanks for the feedback!

 

[CoriM]

She's a very young duck - just turned one, and the vet said she's in excellent health otherwise....

 

[ruthhope]

It's actually kind of medium, not super hard or soft. I had her foot wrapped for the first few days, but the vet said it wasn't necessary, and she runs around on it now like it's not bothering her. There's no break at all in the skin. I had checked all my ducks feet for bumble within 5 or 6 days of discovering the lump, so I feel like it came on fairly sudden - one day I just saw her pulling up her foot.

If it was lipoma, would that have shown as a distinct blob on the x-ray?

Okay, thanks for the advice on the antibiotic. That's kind of what my gut (no pun intended!) is saying - they don't seem to be making any difference. I have probiotics, so I'll get those going. I have a little bit of the celecoxib left, which is for arthritic inflammation, and I've considered trying that alone just to see - because it's definitely more swollen than it was when we were doing that and the first antibiotic.

Thanks for the feedback!

I think you have 2 threads running on this issue

I think you should not use more antibiotic as the white cell count didn't indicate and infection and the duck hasn't improved on antibiotics
Rather than go back to a vet that doesn't know what is going on -- I would have thought the history, examination and that X Ray should be enough to "have a clue", you might try an online vet. I think it would be cheaper than seeing a vet in person

https://vetster.com/

 

[ruthhope]

Also if its not bothering her, and vets are too expensive, you might wait and see. The swelling isn't causing any bone destruction on the Xray and I don't think it is in the joint.

 

[CoriM]

Thanks - yeah I did post two threads, one in duck and one in emergencies - just trying to catch anyone with some medical thought on the antibiotics, and also looking for similar experiences with ducks. Sorry to be confusing! I will hold off on more antibiotics for now!

 

[Eggcessive]

It's actually kind of medium, not super hard or soft. I had her foot wrapped for the first few days, but the vet said it wasn't necessary, and she runs around on it now like it's not bothering her. There's no break at all in the skin. I had checked all my ducks feet for bumble within 5 or 6 days of discovering the lump, so I feel like it came on fairly sudden - one day I just saw her pulling up her foot.

If it was lipoma, would that have shown as a distinct blob on the x-ray?

Okay, thanks for the advice on the antibiotic. That's kind of what my gut (no pun intended!) is saying - they don't seem to be making any difference. I have probiotics, so I'll get those going. I have a little bit of the celecoxib left, which is for arthritic inflammation, and I've considered trying that alone just to see - because it's definitely more swollen than it was when we were doing that and the first antibiotic.

Thanks for the feedback!

A lipoma is a common benign fatty tumor. This xray of a human finger shows a lipoma on the middle finger:
https://radiopaedia.org/cases/lipoma-of-middle-finger

 

[CoriM]

@Eggcessive Wow, that's interesting - it could totally be that. In which case there's really nothing to do, right? Maybe it will go away eventually?

 

[Eggcessive]

I would just wait and see if it grows or gets smaller. The padded boot may help to keep it from causing a sore. It is was a malignant tumor, there isn’t much you could do anyway short of amputation. Let us know how she gets along.