I figured that an update was in order, and I'm very sorry about not providing one earlier! (The schedule lately has been crazy!)
Flora initially showed some improvement, and seemed almost back to normal a couple of days after my last post. However, she took a sudden turn for the worse, so we...
Hello, and thanks for responding!
The Black MacDonald just had her nebulizer treatment. She was looking really bad on Sunday (I thought we were going to lose her), but rallied and seemed to be feeling a bit better. We are using the Oxine treatment and also treating her for gapeworms just in...
Our almost one-year-old Cayuga, Flora McDonald, has been coughing for about a week. We didn't think much of it at first (she had a weird little cough last year, that went away eventually), but the day before yesterday she started to have trouble breathing. Now her breathing is audible and more...
Wow, what an adventure your Mallard girl had! That's funny how she was able to intimidate the dog!
Fortunately, Magnolia can't fly that well (she is a tubby little Rouen, and not as aerodynamic as a Mallard or Call would be), and usually only does one lap around the house. But that last episode...
Update! The prolapse has receded completely today! Hopefully everything will stay in place. He seemed relatively chipper today, except when he was trying to contract his vent muscles. He was quite feisty this evening.
Bob is currently getting probiotics and apple cider vinegar in his food and...
Bob is looking better and better. He is still prolapsed, but at least the penis looks normal. He was very happy to be able to go outside today, and bathed vigorously. We gave him only one dose of Baytril today.
The swelling has continued to go down. Wow, 7.9 inches! I had no idea that a drake's penis was that long! I checked again tonight, and this time I was able to pull more out of the vent. It was too swollen before, and I didn't want to pull too hard anyway, so that is why I thought we had reached...
Bob seems to be doing better now. It looks like he was just trying to contract, after all, which is a relief. I finished giving him a soak a little while ago, and the swelling has gone down quite a bit, which indicates that the Baytril is doing its job.
The concern I have about amputating is...
Poor Bob seems to be struggling today. He is also shivering a bit, as if he is in pain, and panting. (We noticed some of the panting yesterday). He is trying to retract his penis and pumping his tail, so that is probably causing some of the discomfort. He did seem very miserable the day before...
Good news!
Bob is on his third shot (.1 ml.) of Baytril, and he's already showing signs of recovery. His penis is about half as swollen as it was before. Unfortunately, the tip might be drying out, hopefully it's only the outside.
The mighty alligator is suffering a side effect of Baytril...
Another delayed post, I'm sorry.
We tried contacting a couple of avian vets in the area. One is out of the office until next week, the other hasn't got back to me yet. I may end up skipping the vet route for Bob, at any rate.
I just can't believe how lively that little guy is. His prolapse looks...
I'm sorry about not posting an update yesterday, I got a little sidetracked.
We found an avian specialist relatively close to us, and we are thinking of taking the Alligator in maybe tomorrow or Thursday. I looked at his penis the other day and it looks too weird for me to handle. The swelling...
This evening, the swelling seems to have gone down a bit, but I'm not really sure. He seems to be in some discomfort, but he was active and lively otherwise.
Oh, man! I'm glad we have well-behaved drakes! I hope your snowy Mallard will treat the girls well.
At this point, I'm thinking we might wait at least until tomorrow to see if anything changes with Bob. If the tissue starts to die, then it will be less painful to amputate it. If it recedes...
I am beginning to wonder if he might have been pecked. Last night, we came out to find Flora the Cayuga a fluffy black-and-white ball of misery because she had been pecked near the eye, probably in a free-for-all over food. We put some eye drops in her eye, and she is now fine. Also, today, when...
Unfortunate update:
While he seemed to be doing splendidly for the last couple of weeks, poor Bobbie prolapsed again yesterday, and is now in the basement again (with Nelson and Magnolia for company, in another brooder). The prolapse looks horrible: it's very swollen, though there is no sign of...
My sister's entry:
This is Flora MacDonald, our spectacular heroine Cayuga. Her first act upon arriving home from the Post Office was to bite our young Toulouse gander, Antoine, on the bill, although he was many times her size. As a duckling a few days old, she fell asleep in my lap and she...
Still no sign of a relapse as of this evening. He was extra crabby, though. He kept alligatoring at us, stretching out his neck and opening his bill. So terrifying. I suppose he thinks that, now that he has conquered his infection, he can take on the world. But he seems happy to be back, and was...
I don't think he will, as he hasn't really been showing much interest in breeding behavior since this started. I'm glad he's doing so much better, though. He will probably be much happier outside.
Thanks again for all the help with this!