My Pekin, “Goldie” Wife•Mother•Daughter Passed

[nolamimi504]

My name is Bridget, and I’ve posted on BYC many times and have ALWAYS been grateful for any and all advice I’ve received. If it’s advice you think a pet owner may not want to hear, that’s not me. Since she passed so suddenly before we even had the chance to bring her to the Emergency Vet @ LSU, it was an hour away. I took her from my husband’s arms when I returned from the store (1/2 hour maybe), so he could unload the front of the truck and we could go. When I left she wasn’t anywhere nearly as bad as when I returned home, I sat down holding Goldie like a baby with a blanket wrapped around her and was sitting there talking to her, telling her hold on we were taking her to the doctor, I apologized to her for needing to go to the store, thinking this was my fault cuz I was gone to long. Anyway, while I was holding her Friday night as my husband unloaded the truck, literally tossing the things in the door. She had a little convulsion and the a big seizure, after the seizure, she went limp. I google as fast as I could on DUCK CPR, and had my mouth covering her bill as I was blowing into her bill, and my husband walked in and saw; I told him wait I was trying to get her back and he told me she was gone and there’s was nothing we could do and wanted to take her, and I told him, I could maybe bring her back and he couldn’t have her. I knew she was gone also but just wanted to wrap her an hold her, which I did as I began sobbing. I didn’t know it hurt as much as when the family dog dies, friend or family member. I held her for about an hour apologizing and telling her I love her. My husband agreed to build her a box that we would bury, I wanted to have her stuffed as she was one of our 1st and our baby girl, she was the Diva of the yard and Queen of the flock. Ultimately, we buried her and my husband built her a nice little box; we had a little funeral, with a prayer and her 3 drakes-two of the kissed her, I think (each put their bill to hers). We’ve been trying to find out what could have killed her. She had been house bound because she was recovering from bumblefoot, not sure if that weakens the immune system or not…then I began reading about things that could go wrong with owning ducks and there was a brief article on algae. We live in Louisiana, where it’s HOT & HUMID (our summers are probably close to what hell feels like lol), we enjoy giving our ducks mud to play in daily and they have a certain spot, along the back fence, where we tend to spray the hose for them. We hadn’t needed to do that lately since it’s been storming for an entire week at a time, sometimes letting up during the day but returning in the late afternoon and evening. We had a huge area where algae began to develop, could this be what killed her? It’s an area where she and other ducks would frequently enjoy their mud fest, not along the back fence…I then began reading about how to get rid of algae and one thing many people agreed on was cinnamon, since it’s also a fungicide. Will using cinnamon harm the ducks? A friend who had the algae problem in her yard used cinnamon, wet the mud containing algae and cinnamon after letting it sit and then she used a mud rake to I guess help turn the dirt.
1. Could algae be a reason our dear Goldie died so suddenly?
2. Will using cinnamon on the algae harm our ducks?
I’ve attached pictures of the algae in our yard.

 

[KaleIAm]

I'm very sorry to hear about your precious Goldie. You loved her so much and it is so hard to lose our sweethearts. It's not your fault she passed away.

I don't know enough about algae to comment on that, but there are many reasons birds can pass suddenly. A necropsy is the best way to find out the reason, which doesn't help you now. But keep it in mind. I have had a necropsy performed by my vet for all my very loved ducks and it has helped provide closure and assist with my grief. You can also use a state lab, which can be less expensive.

 

[nolamimi504]

I'm very sorry to hear about your precious Goldie. You loved her so much and it is so hard to lose our sweethearts. It's not your fault she passed away.

I don't know enough about algae to comment on that, but there are many reasons birds can pass suddenly. A necropsy is the best way to find out the reason, which doesn't help you now. But keep it in mind. I have had a necropsy performed by my vet for all my very loved ducks and it has helped provide closure and assist with my grief. You can also use a state lab, which can be less expensive.

The vet we use for our beloved shih-tzu doesn’t see ducks; we would have to see the LSU School of Vet Medicine, it’s the one place where small & large farm animals and zoological animals can be seen, and the closest avian vet. May I ask what did your vet charge approximately for a necropsy? I know it’s too late to have one done probably since she’s been buried since Sunday morning.

 

[KaleIAm]

The vet we use for our beloved shih-tzu doesn’t see ducks; we would have to see the LSU School of Vet Medicine, it’s the one place where small & large farm animals and zoological animals can be seen, and the closest avian vet. May I ask what did your vet charge approximately for a necropsy? I know it’s too late to have one done probably since she’s been buried since Sunday morning.

My vet does them for free for existing patients - but I would absolutely pay for the procedure.

Often vets charge 50-150 for the necropsy procedure and then an optional additional up to 350 for sending tissue samples to the lab for analysis. Some vets send tissues in only if they suspect the specific organ is diseased, others just always send tissues in. My vet sends suspected diseased organs in and I happily pay extra for that. It has revealed good information.

I haven't used a state lab before, but I've heard that they charge about 35 and it varies by state. I am unaware if they charge more for testing tissues.

After passing the organs start to decompose and it can be difficult to tell what is diseased and what is just breaking down, so it is too late to have a necropsy for your sweet Goldie. If needed you can put a body in the fridge to slow decomposition until you can find a vet to do a necropsy.

I hope you start to feel better soon. I lost my favorite duck to cancer almost 7 weeks ago and I still cry almost everyday. I understand what you are going through.