Aspergillosis in an indoor pet duck?

[Chantillylace]

My petunia, an indoor duck who is 9 months old, has just been going through the ringer. Two weeks ago she stopped eating, this was a few days after she stopped laying eggs. We brought her to the vet, well two vets actually, and did every test under the sun, and all they found was an elevated blood count. We treated her for a week and left at the vet so they could force feed her. However a week later, we redid the blood test and it hasn’t changed at all. She was on baytril and flagyl. Now, the vet, a very well-known and well respected avian vet, thinks it might be aspergillosis. They also did a test for chlamydia, we’re still waiting on that one too. The aspergillosis test has been out for over two weeks and we still don’t have the results, so in the meantime they are treating her for it. However she’s not eating on her own style and we have to tube feed her. We have learned how to do this on our own luckily so now she’s home with us.

The vet doesn’t think it’s respiratory, and thinks it may be in her reproductive track, but can’t tell until she lays another egg, unless she operates.

Has anyone dealt with this in ducks before? And if it is not aspergillosis, do you have any suggestions on what it could be? Her only symptom is not eating she’s acting very normal. Everything started 3 days after her last egg. She lives free range in the house and sleeps in a huge dog kennel with pine pellets.

 

[azygous]

I read your post hours ago, and I decided to comment since no one else has yet.

I do not have ducks, although I have a neighbor who has a flock of them, so I understand about their basic needs. Your setup for your Princess Petunia appears to cater to all of her needs but one important one - a dish of water deep enough to get her whole head under water.

Please correct me if I'm wrong and she has access to a deep dish of water, but I am wondering if maybe this has contributed to her condition, not being able to wash her bill and flush everything thoroughly and regularly as ducks need to do.

I'm sorry Petunia is sick. I can see how much she is loved. I hope she gets better.

 

[Chantillylace]

Thank you, they vet did mention that so now she has a deep parrot bowl on the side.

I’m supposed to call the vet this morning to go over the asper panel.

BUT some good news, she is definitely turning a corner and was eating a little bit on her own and when flew around the house for the first time since she has been sick. I think after we tube feed her, she gets more energy to eat on her own. That, and the medication must be working.

 

[azygous]

That's terrific news! Hopefully, it's a trend and she's on the road to recovery.

Do you ever let her have frolic time in the bathtub? I bet that would perk her up.

 

[Chantillylace]

Yes, every day! She has her own jacuzzi tub! Even when she isn’t feeling well, she loves a bath.

 

[Chantillylace]

She does have asper, the panel from the university of Miami came back. She is on Sporanox for a month, and the vet thinks she will pull through! We have to use dry deck instead of pine pellets, and hopefully that will prevent it from happening again.

 

[azygous]

It's a relief to have a diagnosis so you know precisely what you're dealing with. You are fortunate so you are able to take measures to correct the things contributing to it.

Did the vet talk about relieving any possible breathing difficulties with a vaporizer? Peppermint oil is a natural anti-fungal and can help heal the aspirgilliosis as well as helping her to breathe better. Draping a towel over a dog crate and placing her inside with the vaporizer in front of the crate can make a good treatment setup.

I should have known she would have a jacuzzi! Princess, indeed!

 

[Chantillylace]

This is an interesting case of asper as she has NO breathing issues at all. The vet thinks the infection is elsewhere in her body. I guess that’s probably a good thing. She’s not wheezing or coughing or anything.

 

[MaxwellHouse]

NO breathing problems in duck with leg lameness was Aspergillus confirmed by necropsy.
Aspergillus can cause nervous symptoms, as the ONLY symptom, due to infecting the central nervous system. It can also cause leg lamenes with no other symptom. Aspergillus can still be the cause even if aspergillus panel is negative.

I am posting this comment as I sent lots of money and many hours of my limited disabled life without any help from this website or other poultry sites. For example, Mercks states
"Treatment and Control:
Treatment of affected birds is generally ineffective. Spontaneous recovery from pulmonary aspergillosis can occur if reexposure to the mold is prevented. Strict adherence to sanitation procedures in the hatchery minimizes early outbreaks."

THIS IS COMPLETELY FALSE. Treatment is effectice and spontaneous recovery does NOT occur even if there is not any reexposure. Keep in mind the mold is airborne and on everything such as dust on your table.

My indoor muscovy was without access or exposure to all the things you read on the internet that causes it such as wet shavings.

I took an indoor duck to the TV national geographic channel vet and was informed that he did NOT have Aspergillus based upon the University of Miami Aspergillus panel. I told her I still wanted to treat for fungal as he had been treated for months with every antibiotic made. She prescribed Diflucan (fluconazole) which does NOT treat Aspergillus.

Long story short if researching Aspergillus search pub med and other sources for human treatments not for poultry as there is a lack of accurate information.

My new vet, ABVP Certified Avian Veterinarian Daryl "Sam" Backos stated that many times the Aspergillus panel is NEGATIVE which is why he rarely orders it. Thankfully in your case is was positive. My duck did not receive proper treatment as the panel was negative but he did have aspergillosis.

My current duck, which is thankfully still living, is being treated with Vfend (Voriconazole) and nebulization and oxgygen.

If anyone has any questions I can provide necropsy (multiple ones) and other information which I have researched.

For example on one vet site it states:
"For cases where CNS penetration is desired, fluconazole is preferred over itraconazole for its ability to cross the blood-brain barrier."

However, the lastest and multiple case research states:
"All species of Aspergillus investigated so far are resistant against the antifungals fluconazole and 5-fluorocytosine."

Aspergillus can enter the egg membrane and grow with the growing baby.