Pekin not eating

[NewAtThis8]

Hey everyone, I have a Pekin who battles septic arthritis/chronic joint infections (this will be his 3rd). He has had such a good run infection free and moving around well, but Thursday he stopped walking and a visit to the vet and X-rays showed tendonitis in his bad leg, and a possible infection which i think is what had him down. We did a joint tap and waiting for culture but started him on doxycycline right away. Also bumped his tramadol dose up from 25mg to 50mg. He has not eaten. He may try to get a few mealworms but really, he’s got no appetite. This has happened before but usually he gets back after on antibiotics. He’s been on them for almost 48 hours and his appetite hasn’t returned. I have been giving him electrolyte water and also gave rooster booster b12 supplement. Today i got desperate and tried to syringe feed him watered down food, 3ml at a time. I’m worried I’m going to cause damage to his throat pushing so many meds into him. He also was indoors while he recovered a bit from Thursday to today, and he sounded stuffy/like his nares needed to be cleared out and I worried that he aspirated his meds, but outside that’s gone away. I really don’t know what else to do, I really want to help him get through this but I’m starting to lose hope. Any suggestions would be welcome.

 

[Jenbirdee]

Hey everyone, I have a Pekin who battles septic arthritis/chronic joint infections (this will be his 3rd). He has had such a good run infection free and moving around well, but Thursday he stopped walking and a visit to the vet and X-rays showed tendonitis in his bad leg, and a possible infection which i think is what had him down. We did a joint tap and waiting for culture but started him on doxycycline right away. Also bumped his tramadol dose up from 25mg to 50mg. He has not eaten. He may try to get a few mealworms but really, he’s got no appetite. This has happened before but usually he gets back after on antibiotics. He’s been on them for almost 48 hours and his appetite hasn’t returned. I have been giving him electrolyte water and also gave rooster booster b12 supplement. Today i got desperate and tried to syringe feed him watered down food, 3ml at a time. I’m worried I’m going to cause damage to his throat pushing so many meds into him. He also was indoors while he recovered a bit from Thursday to today, and he sounded stuffy/like his nares needed to be cleared out and I worried that he aspirated his meds, but outside that’s gone away. I really don’t know what else to do, I really want to help him get through this but I’m starting to lose hope. Any suggestions would be welcome.

i’m sorry you and your ducks are going through this. You can learn to tube feed him, i was afraid at first but I leaned and now it’s easy. also there is a good article about how to give meds without aspiration. i’ll post them below and info on tube feeding. it’s important that he eats because with no food they can go down quickly. I bought Kaytee baby bird food for tube feeding but you can use any duck or poultry feed that you make it into a mash (add lots of water) Also I used a piece of tubing from an oxygen supply machine , and softened the end slightly by using heat (a lighter, carefully) hang on Ill get the links

 

[Jenbirdee]

https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...dications-to-all-poultry-and-waterfowl.73335/

 

[Jenbirdee]

 

[NewAtThis8]

https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...dications-to-all-poultry-and-waterfowl.73335/

Thank you so much! I got him to eat some blueberries and mealworms this evening which was a relief- before this, I went to check on him and he had stringy clear mucous coming out of his mouth. It cleared up in a warm bath and him clearing out his nares a bit. I’m terrified to give him his medicine tonight in case in the reason this happened either by the syringe feedings or the liquid meds. He’s gotten pills (meloxicam and tramadol) twice a day for a year and that’s been fine but liquids are another story… this will definitely help! Thanks again

 

[Jenbirdee]

one more video- this one is me , tube feeding a duck by myself ( no helper) and not kneeling ( i can’t kneel - bad knees)

you can do it!

 

[NewAtThis8]

one more video- this one is me , tube feeding a duck by myself ( no helper) and not kneeling ( i can’t kneel - bad knees)

you can do it!

Back with some more questions/concerns:
He did pretty well overnight and ate a blueberry or two from me this am. He’s been sleeping inside while he’s being treated with antibiotics, recovering, and it being so cold out. I did move him outside for the day with the rest of the flock (separated by a mesh gate). He drank some water and moved around some. But when I went to bring him in he seemed weak. I put him in a bath to swim like I always do, so he could exercise his legs. He didn’t really have a ton of interest in swimming, just floated and didn’t have any interest at all in treats. When i got him out of the bath and into my warm office, he started breathing heavily (not panting) and hasn’t stopped. He seems really weak today. Did i make it too hot in the room (80 degrees so he could dry)? Is his body just failing due to the infection and lack of food (going on 5 days… I have to wait for shipping on tube feeding supplies). The vet also asked me to double his dose of tramadol (50mg twice a day vs 25) - and I believe that’s contributing to his lethargy and lack of appetite (paired with the antibiotics). I am at such a loss of what to do for him now.

 

[Yardmom]

The heat may very likely be making it hard for him to breath. His feathers should be keeping moisture from his skin. No need for extra heat.

 

[NewAtThis8]

The heat may very likely be making it hard for him to breath. His feathers should be keeping moisture from his skin. No need for extra heat.

Thank you- I’ve turned it down and hope that he regulates, I have him sipping electrolyte water. The more I Google (bad, bad to do when you’re this stressed out) the more I think the issues are stemming from the tramadol. We tried once to bump him up to the full dose (50mg) and he was really sedated and I immediately went back to the 25mg and he’s been on that for a year. I’m going to try to scale back again, but I’m worried that I’ve overdosed him on this 50mg for 3.5 days. He did so well yesterday and then today, this

 

[Jenbirdee]

Thank you- I’ve turned it down and hope that he regulates, I have him sipping electrolyte water. The more I Google (bad, bad to do when you’re this stressed out) the more I think the issues are stemming from the tramadol. We tried once to bump him up to the full dose (50mg) and he was really sedated and I immediately went back to the 25mg and he’s been on that for a year. I’m going to try to scale back again, but I’m worried that I’ve overdosed him on this 50mg for 3.5 days. He did so well yesterday and then today, this

it’s a process of discovery, we go through trial and error, learning all the time as we do the best we can for our beloved pets, I know. I went through 10 months of different treatments for a duck with aspergillosis and when i was finally able to get her the medicine she needed, it was too late. your sweet duck knows you love him and are trying to help.
i didn’t even know waterfowl could take tramadol, i used to take it years ago and got addicted for a while. it really works well though. what kind of damage do you think it can cause? i think in people it can affect the kidneys or the liver?