Gracie The Goose - Treatment Advice Welcome

[TAWhatley]

My heart is breaking for this poor goose. I cannot believe the incredible
pain she must have been in and for so very long before she got rescued
today. I see lots of horrible things, but I cried over this one. Any advice
as to treatment will be most welcome.

I plan to put her on an aggressive course of antibiotics, give her pain
meds, and soak that horrific foot several times a day.

DO NOT LOOK if you are squeamish or shed tears easily.

http://www.rims.net/GracieTheGoose

Terry

[Trees Gray]

Terry,

OMG! Poor sweet baby, I feel so bad for her.

I can see why you cried, she must be in terrific pain, yet she has such a sweet face.

I'm all for giving her pain meds and soaking the foot...and I'm sure alot of good nutrition will help. I myself can't recommend anything as I have never seen something so horrible.

I'm sure she is welcoming your loving care!

[pigeonmama]

Terry,
Is that bumble foot? If it is, it's the worst case of it I've ever seen. Had a duck with bumble foot ages ago. Vet opened it up, cleaned out the mess, and I would flush it out with betadine and antibiotic solution twice a day, kept foot clean and dry, and it healed up just fine. I hope all turns out well for Gracie.
Daryl

[feralpigeon]

Hi Terry,

What a very sweet face Gracie has, and just think, with all the pain she must be in. That's also pretty ugly on the underside as well....if this is bumblefoot, won't it require some surgery as Daryl mentioned? What antibiotic will you use for it as well? I know that you are welcoming suggestions on treatment, I also know that you work w/a vet, I do think I'd bring this one in for a consultation.
I would think the soaks would give her some relief until the antibiotics kick in and help to bring some of the inflamation down. Bless you for taking her in and helping her, she probably thinks she's in nirvana.

fp

[TAWhatley]

Thanks, ladies, for the replies. Yes, Gracie is DEFINITELY going to the vet tomorrow. I suspect that this all started out as fishing line entanglement as she came from the Santa Fe Dam in Irwindale which gets a lot of fisher people. I could find no remnants of fishing line, but I'd just about bet that line constricted the foot and especially the middle toe, which eventually either fell off or rotted off. Once this foot became so sore and infected, it would have caused the goose to walk differently putting pressure on different parts of the foot .. thus bumblefoot too .. and arthritis likely also.

Yes, lancing and draining of bumblefoot in extreme cases is usually done .. I'll keep you posted ..

I'm not prone to crying over my incoming cases, but this one just really got to me as Gracie had to have been left in an ever worsening condition for months on end until Diane (the rescuer) saw her and decided to take action. No doubt, hundreds, if not thousands of people saw her and did nothing ..

Terry

[TAWhatley]

Originally Posted by feralpigeon

Bless you for taking her in and helping her, she probably thinks she's in nirvana.

fp

Actually .. she hates my guts at the moment Hopefully she will become less fearful and more amenable to my "attentions" as time goes on .. this is gonna be a really, really, really long rehab ..

Terry

[feralpigeon]

Well, you know the reports on, umm, the fickleness thing..... DD couldn't stand me, then she graduated to hating my guts, then moved right into thinking I was her mate and laying eggs....one just never knows, but I'm sure of one thing, when Gracie starts to feel better, she's gonna know whose 'fault' it is and wanna give them a big, well, goose hug. Lord only knows why folks can just walk by this kind of suffering and do absolutely nothing.

fp

[Pidgey]

I'd get some metronidazole in there with the rest of whatever cocktail you're using. It does real good in anaerobic conditions and has excellent penetration of necrotic tissue.

Pidgey

[TerriB]

You are probably already giving probiotics for several days in a row to help her system cope with the stress. Not sure if salt water or vinegar water would be a better foot soak. You really have your work cut out for you on this one. The infection has already changed the color of her leg, so is probably stressing her heart. Hard to believe people would see that and not do something to get her help!

[TAWhatley]

Thanks again all! Gracie was already on the metro .. she actually stood up a bit ago in her carrier .. 1/2 inch of foam on the bottom and ate and drank like there was no tomorrow. Hoping for the best with her, but that's really a cautiously optimistic statement. What started out as a really good day here has gone rapidly downhill.

Terry

[TAWhatley]

Originally Posted by TerriB

You are probably already giving probiotics for several days in a row to help her system cope with the stress. Not sure if salt water or vinegar water would be a better foot soak. You really have your work cut out for you on this one. The infection has already changed the color of her leg, so is probably stressing her heart. Hard to believe people would see that and not do something to get her help!

Hi Terri .. Gracie's foot was soaked in Epsom Salts water .. I already cleaned the "wound" site and treated that .. very, very nasty. This is day one, so we shall see, and Gracie will see my vet tomorrow.

Terry

[feralpigeon]

Epsom salts came to mind earlier, as they are great at pulling from an inflamed area. Another great puller (and also depositer as needed) is clay. If you have some around the house you can make a paste and leave on till dry then do the Epsom salt soak.

fp

[pdpbison]

Hi Terry,


Oye...

My guess, the treatment will be to make an incision, clean and scrape it all out, suture it up...make a 'Shoe' for her to wear for a while...

Might just turn out pretty allrighty...

Antibiotics of course, local and systemic...and Metronidazole as Pidgey mentioned...and, lots of good chow and good company...fresh chopped tender Greens and so on...Trader Joes Canned Corn...fresh fish guts and boneless scraps from a local Sushi House...

Lol...


Good luck..!

Love,

Phil
Las Vegas

[TAWhatley]

We're back from the vet. He put Gracie on 62.5 mg Cipro twice daily, 6.25 mg Rimadyl twice daily, and the Epsom Salts soaks for 15 minutes each twice daily. Gracie was also given an antibiotic injection directly into the large wound mass that used to be her middle toe.

She will stay on this regimen for about two weeks and then go in for another checkup. The vet did not feel that surgery to "drain" the area would not be successful as much of the pus had become a solid hardened mass. He did say that at some point we may want to consider amputation of the toe that is now so hugely swollen and infected. His estimate of how long Gracie would need treatment was about 90 days.

Terry

[TerriB]

I'm sure her weight complicates things, but it's good to hear that she's eating on her own. If you need to fashion a protective shoe, you might be able to somehow use those thick cushy flip-flops. Hope she is cooperative for all the treatments!