New Rescue, Special Needs Duck:  Odin

(9/16) Day 1:  Odin arrives at our sanctuary in a state of malnutrition. Clearly, he has been deprived of ample access to bathing water. His neck low to his body and crooked off to one side (torticollis) and he appears to have nuerological issues (spinning in place in circles). Both of his eyes were closed with severe eye discharge matting down his facial feathers.

Let's have a swim, shall we?

This is Odin only a few hours after arriving his arrival at Majestic. We found a bit of his left eye underneath all that caking of feathers. See it?

(9/19) Day 4: Only a few days later, we were able to safely wash and cut away the last of the caked feathers around his eyes. What a relief!

(9/22) Day 7:  Now it's time for Odin to go for some photobiomodulation laser therapy at Wizard of Paws in Colchester CT. Ahhh... that feels nice...

And Physical Therapy, which included some gentle stretching. Our homework was to do more of this at home every day.

(9/23) Day 8:  Odin is feeling much better and already showing off his new dance moves!

(9/25) Day 10:  Did we mention Odin QUACKS all the time! Especially when we sing Amazing Grace, which is his absolute favorite song!

(9/29) Day 14: Some relaxing neck work with Debbie during Physical Therapy. If you haven't seen the video of this, you must visit our social media pages! It's absolutely amazing!

Gently working Odin's core muscles during P.T. with Debbie on Totofit equipment.

Odin's homework is 15 minutes of Assisi Loop therapy everyday!

(10/2) Day 17: Wow! Is this the same duck?!

(10/3) Day 18:  Odin enjoys some R&R in the sunshine after a nice swim. He's no longer spinning around in circles, but wandering about (chaperoned) and enjoying his many bowls of water and his dish of food, which is always brimming with Mazuri Waterfowl Maintenance and mealy worms along with a sprinkle of Cosaquin, probiotics, vitamins and Brewer's yeast to boost his vitamin B and neural functioning.

(10/4) Day 19: Joy, joy, joy! Why? Did we forget to mention? We found an amazing home for Odin! He will be their indoor duck and they have really good experience with special needs ducks, so this will be perfect for him!

(10/6) Day 21:  Odin's Final P.T. appointment before adoption day! Thank you, Debbie at Wizard of Paws!

(10/8) Day 23:  Odin enjoys the sunshine after a nice swim in the kiddy pool. Look at that tummy--and those little feet!

(10/10) Day 25:  Odin's new family arrives and then... Odin is on his way to his amazing new home where he will be loved and doted over for ever more!

Odin's Story...

Odin's x-rays confirmed that he was fed a sub-quality diet as a duckling. As a result, his body has taken on a condition similar in some ways to dwarfism. Keep in mind, ducks expand and contract their rib cage muscles in order to force air in and out of their numerous air sacs. Odin's body and organs grew beyond his skeletal capacity and as a result his thorax air sacs had no room inside his limiting rib cage, so... they are underdeveloped. This is why he has some labored breathing issues. His air sacs just don't have the room they require to expand. Once Odin arrives at his new home, they are taking him to their vet, so they can see (and hear) his baseline breathing and will be able to distinguish what is normal for him from something that is not--like pneumonia, for example.

Ducky respiratory system diagram:  "Ultimate Pet Duck Guidebook"

From the side view x-ray, you can see Odin's spine and how his tail bones angle sharply downward around his hips. This positions his legs in a way that makes him prone to bumblefoot sores on the bottoms of his webbed feet. While he doesn't have that issue now (thankfully!), his new family is going to keep him on soft surfaces at all times to try to prevent any issues. They will do weekly bottom-of-the-footy checks to watch for any callouses, which will need to be monitored closely, medicated and vetted as needed. We are sending a donated tub of Silver Sulfadiazine 1% cream along with Odin in case to help with the treatment of any future issues of this kind.

Odin will require joint supplements (Cosamin) until he is one year old and then, additionally, he will benefit largely from weekly Adequan injections. These protective strategies should keep him walking as long as possible.

Both of Odin's eyes were damaged by some kind of impact trauma, which we highly suspect resulted from being penned with chicks and later a chicken. Ducks and chickens should NOT be penned or housed together for this reason. This is a dangerous, painful and common injury that we attempt to educate people about, and it should have everyone in similar circumstances rethinking their current pen situation. Ducks and chickens may get along fine today, but it is no guarantee that a blinding poke in the eye won't happen in the future. Although Odin is blind in both eyes, he may be able to detect some light in his right eye.

Because Odin's tear ducts are still functional, his right eye continually weeps and is at high risk of infection. His eye areas will need to be kept tidy by wiping them with a clean, wet cloth 1-2x daily (preferably after he bathes, while they are soft and easeir to manage). Saline flushes 1-2x daily will help dry the right eye area a little bit while also keeping things as sanitary as possible. He can only drink, swim, splash and bathe in clean tap water--absolutely no outside water sources that might contain germs, which could expose him to further risk of eye/nasal infections.

At the first sign of infection, Odin will need to go to the vet for immediate treatment, before the problem gets established and becomes more difficult to treat. Our vet provided us with a prescription of antibiotic eye ointment to give to Odin's new family; that way, if an infection gets started, they can immediately begin treatment until they can get him to a vet (which sometimes takes a couple days, as we all know).

Odin's new family is fully prepared and experienced and will be able to handle all of his special needs as their indoor duck. They will be coming to adopt him this Saturday!

Odin's Donors!

SPECIAL THANKS TO ALL OF ODIN'S MAJESTIC DONORS:

Odin's Laser/Physical Therapist:  Debbie (and staff) at Wizard of Paws, Colchester CT!

Odin received fourteen packs of 100 pee pads: @dean_crowley_marv_duck, @twoquacksandabark, @camp_canupp, Jill, Ankur, Sally, Kate, Kristen and Svetlana!

Odin received six packs of 100 saline ampules:  Mary, Kate, Jessica, Lorraine (Pacific Waterfowl Rescue), Yvette and anonymous!

Diaper Harness:  Thank you, Nettie at Partyfowlpets.com for custom making harnesses to fit Odin's specialized needs (and thank you Lisa and Tony for coming over to measure Odin for us!)

Adequan & Injection Needles: Timothy!

Totofit Physical Therapy equipment:  Christine and Jon & Allison!

Avian Probiotics:  Deb!

Silver Sulfadiazine Cream:  Mary!

Assisi Loop:  Pam, Kumar and Raj!

Donations applied to Odin's vet bills, medications and other medical supplies:  Sharon, Alan, James, Alex, Lisa & Tony, Cheston, Jill, Oscar, Diana, Laurie, Julie, Sarah, Sondra, Wanda, Sal & Peggy, Carina, Melissa and Kristen!

Odin's supplies all went with him on Saturday!

If you would like to make a donation to help cover the remainder of Odin's vet bills  and medications, please click here:  Majestic Donation!

Great Gifts for Momma & Poppa Ducks and Geese!

For more thorough information on pet ducks and geese, check out The Ultimate Pet Duck Guidebook and The Ultimate Pet Goose Guidebook, which are both available in b&w and color versions on AmazonSmile. Each is over 400 pages and contains hundreds of helpful (and fun!) photos and diagrams.

The Ultimate Pet Goose Guidebook (b&w):  $24.99
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1517238951/ref=ox_sc_act_title_2?smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER&psc=1

The Ultimate Pet Goose Guidebook (color):  $64.99
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1508497621/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER&psc=1

The Ultimate Pet Duck Guidebook (b&w):  $26.99
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1517238951/ref=ox_sc_act_title_2?smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER&psc=1

The Ultimate Pet Duck Guidebook (color):  $64.99
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1501043803/ref=ox_sc_act_title_3?smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER&psc=1

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