# Gracie The Goose - Treatment Advice Welcome



## TAWhatley (Mar 6, 2001)

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


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## Skyeking (Jan 17, 2003)

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!


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## pigeonmama (Jan 9, 2005)

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


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## feralpigeon (Feb 14, 2005)

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


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## TAWhatley (Mar 6, 2001)

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


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## TAWhatley (Mar 6, 2001)

feralpigeon said:


> 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


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## feralpigeon (Feb 14, 2005)

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


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## Pidgey (May 20, 2005)

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


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## TerriB (Nov 16, 2003)

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!


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## TAWhatley (Mar 6, 2001)

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


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## TAWhatley (Mar 6, 2001)

TerriB said:


> 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


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## feralpigeon (Feb 14, 2005)

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


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## pdpbison (Mar 15, 2005)

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


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## TAWhatley (Mar 6, 2001)

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


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## TerriB (Nov 16, 2003)

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!


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## Skyeking (Jan 17, 2003)

I'm glad she is has seen the vet, as I'm sure that put things in better pospective, as well as the treatment regimen for the next two weeks.
You know what needs to be done, no more guessing.

Hope she is a good patient, she has to know she is in good hands.


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## feralpigeon (Feb 14, 2005)

Glad to hear Gracie is on the anti-biotic and anti-inflamatory plan, I'm sure she's going to start to feel a whole lot better about having you around in a very short while, Terry. Ninety days, whew, that's a long time.

fp


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## re92346mos (Jul 21, 2005)

OMG! I dont know that one Terry, I hope you can do something, I was going to E-Mail you and tell you it was nice seeing you for a minute, sometime you should visit awhile but I see why you are always so busy. I will E-Mail you when your not real busy. Hope everything works out for the bird. The swan was beautiful! I enjoyed visiting with Bart and Mary, to bad Bart took a liking to the K. Tumbler I would of like you to put it with your other one legged friends. But at least we know it will be taken care of. Terry says he doesn't know how you do it with the price of gas! I told him thats true devotion and love for birds that is how! Rena


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## TAWhatley (Mar 6, 2001)

*Goodbye, Gracie ..*

Gracie of the mangled foot passed away Thursday night. She had been acting a bit unusual for the prior couple of days .. taking long naps in the sunshine and generally being unusually docile for her. I knew on Thursday evening that the time was nigh. I'm glad Gracie had a few good months with me but sure wish she could have been rescued a lot sooner than she was:

http://www.rims.net/GracieTheGoose/

Terry


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## Lin Hansen (Jan 9, 2004)

Terry,

Poor Gracie........as you said, glad she had some months of kind treatment during the last months of her life.

This is shaping up to be a sad day--with Gracie's loss and Maggie's losses. 

Linda


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## Maggie-NC (Jun 22, 2005)

Dear Terry

I am so sorry that Gracie passed away. Sure has been a tough day!


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## Skyeking (Jan 17, 2003)

Terry,

 I am terribly sorry to hear about sweet Gracie. There is a special heaven for our beloved creatures, especially those that suffered so.

She is now resting in peace.

My thoughts go out to you today, as well as to Maggie.


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## mr squeaks (Apr 14, 2005)

Yes, I, too, remember Gracie and add my condolences!

The positive is that she spent her last few months in your care! I know you did what you could!

HEALTHY AND COMFORTING HUGS TO YOU, TERRY!

Seems to not only rain right now, but pour, with sad news!


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## maryjane (Jul 15, 2006)

I'm sorry to hear about Gracie. Thank goodness she got to spend as much time with you as she could. Now she is young and healthy again.  I hope you feel better soon.


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## pdpbison (Mar 15, 2005)

Hi Terry,


I am sosorry...


She was so beautiful too..!

I reviewed the images...such a sweet face...



Phil


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## Pidgey (May 20, 2005)

I'm sorry, too, Terry. Did that foot ever get any better?

Pidgey


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## TAWhatley (Mar 6, 2001)

Thank you everyone. Gracie was a very special goose lady and surely deserved a lot better than life dished out to her. Though she never liked me one little bit, I cared for her deeply and mourn her loss. Moe, the African goose, has been calling and calling and calling for Gracie since she passed. Even though he knows she is gone, he's just not giving up. They weren't mates but did seem to find comfort in having another goose here. With Fluffy also gone, Moe is the only goose left here right now, and I'm sure he's wondering what's happening to the goose population.

Terry


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## TAWhatley (Mar 6, 2001)

Pidgey said:


> I'm sorry, too, Terry. Did that foot ever get any better?
> 
> Pidgey


It did get better and by quite a bit .. still nothing pretty to look at but all the infection was gone and she was left with basically a club foot. According to Dr. Lee there was really nothing surgical that could be done to make things better .. he felt amputating the foot was not the right thing to do. Once the infection subsided that mangled foot did shrink down a bit and it was obvious that it was no longer painful to Gracie, so we left it at that rather than completely remove the foot and the lower little bit of the leg.

Terry


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## Pidgey (May 20, 2005)

Possibly there was some strep or a staph that traveled up into the body and wreaked some havoc over the long haul. That's the usual danger with Bumblefoot (and related ailments).

Pidgey


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## Rooster2312 (Mar 8, 2006)

Terry,

So sorry to hear about Gracie. She was a gorgeous and brave goose to suffer all she did with her bad foot. Thank you for all your kindness and devoted care given to this poor bird.

Big hugs,

Lindi and Jax


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## TerriB (Nov 16, 2003)

You did a wonderful job making Gracie's last months much more comfortable. You treat the animals in your care with respect and deference and I know it is appreciated. I am so sorry for the pain you are experiencing. It must be difficult hearing Moe call for her. Geese have such strength of character that losing one you have known for a while is just very hard.  Condolences to both you and Moe during this time of grieving.


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## TAWhatley (Mar 6, 2001)

Thank you all for the condolences. They are greatly appreciated. Thanks also to those who understand what the loss of a goose is around here .. I have devastated birds

Terry


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