| Theta Pond Duck visits the Veterinary Center |
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An OSU groundskeeper noticed one of the ducks at Theta Pond was not looking so good. It wasn’t standing or eating. So he caught the duck and brought it to the Zoo, Exotic and Wildlife Veterinary Medicine Department at OSU’s Boren Veterinary Medical Hospital. Located in the Center for Veterinary Health Sciences complex on the west end of campus, Dr. Cornelia Ketz-Riley and team began treating “Rudy” the duck.
“Rudy was lethargic, his beak was pale and he couldn’t stand on his own,” explains Ketz-Riley. “We drew a blood sample and discovered that Rudy was anemic. So the first thing we needed to do was give him a blood transfusion.”
Since there is no blood bank for ducks, they turned to a Theta Pond mate as a source for Rudy’s transfusion.
“We brought one of the other ducks over and drew some blood,” says Ketz-Riley. “Then we transfused it to Rudy.
“Once he was feeling better from the increase in red blood cells, we examined him further and found some acorns lodged in his crop, the sac in the esophagus where they store food. We then scoped Rudy and diagnosed a severe yeast infection in his crop and esophagus. We removed another acorn and began a 10-day anti-fungal treatment.”
Thanks to some tender loving care and antibiotics, two weeks later Rudy was returned to his home at Theta Pond.
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