Basil's Life-Saving Surgery

Hi, my name is Aurora and I am raising funds to help cover the veterinary costs of my pet duck Basil, who needs surgery to have an egg removed from her abdomen. There is no other treatment option, and without surgery she won't make it.

Basil and her best friend Lemon hatched on June 28th 2024 and my partner and I brought them home that day to keep as pets. We fell in love with our two silly ducks, but now Basil, not even a year old, is in need of extensive medical intervention.

Lemon and Basil sleeping in our hands the day we brought them home.

In February, we noticed that Basil wasn't acting normal. The vets diagnosed her as egg bound, which is the term for a life-threatening condition where an egg is stuck within the reproductive tract. The vets gave her medicine with the hope that she would lay the egg at home. At her check-up a week later, it was determined that she would need to come back for a procedure under anesthetic to manually remove the egg.

Basil's X-Ray, showing the large egg within her body.

That day, Basil suddenly started acting as though she couldn't walk at all, and I ran home from work to rush her back to the vet. I was so worried that we were going to lose her, but the vet explained that the egg was likely just pushing on her sciatic nerve and causing temporary leg issues. Even with her daily pain medicine, she was so uncomfortable that it broke my heart.

Thinking of happier days, like when they were learning to swim.

The day of her manual egg removal procedure (March 7th), I was so worried about how she would do under anesthetic, but relieved that finally the egg would be removed. After anxiously waiting all day, the vets called in the evening with both good and bad news. The good news was that Basil was recovering well from the anesthetic, but the bad news was that the egg was not in not her reproductive tract, which meant that it is actually in her abdomen.

The vet told us that this means we need to wait for a surgery date (two to three weeks away), and the estimate for the surgery to remove the egg is $1700-$2100. During this visit, they also gave Basil a birth control implant (injected between her shoulders) to keep her body from producing more eggs, and she will likely need to continue getting implants throughout her lifetime.

Basil recovering from her day at the vet.

We love Basil. Anyone who has met her can attest to the fact that she is a funny, sassy, and clever duck. And Lemon loves Basil, as well. Ducks are social animals and need to have a friend of their own kind, and Lemon has been a very concerned and caring partner. When Basil was struggling to walk, Lemon would not leave her side, and I often see Lemon looking worriedly at Basil when she isn't acting like herself. Seeing their bond, and knowing how much we love Basil ourselves, there is no other option than surgery.

The ducks enjoying a walk in the snow, before Basil's health issues.

The veterinary care for Basil has been extensive up until this point, and with the upcoming surgery, we are concerned about our finances. I am in school full-time to become a teacher, and my very limited income is a constant worry with veterinary bills this high.

Basil with the first egg she ever laid, we were so proud of her.

If you are able to donate anything to help Basil, it would be appreciated more than you will ever know. Even just knowing that there are people out there who care about her and want her to get better helps. Absolutely all donations will go towards Basil's surgery and paying off her previous veterinary fees, we just want her to be a happy, healthy duck again.