Hi Christine. The vets are correct in that there are no guarantees with surgery. If the muscle has frozen you can do a gentle massage several times a day along with gentle range of motion exercises. You do not want to over extend the leg but it needs to get the leg moving. Do not let it try to climb at all. It may take a month to several months to get the muscle in shape. Think of a strained or pulled muscle. You might see if there is a wildlife rehabilitation facility that can help with exercises. Be sure that the taping is not too tight and the leg is in a normal position so that the muscles are not "trained" to grow abnormally. Then do exactly what you suggested. Carry him to water and let him swim several times a day in warm water gently doing normal rotation exercises before and after he swims and once or twice more during the day. Because the cygnet is so young, he only needs to swim about 15-20 minutes at a time under your supervision two to three times daily. Cygnets do not have their normal feathering and can drown if not watched closely. He needs to be in warm not cold not hot water. Add food to his water feature ensuring that he can float swim and eat at the same time to learn natural abilities. The water level needs to be at a height that he can reach the submerged food but cannot touch the bottom of the water to promote swimming not walking and preventing further injuries due to slipping. A plastic rubbermaid type bin not too deep or shallow can work wonderfully for swimming purposes at this age. A long and deep bin can promote all cygnets to swim together as long as they cannot try to exit the bin and get hurt or as long as it is not too crowded. All cygnuts need to be carefully dried with a towel and placed in a warm safe area lined with a sheet to protect from leg injuries and allow them to preen naturally. A small flat pan with submerged food and water should beoffered constantly. The Regal Swan
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