Hi all
First up, I apologise for the essay!
I have a six year old bearded dragon that has had some ongoing issues for the last few years. I'm literally at my wits end and I don't know what to do anymore. I've seen so many different exotics vets at two different practices. I've posted on various bearded dragon forums to see if anyone else has experienced anything similar but no one can has.
Now, I feel like I may have to make a decision I don't want to have to make and have my beloved bearded dragon put to sleep. In recent weeks, he's become very lethargic and doesn't seem to want to do anything. He still wants to eat, which is a good thing, but he seems to keep getting overcome with minor infections. The last one seems to be a small eye infection that means he's shutting his right eye. I've got an appointment with the vet on this tomorrow as it hasn't gotten any better with antibiotics.
I first took him to the vets because I noticed he was sometimes making small wheezing sounds. I initially thought RI and the vet agreed so he was treated with antibiotics. These didn't seem to make a difference so he was given another two rounds. The vet then did an x-ray and found that the breathing issues were actually caused by swollen (but not impacted) intestines pushing up onto the lungs. At this point, he wasn't noticably swollen so we were surprised. Over the next few months, I was told to fed him a simple diet of staple greens and insects to see if things would improve. I didn't really notice any difference so I gradually started introducing fruits and veg back in. I took him back into the vets a few times and I was basically just told to see if it gets any worse as he seems 'alright'.
He started to get into a cycle of bloating severely but with air rather than fecal matter. The only way to relieve this was to bathe him and for him to pass it along with fecal matter (the amount of videos I have of him farting in the bath is insane!). However, he would just bloat again a few days later and the cyle continued. His breathing worsened and now he gasps for air quite badly sometimes, often brought on by eating.
I changed vets about a year ago as I wanted a second opinion. We've been running tests to see if we can identify anything. Fecal tests were normal but he was treated with wormer anyway as he had very small pinworm levels, nothing to worry about in a normal beardie, but the vet wanted to remove them to see if that made a difference but it hasn't. Blood tests were normal, specifically calcium and liver function were normal.
Recently, the bloating seems to have stopped. It still happens occasionally but it's not a severe. Now it's gone down, the vet noticed some sort of mass in his abdomen on the right hand side that he wasn't able to feel before. We've since done an ultrasound on that area and it appears to be some sort of spherical object around 1inch in diameter. He says it could be the gall bladder but it would be unusual to it to be in that location. Interestingly, in the same area, he's developed a sort of twitch (almost like humans get where the skin sort of spasms and then goes back to normal) where the skin sort of bobs in and out ever so slightly. This seems to be constant, never stopping. There's no evidence of MBD so the vet doesn't think this is truly a twitch. During the ultrasound, the vet noticed that he seemed to gasp and have the breathing difficulty symptoms when the area was touched. Because of this, we decided to try some pain medication - tramadol and an anti-inflammatory - to see if that would make the gasping stop but it didn't seem to make a difference so I don't think the breathing is purely a pain response. Instead, he now flinches when he sees me as he associates me with jamming medications down his throat. Can't say I blame him...
The next step would be to get a CT scan to see what this mass is. However, he'll need to be put under anaesthetic and we still might not get the answers we need or he might not even wake up. If they are able to identify it, there's a chance he'll need to be operated on anyway, which is another huge risk. Or I can leave it and monitor some more. I'm so conflicted. I want to do what's best for him but I don't want to put him through anymore as he's had so much medication, poking and prodding so I can see why he's giving up.
The vets have checked my husbandry multiple times and there doesn't seem to be any issues there. For completeness, he's in a 4ft x 2ft x 2ft viv with a basking light temp of40c, cool end temp of 25c, UVB is changed regularly and I usually get a Repti-Sun 10% or Arcadia 12% if I can find it, he's on non-loose substrate, he's fed dubia roaches and the occasional wax worm, along with staple greens and usual fruit and veg.
Has anyone ever heard/read about anything even slightly like this before? Or what would you do in my situation?
Please help!
Kate
First up, I apologise for the essay!
I have a six year old bearded dragon that has had some ongoing issues for the last few years. I'm literally at my wits end and I don't know what to do anymore. I've seen so many different exotics vets at two different practices. I've posted on various bearded dragon forums to see if anyone else has experienced anything similar but no one can has.
Now, I feel like I may have to make a decision I don't want to have to make and have my beloved bearded dragon put to sleep. In recent weeks, he's become very lethargic and doesn't seem to want to do anything. He still wants to eat, which is a good thing, but he seems to keep getting overcome with minor infections. The last one seems to be a small eye infection that means he's shutting his right eye. I've got an appointment with the vet on this tomorrow as it hasn't gotten any better with antibiotics.
I first took him to the vets because I noticed he was sometimes making small wheezing sounds. I initially thought RI and the vet agreed so he was treated with antibiotics. These didn't seem to make a difference so he was given another two rounds. The vet then did an x-ray and found that the breathing issues were actually caused by swollen (but not impacted) intestines pushing up onto the lungs. At this point, he wasn't noticably swollen so we were surprised. Over the next few months, I was told to fed him a simple diet of staple greens and insects to see if things would improve. I didn't really notice any difference so I gradually started introducing fruits and veg back in. I took him back into the vets a few times and I was basically just told to see if it gets any worse as he seems 'alright'.
He started to get into a cycle of bloating severely but with air rather than fecal matter. The only way to relieve this was to bathe him and for him to pass it along with fecal matter (the amount of videos I have of him farting in the bath is insane!). However, he would just bloat again a few days later and the cyle continued. His breathing worsened and now he gasps for air quite badly sometimes, often brought on by eating.
I changed vets about a year ago as I wanted a second opinion. We've been running tests to see if we can identify anything. Fecal tests were normal but he was treated with wormer anyway as he had very small pinworm levels, nothing to worry about in a normal beardie, but the vet wanted to remove them to see if that made a difference but it hasn't. Blood tests were normal, specifically calcium and liver function were normal.
Recently, the bloating seems to have stopped. It still happens occasionally but it's not a severe. Now it's gone down, the vet noticed some sort of mass in his abdomen on the right hand side that he wasn't able to feel before. We've since done an ultrasound on that area and it appears to be some sort of spherical object around 1inch in diameter. He says it could be the gall bladder but it would be unusual to it to be in that location. Interestingly, in the same area, he's developed a sort of twitch (almost like humans get where the skin sort of spasms and then goes back to normal) where the skin sort of bobs in and out ever so slightly. This seems to be constant, never stopping. There's no evidence of MBD so the vet doesn't think this is truly a twitch. During the ultrasound, the vet noticed that he seemed to gasp and have the breathing difficulty symptoms when the area was touched. Because of this, we decided to try some pain medication - tramadol and an anti-inflammatory - to see if that would make the gasping stop but it didn't seem to make a difference so I don't think the breathing is purely a pain response. Instead, he now flinches when he sees me as he associates me with jamming medications down his throat. Can't say I blame him...
The next step would be to get a CT scan to see what this mass is. However, he'll need to be put under anaesthetic and we still might not get the answers we need or he might not even wake up. If they are able to identify it, there's a chance he'll need to be operated on anyway, which is another huge risk. Or I can leave it and monitor some more. I'm so conflicted. I want to do what's best for him but I don't want to put him through anymore as he's had so much medication, poking and prodding so I can see why he's giving up.
The vets have checked my husbandry multiple times and there doesn't seem to be any issues there. For completeness, he's in a 4ft x 2ft x 2ft viv with a basking light temp of40c, cool end temp of 25c, UVB is changed regularly and I usually get a Repti-Sun 10% or Arcadia 12% if I can find it, he's on non-loose substrate, he's fed dubia roaches and the occasional wax worm, along with staple greens and usual fruit and veg.
Has anyone ever heard/read about anything even slightly like this before? Or what would you do in my situation?
Please help!
Kate
