Enema killed my beardie??

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Steph31789

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Hello all, yesterday I took my 7-8 month old beardie to the vet. He had been staying in his hide all week if we took him out he would eat and bask but go back in his hide and sleep earlier. His beard was not black but he was pretty lethargic. I took him out of his tank one day and he did run around. His last poop was 8 days prior in the bath. He wasn’t too fond of baths and since he did not seem to be feeling well I had not given him a bath after. We took him to the vet and due to Covid we were not allowed in the vet called while we were in the car and said he would need critical care food and medication for a respiratory infection. He also wanted to do an enema to get a stool sample to send to the lab. I hung up the phone and within 10 minutes the vet tech came outside and asked me to come in. My dragon who was very much alert just minutes ago was now slumped over a heated water bag half unconscious. I asked if he was sedated they said no that he was in liver failure and that he had jaundice in his mouth. Within minutes my dragons belly started contracting it looked as if something was trying to break out of his belly. He did not release any feces or blood after the enema nothing at all came out. He started flopping around on the table his mouth open stretching his beard as if he was yelling but there was no sound. My heart was breaking and the vet was not doing anything. He said we could treat him. Once I saw him in so much pain I asked that we just put him down becuaee the vet could not explain what was happening. Before the vet could do anything my dragon stopped breathing on his own. His heart was still beating so he gave him a bit of gas anesthesia to stop it. I am so confused as to how we went from critical care food and a poop sample to my beardie dying a horrible painful death minutes after an enema. I am just looking for any insight or thoughts someone may have on what happened. I asked the vet if it was possible the enema tore is bowels or intestines causing him to poison himself with his feces and he said if that had happened we would have seen blood.

A day prior he had done a weird contracting of his beard while basking for about a minute straight it seemed Uncontrollable and his stomach was contracting as well. I would describe it as a gag no noise his mouth was closed.

We had been feeding my beardie meal worms a lot which once I found out was bad I ordered him Phoenix worms. He ate some veggies and fruits as well as crickets. How sand also had some Sand in it that came with the kit when we bought it. He had sand in his tank for about 2 months. Could he have been impacted and when he revived the enema tried to push and exploded his intestines? He did poop a week ago so I can’t imagine he was so impacted he would explode internally?? The vet did not initially do an X-ray when I came in I asked for one by then my beardie was already in horrible shape he said he did not see any tears on the X-ray and stuck with liver failure as cause of death.
 

Linzloohoo

Hatchling Member
I’m sorry for your loss.
Yes enemas are a last resort and often kill dragons. To me it sounds like the enema flooded the upper intestines and he couldn’t breath because of it, although I am not an expert.
Was the liver failure confirmed with blood tests? Or was the vet just guessing? To me it sounds like they were trying to cover up their mistake.
Personally I would never go to that vet again.
 

KarrieRee

BD.org Sicko
Beardie name(s)
Hiccup he is 6 and Blaze is 4
I am so sorry to hear about the episode at the vet -- we do not recommend enemas at ALL!! And sand for a substrate is not good along w/ meal worms for babies --- we always recommend natural laxatives like unsweetened applesauce baby prunes sweet potaotes -- it is not uncommon for them not to poop for periods of time -- like weeks to months -- and I agree w/ linzloohoo about the cause of the death -- most vets do not know exactly what they are doing when it comes to enemas so that is why we dont recommend them doing them again I am sorry for your baby :(
Karrie
 

WinFam01

Juvie Member
Ugh, I have no words except I am so sorry. :(
We have a 6 month old and would be devastated if we had to go through what you did.
 

Steph31789

New member
Original Poster
No he did not do any tests on him this was the first time we had taken him to the vet he always seemed like a happy dragon he was shedding normally recently his beard just turned a beautiful bright orange color. He was active up until this last week. The vet assumed liver failure because the inside of his mouth was a little yellow and he said it was jaundice and since he was in liver failure he could not push the poop out.

I am not an expert but I would think something should have come out feces blood fluid etc. is the most confusing part. I called the vet today asked them to do a necropsy but they said their lab only does cats and dogs. They told me if I can find a lab that will do it they will hold him for the week. I am in Monmouth county New Jersey and really have no clue of labs or if it would be too heartbreaking to even do. The vet said he had a fatty liver from a diet that caused the liver failure but once again all assumptions no tests were done outside of an X-ray.
 

Drache613

BD.org Sicko
Staff member
Moderator
Hello,

I am so sorry to hear of such horrible treatment from that vet, who is trying to cover up their
major screwup by making up excuses & diagnoses.
It is virtually impossible to determine a fatty liver without blood tests, an ultrasound or a biopsy.
While it is possible he was impacted yes, it doesn't sound like he was on his death bed when
you took him in. I completely concur, I would go pick up your dragon & until you decide what
you would like to do, freeze him in case you want to have a necropsy done.
Enemas are extremely dangerous & almost always fatal when performed on reptiles.

I am so sorry for your loss & for your dragon's suffering as he did.

Tracie
 

loljelloclowdz

Juvie Member
I low-key want to slap that vet for doing an enema when it’s not necessary.

Just know his death isn’t your fault and that you did the right thing to put him out of his misery as soon as you realized he was in a ton of pain with a poor prognosis. (The vet should’ve given laxatives first or at least said “an enema is very lethal, are you sure?”) I’m sorry you had to experience that, it’s the worst to lose a pet.
 

Steph31789

New member
Original Poster
To make things even worse I went to go pick up my baby on Wednesday so I could take him to another vet to be sent out for a necropsy and after that cremation. I received a call today from the vets office where he had the enema done to tell me they had a mix up and the bag they gave me was not Buddie they still had Buddie there. I had to go back and pick up my baby dragon and bring him to the other vet. They already sent out the other bag with “possibly another animals organ” in it. It was traumatic to pick him up once now I had to do it all over again and say goodbye to my baby for a 3rd time. I do not understand how any of this can happen!!!!!!!!!!! I am finding many people do not take lizards seriously they feel they are “just lizards” but as I am sure any beardie or reptile owner will agree they are our babies not “just lizards”.
 

Steph31789

New member
Original Poster
Thank you everyone for sharing your kind words and knowledge with me. I wish I had researched this sooner but I would never think a vet would use a procedure that would most likely be fatal when it was not necessary at all. It is nice to hear from people that feel the same love for beardies and understand it is a tragic loss.
 

Linzloohoo

Hatchling Member
Steph31789":1xu9v3la said:
Thank you everyone for sharing your kind words and knowledge with me. I wish I had researched this sooner but I would never think a vet would use a procedure that would most likely be fatal when it was not necessary at all. It is nice to hear from people that feel the same love for beardies and understand it is a tragic loss.

Of course. They are our children in a way, just like people say that dogs are their children. I’m so sorry you had this experience. Unfortunately even “exotic” vets sometimes aren’t very knowledgeable when it comes to reptiles. I trust the people on this forum more than I trust a vet and that is sad but true.
 

AHBD

BD.org Sicko
I just wanted to offer my sincere condolences as well. That was very traumatic and emotionally draining, then the inconvenience with the mix up. :( I would definitely seek some refund for the wrong treatment before and after your babies death. My heart goes out to you, hang in there fellow beardie lover.
 
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