Gout/Swollen Joints

My poor beardie has gout, as confirmed the vet. Despite feeding him a watered down nutritional supplement (which we have since stopped) to try to flush out some of the crystals and a surgery to manually clean out the joints, he hasn't gotten any better. The vet said it might be a liver issue, but that he isn't displaying a lot of the usual symptoms. He did mention that he has lost muscle tone. When I started taking him for care, three of his four limbs were swollen. Now the fourth is too.

Has anyone dealt with this? I'm at a complete loss as far as what to do! I'm giving him pain medication every other day, but he is still clearly in pain. He half slides on his belly when moving, tends to hold his limbs up a bit, and doesn't like his limbs being touched. He's only three, which is young for a dragon. I don't want him to be in constant pain for years to come, but I don't know if there is anything left to do.

Also, since it's harder for him to get to his food dish, I've been hand feeding him more, but I'm not sure how much to give him a day. I used to always leave bok choy in his bowl and replace it when it was empty and/or wilted and was never sure exactly how much he was eating. If I hand him insects or blueberries he'll usually take however many I offer him, but I don't want to overfeed him those and neglect his greens. The last thing he needs is to be hungry while in pain!

Hi Nekah, sorry that your beardie is so ill. Did the vet prescribe Allopurinol ? That is the most effective treatment for gout and the sooner the better ! Send a p.m to Drache613, [ one of the mods. here ] she has had a beardie with gout and is experienced with the best treatment.

Hello,

I hate to ask, but, do you have any pictures of him we could see? I need to see his
condition of swelling. Do you have a copy of his blood tests also?
He wont get any better without medical intervention. He absolutely needs allopurinol
to help dissolve the uric acid. He should have been placed on it immediately at the time
of diagnosis to give him the best chance of recovery.
Which pain killer is he on, tramadol or something else?

Tracie

The purple on his limbs and the bit of blood on his foot are from stitches. He had a surgery to try to clean out his joints.

I do not have a copy of his blood test, but the vet originally said it was a combination of gout crystals and bacteria. He already finished a round of antibiotics and, since they had trouble getting the bacteria culture to grow at all, attributed it mostly to the gout.

He's getting .2mL of Meloxidyl every other day for pain management.

...and the vet never mentioned allopurinol. Does it require a prescription and where would one obtain it? The vet seemed to know what he was talking about when I brought Norbert in, so I have no idea why he would have left that out.

...and because his weight would be useful for figuring out dosage and because it's a bit of a fun picture:


(Weight is 21.38 oz according to that scale)

Hello,

Oh poor thing! I hope his foot feels better soon.
So they are sure it is gout? Especially since the antibiotics haven't really worked for him,
I don't think that they need to give anymore antibiotics.
The Meloxidyl should be fine for short term for help with pain relief.
I am surprised that he didn't prescribe you any allopurinol because that is really the only
medication that will help with that health problem.
How are Norberts spirits? Most vets don't know a lot about gout, but, some do. It just is
not something that is seen that often.
You can get allopurinol without a prescription online. I can PM you some information.
Be sure to try & get extra oral fluids into him to help his system flush out excess uric acid.
Black cherry extract, either in powder or liquid can be helpful too.

I hope his little foot feels better. You can get some raw, unpasteurized honey to put on it
to help with healing.

Tracie

The antibiotics were stopped a while ago, since the bacteria infection was such a minor part of the problem and the run should have knocked it out.

So update on him: he has medicine to help now and isn't horribly reluctant to take it! (Although my comparison is sticking a 1mL syringe into his mouth 20-30 times a day, so of course this is easier :3)

He's been spending a lot of time by his food dish watching out of the tank, so he seems to be in good spirits and he has occasionally been moving to his rocks to bask.

Thank you for the advice! Hopefully the medicine will help...and I feel better being able to try something to help him instead of just hoping it doesn't continue to get worse.

Hello,

That's great the antibiotics were not given to him for very long, they do make gout & or gout
conditions much worse.
I hope the meds help him also! I'm glad to hear he doesn't seem to mind taking it, either.
It sounds like he is doing pretty well & seems to be curious about what's going on around him.
Keep us posted on his progress.

Tracie

Hello Nicole ,

Be sure to update your pictures of him when you can. I emailed you also.
Let us know how he is doing!

Tracie