Seriously Sick Beardie....URGENT

Yep.... keep the stress to as little as possible.

When I was discussing Puff's aneurism (I had it diagnosed all by myself) long before I brought the vet into the picture, I was discussing it with an expert on beardie aneurisms (based in the USA) and she was astounded that Puff hadn't died already and been killed by it., She put it down to my care and husbandry that and the fact he was kept very happy and content despite his sore eye inflamed eye (he banged it hard one on his grotto and had a mighty shiner) , fluid buildup in the side of his face and big aneurism,
Also she told me surgical intervention on beardie aneurisms was not very well understood and very rare and had they had a very poor prognosis during (very high risk surgery even with access to a sacrificial beardie who gave up it's blood) and the likelihood was the aneurism would reoccur.

Then the local vet told me he thought it was "just" an abscess so I agreed to surgical intervention. wish I hadn''t.

AHBD":3opn8fxz said:

Hi there, good to hear that Laz is doing a wee bit better. Lots of TLC, as little stress as possible and some good nutrition should help him out. The bulging eyes are not the worst I've see and are usually caused by kidney + heart issues having to do with lack of hydration + nutrients. I doubt aneurysm has anything to do with both eyes being equally swollen.

Has the vet said what the 3 X a day antibiotx injections are for ? You want to know why he is beng given those. I've never heard of 3 shots a day. I'd be very leery of giving him painful shots that can in themselves cause a wound at the injection site as well as more painful + stiff muscles.

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I am to give him one shot every three days, not three everyday, sorry for the confusion The vet said to go back and forth between his two front arms when I give his injections so he doesn't get too sore.
Also the antibiotics are "Ceftazidime Tazicef 0.21 mls" I honestly can't remember if he told me what the antibiotics are for, or if I just forgot. They said it was a low dose, so maybe it's just to clear out any infection that there may be? (I'm better with human medicine rather than reptile medicine lol)

And as for the aneurysm, I called the vet again just to clear some things up (there is a lot to remember). He said an aneurysm is just one possibility and it is much more likely that the eyes are bulging due to the fluid filled pocked behind his eyes, when they touched those, the eyes bulge even more. Vet said the fluid build up can be caused by liver or kidney issues, or severe malnutrition in Laz's case. He'll know for sure once he gets the blood results back. They don't want to go poking around in there just in case they go down on their own over time as Lazlo gets better.

Overall, he is doing a million times better, he is taking well to syringe feeding and will even eat a few wax worms out of my hand (too weak to catch anything). Vet said keep up the baby food/pedialyte mixture and offer worms that are lower in protein and offer fresh greens daily.

O.K, that sounds much better. It's good to hear that he's improving ! Just you taking him + giving him hydration + nutrition along with a decent set up would get him back on track no doubt. Good for you + your sick little boy, keep up the good work

Back again...

So this may be TMI, but Laz had another bowel movement about 10 minutes ago (his last was Tuesday at the vet). It was pretty runny, is this normal/okay since he is consuming an almost completely liquid diet right now? Or should I be concerned? Also the urate was white, no yellow or red tint.

I took a picture of it, just in case. Not gonna post that if it's not needed though. Lol.

Yes, it's pretty common when they have that type of diet. And feel free to post any kind of pic, there have been many of those potty ones here. But you guessed correctly, it's probably mostly because of his diet.

The vet called back today with his blood work and fecal results..he said nothing jumped out at him in the blood work, besides high white blood cell count which he said is most likely just from inflammation or the body fighting an infection. He said he has kidney disease/failure due to being so dehydrated for so long. He only has pinworms, which the vet said they don't really treat in beardies just because they are so common, and can be passed on and acquired so easily.

Not as bad as I was expecting, but the vet did say we aren't out of the woods yet and that Laz could still take a turn for the worst, so they're gonna keep checking in on him.

(I don't have a copy of the blood work, but he didn't mention anything else besides those two things.)

****Laz is eating wax worms on his own*****
How many should I let him eat? The vet said wax worms are best since they're high in fat and low in protein, but didn't really say how many to let him have.

He has definitely perked up quite a bit
https://youtu.be/OH-IY7bdN0I

Hello,

Are you sure that is the same dragon?? Wow, he is much more alert, that really is great to see.
I wouldn't really exceed 5-6 waxies, daily so he doesn't get too much fat.
As for other worms, you could get some butterworms, they are nutritious for the most part & maybe a few silkworms, too which have some protein but also beneficial enzymes to help too.
Definitely continue with the baby food feedings to help him out. His stools are definitely loose due to the all liquid diet. Once he is eating more solid foods, they will firm up more.
Did the vet see a high uric acid number or mention gout at all, or just reduced renal function from the BUN? If you ever do get a copy that would be good to see them.
You could give Black cherry juice or Black cherry to help renal function.

I am glad to see he has perked up today! Bless him.

Tracie