kingofnobbys":27pqg1v8 said:
GermanGiant3":27pqg1v8 said:
I was referred by a trusted friend who has kept Reptiles for a considerable amount of time to take him up to to the Animal Ark Veterinary Hospital. He has an appointment at 2:20PM on Thursday. I will update this thread immediately once he makes it home
You mention
Animal Ark Veterinary Hospital
, googled them , they are a franchised chain of vets in NC, NY & Chicargo. So there will be a lot of reptile vets in easy driving range of where you live ,
viewtopic.php?f=45&t=234369&p=1803862&hilit=melissa#p1803862
nc list
http://www.herpvetconnection.com/nocarol.shtml
ny list
http://www.herpvetconnection.com/newyork.shtml
Well, now I feel more comfortable saying that this vet is skipping the normal, routine step of doing a simple blood draw to confirm or rule out both Gout and/or a "systemic infection" and jumping right to surgery under a general as the diagnostic tool. Again, I don't know this vet and I know he came highly recommended to you, but #1) The plan he is following to get a definitive diagnosis makes absolutely no sense at all, and #2) If he works for a veterinary office that is a large chain (much like "Banfield Vets"), they tend to always try to make as much money as they possibly can, and usually they do this by forcing their vets to follow a protocol that is used chain-wide. So typically vets who work for chains like this do not make their own decisions as to what tests to run or what treatment measures to take, they have to follow the corporate protocol....
I think that anyone with any medical experience, reptile experience, bearded dragon experience, or simply has gone through any type of illness or injury themselves or with their children, family, or friends would look at this situation and agree that something is very, very wrong here...I'm all for taking the least-invasive road possible when treating both humans and animals, but I also believe that if more invasive methods need to be taken then you have to take them. But putting a bearded dragon under a general and cutting his body open (I can't call this an "exploratory laparotomy" but he is using this as an "exploratory surgery") in order to come to a diagnosis of either Gout or an infection without first doing very simple, non-invasive, and inexpensive, routine blood work, which itself will result in the very same ending as this "exploratory surgery" will, well this makes absolutely no sense at all, it's taking a lot of unnecessary risks to the dragon's health, which is what is most important to me and to you I believe, and again, in my opinion, you are unfairly being made to make a serious and potentially life-altering or life-threatening decision without having the usual, routine information that most anyone else in this situation would already have...
You cannot make this decision without having the basic, routine information that anyone else would already have had a long time ago. I think had he had a simple blood draw done a long time ago that Pseudogout would have been diagnosed and treatment started, and he'd be well on his way to recovering by now. And again, I'm not talking about doing a needle aspiration to retrieve some of the fluid in his leg and then doing a culture and sensitivity on the fluid retrieved in order to determine whether or not it contains Uric Acid Crystals indicating Gout or bacteria and/or white cells indicating an infection, or both, that is something that I believe should have been done a long time ago too, but forget about trying to convince him to do that, I'm talking about a simple, routine, every-day blood draw that literally takes less than a minute and will get you a diagnosis in a few days, and will cause your little boy no pain, no harm, no long recovery, no risk of complications, and most importantly will get him started on the real treatment he needs. As Tracie has already wisely stated, I too think this is Gout and the 2 unnecessary antibiotics he's already taking is only going to make him much, much worse if it is Gout. But forgetting that, not doing a simple blood panel first before doing what this vet has talked you into doing is so irresponsible and reckless on the part of this vet (not on your part, you are a victim in this just as much as your dragon is) it's really upsetting me, and it's not even my dragon....
I need to thank my lucky stars every day that I've had the same Certified Herp Vet for almost 15 years and the same Certified Avian Vet for the last 6 years that are both independent and that do nothing before talking to me about it and listening to what I'm thinking, and then we come up with an action plan together. I just can't imagine my CRV suggesting a major, exploratory surgery just to simply diagnose what is a very common issue in bearded dragons now, without first doing a blood draw. The blood work would have been done long ago...
I'm so very sorry you're having to deal with this and make this decision, you shouldn't even be having to consider what you are right now without having the basic information anyone else would already have...