Well, today was our follow-up appointment. The vet said Alduîn is doing about as well as could be expected, and that while he still has a long and uncertain road ahead of him, she's encouraged that he's taking his meds every day, eating well most days, eliminating every day, and so on. He has also increased in mass by 15% since last week (from 20g to 23g). The doctor spent time with us explaining how things might progress (including the potential for a rapid downhill slide), and also answering the questions we'd collected over the past week. For now, we're continuing with the current treatment plan for the next three weeks and then going for another check-up.
Alduîn is pretty consistent with his good days and bad days. He'll have a bad day, struggling to move, limp front limbs, refusing to eat or take meds until late afternoon -- and then he'll have a good day, eating and taking meds early, still struggling to move but using all his legs. Then a bad day, then a good day... My hypothesis is that it relates to the anti-inflammatory drugs. If he takes them early, he has a good day, but then they wear off by the next morning and he has a bad day, but then he finally takes the meds late and then is ready to eat in the morning -- and so on. Who knows? Today was a good day, and he ate 30 insects and a bit of squash. His urates were quite orange/tan from the calcium, which I hope means he is getting all he can possibly use (and then some). He also enjoyed the new carrier we got him for traveling -- much better than that little plastic "critter keeper" which has since been converted into dubia storage.
This morning he tried to climb onto his little faux half-log hide in order to bask on it (it's darker than the surrounding area, so a bit warmer). We provided some support for his hind legs to climb on, and he was fine on it for an hour or so, but then when I stepped away for 10 minutes to shave I came back to find that he had slid off one side and gotten stuck between the hide and the enclosure wall
We've decided to remove even that short 2-inch hide to protect him from similar falls until his strength and mobility improve.
Oh, and the T5 mounted on the wall of the enclosure finally bothered me enough to MacGyver a temporary lighting rig using command hooks and yarn:
Now the
UVB bulb hangs 8 inches directly about the basking area (so about 7 inches above Alduîn's body). I also ordered a Sunblaster clip-on reflector; once that arrives on Wednesday, I'll tighten the yarn and raise the fixture to accommodate the more intense UVB output!
So in summary, we are remaining cautiously optimistic. Alduîn is eating, he's pooping, he's growing, and he's still demanding his evening couch ritual before sleeping. The vet said we should contact her if he goes 48 hours without eating, but otherwise should continue to expect those ups and downs.
Many thanks to everyone who has read and to everyone who has responded. This thread is serving as my sort of journaling outlet and I appreciate all the support our little family has received through it.
Aaron