UNRESPONSIVE BEARDIE PLEASE HELP ASAP

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morganmc

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I gave my beardie, Smokey, a bath earlier today. He drank what was probably a lot of water now that I think about it but otherwise seemed fine. Now he is unresponsive. His mouth is open and his eyes are closed. When I picked him up a lot of water came out of his mouth. He is still breathing, and it seems a little labored. I don't know if he drank too much water, or if the water maybe had chemicals in it (it was from the bathtub). It's a Sunday night, and I cannot find any vets, someone please tell me what I can do. I'm freaking out.
 

KarrieRee

BD.org Sicko
Beardie name(s)
Hiccup he is 6 and Blaze is 4
Get him under his basking light and have him tilted w/ his head down ward-- have him at a angle so water can drain out if need be - it sounds like he has aspriated-
Karrie
 

morganmc

Member
Original Poster
KarrieRee":2fwj96n7 said:
Get him under his basking light and have him tilted w/ his head down ward-- have him at a angle so water can drain out if need be - it sounds like he has aspriated-
Karrie
Ok, I am doing so now, thank you for your help
 

KarrieRee

BD.org Sicko
Beardie name(s)
Hiccup he is 6 and Blaze is 4
I would keep him warmer over nite tonite w/ temp around 80 or so -- it will keep his immune system up -- if you have a CHE use it -- NO colored bulbs --- if you haft to use a heating pad on low w/ a dish towel or small hand towel over it between him and the pad do that
Karrie
 

morganmc

Member
Original Poster
KarrieRee":2zgtmd4r said:
I would keep him warmer over nite tonite w/ temp around 80 or so -- it will keep his immune system up -- if you have a CHE use it -- NO colored bulbs --- if you haft to use a heating pad on low w/ a dish towel or small hand towel over it between him and the pad do that
Karrie
Ok, I do have a CHE, I will keep it on overnight. I'm planning on taking him to the vet first thing tomorrow morning.
 

morganmc

Member
Original Poster
KarrieRee":37odhu0c said:
Keep us posted please
Karrie
Of course, I will post again tomorrow after the vet visit to update. For now, he is laying on his basking log with a hand towel propping him at a downwards angle. He is minorly responsive and keeping his eyes closed & mouth open. His breathing actually looks much better and I will keep the CHE on overnight to keep temps up. Really hoping all goes well, thanks so much for your help!
 

Drache613

BD.org Sicko
Staff member
Moderator
Hello,

Poor guy, I agree, it sounds like he probably aspirated water. This is a very common
occurrence so as Karrie suggested, keeping him at a slight declined angle overnight will
hopefully help any fluids drain out of his lungs that might be in there.
Definitely keep him warm overnight & for at least a week or so thereafter to help boost his
immune system.
Let us know how the vet visit goes!

Tracie
 

morganmc

Member
Original Poster
Ok, update time. I took him to the vet this morning, and she said she could hear a slight rattle in his right lung, but nothing awful. He's on Bayrtil and Flagyl for 10 days and has Carnivore Care as well, since he is still very tired and not interested in eating on his own. He's not a big fan of the syringe feeding, but he does seem to like the Carnivore Care at least. The vet also did some bloodwork and an x-ray, because she felt that his liver was enlarged. The bloodwork was normal, but she found a mass she thinks may be a tumor, and told me Smokey might have cancer :( She recommended if his quality of life does not improve over the next few weeks that I consider euthanization. He has been doing fine prior to the bathing incident last night, so I am hoping for the best, that he can make a recovery from this - if he returns to how he was prior I do not think I would need to put him to sleep, he's been a very happy lizard before yesterday. I am really hoping he gets better, and I suppose I'll update in here with an outcome after a little bit.

As far as his aspiration, I thought it might be helpful to mention everything I did for anyone else who comes across this thread in a similar situation. Once I noticed something was wrong, I tilted him forward in my hands and let the water drain out of his mouth and lungs. I also did a light slinging motion, holding him with his head facing away from me and bringing him gently from above my head downwards (as recommended by the vet I called last night). I then took a plastic syringe and gently extracted water and saliva from his mouth to further remove the liquid. After this, I propped him in a slightly downwards position with a hand towel, and left his ceramic heater on overnight, which I will continue to do for the next week to keep temps up at night as well as during the day. This seemed to be pretty effective in removing most of the liquid from his lungs. I hope this can help someone!
 

Drache613

BD.org Sicko
Staff member
Moderator
Hello,

How is your boy this evening?
Well, that is too bad, but it doesn't sound too bad so far. Getting it taken care of early on
hopefully things will get cleared up quickly.
Are they sure it is cancer, maybe they could do a biopsy of the mass to be sure of what
it could be? I realize that is more money though, but the bloodtests were normal?
I am sorry, I hope that isn't what is going on.
How much of the critical care are you giving him daily? I don't always agree with instant
euthanization, especially if they aren't suffering. I would take it one day at a time.
Keep us posted on him.

Tracie
 

morganmc

Member
Original Poster
Smokey is doing so much better already. Since yesterday he has been acting almost normal again (still a bit tired, but alert and holding himself up). I am considering a biopsy but if it doesn’t seem to be impacting him, I’d like to avoid that additional cost, as the visit the other day was already quite costly. The vet said the bloodwork was completely normal, including WBC. Considering the mass is fairly large and must have been there for some time, I feel like if it was cancerous it would have impacted his bloodwork - maybe it’s benign? I’m giving him about 1 - 1 1/2 tsp of the dry Carnivore Care mixed with water until it’s liquid enough to get into the plastic syringe.
 

Drache613

BD.org Sicko
Staff member
Moderator
Hello,

That is great news Smokey is doing much better now, thankfully!
The bloodwork was normal on the WBC, that is promising. They are just like people in
the sense that they can have benign tumors or growths, also.
Does the vet want to surgically remove it, or just a biopsy? How large is it? It is extremely
expensive I know! I would say that for now, if it doesn't seem to be impacting him right now
& he isn't losing weight, etc that you could probably wait awhile.
Does he like the carnivore care?

Tracie
 

morganmc

Member
Original Poster
She suggested a biopsy, but it didn't seem like she thought removal would be something that would be worth it, though it is an option. It is fairly large, apparently (I saw a photo, but I don't really have any reference to make my own judgement!) She was also not entirely sure it wasn't his liver, but seemed to think it was most likely a growth. I haven't noticed any decline in his health lately (aside from this aspiration emergency), so I think for now I'll play it by ear. He does seem to like the carnivore care! Definitely more of a fan of that than his antibiotics, hahaha.
 

Drache613

BD.org Sicko
Staff member
Moderator
Hello,

Well, if he seems to be doing good & has a normal appetite I would hold off on the biopsy
too if they are not positive there is a growth.
Hopefully he will start eating more so you wont have to keep him on the Critical care for
much longer.

Tracie
 

Drache613

BD.org Sicko
Staff member
Moderator
Hello,

Just hoping that your dragon is still doing well!
Be sure to post updates or some new pictures for us, soon.

Tracie
 
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