Bearded doing worse after vet visit

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My bearded dragon went to the vet this morning after not eating and seeming kinda off. The vet did a blood test, smear test, and an x-ray. He said my guy was VERY anemic (his words were "his blood looks like koolaid"), had a bacterial infection, and there is a circular swollen region near his spleen which feels like a pea sized lump. He was given a vitamin injection at the vet and we were sent home with antibiotics and EmerAid and scheduled a recheck in 3 weeks...which seems like such a long time from now😭
His eyes were SO sunken in when the vet tech brought him back to us.

We got home and gave him his first dose of antibiotics and a bit of the EmerAid and now he looks sooo bad and pooped out something weirdly orange about 30 min after. I'm afraid it might be a bit of blood? Does anyone know what this means???? Any tips on how to help my little Dumpling?? It's been a very stressful day for both us!!
My previous post with his tank setup Here
 

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AHBD

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Hi there, sorry to hear that Dumpy had a rough time at the vets. I tried to view your link but it won't load. Can you give more info on him , how old he is , how long he seems " off ". If he's just becoming lethargic and not eating, that is normal for this time of year. A vet visit can be extremely stressful and I hate to hear " vitamin injection " , those have zero benefits with any of the beardies I've read on the forums. Check his vent area to see if there's any stains or trauma but the off colored poo is likely harmless , just something he pushed out after a very stressful experience. I'll go over your blood tests to see if I spot anything off, hopefully Drache613 will be on later also to check it out. EDIT, I don't see anything about his red or white cells, everything else looks normal on the blood test. Is there more ? I don't know what the vet meant by saying that Dumpy's blood looked like Koolaid, that's nonsense. Is this an experienced reptile vet ?
 

Dumpydoodah

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Hi there, sorry to hear that Dumpy had a rough time at the vets. I tried to view your link but it won't load. Can you give more info on him , how old he is , how long he seems " off ". If he's just becoming lethargic and not eating, that is normal for this time of year. A vet visit can be extremely stressful and I hate to hear " vitamin injection " , those have zero benefits with any of the beardies I've read on the forums. Check his vent area to see if there's any stains or trauma but the off colored poo is likely harmless , just something he pushed out after a very stressful experience. I'll go over your blood tests to see if I spot anything off, hopefully Drache613 will be on later also to check it out.
Thanks for replying!!
Dumpling is somewhere around 2 years old. We got him from a lady who couldn't take care of him anymore so we don't have a hatch day. He slowed down on eating in September but I thought it was a combination of a tough full body shed and cooler weather slowing him down. Then I noticed he never really napped and was always basking even though he fully stopped eating by the end of September so I got suspicious it might be something else. Got a fecal test done mid October when he finally pooped and that came back clear. Then last weekend as I was cuddling him I felt a hard lump in his belly and noticed his hip bones were protruding, which they never have before, so I panicked and made a vet appointment.
Any help would be greatly appreciated!!
 

Dumpydoodah

Member
Original Poster
Hi there, sorry to hear that Dumpy had a rough time at the vets. I tried to view your link but it won't load. Can you give more info on him , how old he is , how long he seems " off ". If he's just becoming lethargic and not eating, that is normal for this time of year. A vet visit can be extremely stressful and I hate to hear " vitamin injection " , those have zero benefits with any of the beardies I've read on the forums. Check his vent area to see if there's any stains or trauma but the off colored poo is likely harmless , just something he pushed out after a very stressful experience. I'll go over your blood tests to see if I spot anything off, hopefully Drache613 will be on later also to check it out. EDIT, I don't see anything about his red or white cells, everything else looks normal on the blood test. Is there more ? I don't know what the vet meant by saying that Dumpy's blood looked like Koolaid, that's nonsense. Is this an experienced reptile vet ?
I think he's a decent vet and the place we go does specialize in exotics. Writes in chicken scratch like a real doctor anyway.
 

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AHBD

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How is Dumpling doing today ? I just tagged the vet tech today [ Drache613 ] , she should probably be on later to check those blood tests for you.
 
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Dumpydoodah

Member
Original Poster
How is Dumpling doing today ? I just tagged the vet tech today [ Drache613 ] , she should probably be on later to check those blood tests for you.
He's a bit brighter today (no dark beard) but still lethargic and eyes still sunken. His head is up though!
Edit: but he keeps closing his eyes...
 

AHBD

BD.org Sicko
Did the vet tell you anything about the Xray ? And can you post pics of your enclosure, lights, etc ? Just an FYI, sometimes people feel things in the abdomen/stomach area and think it's something of concern, and sometimes it is but more often than not it's just that they take in pretty large quantities of food and at times it will feel different than other times, depending on the stage of digestion. When and what was the last time he ate ?
 

Dumpydoodah

Member
Original Poster
Did the vet tell you anything about the Xray ? And can you post pics of your enclosure, lights, etc ? Just an FYI, sometimes people feel things in the abdomen/stomach area and think it's something of concern, and sometimes it is but more often than not it's just that they take in pretty large quantities of food and at times it will feel different than other times, depending on the stage of digestion. When and what was the last time he ate ?
He said there definitely was some swelling near his spleen where the lump is, and that could have something to do with the anemia.
He hadn't been eating at all for a few weeks before I felt the lump.
This is a pic of his setup. We changed the uvb at the beginning of this month. His old one was around 7 months old before we replaced it. Temps are 95-97 basking side, 75ish on the cool side, taken with digital probe and IR.
 

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AHBD

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Wow, you did a great job on Dumpling's enclosure ! Very nice placement of his furniture and the lights are at a good distance. I'm sorry he's having trouble, I hope that your good boy doesn't have a tumor or anything serious. His glucose is low from what I can see on the blood test so that's good. They usually have very high glucose with a tumor.
 

Dumpydoodah

Member
Original Poster
Wow, you did a great job on Dumpling's enclosure ! Very nice placement of his furniture and the lights are at a good distance. I'm sorry he's having trouble, I hope that your good boy doesn't have a tumor or anything serious. His glucose is low from what I can see on the blood test so that's good. They usually have very high glucose with a tumor.
Thanks! We did a lot of research on this site and others to try to give him a nice life! I hope he pulls through 🤞🤞
 

Drache613

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Hello,

Thanks for posting the test results! How is your dragon doing today?
The uric acid is very low, is he dehydrated possibly? It does look a bit like he has some type of infection.
How much weight, overall has he lost, or do you know? I would start trying to get some oral fluids into him
daily to help out his renal function.
The AST or liver enzymes look in range, & so does the Glucose levels which is very good. Hopefully he
doesn't have any liver or pancreatic issues going on. I don't see any evidence of that thus far.
His fecal was clear though?
The calcium to phosphorus ratio looks pretty good actually, it is roughly 2.5:1 meaning there is more calcium
in the blood than phosphorus.
Does he have a good amount of urates with his stool?

Tracie
 

Dumpydoodah

Member
Original Poster
Hello,

Thanks for posting the test results! How is your dragon doing today?
The uric acid is very low, is he dehydrated possibly? It does look a bit like he has some type of infection.
How much weight, overall has he lost, or do you know? I would start trying to get some oral fluids into him
daily to help out his renal function.
The AST or liver enzymes look in range, & so does the Glucose levels which is very good. Hopefully he
doesn't have any liver or pancreatic issues going on. I don't see any evidence of that thus far.
His fecal was clear though?
The calcium to phosphorus ratio looks pretty good actually, it is roughly 2.5:1 meaning there is more calcium
in the blood than phosphorus.
Does he have a good amount of urates with his stool?

Tracie
He drank some water today and hasn't black bearded or acted cranky. He moved around a little too! He has lost quite a but of weight since this summer. His last fecal test was clear but they said he was dehydrated so we started giving him water from a dropper. I believe he did become less dehydrated. The vet recommended testing a couple more times in case that last test was a false negative. That orangey poo really freaked me out so I want to bring his next one in anyway. Do you think that's blood in his poop or just some weird color from the EmerAid?
 

AHBD

BD.org Sicko
He drank some water today and hasn't black bearded or acted cranky. He moved around a little too! He has lost quite a but of weight since this summer. His last fecal test was clear but they said he was dehydrated so we started giving him water from a dropper. I believe he did become less dehydrated. The vet recommended testing a couple more times in case that last test was a false negative. That orangey poo really freaked me out so I want to bring his next one in anyway. Do you think that's blood in his poop or just some weird color from the EmerAid?
That's great that he's drinking, keep that up ! And no, his spot of poo did not look like blood at all. Possibly just from the Emeraid as you suspect.
 

Drache613

BD.org Sicko
Staff member
Moderator
Hello,

That is terrific he is taking in some fluids right now. I think the discoloration is likely from the Emeraid food, but the color doesn't
appear to be blood though. A lot of the commercialized foods cause a change in the stool color & consistency.
Keep him well hydrated to flush out any excess supplementation. I hope he starts to feel better soon.
Let us know how he is progressing.

Tracie
 
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