Allopurinol and Potential Gout

[jessehret]

Hi all,

I have a female beardie named Wesley and she is around 4 years old. We recently went to the vet for a well check-up but wanted to check up on some things. She does not drink any water or fluids really and she is not a huge fan of baths; alongside the lack of water she also only poops around 1x/month. The vet did some bloodwork (which I do not have access to) and found that her Uric Acid was really high. She stated that her high uric acid could be due to chronic dehydration or could be signs of renal disease but she was going to give her meds and then I am going to bring her back in 2 weeks to redo blood work. She put her on .54cc of Allopurinol 1x/day and she has been taking that really well. I have been trying to get her to drink some more water by dropping it with a syringe on her nose but she does not seem to be actually drinking any. I have been soaking her greens in water before feeding them to her. Also, I am a little concerned because since she started taking the meds she has been eating less greens (usually collard greens and kale, but depends on what I get at the store). I would usually leave greens in her bowl in the mornings and she would eat all of it by the time I got home later in the day but now she seems completely uninterested unless I am feeding it to her and even then she is not eating too many pieces. Another note, before she started on the meds I had just changed the mat in the bottom of her tank and she spent Thanksgiving week in a different environment as she spent the week with a friend so I don't know if she is stressed out from that as well.

Any help with this or any suggestions would be appreciated!!

 

[Claudiusx]

Hi there,

Well first off, you paid for the blood test, so you do have every right to a copy of them. I would ask for a copy of it so you can post it here. I'm sure the UA levels are high.. it's not an uncommon occurrence anymore with the popularity of high protein diets and dubia roaches, but it still would be helpful to see what the actual level is.

The allopurinol is usually well tolerated, so you shouldn't have any issues with that. Getting your dragon to drink would help her though with her gout.

What does her daily diet look like? What was it before if any recent changes were made?

Was there a specific concern you had when you brought her into the vet?

-Brandon

 

[jessehret]

I will ask for a copy the next time I bring her to the vet or I can call and see if they would be able to send them to me. I am not sure if she has Gout yet as none of her limbs are swollen that I can tell but I am more concerned about the possibility of renal disease and what that means for her moving forward.

Do you have any suggestions on how to get her to drink water ? Her daily diet is a small mixed bowl of collard greens and kale or other greens depending on what I get at the store 2x/day and then crickets dipped in Calcium without D3 2x/week. Usually, for the crickets I would give her 12-15 per sitting which may be way too many now that I am doing research. On the days she gets crickets she does not get greens. There have been no recent changes to her diet besides for putting some water on her greens/soaking them before giving them to her. While she was at my friends for a week she did not get any crickets and had strictly greens so she may just be tired of them.

The concern was her not drinking water at all and pooping only like 1x/month and that is with me giving her some prune or pumpkin baby food and a lot of belly massages.

 

[Claudiusx]

The swollen limbs is more an advanced symptom of gout, you want to prevent Gout from progressing to that point, which is why it's good you got bloodwork to show that it's an issue before it got to that point. As far as renal disease, being able to see the other blood markers in her test would help us help you more.

As for the water, no real suggestions besides to keep trying. If dripping water on her nose doesn't work, you can try a light mist, or lightly slashing the water near her face if you bathe her.

Does she eat her salads? If not, I'd cut out the insects completely until she is. Depending on the size of crickets, that is a lot of crickets for an adult. For full grown crickets you can probably get away with using only a third that many.

Older dragons do tend to go longer in between poos. A month isn't unheard of, but I understand how it is unsettling especially since we'd be in the ER if that was us humans LOL. If she is acting healthy besides the lack of poo, I wouldn't really worry to much about it. Most all adult dragons i've had will only go every few weeks. A little more often if they are really being active and running about.

-Brandon

 

[jessehret]

The swollen limbs is more an advanced symptom of gout, you want to prevent Gout from progressing to that point, which is why it's good you got bloodwork to show that it's an issue before it got to that point. As far as renal disease, being able to see the other blood markers in her test would help us help you more.

As for the water, no real suggestions besides to keep trying. If dripping water on her nose doesn't work, you can try a light mist, or lightly slashing the water near her face if you bathe her.

Does she eat her salads? If not, I'd cut out the insects completely until she is. Depending on the size of crickets, that is a lot of crickets for an adult. For full grown crickets you can probably get away with using only a third that many.

Older dragons do tend to go longer in between poos. A month isn't unheard of, but I understand how it is unsettling especially since we'd be in the ER if that was us humans LOL. If she is acting healthy besides the lack of poo, I wouldn't really worry to much about it. Most all adult dragons i've had will only go every few weeks. A little more often if they are really being active and running about.

-Brandon

I will should be getting the blood work results within the next hour so when I get those I will post them here. I will continue to try and get her to drink water if I can.

She hasn't been too interested in her salads but like I said I don't know if its a bit of an environment change with the change of her mat and the relocation changes. She also has been lazy and just kinda laying around her tank and trying to sleep, but I also don't know if that is because she is trying to brumate maybe? She hasn't gotten crickets in about 2 weeks so I was going to give her a few today just to change up her diet a bit and then go back to salads. Do you have any suggestions on anything I should get for her salads to get her to be a bit more interested in eating them? How many crickets would you suggest per week?

I have read that older dragons go longer between poos but with her only being 4 and she hasn't always been the best pooper I wasn't sure if it was normal. The vet mentioned that with her not drinking enough water and her uric acid being high it would cause her to poo less often. She hasn't really been running around too much so Ik that isn't helping either.

 

[jessehret]

This is the bloodwork I received from them. @cladiusx

 

[KarrieRee]

@Drache613

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

I will also PM you back, as well. The Uric acid levels are higher than what I like to see. How is he doing today?
As mentioned, the swelling is a symptom of a more advanced
phase of gout so luckily he isn't exhibiting those types of symptoms yet. Hopefully you can get it taken care of to avoid any renal issues later on.

Let us know how things are going.
Tracie