Hello,
Oh bless her, I am sorry to hear about the results. How is she looking, does she have any darkness
to her beard at all?
I am not sure why she would be impacted, what type of foods are you giving, that could cause some
type of impaction problems?
I hope the Cisapride helps out, for the infection in her system. She isn't eating on her own then? You
could also give some manuka honey or raw unpasteurized honey for her a few drops a couple of times
per week to help boost her system some. Be sure to keep her warmer overnight to help too.
Keep us posted on her & her condition.
Tracie
Tracie,
She looks fine. No signs of stress - no darkness to her coloration or beard, and no stress marks. She is just incredibly lethargic. She sleeps in basking all day.
So I got her in 2021. When I got her, the enclosure she came in was too small (60 gal aquarium) and she was in sand. Her basking area did not reach optimal temps and she came with an old T8, which I am unsure of how long it had been used. In her x-rays, her bone density looked spectacular somehow. She looked perfectly healthy that way. I am hoping with every hope that she ingested sand back then and became impacted, which slowly built up over time. I really hope it isn't fluid. She does poop fairly regularly, and her poops are always pretty large, but I'm hoping she just has some backed up that isn't coming out. Once we are done with the cisapride, we are going to do an ultrasound to see if we can determine if it's free fluid or poop. If it's fluid, her vet said he is willing to drain it non surgically (using a needle guided by ultrasound to draw it out) which would require sedation.
Her bloodwork came back and everything is normal now. No infection. Slightly elevated red blood cell but within normal range, the vet indicated that could mean dehydration. Her second vet also said previously that her kidney function was a little low, but not alarmingly so.
When she was healthy, she ate collard greens, mustard greens, carrot tops, arugula, squash, bell pepper, occasional cucumber. For bugs, she had BSFL, discoids, and crickets - occasional super worm as a treat, horn worm maybe once every month or two as a treat and for
hydration. As of now, we are on the collard green/critical care slurry. The vet said she was so full that it's not surprising she does not want to eat. There's simply no room for food. She also is not moving around as much because her lungs are so compressed. She drinks her
bath water, and I try to keep her
hydrated.
New vet advised to soak her in warm water for 30 minutes twice a week. I am afraid to palpate or massage her too much because she must be so uncomfortable.
I am just at a loss. I tried to do everything right for her and this hit us out of no where. I don't even know how long she's been like this - she has always been pretty large and pancake-ey, and I am discovering that it's not even natural body mass. It's the poop or fluid building up in her abdomen. I just wish I did x-rays a long time ago, but none of her vets thought it would be necessary.
