Anemic bearded dragon with low blood sugar and low protein, looking for help and advice

[Drache613]

Hello,

Ok, that is a good sign he is active right now. Hopefully a higher basking bulb will help out.
The Ceftz should help with any type of infection, pretty quickly. Did they show you how & where
to do the injection? Those temperatures are fine now, especially if you are using a temp gun right now.
Oh you are kidding, the Arcadia UVB tube & fixture were broken? That just figures. I hope you can get
that rectified quickly.
The low blood sugar could be just diet related. It could also be pancreas or liver issues, too but it's most
likely going to be just diet right now.
Protozoa issues, that is pretty common. You are probably referring to Metronidazole to treat those, so
be sure to keep him well hydrated right now since he will be on both medications.

Let us know how he is doing.
Tracie

 

[mikaela]

Hello,

Ok, that is a good sign he is active right now. Hopefully a higher basking bulb will help out.
The Ceftz should help with any type of infection, pretty quickly. Did they show you how & where
to do the injection? Those temperatures are fine now, especially if you are using a temp gun right now.
Oh you are kidding, the Arcadia UVB tube & fixture were broken? That just figures. I hope you can get
that rectified quickly.
The low blood sugar could be just diet related. It could also be pancreas or liver issues, too but it's most
likely going to be just diet right now.
Protozoa issues, that is pretty common. You are probably referring to Metronidazole to treat those, so
be sure to

Hello,

Ok, that is a good sign he is active right now. Hopefully a higher basking bulb will help out.
The Ceftz should help with any type of infection, pretty quickly. Did they show you how & where
to do the injection? Those temperatures are fine now, especially if you are using a temp gun right now.
Oh you are kidding, the Arcadia UVB tube & fixture were broken? That just figures. I hope you can get
that rectified quickly.
The low blood sugar could be just diet related. It could also be pancreas or liver issues, too but it's most
likely going to be just diet right now.
Protozoa issues, that is pretty common. You are probably referring to Metronidazole to treat those, so
be sure to keep him well hydrated right now since he will be on both medications.

Let us know how he is doing.
Tracie

They showed me, I’ve given him injections in the past so I have some experience with it as well. I have both medications for him now, the one to treat Protozoa will be given for a week and the other will be given every 3 days (I can’t remember for exactly how long). I have a replacement Arcadia UVB bulb on the way.
He’s still active and he ate all his food today. I’m making sure he’s hydrated, he won’t drink on his own so I either drop some water on him with a plastic syringe or spray some at him until he does. Overall he seems alright, so I’m really hoping he’ll be okay and this will just pass.

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

That's good you are trying to keep him hydrated right now, I know how hard that is to do if they wont
really drink on their own.
Once you have done injections on them, that does help out with experience. If you are precise then it
usually goes pretty smoothly.
I hope your replacement bulb gets there quickly! Keep us posted on him.

Tracie

 

[mikaela]

Hello,

That's good you are trying to keep him hydrated right now, I know how hard that is to do if they wont
really drink on their own.
Once you have done injections on them, that does help out with experience. If you are precise then it
usually goes pretty smoothly.
I hope your replacement bulb gets there quickly! Keep us posted on him.

Tracie

I finished his injections and had his vet appointment today, he’s still losing weight and we did more labs and another fecal analysis so I’m waiting on those results. The vet said liver disease is a possibility.. Do you know if there are any treatments that can help with that? I’m sure it’s different for different diseases and cases, and I’m not sure if that is the issue with him, but I’d rather know if helping him is a possibility just incase it turns out that that is what’s wrong.

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

Sorry he is still having some trouble!
Let us know what the blood tests say, & if you can go ahead & post them here for us.
If he does have liver problems, you can try giving some milk thistle powder or liquid to
help with liver function.
How is his appetite doing now?
How much weight has he lost?

Tracie

 

[mikaela]

Hello,

Sorry he is still having some trouble!
Let us know what the blood tests say, & if you can go ahead & post them here for us.
If he does have liver problems, you can try giving some milk thistle powder or liquid to
help with liver function.
How is his appetite doing now?
How much weight has he lost?

Tracie

Would it be harmful to give him that if he doesn’t have liver problems? Or would that help liver function either way and be good to do anyways? And how much should be given?
He has less of an appetite, he’s not eating as much and sometimes he’ll only eat if i hand feed it to him, which he’s never done before.
He’s lost 8g in a month and before that he weighed much more than he currently does, he’s currently 407g which really worries me.

Edit: I just got the call back from the vet, he said that his liver markers went up. He’s talking about possibly having an ultrasound done for him. He’s less anemic than before and his blood sugar is almost normal, but his protein is still low.
I’m waiting on an email with the results, I can share them here once I get them.

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

Milk thistle wouldn't be harmful at all if given, even if he didn't have any liver issues. It sounds like
his liver might be having a little bit of trouble, so it would probably benefit him to some extent.
Since there is no recommended dosing on this supplement, it's good to use conservatively with any
supplement. If using liquid, a few drops should be enough, depending on the strength of the liquid.
The powder can simply be sprinkled onto the food, etc for use.

Let us know how he is doing.
Tracie