Ava Update

[KristineM]

Reading Deb's post made me feel really hopefull about today! I have everything with me and will head to you from work. Like you always tell me, breath <3

Thanks for this morning, too. It's always something

 

[Oki05]

Let us know how Ava does today. *Hugs*

 

[zandi202]

Thanks everyone. Will keep everyone posted on here and on my forum

 

[zandi202]

Ava Update:
Kristine, bless her, drove an hour+ one way to take her to the vet with me. The vet was very nice and seemed very well educated. Overall I really liked her and she gave me a packet on leopard gecko care that is from a website vets keep track of so I'll go over all the babies care there as well as Jace's and Zy's because it is for all reptiles. If anyone wants to check it out it's called http://www.anapsid.org.
Now onto Ava. She was a good girl and the vet and vet techs adored her and loved how pretty she was. She was a very popular girl. When they took her in the back you could hear oozing and awing and saying how pretty she was. So the vet weighed her - 43 healthy grams and told us that one of the options was blood testing (we went with that because I didn't like the sound of the other one) and that was a $170-ish cost. They draw blood from the tail and she warned me that Ava could possibly drop it. I agreed to it because I wanted to know what was wrong. They took her in back and she came back maybe 15 minutes later. She tried getting blood twice and didn't want to do anymore than that because she has a two time needle rule - if she doesn't get what she needs she won't bother with a third in risk of stressing them out. We didn't want Ava to drop her tail. She said Ava was good and they only got enough blood to check her white blood cell count and will call back to let me know if it's too high or all good or what not. They didn't charge me for the blood work since they couldn't get a big enough sample. We scheduled an appointment for next Thursday same time to give her a week of rest and then try again with the blood test.

Thanks again, Kristine, for coming. It meant a lot to me.

 

[zandi202]

Ava Update:
The vet got back to me just now. In Ava's blood she found blood parasites which can lead to the neurological problems she is having. Now we are scheduled for an appointment next week to do more blood testing and that will let us know where we stand. The blood parasites can be harmless or can be dangerous and has caused anemia. For those who don't know what anemia is, the best definition I could find is: "A deficiency in the oxygen-carrying component of the blood, as in the amount of hemoglobin or the number or volume of red blood cells. Iron deficiency, often caused by inadequate dietary consumption of iron, and blood loss are common causes of anemia." Wish me luck with Ava.

 

[diamc]

Hi Liz, so nice that Kristine went with you, awesome to have a friend like that. The vet sounds great, very caring and gentle. The results of the WBC certainly makes sense showing she is anemic, explains the neurological symptoms too, poor girl. Hopefully it will be easy to treat and she will feel so much better very soon.

 

[zandi202]

Thanks, Diane. The vet didn't sound too hopeful and I forgot to ask if it's treatable - the blood parasites so she's calling me back to answer my question after her current appointment.

 

[zandi202]

Anther Ava Update:
The next blood test will tell more, but if they are true blood parasites there are cures, just no guarantee that they will work. If they are viral...there is no cure.

 

[diamc]

I guess all you can do right now is wait. You have given her the best care that you possibly could. Wish you lots of luck and hopefully it will all be ok very soon.

 

[zandi202]

Thanks again, Diane, for your support. I really appreciate it as does Ava. I'm a pessimist so this will be a very long week for me.

 

[sweetiepie9]

No you have to be an optimist when it comes to your babies and hope beyond hope that these blood parasites can be treated and that the treatment will work. I'm sorry to hear about that and the anemia, but I'm an optimist and I refuse to believe anything negative until I have prove of it. So I'll be your optimist and hopefully that will translate into all good things for Ava, K?

That was so great that Kristine went with you, you needed the support. That vet sounds awesome, so knowledgeable and knew right away that the blood tests were the best course to figure it out.

I'm praying for good news for Ava, she's such a beautiful leo.

Keep us all posted, k?
Deb

 

[zandi202]

Thanks, Deb. Paul's always been my optimist. I don't know why, but I've always been a pessimist. :lol: I really appreciated having someone come with me. I don't think I could have done it on my own.

 

[zandi202]

I'm feeling like Ava is getting worse. She still hasn't eaten. I'll have to weigh her tomorrow and see if/how much weight she has dropped. I'm getting really concerned.

 

[CountofCasualty]

Are there any slurries you can give leos, like you can with Dragons??

 

[zandi202]

The problem is getting them to take it. I was recommended to get mango baby food and mix calcium into that and dab it onto their nose. Leos lick anything that touches their nose. We'll try that, but there is no way for me to syringe feed her like I would Jace or Zy.