Bearded dragon 1 rear leg/foot edema (swelling

[Mama B]

Hello,

That's great they did aspirate fluids from the area. How is it looking now?
Please let us know how the results look. If you can, post the results here on the forum so we can take
a look at them.
That's good to hear he is eating some greens right now. I hope he starts feeling better soon.
Keep us posted on him.

Tracie

He is motoring around as he needs to…limited because it’s uncomfortable, but he does move himself from basking to cool area. Site looks clean and unremarkable. No change. Exotic vet did a good job. They are literally a dedicated exotic avian and reptile vet she was trained at Tufts… good practice just $$$ like many of them. This morning he ate a decent amount of greens/veg from his bowl when I put it in front of his face. I was happy to see him, noticed that I put a few tiny pieces of sweet red pepper in there and he grabbed them. One of his favorites. I think it’s just hard for him to get all the way over there if not necessary because of discomfort. Before this, he would run to his bowl every morning. He has a nice 4 x 2 x 2 Arcadia UVB light an extra Arcadia jungle Dawn, proper heat lights, digital thermometers. I check with the temperature gone and a solar meter regularly. Pooping regularly, eating his same limited bugs. Weight stable.

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

He seems to be doing pretty well. That foot is definitely swollen. Has it gotten any better thus far?
I'm sure that he has some discomfort with that foot, but hopefully you can get it all figured out for him.
At least he is eating some vegetation though.
The Arcadia tube UVB lights are very good bulbs. That's a great sized tank too.

Keep us posted on him.

Tracie

 

[Mama B]

Hello,

He seems to be doing pretty well. That foot is definitely swollen. Has it gotten any better thus far?
I'm sure that he has some discomfort with that foot, but hopefully you can get it all figured out for him.
At least he is eating some vegetation though.
The Arcadia tube UVB lights are very good bulbs. That's a great sized tank too.

Keep us posted on him.

Tracie

Long discussion with vet yesterday. Nothing definitive as you can see by the attachments she still thinks it could be a 50-50 that it’s a malignant lesion but my gut tells me we would’ve seen some malignant cells in aspirate. She said if they did surgery, she’s not sure based on the location that they would be able to do an She said if they did surgery, she’s not sure based on the location that they would be able to do a limb sparing procedure. I can’t do that to him without knowing definitively. After discussion with friends from my reptile rescue they feel same. I’m going to see if they’d be willing to do a biopsy first. Feel like high chance this is walled off non-malignant cyst.

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

I agree, a biopsy would be good since the aspiration didn't really yield any answers. This is very
strange. They tried the AZT for a septic type of infection for him?
There are no other swollen areas, correct?

Tracie

 

[Mama B]

Hello,

I agree, a biopsy would be good since the aspiration didn't really yield any answers. This is very
strange. They tried the AZT for a septic type of infection for him?
There are no other swollen areas, correct?

Tracie

No other swollen areas. They used cephalosporin based broad spectrum antibiotic which seemed reasonable to me. Remind me what your thoughts were around AZT. I’m open to anything. I’m kind of baffled too. Lab report showed a bunch of nothing but a hot inflamed area. Something is walled off and body trying to fight it.

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

It does seem very strange that nothing can be defined. The Ceftz is a
good broad spectrum medication. So, I am not sure why it wasn't very
effective for this case.
The AZT has been shown in several cases here on the board to be a
helpful agent against septic arthritis type of issues. It is not an antibiotic but an antimicrobial/antibacterial agent instead. It is worth a try, for a round or
two just to see if it has an effect on that foot.

Tracie

 

[Mama B]

Hello,

It does seem very strange that nothing can be defined. The Ceftz is a
good broad spectrum medication. So, I am not sure why it wasn't very
effective for this case.
The AZT has been shown in several cases here on the board to be a
helpful agent against septic arthritis type of issues. It is not an antibiotic but an antimicrobial/antibacterial agent instead. It is worth a try, for a round or
two just to see if it has an effect on that foot.

Tracie

Thank you I will follow up with her on that as well.

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

Yes, that would be great to have an update, when you can. I hope the swelling can eventually
be reduced for her. I know that she will be happy if it started feeling better.

Tracie

 

[Mama B]

Hello,

Yes, that would be great to have an update, when you can. I hope the swelling can eventually
be reduced for her. I know that she will be happy if it started feeling better.

Tracie

I have surgery scheduled for Tuesday. It’s not going to get better unless this is cyst-like formation is removed. The exotic vet has express instructions to keep limb intact unless it is attached to bone.

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

OH my, well I'm glad that they are going to spare the limb unless it is attached to bone. Let's hope that there isn't anything attached & it's a clean removal.
How is he doing today?
Please keep us posted on how things go!

Tracie

 

[Mama B]

Hello,

OH my, well I'm glad that they are going to spare the limb unless it is attached to bone. Let's hope that there isn't anything attached & it's a clean removal.
How is he doing today?
Please keep us posted on how things go!

Tracie

Day 1 post surgery picked him up after overnight. He is doing well and alert. He was very alert when I picked him up and actually climbing out of the carrier onto my arm when he heard my voice. So they have not seen signs of movement or feeling with the leg yet. They’re saying that the femoral artery was intact, but this 2 cm x 1.5 cm tumor (hopefully benign) was wrapped around it so she said it’s only one day post surgery so wait-and-see no sign of discoloration or necrosis so that is good. We have to see what pathology says. Hoping movement returns to the leg. He was very energetic and almost launched himself off the scale at the vets. I think he wore himself out because now he’s tired. Gave him hydration and some greens/veg. He was interested in a dubia, but couldn’t bring him himself to eat it.

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

He does look good there, very alert! His beard isn't black either. That's great to hear the femoral
artery is intact & hopefuly the tumor is benign! What a trooper he is. I hope he starts to use the leg
soon. I'm sure it will be sore for awhile though after the surgery.
Let us know when the lab results come in & keep us posted on his progress.

Tracie

 

[Mama B]

Hello,

He does look good there, very alert! His beard isn't black either. That's great to hear the femoral
artery is intact & hopefuly the tumor is benign! What a trooper he is. I hope he starts to use the leg
soon. I'm sure it will be sore for awhile though after the surgery.
Let us know when the lab results come in & keep us posted on his progress.

Tracie

He never black beards anymore Tracie. It’s unusual, when he was rehomed to us, he occasionally did if he was irritated. In general, he’s truly a sweet soul, but like if he saw the groundhog outside from the window, he would get a black beard and bob his head. The summer before he had a URI and after that he never black bearded again. If he gets irritated or upset, he has switched to doing a mouth opening behavior. No respiratory issues, just a brief show of mouth and eye contact.

He was exhausted last night and fell asleep before his lights even went out. I’m sure they had him up a lot checking his vitals after the surgery the night he had to stay at the vet. Now the timers on his lightS have not gone on yet since we are East coast and it is not 6:30am. Hopefully he will continue to improve and I will keep you updated.

I also modified his tank a little bit at the direction of the vet to make sure it is safe for him. I think it’s important to get all this information out there because there is so little about reptiles and treatment for other keepers. In case somebody else has the same situation at least information is documented and there is a template for evaluation and care plan. So many people were thinking gout and the vet was right, based on location of nodule on upper thigh this definitely was not. We probably would’ve had better information from a CT scan, but the cost was astronomical and I wanted to save any money for potential surgery.

Also, I highly recommend Nationwide reptile insurance. It was a big help. I have had it for at least several years. It doesn’t cover everything and it does have maximum out of pocket but for nine dollars a month or so it is worthwhile and has been worthwhile for me. They don’t cover well visits and they don’t cover parasites, but they are very clear on their coverage schedule and they pay within a couple days.

I will keep you updated and I appreciate if everyone could keep Mr. Rex in their thoughts and prayers.

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

I'm glad that he isn't black bearding anymore. I hope that things start to clear up soon. Of course, when
they see things outside, if something scares them, they will definitely black beard or head bob.
You are right, there isn't much information on reptile cases, especially with special cases such as this,
available. Hopefuly in the future, more information & research will be available.
That's great your insurance provided pretty good coverage. It definitely helps out!
Let us know how he is doing.

Tracie

 

[Mama B]

Hello,

I'm glad that he isn't black bearding anymore. I hope that things start to clear up soon. Of course, when
they see things outside, if something scares them, they will definitely black beard or head bob.
You are right, there isn't much information on reptile cases, especially with special cases such as this,
available. Hopefuly in the future, more information & research will be available.
That's great your insurance provided pretty good coverage. It definitely helps out!
Let us know how he is doing.

Tracie

He never black beards. I am seeing improvements each day. The morning after I got him home, he voluntarily ate a live dubia. I’ve been hydrating him and sliding his greens/veg into his mouth. He’s been cooperative. This morning he voluntarily ate a nice size piece of shredded butternut squash, which was huge. I brought him outside for a little bit of sunlight, and he actually got really excited and started climbing up on my shoulder and trying to launch himself I had that hold him. That was huge progress. He’s relaxing now sitting in the sun on my leg. I think I’m starting to see a little movement with the left leg, which is the one where we had the surgery. You can see the positioning of the left leg and the right leg and they look equal. I did not touch him. This was how he moved himself. When he wasn’t moving the leg prior to surgery, it would just sort of hang slack. Hoping over the next week or two I start to see more activity and maybe the edema will subside and will start to get some more functionality out of his lymphatic system in that leg. Sutures look good and leg color looks good.