Beardie - Difficulty walking, won't eat

[Jestech]

Our 2 year old male Beardie (Benson) recently came out of brumation, but wasn't eating much at all. Then he stopped eating anything and started having a tough time walking which progressed to dragging himself to move. In addition he started having muscle spasms, which would cause him to jerk to the right....even flip himself over.
3 days ago we took him to the vet, where she did an x-ray which revealed only slight MBD (we knew this previously as he was a rescue), and he didn't have an impaction. She attributed the symptoms to hypocalcemia which can cause seizures, weakness and muscle spasms and gave him a shot of vitamin C and fluids and is having us provide liquid calcium.

Unfortunately, there's been very little improvement over the weekend. His seizures/spasms have stopped for the most part, but he's still not walking better or eating on his own. We've been syringe feeding him 1 to 2 ounces of Oxbow Critical Care each day with Reptivite.
What concerns me is he seems very fat or bloated for a reptile that hasn't eaten much in months. In addition, he burps/gags and today vomited clear fluid when we fed him. I'm suspecting something else is going on, possibly parasites, which is the reason for the bloating and vomiting.

I'm so bummed. He's like a member of the family and I don't know what to do to help him. We have a follow up with a different herp vet on Tuesday, and we're trying to move that up to tomorrow. Hopefully we'll find out more then.

We have a Reptisun 10.0 T8 that's only a couple months old, and his cage has a 105 degree basking location, and is about 80 degrees on the cool side. I've been using a ceramic infrared bulb at night to keep the temperatures around 80 through the night since he's been sick. Also been giving him daily baths in 50/50 pedialite and water.

Has anyone heard of these kinds of symptoms? I guess we won't find out for sure until we get labs drawn which the first vet probably should've done.

 

[CooperDragon]

The vomiting sounds like excess water or food that he's having trouble processing. It may be a lot at once. I would offer some probiotics to help rebuild his gut flora and help his system restore a good balance which may help him digest and process food more easily. It's good the seizures have stopped but it may take a while for the critical care and vitamins to show a difference. How far from the basking spot is your T8? They have optimal output at about 6''.

 

[Jestech]

Well, we were able to get him into the herp vet today early and the prognosis isn't good.
The MBD isn't causing his symptoms. He's filling up with fluid, which is why he looks so bloated. The vet aspriated some of the fluid and it contains white and red blood cells and bacteria. He believes he has a severe bacterial infection. The vet gave him an initial injection of lasix, and an antibiotic. We were told to continue the antibiotic and lasix injections at home. If he doesn't pee by the third injection, then sadly there's no hope as it would mean his kidneys have failed.

We ordered a complete lab workup to see if we're able to find out how this happened. We're all hoping it wasn't something we did, as we spare no expense with him for his diet, habitat, supplements. In fact, I ordered the new Arcadia D3+ last night hoping it might help. I mis-typed in my previous post, we're using the T5 (skinny) 10.0 bulb not the T8.

We're holding out hope that he turns around. All we can do is give him his medicine, daily 10 minute baths and make him comfortable for the next couple of days. Sad day for my family.

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

I am sorry to hear he is not doing well. After reading your initial post, liver & or kidney issues came to mind when they said his metabolic bone disease was not bad.
You did get the blood test done, correct? When will that be in?
The bloating could also be caused by an enlarged liver & not necessarily his kidneys. Does he excrete urates normally?
The T5 high output bulbs are very good so that shouldn't be the issue here.
Which antibiotic is he on right now?

Tracie

 

[Jestech]

Thanks Tracie. His urates looked fine the last time he went to the bathroom, but it's probably been 10 days as he's not been eating anything. The blood test results should be back sometime tomorrow.
The vet prescribed Baytril .2ml injection daily and Furosemide .06ml injection.

If he's able to go to the bathroom and allow the lasix to work, he might buy enough time to battle the infection, but he's in pretty bad shape right now.

 

[Jestech]

After getting back the lab results, we're at a loss and so is the vet. His kidneys are functioning, but despite lasix he continues to fill with fluid and not go to the bathroom. His calcium is very high at 40, which is apparently dangerous. The vet is quite concerned, and believes he may have a liver tumor or possibly cancer......which is only a best guess because the x-ray and labs don't explain the fluid issue and not urinating. My only guess is that he has a blockage somewhere that the vet isn't seeing.
We got the results by phone late in the day, and I'll ask for a copy tomorrow. We're continuing with the Baytril and Lasix injections, but it's really sad to give him shots, which we know hurt and not knowing if it's even helping. I won't allow him to suffer much longer. Never felt so helpless.

 

[CooperDragon]

Poor guy. The high calcium levels are concerning, I agree. Does your vet have the ability to do a CT? Perhaps that will reveal something that a traditional x-ray is missing.

 

[Jestech]

Still the same today. Badly filled with fluid, and after 4 lasix injections, still no urates/feces. It just doesn't make sense!
I wanted to attach his x-ray to see if anyone sees something the vet may have missed.

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

I do see the fluid on the x-rays though. I am not seeing any growths or tumors. The liver may be enlarged a little bit but since it's soft tissue it's kind of hard to tell.
High calcium levels can indicate egg binding, cancer or other growths that are benign. You are positive he is male & not female?

Tracie

 

[Jestech]

Well, today was quite embarrassing. Benson is my son's pet, that turned into the family pet, and I pretty much took his word that he was a boy. In fact, I even lifted the tail and took a glance myself. However, upon further review....she's a girl! You know your stuff Tracie! If you can believe it, the first vet missed it as well.
We had "her" back to the vet for better x-rays today, and she is still somewhat bloated from an infection, but she's also holding 18+ non-calcified eggs. So, while we still need to continue antibiotics for a bad infection, it doesn't appear to be the cancer/liver issues that we feared, which is good news.

Unfortunately, I don't know a lot about caring for a gravid female. I was told I need to give her a good place to lay these eggs, and do so within days. Should I setup a lay box, or add the appropriate substrate to her viv?

What a roller-coaster ride this week has been! :lol:

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

Oh wow, so Benson is a girl then & she has eggs! Well, a high calcium reading can only be a a few things so eggs is the better scenario.
You can go ahead & set up a laybox for her. You can use a relatively deep bin with natural potting/dirt, mixed with sand or vermiculite together. Make it moist but not sopping wet so that she can dig & make a burrow without it caving in on her.
It may be a few weeks though before she lays since they are uncalcified.
How much longer will she need to be on the antibiotics for the infection? I hope she is feeling better. Is she getting around any easier right now?

Let us know how she is doing.
Tracie

 

[Jestech]

I just wanted to post an update.
So Benson ended up getting mouth rot due to the systemic infection, which has been a battle, but fortunately it seems like the antibiotic she was switched to along with lots of q-tips and 1% Betadine solution have it almost cleared up.
Still very concerned for her. She's not gone to the bathroom, is still unable to or unwilling to move around, and is only eating from a syringe. She has a follow-up with the vet on Thursday.
It just seems like we're missing something as the progress has been minimal at best. Do they typically recover from illness very slowly? Unless the combination of a bad infection, combined with being gravid has just made her too weak to move and it's just going to take some more time to get better. I know there's simply no way she could dig any type of cave to lay the eggs in at this point.

 

[Jestech]

Just another update.
Unfortunately we were missing something, and as it turns out at least one of the yolk sacs are leaking and the vet suspects peritonitis. Poor girl. We're continuing the antibiotic, baths, and syringe feeding in hopes we're able to quickly get an appointment for surgery, but she's just so weak, I'm not sure she'll make it. Our family loves this little dragon, so we're just devastated, especially since she's only 2.

Not giving up yet, but today was probably one of her worst days, as her coloring was more yellow and she's just exhausted. She has fought her heart out.

 

[Jestech]

Last update.
Benson passed away this morning. She actually had surgery on Tuesday evening by a herp vet. Unfortunately, when removing the eggs he said her liver was in very bad shape from fatty liver, which was likely the main problem all along. We were able to get her to eat early this morning, but she was in a catatonic state. I guess the liver damage was just too much. We were prepared to fight that battle with milk thistle and serrapeptase, but won't get that chance.
We will miss her dearly.

 

[CooperDragon]

=( I'm sorry to hear about Benson. You did all you could to help her and I'm sure she appreciated it.