Hello all,
Say hello to my boy. He's 10.5 years old, and until recently had been doing well. He's on some treatments currently but is rapidly deteriorating and I would value your experience and ideas! We are now on day 11 of his illness.
PLEASE NOTE - I work as a registered veterinary nurse at a vets which does not specialise in exotics. A nearby exotic vet I was recommended has just retired unfortunately and with the lockdown restrictions and sudden onset of symptoms I opted to test and treat at my own practice with my vet colleague who is super helpful and researching more into this as I type. I have also managed to have a phone consult with an exotics vet who isn't local but gave some of the ideas for testing/ treatment below.. Differential diagnosis isn't looking good. I said I'd try here too for ideas as he is deteriorating.
He started with a mild tremor in his head approx 1.5 weeks ago (see video 1) which prompted me taking him to the vet the next day. Bloods and X-ray taken, including faecal testing. Weight stable at this point (385g) and 5g up on previous years health check/ blood screen. No changes to eating or faecal output. One loose stool produced at vets.
Note - throughout life he has always has very loose stools. I got him when he was 6 months old and he had a heavy burden of pinworm/ coccidia (treated with Fenbendazole/ Panacur) and numbers reduced significantly. He only occasional has fully formed stools throughout his life. I was given the impression this is normal for him and it's not seemed to cause any problems in 10 years.
Test Result concerns - high creatine kinase, VERY high white blood cells. Faecal gram stain shows high levels of bacteria >1000 hpf.
Liver and kidneys all good. Calcium within normal limit (I was initially thinking MBD). X-ray confirms no bone degradation - although a previously unknown kink in his tail is visible.
Treatment: Enrofloxacin (Baytril) started orally every 48hrs. Emeraid critical care started as a supplement but not tolerating well. Bathing daily now for 10-15 mins.
Day 3 - lesion noticed on ventral chest when cleaning after passing faeces and giving bath... seems to incorporate 1 scale? Abscess? Shed issue? Granuloma? I have no idea on this one. Not bothered by it, not sure when first appeared but it seems to have been in 2021 at least.
Day 7 - His tremor has started descending (see video 2, shoulders and legs mildly affected) and Day 8 it is slightly visible alongside his spine (see video 3). A day of inappetence, no greens consumed and even turned down live feed. Weight now 370g (15g loss in 1 week) and seemingly started to appear dehydrated. Antibiotics? Lack of eating? Emeraid upped massively despite his protests.
Treatment Added: Metacam orally once daily.
Additional tests:
FAECES: Egg count done - coccidia present (23o.p.g.). Giardia and cryptosporidum negative. Awaiting salmonella and Campylobactor results. Another 1 to 2 days.
SWAB: Taken of pharynx and sent off for Adenovirus PCR. 2 - 5 day turnaround from today.
Treatment Considering:
Baycox for coccidia.
Changing or adding antibiotic to Fortum (Ceftazidine) injection every 3 days (exotic vet suggested this. Arriving in stock tomorrow so will start then).
Adding a probiotic to try and counter the side effects of these drugs and try and improve his appetite.
Anything to be concerned by with the strange scale on his underside?pp
Husbandry - temps are stable at high end 35 C and cool end 28 C in a 4ft viv. 2 x reptisun 10.0 desert UV lamps changed within the past month running length of viv front and back at a max distance of 12 inches (closer when climbing). Always kept on newspaper. Large rock slab for basking and nail management! Always ate his greens well (fave is rocket, also squash, carrot, endive) and occasional crickets/ locusts gut loaded and calcium laced. Bathed once weekly and enjoyed a swim! Faeces passed 1 to 2 times per week.
Have any of you experienced anything similar?
His prognosis is guarded. If these treatments do not work, the only other option is a CT scan, which to be honest I am reluctant to do because I don't believe he would survive a sedation at this point, plus if it is cancer or neurological brain centred then the outcome isn't good anyway.
I'm giving him another week with support and hoping to see an improvement. Will reassess then. If he continues to lose weight, tremors become worse, etc, then I will have to be brave and say goodbye.
Video 1, Day 2 - https://youtu.be/QdZI82yD0_M
Video 2, Day 7 - https://youtu.be/WLc0pw0TVsc
Video 3, Day 8 - https://youtu.be/WfHw2A3sdNw
Lesion on scale. Excuse the poop marks, I noticed this whilst bathing him after a messy poop and was mid-clean.
I appreciate any ideas, any support and/ or sharing of similar experiences.
Will keep you updated on his response to the coccidia treatment start tomorrow.
Thank you.
Say hello to my boy. He's 10.5 years old, and until recently had been doing well. He's on some treatments currently but is rapidly deteriorating and I would value your experience and ideas! We are now on day 11 of his illness.
PLEASE NOTE - I work as a registered veterinary nurse at a vets which does not specialise in exotics. A nearby exotic vet I was recommended has just retired unfortunately and with the lockdown restrictions and sudden onset of symptoms I opted to test and treat at my own practice with my vet colleague who is super helpful and researching more into this as I type. I have also managed to have a phone consult with an exotics vet who isn't local but gave some of the ideas for testing/ treatment below.. Differential diagnosis isn't looking good. I said I'd try here too for ideas as he is deteriorating.
He started with a mild tremor in his head approx 1.5 weeks ago (see video 1) which prompted me taking him to the vet the next day. Bloods and X-ray taken, including faecal testing. Weight stable at this point (385g) and 5g up on previous years health check/ blood screen. No changes to eating or faecal output. One loose stool produced at vets.
Note - throughout life he has always has very loose stools. I got him when he was 6 months old and he had a heavy burden of pinworm/ coccidia (treated with Fenbendazole/ Panacur) and numbers reduced significantly. He only occasional has fully formed stools throughout his life. I was given the impression this is normal for him and it's not seemed to cause any problems in 10 years.
Test Result concerns - high creatine kinase, VERY high white blood cells. Faecal gram stain shows high levels of bacteria >1000 hpf.
Liver and kidneys all good. Calcium within normal limit (I was initially thinking MBD). X-ray confirms no bone degradation - although a previously unknown kink in his tail is visible.
Treatment: Enrofloxacin (Baytril) started orally every 48hrs. Emeraid critical care started as a supplement but not tolerating well. Bathing daily now for 10-15 mins.
Day 3 - lesion noticed on ventral chest when cleaning after passing faeces and giving bath... seems to incorporate 1 scale? Abscess? Shed issue? Granuloma? I have no idea on this one. Not bothered by it, not sure when first appeared but it seems to have been in 2021 at least.
Day 7 - His tremor has started descending (see video 2, shoulders and legs mildly affected) and Day 8 it is slightly visible alongside his spine (see video 3). A day of inappetence, no greens consumed and even turned down live feed. Weight now 370g (15g loss in 1 week) and seemingly started to appear dehydrated. Antibiotics? Lack of eating? Emeraid upped massively despite his protests.
Treatment Added: Metacam orally once daily.
Additional tests:
FAECES: Egg count done - coccidia present (23o.p.g.). Giardia and cryptosporidum negative. Awaiting salmonella and Campylobactor results. Another 1 to 2 days.
SWAB: Taken of pharynx and sent off for Adenovirus PCR. 2 - 5 day turnaround from today.
Treatment Considering:
Baycox for coccidia.
Changing or adding antibiotic to Fortum (Ceftazidine) injection every 3 days (exotic vet suggested this. Arriving in stock tomorrow so will start then).
Adding a probiotic to try and counter the side effects of these drugs and try and improve his appetite.
Anything to be concerned by with the strange scale on his underside?pp
Husbandry - temps are stable at high end 35 C and cool end 28 C in a 4ft viv. 2 x reptisun 10.0 desert UV lamps changed within the past month running length of viv front and back at a max distance of 12 inches (closer when climbing). Always kept on newspaper. Large rock slab for basking and nail management! Always ate his greens well (fave is rocket, also squash, carrot, endive) and occasional crickets/ locusts gut loaded and calcium laced. Bathed once weekly and enjoyed a swim! Faeces passed 1 to 2 times per week.
Have any of you experienced anything similar?
His prognosis is guarded. If these treatments do not work, the only other option is a CT scan, which to be honest I am reluctant to do because I don't believe he would survive a sedation at this point, plus if it is cancer or neurological brain centred then the outcome isn't good anyway.
I'm giving him another week with support and hoping to see an improvement. Will reassess then. If he continues to lose weight, tremors become worse, etc, then I will have to be brave and say goodbye.
Video 1, Day 2 - https://youtu.be/QdZI82yD0_M
Video 2, Day 7 - https://youtu.be/WLc0pw0TVsc
Video 3, Day 8 - https://youtu.be/WfHw2A3sdNw
Lesion on scale. Excuse the poop marks, I noticed this whilst bathing him after a messy poop and was mid-clean.
I appreciate any ideas, any support and/ or sharing of similar experiences.
Will keep you updated on his response to the coccidia treatment start tomorrow.
Thank you.