Dundee

[Taterbug]

Do you have a solar watch? Or it so dundee knows when his nap is over?
too bad you other camera didn't work out D:

 

[CooperDragon]

Nah it's just a cheapo timex. It seems to really catch his eye though so. He watches it on my wrist all the time. He was watching it when I went up to his tank so I put it next to him for a bit so he could check it out. Seems to have lost interest in it now =)

 

[CooperDragon]

I'm sad to say Dundee has taken a bad turn. He was energetic and in seemingly good shape last week. We went away for the weekend and when we came back he was limp and lethargic. He'd lost 18g in three days and was dehydrated. We brought him to our vet (emergency hours) and she took a blood sample and ran a fecal test (clear). The blood sample showed a low white blood cell count and a possible kidney problem. Not sure if it's his infection spreading or not yet. He's been getting extra food syringes and water. He is a bit better now but is still not himself. Have him back up to 412g but fat pads are depleted and he's still relatively lethargic. Our vet is consulting with some specialists and will visit again on Tuesday. Please send good thoughts for the little guy. He deserves some time not being sick and I hope he can pull through this. I know he's a tough one. Almost a year to the day after I lost Coop. I'm not going to lose another one now.

 

[brandymulvaine]

No, no, no! Poor lil' guy (and you too)! I will pray for you two. Is Dundee your only baby?

 

[Taterbug]

Oh man, I'm sorry to hear about that! He'll be in my thoughts for sure, wishing you both the best.

 

[Heyimbrit]

Reading that made my heart hurt. I've come to love Dundee like one of my own even though I'm a few thousand miles away. I love reading about him and it was so great to see him getting better. I started crying last night when I read that. I can't bear to see him go anytime soon. Ivwish both of you luck and you'll be in my thoughts. Please keep us updated.

 

[brandymulvaine]

Would a bit of honey in his water help? I also have some critic care(maybe critter care??) that I could get to you fast if you need it.

 

[CooperDragon]

Thanks guys. He's still hanging in there. He's definitely a tough dude just for getting this far. I gave him some critical care when his weight dropped off but the vet wants him to be on his usual smoothie of greens and veges. I've just been diluting it more than usual with more water to help with his hydration. I'm really not sure what is causing the dehydration as nothing has changed in his routine. I'm not sure that honey in the water will help or not. I'm really not sure what's wrong with him at this point. Will hopefully have better news or at least a game plan on Tuesday. He is definitely getting the best care I can find.

 

[brandymulvaine]

Critical care! That's the stuff I was talking about. Couldn't remember the name. I gave my guys honey whenever they seems "off", not wanting to eat, dehydrated, or a long shed. It seemed to help, I think. It didn't hurt them at least. Charlotte sends her love and says get well! :lol:

 

[jenn4turtles]

Oh no! Hope the vet gets back to you soon with some answers! Keep us posted.

 

[CooperDragon]

Spoke with the vet and she said his BUN is a bit high but his uric acid levels are normal so that's a good sign kidney wise. The higher nitrogen level is likely related to the dehydration (I'm still not sure why he is dehydrated all of a sudden). She thinks perhaps his gut flora is out of whack so I'm going to put him back on bene-bac for the time being. She also mentioned the possibility of a fecal transplant from a healthy dragon. Interesting thought but will discuss further at his appointment tomorrow. I still want to address his RI and further options for that as I feel that's the core of the problem.

He's been a bit more alert but it's still taking a good 2hrs to force a whole syringe of smoothie on him. Have his weight back up to 414 from 400 last week so that's an improvement. I'm still not liking his depleted fat pads or relatively lethargic behavior.

 

[brandymulvaine]

Thanks for the update.
You guys are in my prayers!

 

[CooperDragon]

Dundee had a follow up visit with the vet today. He is still showing signs of dehydration but has improved quite a bit over the last week. His blood test showed some abnormalities consistent with dehydration but nothing concerning on it's own which is a relief. She did a gram stain of his poop and found that his bacteria levels are better than she expected. He is low on the gram positive bacteria so she suggested that we continue with the bene-bac treatment for now. I'll also continue to provide him with water heavy smoothies for now. We'll re-visit in two weeks. Didn't really get into anything else because we want to focus on getting his systems back in balance first. We don't want to hit him with any medication until his bacteria levels are back in balance. She found an abscess in his belly during the physical exam but she doesn't know what it is. I lost Cooper a year ago today to a tumor so I'm more on edge about that than I normally would be. Since Dundee's blood test didn't show indications of additional problems, we decided to shelf that issue for now and check it out on his follow up visit. We may need to bring him to specialists for further diagnostics but we'll cross that bridge when we come to it. We will also need to re-visit the respiratory issue. Since he's gone through two rounds of antibiotics without success, the current thought is that perhaps the fungal infection is still holding out in his lungs and didn't completely respond to the Voriconazole. It could also be a bacterial infection that didn't respond to the Baytril completely (the last culture taken showed bacteria in his mouth that were susceptible to Baytril). Not sure about that one at the moment either. More questions than answers I suppose, but at least he is perking up a bit and seems to be on the mend from this latest setback.

 

[brandymulvaine]

How are you guys doing?

 

[CooperDragon]

So far so good. Thanks for checking in =). Dundee is getting his morning bath while I put together his smoothie (collards, zucchini squash and green beans this week) and I'm going to add some bee pollen that I got from Tracie to see if that helps out. Continuing with the probiotics as well. Just finished my last tube of bene-bac and will try some Acidophiluz+ in his smoothie and see how well that does. He's gotten some weight back. Up to 422g as of yesterday. Energy is up a little bit but still more lethargic than I'd like and not interested in food. His urates still have an odd mint green tint to them. Not really sure what that's from as his diet hasn't changed. I'm guessing it has something to do with the dehydration messing with his systems but have no real idea. He seems to be on the right track again though! Tough little guy for sure. He's been through a lot. I hope he can get healthy soon and enjoy his time.