Dundee

[CooperDragon]

Mouth issues certainly aren't helping the appetite but I'm not sure if that's the whole story. I don't have an answer for how long it will take to clear his airways/mouth/nose etc though. I'll just keep him on meds and food and keep his temps up a bit and see what happens. His visit to Urbana will be next Wednesday.

 

[jenn4turtles]

What's Urbana?

When my Siamese has a flare-up of gingivitis (common in Siamese cats), she won't eat, because her mouth hurts too much, and I will have to take her to get a steroid shot (this happens about once a year). I wonder if there's a steroid that he can be given? (Probably in liquid form for him.) It may help his mouth and clear up his lungs. (When I get pneumonia, bronchitis, etc., I am usually given a steroid to help clear my lungs/passageways.)

 

[BabySkales]

aww poor thing! hopefully it wont have to come down to that, but if it does im sure it will help him out. I think Jenn is right.. thats probably why he hasnt gone for solid foods. :[ poor baby. I dont know much about mouth rot.. but i know you cant reverse it.. but it can be stopped correct? hopefully he will be able to use the other side of his mouth. Animals are pretty good about that kind of stuff, they will find a way to manage and survive. hope the little guy keep getting better :]

 

[CooperDragon]

Urbana is the city in Illinois in which the university is located, about 4 hours away. Their vet school has some experts who have been helpful to us in the past. Unfortunately the mouth rot is pretty much everywhere. He has almost no gum tissue left but his side teeth are still in tact. I think once his infection is cleared up he will become hungry again. He's done a number on the syringe tips so far =).

 

[jenn4turtles]

Good! At least he's getting food!

 

[brandymulvaine]

Poor lil' guy! Maybe the antibiotics have messed with the gut flora? Can BD's have probotics? That might help with bloat and gas. Kefir would be best if Dundee can have it. :wink:

 

[CooperDragon]

Yep, probiotics are very useful when on antibiotics. He is getting a dose of bene-bac the day after each shot. The more I watch him, the more I think he's trying to clear his lungs in more of a coughing motion than a burping motion. This has been going on well before he started the antibiotics and his impaction has been cleared for a while now. He's only a couple of weeks into the antibiotics so I'm hoping they will help clear his lungs soon. Tricked him into eating a couple of small pieces of turnip green today, but not enough to matter much and he didn't have interest on his own (I tossed the pieces in when he opened his mouth to cough/burp). Now he's sitting with me watching a ballgame (Indianapolis vs Rochester) while I work on the forum and try to feed him a syringe of sweet potato.

 

[BabySkales]

Dundee is a fighter!if only he would chew food the way he chews the syringe tips :lol: i'm sure your persistence will pay off the and little guy will eat on his own

 

[brandymulvaine]

How did you guys weather the storm?

 

[CooperDragon]

Just got back from the vet a little while ago. D handled the 8 hours in the car like a champ (that was the easiest part of the day for him). He got poked and prodded quite a bit. Had the plaque removed from his gums. Had a blood draw, so we'll have the results from that in a few days. Not expecting anything significant from that. Had a culture taken from his mouth to see what exactly is irritating his gums/mouth/respiratory system. Should have the results from that in a few days as well. He also had a biopsy done on his lower jaw tissue which is still inflamed. In the meantime he was switched from the Ceftazidime to Enrofloxacin (Latin for Baytril I believe) because the Ceftazidime dose was so low (.02ml) that there was concern about resistance. He is also now on Metronidazole (Flagyl) to treat anaerobic bacterial infection and was given Meloxicam for inflamation. Going to run with that for a little while now. Will adjust based on the test results. I wish I could have given the little guy a treat, but since he still isn't interested in delicious worms, he settled for some outside time on the way home. He is back home and sleeping and looks as good as ever. Will start his new meds tomorrow. Things are looking up for this tough little guy =).

 

[BabySkales]

Yay Dundee!! :]

 

[CooperDragon]

Just for reference. This was a few days after we got him. Notice the improvement in his mouth and general size.

 

[BabySkales]

Wow.. He is much better looking now... His mouth look a lot better! Poor baby... He must have been super miserable

 

[Esther19]

Cooper, one of my girls has a pinched nerve in her neck which causes breathing issues. I use a nebulizer for her daily to help with breathing. I put in the Ceftaz, colloidal silver, and sterilized water. I got the idea here from smart folks who have done the same thing. If you're interested in finding out more, you can do a forum search or let me know and I will fill you in on how I do it.

 

[brandymulvaine]

It looks like he's saying "I'm king of the world!" What a long day for the lil' guy, and for you too. I am glad you've got a medical team that's so close. That was in Champlain/Urbana, right? I wonder if that's how far I'd have to go to find help... do you know if there's a thread listing reliable reptile vets? That would be good info to have.