Brought my beardie into the vet a few weeks ago for lowered appetite, swollen limbs, and lethargy. I pretty much narrowed it down to gout before going in, as my setup/lighting/care is basically perfect. A blood test was done and uric acid levels were at 20.1, where normal is 1.6-11.4. I was not given units on this. I got a prescription for Allopurinol for .5 mL every 24 hrs. It's been about a week now and I've noticed no change. Swelling has not changed, and she's still lazy/lethargic/not eating much. How quickly should I expect to see results? And if I don't see improvement, what's my next step? Thank you all.
It can take a while before the swelling actually goes down noticeably, when I started using it for my girl it took almost two months I want to say before I noticed any changes in the swelling. Just make sure you stay on top of giving her the meds every day. If she seems like she is in pain you could get her some Serrepeptase (anti-inflamitory, might make her feel a bit better).
Are you giving her a lot of water too? My vet also did fluid injections a few times for the first week. Also, did the vet mention when to retest? Her kidneys could possibly permanently be damaged if the uric won't go down.
Do you have pictures of the swelling?
It may take several weeks to notice any changes at all.
At 20mg/dl on the uric acid, the uric acid levels will take awhile to come down. Wow, that is basically renal failure in a sense, with them that high.
Do you have any idea what he dosed her at? The .5ml sounds good, I was just wondering if he started her on 20mg/kg or higher?
Be sure to keep her hydrated daily too, for help with her kidneys.
What types of dietary changes have you made for her?