@Drache613Micah has recently been struggling to poop and there's been regular blood in his urate/stool. His vet ran bloodwork (I'll add the results at the end of this post) and it came back with high glucose levels. She suspects GNT. I'm considering getting an ultrasound to confirm, but Micah's current vet doesn't have the proper set up for it, and the nearest place to go is 3 hours away. As of right now, he's not eating, black bearding on-and-off, and seems dehydrated (but won't drink water). I've managed to get a little bit of Fluker's Repta Boost in him earlier today. His energy levels are low but not unreasonably lethargic (he isn't going out of his way to run around, but I brought him out to cuddle a bit and when he was done with me he wandered back over to his cage & climbed up to his basking spot without any trouble).
Could anyone provide a second opinion on Micah's diagnosis? Micah's vet isn't a certified rep vet as far as I know, but the next appointment with the nearest certified vet isn't until 6/13. I'm pretty resigned to it being GNT, so I don't expect good news, but I figure it can't hurt to have more information. I really have no idea how long as he has left, and I'm just sort of heartbroken about the whole thing, but any info anyone has would be helpful, including any advice to make the rest of his time comfortable and as pain-free as possible.
Here are the blood test results. I'm not super great at interpreting all of these, but I've noted which ones are outside the expected range according to the lab.
Total Protein (TP) 6.7 g/dL
LDH is 627 U/L
Albumin (ALB) 4.3 g/dl
Globulin (GLOB) 2.40 g/dL - higher than expected range 0.1-2.3 g/dL
Aspartate Aminotransferase (AST) 60.0 U/L
Total Bile Acids (BA) 9.0 umol/L
Uric Acid (UA) 8.0 mg/dL
Blood Urea Nitrogen (BUN) 3.0 mg/dl
Glucose (GLU) 567.4 mg/dL - higher than expected range 140-282 mg/dL
Total Calcium (CA) 15.01 mg/dL
Phosphorus (PHO) 5.0 mg/dL
Sodium (NA) 113.9 mmol/L - lower than expected range 131-165 mmol/L
Potassium (K) 3.25 mmol/L
Chloride (CL) 83.0 mmol/L - lower than expected range 90-130 mmol/L
Cholesterol (CHOL) 164.0 mg/dl
Creatine Kinase (CK) 2421.0 U/L - higher than expected range 61-1500 U/L
RBC Evaluation
PCV 41.7 %
WBC Evaluation
WBC 35937.0 /uL - higher than expected range 5640 - 19100 /uL
Heterophil
Heterophils 1646 /uL
Heterophil Differential 4.6 % - lower than expected range 5-60%
Toxic Heterophils 0 /uL
Band Cells 0 /ul
Lymphocyte
Lymphocytes 31137 /uL - higher than expected range 1450-12400 /uL
Lymphocyte Differential 86.6 %
Reactive Lymphocytes 0 /uL
Other WBC
Metamyelocytes 0 /uL
Azurophils (reptile) ↑2469 /uL - higher than expected range 0-1980 /uL
Azurophil Differential (reptile) 6.9 %
Monocytes 0 /uL
Monocyte Differential 0.0 %
Basophils 685 /uL
Basophil Differential 1.9 %
Micah update: Sunday I got him to eat another hornworm, and yesterday I finally convinced him to drink water. Today I got him some black cherry concentrate. He wasn't exactly happy about it lol but I did get him to drink some. He's still active and basking, but I have noticed his eyes are sunken (though they've stayed about the same the past 3 days rather than worsening). The past couple of days he's been at a constant but slight black beard, but today it's been darker. Still not a full black beard, but definitely stressedHe's lost about 15g over the week since his visit to the vet, which is honestly less than I expected considering how little he's eaten.
He's not currently on any meds, and I'm planning to call his vet tomorrow to figure out a game plan. The other vet got back to me about an ultrasound, but I don't really think it's worth the cost/trip if confirming his diagnosis still doesn't mean it can be treated.
I guess the biggest question I have right now is what signs are indicators I should take him to get euthanized? I don't think he's improving, but it doesn't seem like his health is drastically declining either. I'm just not really sure what to look out for, and I don't want him to suffer.
Thanks for all the advice! I'll definitely talk to his vet about getting some sort of medication. I'll see if I can get him to eat some waxworms. I've had mixed results before. When he was much younger he snatched them up like they were candy, but when I last tried to feed some to him maybe 6 months ago he was completely uninterested. I haven't quite committed to slurries/baby food yet since I've had on/off success with the hornworms and bits of fruit, but I might have to soon. Do you have any advice for slurry mixes?Hi!
It’s good he’s eating,with Bruce I found that he got upset more when he had eaten or moved about,he had his cancer belly so I assumed it hurt for him to do much (eating included).I would 100% get him on pain meds and anti inflammatories,maybe even antibiotics although again it may cause upset getting him to take them.Bruce’s eyes sank fairly quickly,they didn’t seem to noticeably change or sank more but over time they did and towards the end you could notice it a lot.You can try him with the meds and they should help ( the pain meds 100% should be a given,it will help make him a lot more comfortable) without them he can’t be feeling very good bless him.It’s a very sad time and a very difficult and heartbreaking decision to make.My rule was once he refused food fully ( I did hospice care for about 2 weeks with slurries and a syringe but he started refusing it and spitting it back up) and had a persistent black beard I helped him out,towards the end I admit I kept him with me because I couldn’t part with him but I could see/tell he was tired and hurting.It’s such an awful situation but i do take comfort in knowing I helped him have a peaceful ( as ever can be) transition,instead of in the wild it would’ve been slow and painful.It sounds harsh and morbid but your boy could survive for many more months but it doesn’t mean it’s the right thing if he’s just getting worse.It’s absolutely heartbreaking and takes me back to when my boy was strugglingI would 100% get the meds sorted ASAP,also try waxworms to feed him! Bruce lived off these in his last 3-4 weeks and he thought it was Christmas everyday small easy to digest,high fat content as well which hopefully may help with his weight loss.Keeping your Boy in my thoughts,please do keep us updated,I am so sorry you and your little one are having to go through this
My boy Bruce didn’t realise he was pooping when he was unwell and would sit there.He was the same as Micah with food but enjoyed his waxworms.Have you been giving baths or handling? If he doesn’t seem to be in distress or pain when being moved I would suggest a bath,it may offer some relief and help him relax a bit.If you feel it would cause upset to move him then I would leave the bath and let him stay inside his viv.So I think this is truly the beginning of the end. Micah has been refusing to eat anything solid for the last few days (I did get him some waxworms, and he looks at them like he's interested in them but then never eats them). I've been trying to syringe feed him baby food and Repta Boost, but he is not a fan and always blackbeards at me when I do. I've only ever managed to get maybe 1-2ml of anything in him (if that), and today I noticed his fat pads are starting to sink. His vet did get me some painkillers, and his overall blackbearding seems less intense, so I think they're definitely helping. He's still active and willing to clamber over things (and me, to avoid the dreaded baby food syringe). But he's lost another 7g since Tuesday, and is still struggling to pass stool even when it's just urate/liquids. His beard always goes especially dark after, too. I assume it's painful for him to eat & poop. I'm thinking about taking him in for euthanasia early next week.
I’m currently going through the same situation.Don Carlos is just at 3yrs of age,I got her from a breeder which I thought was reputable.She has always been a super active healthy active beardie until thanksgiving of this year.She started acting strange digging a lot and running back and forth across the tank.At first I thought she was egg bound so I brought her into the Rep Vet did an X-ray and an ultra sound and came back with no eggs but a large black mass.we ran bloodwork and her glucose came back extremely high.1100+ and red blood cell count is at 41k.so I’ve been force feeding her with a syringe,but her body just can’t seem to keep up.Her beard has turned black so I know she is struggling.I’m super bummed but in this situation the best thing I can do or anyone else is have them out down.She has truely been one of the sweetest pets I’ve been owned and I’m going to truely miss her.The one piece of advice I can offer from this is make sure you get your bearded dragon from a good breeder and have her/him checked out early with a vet.I was unaware of this condition and learned a lot through this.So for anyone else struggling the best and only solution for GNT currently is have your beardie sent to beardie heaven unfortunately..Micah has recently been struggling to poop and there's been regular blood in his urate/stool. His vet ran bloodwork (I'll add the results at the end of this post) and it came back with high glucose levels. She suspects GNT. I'm considering getting an ultrasound to confirm, but Micah's current vet doesn't have the proper set up for it, and the nearest place to go is 3 hours away. As of right now, he's not eating, black bearding on-and-off, and seems dehydrated (but won't drink water). I've managed to get a little bit of Fluker's Repta Boost in him earlier today. His energy levels are low but not unreasonably lethargic (he isn't going out of his way to run around, but I brought him out to cuddle a bit and when he was done with me he wandered back over to his cage & climbed up to his basking spot without any trouble).
Could anyone provide a second opinion on Micah's diagnosis? Micah's vet isn't a certified rep vet as far as I know, but the next appointment with the nearest certified vet isn't until 6/13. I'm pretty resigned to it being GNT, so I don't expect good news, but I figure it can't hurt to have more information. I really have no idea how long as he has left, and I'm just sort of heartbroken about the whole thing, but any info anyone has would be helpful, including any advice to make the rest of his time comfortable and as pain-free as possible.
Here are the blood test results. I'm not super great at interpreting all of these, but I've noted which ones are outside the expected range according to the lab.
Total Protein (TP) 6.7 g/dL
LDH is 627 U/L
Albumin (ALB) 4.3 g/dl
Globulin (GLOB) 2.40 g/dL - higher than expected range 0.1-2.3 g/dL
Aspartate Aminotransferase (AST) 60.0 U/L
Total Bile Acids (BA) 9.0 umol/L
Uric Acid (UA) 8.0 mg/dL
Blood Urea Nitrogen (BUN) 3.0 mg/dl
Glucose (GLU) 567.4 mg/dL - higher than expected range 140-282 mg/dL
Total Calcium (CA) 15.01 mg/dL
Phosphorus (PHO) 5.0 mg/dL
Sodium (NA) 113.9 mmol/L - lower than expected range 131-165 mmol/L
Potassium (K) 3.25 mmol/L
Chloride (CL) 83.0 mmol/L - lower than expected range 90-130 mmol/L
Cholesterol (CHOL) 164.0 mg/dl
Creatine Kinase (CK) 2421.0 U/L - higher than expected range 61-1500 U/L
RBC Evaluation
PCV 41.7 %
WBC Evaluation
WBC 35937.0 /uL - higher than expected range 5640 - 19100 /uL
Heterophil
Heterophils 1646 /uL
Heterophil Differential 4.6 % - lower than expected range 5-60%
Toxic Heterophils 0 /uL
Band Cells 0 /ul
Lymphocyte
Lymphocytes 31137 /uL - higher than expected range 1450-12400 /uL
Lymphocyte Differential 86.6 %
Reactive Lymphocytes 0 /uL
Other WBC
Metamyelocytes 0 /uL
Azurophils (reptile) ↑2469 /uL - higher than expected range 0-1980 /uL
Azurophil Differential (reptile) 6.9 %
Monocytes 0 /uL
Monocyte Differential 0.0 %
Basophils 685 /uL
Basophil Differential 1.9 %
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