Help: Possible fatty liver disease - Prescribed antibiotics?

[Neuro]

Hello everyone,

Long time reader, first time poster. Sorry for the long post. Please bear with me.

My 1 year old female (from what the vet can tell) bearded dragon Lizzy recently started behaving oddly. She did not want to be in her tank anymore, always glass surfing and bumping her nose on the glass to get out and stopped eating about 7 days ago.

She is my only dragon and has never been around males. I did some research and realized she could be gravid with infertile eggs. So upon reading here I put together and dig box, but yet she never dug and always just wanted out of the box. After a few days I became worried that she was egg bound so I took her to the vet.

Vet took x-rays and much to our surprise, no eggs! So he said he needed to do some blood work (reptilian panel 136) to figure out what might be going on. When he called with the results he said certain things were elevated in her liver (wish I could remember all he said) and that it is possibly Fatty Liver Disease.

She is about 1 year old and weighs .56kg and is about 23" long. I primarily was feeding Dubia, then thought I'd try superworms awhile back. Bad move. She ended up refusing dubia after she had supers but when I realized the fat content of supers I cut back on them. The most supers she has ever had in a day is 3, so I am unsure if that is enough to cause FLD. She was eating a little salad everyday, mainly mustard greens or collard greens and other beardie approved fruits and vegetables, but never as much as I would have liked.

He gave me a prescription for Lactulose and also an Antibiotic (Enrofloxacin) and I am to dissolve a quarter pill in water and give it to her once every 12 hours. The antibiotic was for in his words "in case there is any infection" ... He also gave me "Critial Care" herbivore version because he said her protein levels were high.

From reading many of your posts on this board I am really concerned about the antibiotic. Many people seem to claim that antibiotics caused the FLD in their dragons and since the issue is with appetite and antibiotics can also have a negative impact on appetite I am not sure I should be giving them to her. I have already given 2 doses but I am unsure if I should continue?

Thanks for reading and any and all help/advice would be MUCH appreciated!

Husbandry:

40 Gallon Breeder
Slate tile substrate
160w MegaRay UVB - 20" above highest basking spot - replaced yesterday even though old one was only 9 months old. I just wanted to be on the safe side with everything that is going on.
Temps: 102 degrees basking spot - 85 degrees cool side

Please let me know if I missed any relevant details.

--Neuro

 

[Neuro]

Bump... Anyone available to help? Sorry, really hoping to get some feedback before her next scheduled antibiotic dose. Thanks in advance.

 

[AHBD]

Hi Neuro, can you get a copy of the blood tests to post here ? One of the mods. here can check them out for you, [ Drache613 ] She can tell you if the enzymes are off but she usually doesn't log on until the evening. Ypu can send her a p.m in the meantime. The Herbivore care mix is a good choice , be sure to mix it with a bit of extra water , hydration is important as well as small feedings daily. Greens are good for her, especially dandelion so if she's willing to eat those, that's good. If not, try to blend some up to be given via syringe. I don't know what to tell you about the antibiiotics, it's usually best not to give them unless there is an actual infection detected.

Hopefully she can recover, it sounds like she's still very active which is a good sign. I hope the vet didn't miss any eggs or follicles developing. Can you post pics of Lizzy ? Here's how :

https://www.beardeddragon.org/useruploads/ Then use the XIMG to upload pics

 

[Neuro]

Hi Neuro, can you get a copy of the blood tests to post here ? One of the mods. here can check them out for you, [ Drache613 ] She can tell you if the enzymes are off but she usually doesn't log on until the evening. Ypu can send her a p.m in the meantime. The Herbivore care mix is a good choice , be sure to mix it with a bit of extra water , hydration is important as well as small feedings daily. Greens are good for her, especially dandelion so if she's willing to eat those, that's good. If not, try to blend some up to be given via syringe. I don't know what to tell you about the antibiiotics, it's usually best not to give them unless there is an actual infection detected.

Hopefully she can recover, it sounds like she's still very active which is a good sign. I hope the vet didn't miss any eggs or follicles developing. Can you post pics of Lizzy ? Here's how :

https://www.beardeddragon.org/useruploads/ Then use the XIMG to upload pics

Hello AHBD,

Thank you for your response! Sadly I probably cannot get ahold of the vet until Monday and I really don't want to keep giving her these antibiotics if they are not needed. Especially if they can make things worse. Here are a couple of pics I just took. Please let me know of you need any other angles etc:

--Neuro

 

[AHBD]

You're welcome. Maybe just give her the second dose today and then wait until Monday to decide after you talk to the vet.

She's a big girl for sure, I just think it's always nice to see the beloved beardie patient that is the object of the thread. Go Lizzy !

 

[Neuro]

Okay I sent a pm to Drache613. Thanks for recommending that AHBD. If anyone else has any advice, please let me know. Thanks all!

--Neuro

 

[AHBD]

You'e welcome. By the way, you mentioned that it's a female " from what your vet can tell ". If they are not 100 % sure, can you post a few pics of the rear end while arching the tail high in the air ? Think of a dog with it's tail straight up when it's happy. Lizzy should be on a flat surface while you do this.

 

[Neuro]

You know I have been questioning that as well. My vet never seems confident. Responds with "from what I can tell" or "she appears to be a girl" ... I will definitely get pics like that for you to take look at as soon as I can. Wife just left and I am not sure if I will be able to get a good pic like that by myself. Please keep following this post if you don't mind.

--Neuro

 

[AHBD]

Yes, I'll check back throughout the day.

 

[Neuro]

Sorry, one more question AHBD. Vet initially said "no bugs" then when I emailed him to ask when it would be okay to start feeding protein again he told me "bugs every other day if she will eat them is fine" ... Should I try to feed her Dubia or not do you think?

--Neuro

 

[AHBD]

Yes but probably just 1 every other day or even every 3 days while you concentrate on getting the herbivore mix in her for a while. Will Lizzy eat greens on her own ? If so, those are also good for her .

 

[Neuro]

Okay. Thank You. Will see if she will go for a Dubia. Fingers crossed. She was doing "okay" with her salads before she went off food, but she hasn't touched them for over a week.

Neuro

 

[Neuro]

Well no go on the dubia... she looks interested when it runs by, but she does not attempt to eat it sadly and I tried for quite awhile. Those roaches probably hate me. Lol. I will keep trying to get the Critical Care in her. Challenging to say the least. I hope Drache613 weighs in soon. Thanks for all your help thus far AHBD.. I will try to get the "tail shot" here soon so you can help me with sexing.

--Neuro

 

[Neuro]

Sorry for bumping this again. Just hoping for some advice. Thanks everyone!

--Neuro

 

[Neuro]

Well I went ahead and gave her the next Antibiotic dose just in case. Not sure if I should be. If anyone can weigh in on whether I should stop, please let me know?

I went and bought her some hornworms, her favorite, just to see if she would eat 1 and for the hydration. Sadly she showed little interest in that either and did not eat it.

For her weight I am supposed to give her half a tbsp of Critical Care mixed with water. Vet said to use more than the normal amount of water for hydration reasons, but I fear I used too much. I was only able to get her to eat about 10ml dripping it on her nose throughout the day and there was still some left that I could not get her to finish. Any recommendations on the amount of water I should be using for half a tbsp of Critical Care and FLD?

Thanks for reading.

-- Neuro