I just don't know what is wrong with her (please help)

[ashesc212]

For those who haven't read my posts, here's the background (sorry this is so long):

October: Kwayze started to appear sluggish, losing appetite, I thought she was going into brumation. However, I started feeding her superworms and she got her appetite back and all was well. She also started eating a lot of greens.

November/December: I took her to the vet to get checked out just in case she went into brumation. The vet said she looked awesome but because she wasn't pooping regularly, we had to wait on the poop sample. In fact, Kwayze started pooping only once a week at this point. Due to work and Kwayze's poop timing, I had to wait two weeks before I could bring the fecal in. Well, she had pinworms. Over those two weeks she was sluggish again too, not eating, so I thought maybe this was because of the pinworms. I followed all the instructions about supplementing her diet, the acidophilus+ etc.

The vet wanted her to wait two weeks after her first 5 doses before continuing with another five doses. Well her stools were still abnormal during this time, and there was a 3-4" long hard as a rock urate that came out one day in addition to poop. Following the advice of Diane, I started feeding a pedialyte/water mixture (I had been giving her baths every other day anyway) and I decided to give her baths every day. Anyway, her stools returned to normal but she still wasn't eating.

I have continued feeding her a slurry of JumpStart, gerber chicken, pedialyte, calcium, vitamins, collard greens, acidophilus, etc. but she still doesn't have an appetite. SHE WILL NOT EAT ON HER OWN AT ALL. No more crickets, no more worms, no more greens, nothing is appealing to her.

I'm thinking that it can't be brumation because she is awake and alert during the day. She is 9 months old. Although, she doesn't like to put herself out. What I mean is, she will stay in her blankie if I don't move her into her sun spot. But she is alert and sitting up in her blankie. I can't explain it very well. When she's in her sun spot she's VERY alert and sits up tall...but I have to move her to it.

I don't know if any of this makes any sense but please help if you can.

 

[ashesc212]

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[Drache613]

Hello,

Sorry your post got missed.
So how long total time has she not been eating on her own? Have you been assist feeding her for quite awhile?
Alot of times, if you are giving enough food through syringe feeding she wont be hungry enough on her own to want to eat on her own. She will be too full & if she gets a free meal, she will continue with that instead of chasing her own food.

What type & brand of UVB light are you using, is it a flourescent tube bulb or a compact or coil light? How far is it from her?

Sometimes it takes awhile for them to get back to normal after medication rounds. She was on Panacur for 5 weeks? That can cause dehydration & the harder & drier urates too. I would give a bit more oral fluids to help her out.
How often do you give calcium supplementation? At her age she needs calcium 5 times per week.

Has she had an x-ray? I know she is a bit young but sometimes they can begin developing follicles at that age & it can cause lethargic behavior. Since she is so young if she did develop follicles, she may have reabsorbed them. When that happens they are metabolizing extra cholesterol & the liver has to break that extra fat down which sometimes leaves them lethargic.

Or the other option is brumation, as you are thinking. That is possible even at her age. Can you post a picture of her?

Tracie

 

[ashesc212]

Thanks, Tracie. She was not on Pancur five weeks. She was on it for 5 days, then 2 weeks off, then another 5 days on. She has finished that last 5 days already. Here is a picture of her today:

She's very alert, like I said. Just lazy or sluggish.

She is not having the hard urates anymore, the extra hydration helped with that from syringe feeding her pedialyte and water for a while. I have been syringe feeding her the whole 9 yards (food, water) for the past 3 weeks I think.

She just got a new 4' long Reptisun 10.0 UVB tube in her new enclosure that I built for her. She is about 8" away from it. She also has a 100w basking spot light. The basking temp is 105.

Calcium supplements 5 x per week and multivitamins 2 x per week.

Would I have felt anything in her belly if she started developing follicles?

 

[ashesc212]

I forgot to mention also that I didn't feed her with a syringe yesterday to see if she'll start eating because she's hungry. This morning - still no luck.

 

[ashesc212]

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