Mey Throwing Up/Black Beard

[Linziehonn]

So I'm really hoping to get some opinions/advice on my poor Mey.

Friday Mey stopped eating her feeders and became very lethargic, she is right at a year old and our temperature here took a swan dive from the 70's during the day to the 40's with lows in the 20's at night where they've been in the 40's-50's. So I assumed the weather was affecting her and just kept watch over her temps to make sure all was well. BTW night temps are 79, cold side 82, warm side 87, basking spot 103. Measured with a digital probe. UVB is a Reptisun 10.0 tube, 4 months old.

Saturday she started having diarrhea. Normally she goes every other day in her morning bath, it has been solid and healthy looking. She never goes in her viv so I knew something was wrong when I came home and there were 3 spots of extremely smelly poo all over her and her viv. I cleaned her and her viv up and put her back under her lights, she seemed fine for the rest of the night.

Sunday she kept laying in the corners of her viv, sleeping, pooping, not eating, dark colored...just completely not herself. So I knew I would be bringing her to the vet Monday. Well at 8:30 Sunday night, 30 minutes after lights out she started throwing up everywhere, and I mean everywhere. I had given her a little baby food around lunch, as I do every weekend to give her multivitamins, she hates the taste of it and will not touch a worm w/ it on it so I have to sneak it in her w/ the baby food which she loves. All of that babyfood came up and also the greens she had eatin the day before, she hadn't eatin any greens Sunday so that from Saturday was still in her belly. Well I thought it was over but it wasn't, she threw up all night long then when there was nothing left to throw up she was still gagging, almost as if she was dry heaving. By this point her beard, chest, and tail are jet black. So I stayed up with her all night b/c I was terrified she was going to choke, and plus I had to keep cleaning her b/c she wouldn't move out of her poo and throw up. I gave her a little water from a syringe around 7 the next monring, and she threw it up.

So I didn't even call the vet I just put her in the car and took her in. They put her in an incubator and gave her fluids and also drew some blood for blood work. They kept her for 4 hours and managed to get her to hold down some A/D and all the fluids then sent her home with some medicine. They wanted to do a full fecal but only got the tiniest sample but the vet said she was riddled with bacteria. She gave her metronidizole and baytril. This is where I'm concerned. Both of the drugs are very harsh on the system and I understand the metronidizole for the bacteria but I can't understand the baytril. Her lungs were clear, she was concerned about her beard/neck. It's very swollen and feels mushy to the touch.

Does anyone have any insight they might could provide on this? I'm so worried, several of the topics I've read with beardies throwing up do not end well. I hate for baytril to make things even harder on her than they already are. I have another dragon that is on the same diet/routine as Mey and he's doing just fine. They are housed separately.

 

[bdalton]

I'm sorry your Mey isn't doing good . Unfortunetly I don't have experience with either of those meds or a situation like this, but thought I would give you Tracies username so you can send her a pm. Drache613 is her username and she is AMAZING. She will be able to help with your questions about meds and let you know if there's anything else you could do. Good luck and send her a MSG ASAP, she's heaven sent! Lol

 

[Drache613]

Hello Linzie,

Oh no, Mey is not doing well now? I am so sorry to hear that, that is too bad.
How long has this been going on for?
She has coccidia or what other parasites that they found? The metronidazole & baytril together are very hard on the system. How long is she supposed to be on them? Be sure to give the probiotics too for the duration of the medication cycle.
Are you keeping her tank around 80 over night also to help her immune system?
Is her beard still dark?
Honestly I am not sure on the baytril, if there is no need for it then I wouldn't give it. The metronidazole is good enough right now. When are you expecting the blood test results back?
Could she have eaten something that did not agree with her?
You are still using filtered water, right?

Tracie

 

[Linziehonn]

Hey Tracie!

Well it started Friday when she stopped eating, Saturday came the diarrhea, then by Sunday she was throwing up. It happened very fast. Before this she seemed perfectly healthy, if she was sick, she was hiding it extremely well. The RI sodium chloride IC fluids they gave her yesterday seemed to make her feel better for a while. So she was obviously pretty dehydrated.

They couldn't get enough of a sample from her to do a float to check for coccidia, she wants me to bring in another sample once I have a good one for that. They did a smear and found anaerobes, that's what she prescribed the metronidazole for, but she didn't say specifically what bacteria it was.

She's on .1 ML of Baytril for 10 days and .1 ML of Metronidazole 250 MG for 7 days. She wants me to give the baytril at night and the metronidazole in the AM, that makes it hard to give her probiotics, the best time would be in the middle of the day I suppose between the two meds but I can't be home for that. So I'm just going to give it to her right at bedtime and keep her temps higher at night.

As of right now her temps are 79 at night, I bought her a CHE when it started getting cold, but I can run heat just in her room to increase it a little higher.

Yes her beard is still dark, along with her tail, but it's not jet black like it was. Now pretty much her whole body is dark. She won't really move, she just lays there with her eyes half open.

The vet said the results should be back by the end of the week, I'll send them to you when I get them. It looks like she requested a complete blood count and a chemistry panel?

The only thing she had to eat that day was about 9 ML of chicken and vegetable baby food. She gets a little baby food every weekend but I don't think she's ever had this particular kind, maybe she had a bad reaction to something in it?

Yes I am still using filtered water for them.

I was terrified to leave her today, since she's still so listless. I really hope my little love can pull through, she's supposed to be my healty beardie, I have enough problems out of Mem.

Thanks for your response Tracie, as always!

 

[Drache613]

Hello Linzie,

Wow she ordered a complete blood count that is great!
I hope you get that back fast. How is Mey this evening, has her beard lightened anymore?
That is very odd she got ill so quickly again like that. It can't be the water then since you are using filtered water now. What did she eat prior to getting sick, just the chicken baby food? What was in the baby food, was it a mix with something else or just chicken in the jar? Was it expired maybe?
I am still not sure of the reasoning behind the Baytril though. That may be a little too much on her system, with both meds.
Definitely keep her around 80 over night to help with her immune system. I am sorry she had this crop up so fast!

Let us know how she is doing.

Tracie

 

[Linziehonn]

Hey Tracie,

Yes she seemed better last night, she wasn't any where near as dark and actually lightened up a good bit when I was holding her. Still not her pretty colors but much better than the jet black she was. She actually moved from her blankets on her own yesterday and got in her basking spot, she hasn't moved that much since Saturday. And her little fat pads on her head are starting to inflate again. She's getting about 10 ML of oral fluids a day, even though she seems to really hate water. Thinking about getting a little juice to mix in it so she won't mind it as much. She takes her medicine like a pro though!

I was thinking about the baytril last night, and wondering if maybe the vet gave her that due to her swollen beard, which is still swollen. She must think Mey has some kind of infection and hoping the baytril will knock it out. That's probably why she ordered the complete blood count.

It was chicken vegetable, Mem ate some that day also and didn't have any kind of reaction to it but he's had it before. I know it wasn't expired I have to always check for that when I buy them because my local grocery store is bad about keeping expired stuff right in the front. I can't remember what all was in it but I believe it was carrot, peas, and potatoes and of course chicken. This isn't something they get often at all, just every now and again to mix things up.

I really wonder if she had just been sick for a while and was hiding it from me, due to that's just what they do. Mem doesn't seem to do that though, when he's doesn't feel well, I know it. Guess I am still learning her. The only thing different she had that he didn't was silk worms. She ate about 20 of them 4 weeks ago, I wouldn't think that would be the cause of her issue but I guess you never know.

 

[Drache613]

Hello Linzie,

I am reviewing the blood test results now for you.
How long has the beard been swollen? Which UVB do you have again?
I do think it is risky placing her on an antibiotic though if she is technically in renal failure as that will increase the odds of organ failure. She could just be very dehydrated for some reason which would elevate her uric acid. The lymphocytes are high so it appears she is fighting an infection of some type.
I would work on getting her hydrated right now & focus on liquid greens, etc with low protein intake for a few days to see if that helps.
You could dilute some cranberry or apple juice for her with water to help with fluids, too.
I will email you with more remarks on the blood test after I look over it again.

How is she doing this evening?

Tracie

 

[Linziehonn]

Hey Tracie,

She has a Reptisun 10 24" tube, she can get within 6" from it. It started swelling a bit Saturday and was full blown by Sunday, it's still very swollen and when I touch it she jerks away from me as if it hurts her. I will get you a picure of it tonight. She threw up again last night, she hadn't thrown up since Monday morning, I gave her some pedialyte mixed with water, and it came back up about 3 minutes later. She use to be easy to give anything in a syringe to but now she fights me hard, she doesn't want anything in her mouth. So the poor doll has little bruises on her "lips" where I have to apply some pressure to get her to open her mouth.

So you think I should discontinue the bayril even though she has an infection? Do you think she is in a lot of pain? I can't imagine her having to suffer through all this. Thank you for reviewing the blood work. I will of course do anything and everything you suggest. I am suppose to be bringing another fecal sample in so they can do a float but it is nothing but liquid, as soon as I get a firm sample I'm bringing it in. She also is supposed to go back for more blood work in 3 weeks. They did this one before they gave her the fluids to get her rehydrated, so some of the information could be inaccurate.

 

[Drache613]

Hello Linzie,

The pedialyte did not sit well with her? How is she doing tonight?
I emailed you about the blood work. I agree, the uric acid levels may not be accurate if she is dehydrated. Right now, the primary focus should be on rehydration since she has thrown up so much, etc. it is dehydrating her.
Is her beard still black right now & is it swollen too?
That is a hard call about the Baytril, if she has that bad of an infection she will need something to help clear that up.
It sounds like her mouth is pretty sore right now, too. Will she not lick food off of her nose?

I hope she is doing better tonight.

Tracie