caitlyn.smurkio
New member
- Beardie name(s)
- Smurkio
About 2 weeks ago my bearded dragon stopped eating her greens, I assumed she was just being stubborn since she was still eating her bugs. A week later I realized some discoloration on her back near her tail. I scheduled a wellness check up and it was this Tuesday. As it got closer to the day of her vet appointment she was very lethargic and black bearding, she also stopped eating her bugs and pooping. I took her to her vet appointment Tuesday and told the vet her symptoms, lighting setup & temps, and about one of her arms turning white. The vet immediately said her lethargy was because of her uvb and gave her a calcium and vitamin shot and did not do any x-rays or other testing or blood work besides her fecal float that came back negative for parasites. I thought for a wellness exam that x rays or blood would be included especially with how sick she was or at least more of an examination would be done before diagnosing and giving shots. Me and my dad told him it didn’t seem like a uvb problem but he said it was probably a “defective uvb” and gave her the shot. During the appointment the vet was not very sympathetic and was actually really rough with my baby aswell. It seemed as if they were just trying to get her in and out as quick as possible. I felt ignored. After the appointment I was worried but hoped for the best since he was licensed and specialized in exotics. Later that evening above where he gave her the shots the bottom of her head started slowly turning white just like her 1 arm. The next morning after the vet appointment I woke up and my bearded dragon was fully pale beside the end of her tail and her beard. She looked far worse. It seemed after the vet appointment she worsened so much quicker than before. I called the vet from the previous day and asked if it was normal, the actual tech that was in the room during Smurkio’s visit happened to answer the phone and I asked if it was normal, she told me she would go talk to the vet to see, she never returned and had someone else be the bearer of bad news and the woman told me to “take her to an emergency clinic before tonight because if not she would be dead by then and it would be a waste of a lot of money”. Immediately me and my dad took her to the emergency clinic. 7 minutes away from the emergency clinic she started convulsing in my hands. As soon as we got her to the clinic they stabilized her and ran tests and x rays and found out she was egg bound and septic. I unfortunately had to euthanize my baby Smurkio since the chances of her surviving surgery were slim, I didn’t want her to be in pain or suffer no longer. I just wonder how the previous vet didn’t know she was egg bound or why he didn’t do any more testing before making a diagnosis. I wonder if he would have done an x ray or testing and found out she was egg bound, if she could have had surgery before becoming septic and could have lived. I have no idea how all that works and I understand that. Could the shots have worsened her? Or could him being so rough have ruptured an egg and caused the infection to spread rapidly? Would it be considered malpractice for misdiagnosing and not looking into it more? Should I have an autopsy done before her cremation? I am so devastated and traumatized and upset, it was so quick, which I have heard with egg bound females it is though sadly. I only had a year and 8 days with my baby. I don’t want money, money could never compare to my Smurkio, I do indeed think the vet should lose his license though. Maybe I’m just grieving and confused aswell. I feel like I should have taken her sooner or done something differently. I keep going back and fourth between personal blame, sadness, disbelief, and anger. I don’t feel as if I got closure either. I am scared to get another dragon too even in the future as I am afraid to fail another dragon baby. I miss her so much already and this is so hard. Any thoughts? Feel free to ask questions.
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I recently went through something similar with my recuse bee.
Also wanted to add bee was on antibiotic shots leading up to her spay as I was worried about infection from any rotting eggs,this might’ve been what saved her as well.
