Nicky update-Frm possbl broken jaw to strange blood readings

[mamakintobeardie]

Hi there,
I posted in another string about how I had been caring for my daughters beardie (she is too ill herself to do it) and nursing him through a bad infestation of parasites. He's on week 6/7 of force feedings with critical care and baby food. He's been to the vet about 3 times during that period with the last time over concern that his jaw was broken (turned out that he broke 2 teeth). However, they did draw blood to see what else might be going on and though they don't have the full panel back yet there were 2 things that really stuck out according to the vet. One, his blood looked very thin and anemic and two, his glucose was extremely high.
One a good note he doesn't have diarrhea anymore but his poops smell extremely bad, worse than bad!
I'm trying to be patient and wait for the Dr. to call with the full review today but I can't help but be extremely nervous.
Does anyone have any experience with this? Just want to get our guy well!

 

[AHBD]

Hi there.....one thing to consider is that stress can cause both high sugar levels and contribute to anemia. Nicky has been under a month of stress from all the treatments + probably a bit of pain in her jaw. A human will be stressed when under trials or illness but at least we can understand why.... but an animal has no way to process what is happening which will cause more stress. Hopefully Nicky will be feeling better soon and get a break from her treatments. Can you post a few pics of Nicky ? Here's how:
https://www.beardeddragon.org/useruploads/

 

[mamakintobeardie]

This one is from the other day. We love this guy so much! Thank you for your insight, I hope that is all it is. I will post all his readings later today when the vet calls. Thank you

 

[AHBD]

Oh yes, I remember from the other thread. Sorry that I forgot so quickly.....and yes, she is a sweet looking girl.

 

[mamakintobeardie]

Vet left another message last night. She sounded stumped over this. She said she's having a conference call this morning with other exotic vets and is going to bring Nicky's case up with advise on how to proceed. All his other levels looked ok. Just the anemia and glucose? Anyone? Could this be just stress? He still wont eat on his own

 

[CooperDragon]

Do you have the numbers from the blood test results? I don't like to put out negative ideas without much info to back it, but it's possibly a tumor. My Cooper had very high glucose levels as a symptom of gastric neuroendocrine carcinoma. It may be worth having your vet check into that as a possibility. I'm absolutely not saying that's the issue and I hope it's not. I'm just putting out a possibility based on the high glucose reading.

 

[mamakintobeardie]

I have not heard back from her yet
I left a message at about12:30 for her. Did your Cooper have any other symptoms besides the high glucose? Was he anemic?
My Nicky is only exhibiting brumation like behavior but not eating. I assumed the lack of appetite was from the coccidia but I haven't been able to talk to the vet to see if he even presented a clear fecal test on Tuesday?
I can't help but worry but I hope it's not a tumor also

 

[CooperDragon]

The tumor would be an extreme case. I just wanted to throw it out as something to check into. Didn't mean to upset you with it. The lack of appetite may very well be related to the coccidia and/or the medication.

Coop showed swelling in his joints about a year earlier which turned out to be gout. We treated that on it's own but after the tumor was discovered it was thought to be related and the gout was a side effect and early sign that we didn't put together. Aside from gout, he acted very healthy and normal until he suddenly lost weight, got very lethargic and had a black beard which prompted the blood test that showed high glucose levels. I don't recall if he was anemic or what the exact numbers for his blood test were, it was a couple of years ago now. He never grew to the size of a lot of the dragons I read about here as well and after the fact I figured it was related. When he reached adulthood he was about 18'' long and 425g or so.

 

[mamakintobeardie]

I'm a worrier by nature! I just wish I'd hear something from the vet. Nicky's beard isn't black. Do all beardies get a black beard when they are in distress? I'm trying to stay hopeful this is just stress related but mostly just looking for answers! Thanks for the info. Sorry about your Cooper. It's amazing how attached we get to these guys. I never thought I would, it's my daughters beardie!

 

[CooperDragon]

As far as I know the black beard is universal. If they have a black beard for an extended period along with lethargic behavior it usually means they're in quite a bit of distress about something. Flaring beard or black beard with high activity is usually hormonal or anger. No black beard is a good sign.

 

[mamakintobeardie]

Update, it's the worst news possible. Nicky has gastric neuroendocrine carcinoma. My daughter is a wreck and frankly so am I! The vet explained supportive care we could do relating to antibiotic shots and some other type of shots that may help the pancreas but frankly it just sounded to me like I'd be stressing him out even more. The vet ended the conversation with "if he was my beardie I would euthanize him". I feel so conflicted right now. It's really my daughters decision, she is a disaster right now and I'll herself. My heart is literally breaking for both of them.

 

[CooperDragon]

Oh no, I'm so sorry to hear this =(. I know how tough it is to deal with this. Give him extra snuggle time and spend as much time with him as you can.

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

I am so sorry to hear about Nicky's diagnosis, that is heart breaking. It is never an easy thing to deal with at all. I see you posted another thread so I will comment there too for supportive care.

Tracie