Older (9yo) male beardie has edema with low appetite, skinny urates

[Sophielius]

Hey all!

As of Monday, Raxtus is much more active. He's showing interest in digging again and has done some voluntary moving around to get comfy. I repeated his bloodwork on Monday and will attach it here.

He still refuses salad (but will eat toppings like butternut squash if they're wedged into his mouth). I have a new batch of bugs arriving on Friday, and I will see if his appetite for bugs is still there. I am still hand-feeding him squash baby food mixed sometimes with the emer-aid herbivore mix and he eats it well for me.

Unsure what move to make next, whether I should go with the biopsy in a month or not. On one hand, it would provide answers. We'd be able to know for sure if this is an adenovirus-caused issue. It likely is, but we'd know for sure. We might find a mystery disease that wasn't picked up earlier that we could treat and make better. The vet has said that they've done successful surgeries on beardies of Raxtus's age. His major risk factor is his circulation, and it'll likely take him a full week to recover from the anesthesia. I'm worried about complications, as I've said before. I'm probably talking in circles; I'm just worried and want to do the best for him. Thanks for listening!

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

I am not sure if a biopsy is needed or not. What does the vet say regarding that?
The values here don't look bad. The Uric acid levels are still a bit low & the AST is in normal range.
If it is Adeno related, you should be able to manage it using a liver supporting supplement. Remind me again if he is on Milk thistle or anything else for liver issues?
It is a great sign that he is more active now. Let us know if his appetite has picked up some also.

Tracie

 

[Sophielius]

Hello,

I am not sure if a biopsy is needed or not. What does the vet say regarding that?
The values here don't look bad. The Uric acid levels are still a bit low & the AST is in normal range.
If it is Adeno related, you should be able to manage it using a liver supporting supplement. Remind me again if he is on Milk thistle or anything else for liver issues?
It is a great sign that he is more active now. Let us know if his appetite has picked up some also.

Tracie

The vet says that a biopsy will give a concrete answer as to what's going on. From what I understand, it's most likely that this is adeno-related but there's a possibility this could be something else that's actionable (they said perhaps he's in early kidney/liver failure and bloodwork doesn't show that until it's advanced). His age isn't a concern so much as his circulation (which they said probably contributed to how long it took him to come out of sedation).

He is on milk thistle! He's been on it for years, and a couple months ago we started him on an herbal blend called "liver happy" that the office compounds in-house, and I'm unsure of its exact ingredients.

He is still on a greens strike, and was uninterested in both roaches and BSFL. He did, however, eagerly eat two medium-small hornworms, so that's good. He enjoyed being outside for a half hour today

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

That is very true, biopsies are very useful. That is just going to depend on how much stress you feel that
he can go through. It is possible his kidneys or liver might be having a hard time, but it sounds like overall
he is doing great. The Milk thistle & the new liver happy herbal blend should really help him out.
They sure can be stubborn when it comes to their greens! Keep trying, hopefully he will eventually come
around & decide to eat his greens more.
I'm glad to hear he loved being outdoors, most of the time, they do.

Tracie