Pink muscusy urine....possible cancer???

[LadyJEsq]

Hello all,

I have a senior beardie (about 7yrs old) and at our last vet visit, it was determined that she has a mass in her abdomen. Even though it was seen on previous X-rays (done by another Herp vet), it was never mentioned to me. The new vet consulted with another herp internist vet, and he said he believes the mass to be somewhere near her reporoductive organs. We haven't had a chance to take her to him for an examination (second opinion cost $80 plus bloodwork of $120 on top of the two vet visits we've already had), but he says that it could either be 1) a large caclified egg or 2) cancer. We're working on getting the money together to take her in for the second opinion and possible surgery, but in the interim, doing all we can to make sure she's comfortable and will make it to this appointment. The new vet prescribe critical care which I have been giving her and she seems to like. I saw her poop for the first time in what seemed like a really long time (hard to say since she shares a terrarium with her sister if she's pooped or not) yesterday and the urine portion was pink and muscusy. When I went to clean out the terrarium on Sunday, there was a similiar stain which I mistakenly believe to be vomit. Since I actually saw her poop this out, I now know that that's not what it is, but I've never seen their urine like this and I'm worried about what's going on. The poop on the other hand was very nice. Nicely shapped and not watery like it had been lately. I also noticed that their basking area isn't as hot as it used to be (about 93) and have since ordered new basking bulbs. I'm also a few weeks behind in getting them their new reptisun 10 (I thought it was May, but it should've been in March). I should recieve these either today or tomorrow, but wanted to check to see if anyone had heard of this before I have a full on painic attack. Any thoughts?

 

[Drache613]

Hello,
I have never experienced it but talked with people who have had that happen with their female.
Pink urates can indicate a change in hormonal levels possibly before laying eggs perhaps.
Do you have a copy of the x-rays?
It could be a large oversized egg that is affecting her, but hopefully it is not a tumor.
Is she eating normally?

Tracie

 

[LadyJEsq]

She's eating the critical care that I'm giving her (with a feeding suringe), but not her worms. She is currently gravid but I can't recall ever seeing the pink urine before and she's gravid pretty much every year. I do have the x-rays, but they're not digital so I can't post them unfortunately. I'm hoping that this is the cause of the pink urine. We should be able to get her to the vet for the second opinion if not this Saturday, then next. I'm really upset with our previous herp vet (listed as the best in the city and my new vet trained under him) because the dots show on her old x-rays from 2007 and on, but this is the first time that I've heard of it.

 

[miraculous]

If that is the case a veterinary visit is the best option.

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

Oh she is gravid then? That would most likely be the cause of the pink urates, from hormonal increases.
How is she doing today?
I hope you can get her in to see the vet on saturday!
The critical care "could" possibly cause pink urates also, but usually not. I hope it is nothing serious though.

Keep us posted on her.

Tracie

 

[ChrisMiller]

Would it be possible to separate the two.... even with a $10 tote from Walmart to allow you to further diagnose the problem and provide proper care? Hard to work on something when you don't know which animal is affected.

 

[LadyJEsq]

The appointment has been set for Wednesday so hopefully we'll have definitive word on her condition then. It's hard for me to say how she's doing because I leave for work 30-45mins after their lights come on and when I get home, their lights are either off, or will go off within the hour (I work some extremely long days). My mother is home with them and she gives me updates on how she think she's doing, but since she doesn't know about Beardies (and she's a mother who sees my little ones (2 beardies + 1 dog) as quasi-grandchildren), I have to take her observations with a grain of salt. When she came to live with me she thought they were both sick and that I was ignoring them, and I had to explain to her that it was winter and they were merely brumating. So when she tells me that she's lethargic, I'm not sure if it's because she's gravid or something else. It also doesn't help that she's the more laid back one, so what may seem like lethargy could just be her particular personality. She seems fine on the weekends when I watch her, and she's particularly fiesty when I feed her with the syringe, so I'm hoping that it's not too serious. We should know more on Wednesday. I'll keep the board posted.