Please help! High uric acid levels & infection

[Ripley1015]

Hey guys, thanks for all the input, so it's been a month since she was showing the erratic behavior (super active, walking around enclosure, leaving little poops around, knocking down furniture etc.) She displayed that behavior for about 2 weeks, I put her in the lay box daily and she doesn't do anything in there. No digging at all. She just tries to get out.

Now the past 2 weeks she started slowing down and becoming inactive which is exactly what happened last time and it's giving me so much anxiety worrying about if it's going to happen again. The last few days she's been having bloody bowel movements and seems to be pushing really hard and straining. I don't know if she shelled her eggs and is trying to lay or if something else is wrong. Last time she was acting erratic and slowed down the vet said she absorbed her follicles meaning she never shelled them which made her so sick.. this time I'm wondering if it's the same thing or if she did shell them and is trying to lay. It's so confusing! She does have an appt tomorrow with the exotics specialist to re-draw blood and check her uric acid levels again. She's still taking 0.4ml of allopurinol daily and is still alert and eats well. Her enclosure is set up correctly with lighting and all the husbandry stuff verified by this forum in previous posts. Not sure what else I can do, I spoke to someone in an insect/reptile museum this weekend and she said it sounds like I'm doing everything she can think of... giving water with syringe, greens, diet, lighting is good..substrate fine, dig box, temps in range. Any other thoughts that can help me? Here are some pics of her recent bowel movements..

She actually just had a bowel movement and I recorded a video to show how hard she's pushing. It kind of looked like an egg was about to pop out in the very beginning of the video because there was a huge bulge that I've never seen before... but nothing came out only poop. Please let me know your thoughts.. Thank you in advanced! Here's the link https://youtu.be/AjUvC4nFUqc

 

[AHBD]

It did look like an egg. Slather some raw honey or vaseline there ASAP, then give a warm bath. That could help her to push out the egg if that's what's happening. If it doesn't work in a reasonable amount of time [ an hour ] then keep her warm + get her to the vet.

 

[Ripley1015]

She's in a warm bath with her tail flexed up a bit like she's ready to poop but not pushing at the moment. I just put some vaseline on her vent like you said. I hope it helps her! Thank you for such a quick response , I appreciate it

 

[AHBD]

Hopefully it'll help. If not, and if she has eggs in the oviduct a vet may want to administer a shot of Oxytocin .

 

[Ripley1015]

Thanks, any thoughts on the bloody stool? I collected a sample to give to the vet tomorrow to do a parasite test, do you think it's necessary?

 

[EllenD]

That definitely does look like she's got an egg...oh my, good to keep her vent lubricated and keep her abdominal muscles loosened up as much as possible with moist heat, sometimes when they are egg-bound if you can get their muscles very relaxed they can then push the egg out...that combined with the blood does indicate that she's egg-bound...has she had a black beard at all?
I'd keep her in warmer than average water up to her elbows/shoulders so that her vent and belly are completely submerged in the warm water at all times, and if you can produce some steam, like shut the bathroom door and run a hot shower than can sometimes help too.

If she continues to strain for too long, or if she throws a black beard, she needs to get to an emergency animal hospital ASAP because if the egg breaks inside her it can be fatal, and once the black beard starts she's in trouble. Very experienced reptile vets who know what they're doing will usually try to physically manipulate the egg out (DO NOT TRY TO DO THIS YOURSELF), and if that isn't a possibility they will either try to rupture the egg through the vent and suck the contents/shell out, but if that isn't possible they have to surgically get it out ASAP. I'm sorry she's going through this, it's an awful situation for everyone involved, I'm been there with a parrot before...

After she gets through this episode, I would seriously consider either putting her on a chemical castration injection, like Lupron, that will stop her ovulating, which usually works but sometimes they still do it. The other option is having her spayed. Considering all the trouble this has been causing her and the egg-binding is life-threatening, she is definitely a candidate for either treatment.

Keep us posted on how she's doing, there aren't a lot of things you can do during this except the moist heat and the lubrication, hopefully that's enough for her to pass the egg.

 

[Ripley1015]

Thank you Ellen! She gave a little black beard yesterday as she was having a bowel movement and pushing, I have her in a warm bath now, Ill try the steam in the bathroom, I hope she's able to pass the eggs... now im super worried =(

 

[AHBD]

How's she doing ? Anything happen with the eggs ? I'm hoping she was able to pass them and is doing better.

 

[Ripley1015]

My husband brought her to the vet today and this is his report...(I'm sure he's forgetting to tell me all the details) : They did an ultrasound and only saw small follicles- no fully formed eggs, she had a bowel movement at the vet office so the vet was able to see her straining and pushing (it was mostly water/liquid), the vet recommended a fecal test for parasites and she also swabbed her vent area to send it off to test (an idexx test?) for atadenovirus..they drew blood to see her uric acid levels, won't get her results until tomorrow. I was reading about atadenovirus and she doesn't really seem to have those symptoms..or at least she has mild symptoms like some weight loss, her belly looks a bit bloated but can that be from follicles? I'm assuming the atadenovirus result will take awhile because she said she has to send it across the country for testing (we are in NYC). I also thought maybe she's just acting funny because of the follicles? because last time it threw her way off. So I feel so confused right now since there are no clear answers, I just hope she will be ok and not in any life threatening danger. When she does get better and is healthy enough I definitely want to get her spayed because it seems like it's causing so many problems.

 

[AHBD]

Wow, that sure looked like an egg peeking out. She must have a certain degree of constipation to show such a large mass trying to come through. Offer her any or all of these poo softeners : some sweet potato, squash + prune baby food , canned pumpkin [ no spices ] unsweetened applesauce and ] optional ] a few drops of veg.oil or raw honey. Lots of fluids [ which can be mixed with the concoction ]

Hopefully nothing else too serious going on.

 

[Ripley1015]

I was thinking could it be a hardened urate? But she's been having bowel movements almost everyday so I don't see how she can be constipated?

I forgot to mention the vet also wants to start her on Metronidazole ... should she take it? Or should I wait for the fecal test?

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

Wow, your poor girl, it really did look like an egg to me, also.
It could definitely be a slight impaction with a large, hard urate. It does happen, so, try to
get more oral fluids into her if you can.
If she continues with these problems, getting her spayed is probably a good idea because her
developing follicles seems to stress her out. Did they send the Adeno test to Dallas, TX by
chance? If so, the test results come back very fast from the lab there.
When will the fecal test results be back? I would wait until the results come back just to be
sure she doesn't take the incorrect medication. Blood in the stool or specks could have been
easily caused simply by her straining & not by a parasite.
Let us know how she is doing.

Tracie

 

[Ripley1015]

Thank you Tracie, I'm not sure if it was TX, all she said to my husband was that she's sending it west, I havnt given a fecal sample yet I plan to drop one off this weekend at the local vet and I did put the prescription for metronidazole on hold until I get the results because I don't want to give her unncessary medication, now that I think about it she might be blocked up by a urate since she was a little dehydrated last 2 weeks I noticed her fat pads flatten out, good news is she now willingly drinks water from the syringe, if she was slightly impacted would that have shown up on a x ray or ultrasound ? Because the vet did an x ray and ultrasound yesterday but didn't mention anything about that to my husband... She had a bowel movement today in her bath and my husband said a small urate came out but it didn't look too hard, she was still pushing but not straining as hard as she did in the video, I hope it's just mild constipation ... will keep you updated

 

[EllenD]

Wow, I was certain she was egg-bound in that video, I'm so glad that wasn't the issue because she likely would have died that night, so that's the bright side to that...

I would definitely not give her any meds at all until the fecal test comes back, and even if she does show positive for coccidia or pinworms, check the load/counts because if they're only "low to moderate" I wouldn't medicate her, that isn't the issue. I agree with Tracie that the blood was most likely from her straining to poop, you said she black bearded while straining, so if it was painful enough for her black beard then that's likely where the blood came from, rather than from parasites. They are given meds for parasites far too often, and certainly should NEVER be given them on a "just in case" basis, that's only causing more problems.

An x-ray doesn't always show an impaction, not even a large one (depends on what it is), but the ultrasound should have...it's odd she's still straining to go the way she is. That could have very well been a very hard urate in the video, but if it was that close to passing out of her vent that night, and she's had several small bowel movements since, then it's likely gone. Usually if they have an impaction but are still passing small bowel movements, the impaction is further up the intestinal tract, sometimes putting pressure on the spinal column which can cause some partial paralysis or a feeling like they always have to "go" so they keep straining even though there isn't anything there to pass. But I would assume that the ultrasound would have seen that if it were the case...hmmm

what is her normal diet? What live bugs does she eat? You said she's bloated, which could be from the follicles, but it could also be from something else...what's her substrate? Just checking all the basics here...is there anything in her enclosure she could have possibly eaten, like fake plants? If so, check them all for places with bites...that happens sometimes...it's also quite possible that the follicles are pushing on her spinal column, which is causing her to feel like she constantly has to push a bowel movement out. I've seen it where follicles have caused some partial paralysis due to them pushing on their spinal column, so this might be the case...

Yes, I'd definitely get her spayed once she's over whatever is going on this time, as not only do eggs/follicles cause her a host of problems every time they form, but I fear that it's only a matter of time before she does end up being egg-bound.

 

[Ripley1015]

Thank You Ellen for your input, it really helps! to answer your questions..

what is her normal diet? What live bugs does she eat?
Her greens: mustard greens, sometimes kale, dandelion greens, turnip greens, escarole, some bell peppers, squash ,I try to mix it up from time to time but her main green that she loves are mustard greens.
occasional fruits: pears, mango, blue berries, blackberries, raspberries (not given often and we change it up)
Live bugs: her main staple use to be dubia roaches but after her last episode with high uric acid levels I got rid of my colony and the last month she has only been eating crickets about 2-3 times a week, last Friday we got her some wax worms.

what's her substrate?
She has slate tiles in her enclosure

is there anything in her enclosure she could have possibly eaten, like fake plants?
she only has 1 fake plant and its turtle grass long plastic leaves, she has never shown in interest in the plant or tried to eat it, it's been in there since she was a baby , I don't see any missing parts or bite marks.