Rest In Peace Oscar

[szubelak]

The vet visit was "only" $300....

what new laptop that I neeeded??? not getting that for awhile... but like I said I couldn't have left him there so no regrets

 

[ShannyBeard]

Oh yeah, he would very likely be dead by now. I can't even imagine how he was suffering or felt laying there. Poor beardie.

 

[szubelak]

I don't even want to think about it Shanny - how horrible! I think he also has a respiratory infection but I'm hoping his already double antibiotics will take care of that - still another week of them and the Doc did bump up his dosage because of his weight gain.

HE ATE A SUPERWORM ALL BY HIMSELF TODAY!!! :mrgreen: which got my hopes up but then he wouldn't eat any more or any crickets... BUT he didn't fight as much as usual when I then resorted to the baby food!

Yay!

 

[CWB]

Sowly but surely he will get better, with your care and devotion. It is a blessing for you to take him in and give him a chance at life,, a healthy one.Stuff like this makes me wanna Punch a neglected pets owners heads in.

 

[szubelak]

fatty mcfatterson weighed in at 475 grams today - WTH - hasn't pooed since Friday though... how much can a beardie lose with one poo though?? gave him a bit of oil earlier to help... don't want him to be constipated with all the other issues he's got goin on!

 

[Claudiusx]

I don't know but my beardies have a tendency to poo their body weight from time to time.... LOL

-Brandon

 

[szubelak]

You know I'm really torn - I think knowing that I ALMOST had a 3rd setup already is what really allowed me to take this guy on... what am I going to do next time I come across a beardie that is in desperate need of rescuing? Does this mean I can't go in pet stores anymore?

 

[doodledragon]

Lesley,
Haha, I had the same worry after I rescued two beardies- one from a pet store, another from a friend. Now I have to send my boyfriend to go to the pet store for me! I get so sad seeing animals in those tiny cages.
-Lisa

 

[ShannyBeard]

I have this same struggle, which is why I can't go into PetStupid or PetCo. PetCo is the worst with leaving dead and shriveled up reptiles on display. PetStupid is the worst for beardies. The little displays they have them in are always extremely wet with condensation.

 

[szubelak]

Had a bit of a scare today - posted on the ER board - but I'll include the run down here.

#3/Oscar/Grover (as we've been calling him) pooped a little this morning. He was then visibly straining to go more. I put him in a warm bath, let him swim around - he was still really straining to go more. There was a definate bulge at his vent but he just couldn't push it through.

He was getting tired and dropping his head into the water so I took him out of the bath to rest. I gave him oil by mouth.

I called the vet after this all occurred and left a message- it had been an hour and I still hadn't gotten a call back so I called back - the girl I talked to was just the receptionist I think - reading the Drs notes. She told me to either bring him in or they could start a medication to help him. I said we'd start the medication.

But my questions weren't really answered - what could be causing the straining even though he wasn't impacted because he went a little- Do I run the risk of bursting his intestines? Do I stop feeding him? So I ended up calling the vet back and made an appointment - I tried another warm bath - but he never went

So at the vets ....

She took x-rays - no sand or other particulate - no blockage as far as she could tell - I shared my worry that he had been fed pinkies or a small lizard and had a bone stuck - there was one spot that she said was hard to tell but it "could" be a pinkie skull. He had some gas pockets. - I lifted up his tail and something stuck out of his vent which she said is probably a sperm plug - but she said to just leave it

(I brought up other issues he's been having too... - his weird breathing and his teeth)

She said his weird breathing sounded like cough (he of course wouldn't do the weird breathing in front of her - it was as we were almost walking out the door he finally did it) - She said his weird breathing could be stress related to the pain etc. His lungs looked clear on the x-ray.

his gums are also swollen which she said was odd - she's never seen it before - I had thought he was missing teeth in the front of his mouth but it was because his gums were so swollen they were covering up his teeth.

Anyway she sent us home with a laxative and another antibiotic that is more of a "GI antibiotic" as she put it.

So now the poor guy is on 3 antibiotics, a laxative and a pain med

Edit: she also said his bone structure looks good - no mbd - there is a small area of his spine that might be infected (I don't know how that happens... ) but she said it's just something we'll watch

 

[ShannyBeard]

Poor #3. I feel so bad for him, but then again I feel good for him, too. He's getting better, it's just not easy.

I have a lot of experience in human health care, and it's really neat how so much of what we humans go through ring true for animals. Pain medications can cause constipation in humans, so him being on pain meds makes me think it is normal for him to have trouble pooing. The medication itself slows the digestive process and also slows the movement of waste through the colon. Another reason he may be having trouble is due to his inactivity. That is another reason people who are post-surgical can have problems 'going.' At least he is not impacted, but still things are not moving along comfortably for him. Did they tell you to increase his oral fluids? That may help him, and if you are still giving him baby food you can dilute the baby food somewhat to give him more fluids but still have it be all-in-one so you aren't having to give him so much water on its own, too.

Hope he can get past this difficult time. Hugs to you both!

 

[szubelak]

As always thanks for your help shanny - and yes I am going to increase his oral liquids - I've had a bit of apple juice mixed in with the baby food all along - to thin out the chicken to get it into the syringe. The store where I get my Benebac from sells syringes that are 6 and 12 ml - I bought 5 the other day because he likes to chomp down on the tips! The good news is he is starting to move around more and when I put him in the big bath tub he did swim around a bit - I just have to hold his tail out of the water still! I'll have to let him take more baths like that.

Already today I've gotten at least 20 ml of baby food mix in him and another 10 of water - he's such a mess when eating - just like a real baby! Some ends up on his face and in his beard! I offered him crickets and supers first and he wouldn't eat any - I'll try to feed him more in a couple hours again.

I did get what I think was a sperm plug out of him after he ate too - maybe that will help him too

 

[szubelak]

:mrgreen: #3 just made a HUGE poop! Yay! Hopefully he feels better now!! :-D

Isn't it funny how we get excited about our animals pooping (and parents with babies too) :lol:

 

[dragonlover3]

Hi,
That's great 3 poo'd And yup, I get excited about the d-poo especially when I haven seen it for 2 days! :lol:
Amanda

 

[AtlasStrike]

Hooray for poop!! Haha!!!

Isn't is astounding how much weight they can gain eating very little? Beardie metabolisms are so cool. My little dude was doing a semi-brumation thing, barely eating (I'm talking 2-3 smallish supers every few days compared to the 40+ crickets he had been devouring daily) and of course I was totally panicked. Turned out, he was gaining 10-20 grams a week!!

I'm so glad this guy is getting a new lease on life. I think this thread needs the headline changed- something more positive because as much as is sucks that he was left in the condition you found him in, you saved him!! You and all the other people here who go out of their way to rescue and rehabilitate the animals whose lives people have deemed to be inconsequential deserve some recognition because YOU ROCK!!!

Is it maybe time to decide on a name? Not that #3 isn't catchy, but...you know.

**Just a quick not on the hydrogen peroxide thing: H2O2 breaks down cell walls, so it is great for killing bacteria and also great at damaging healthy cells. It seems to encourage white blood cell accumulation, so for people actively fighting a local infection (say a hang nail or infected cut) it is great, but because of the damage it does to healthy tissue, and because of how slowly beardies and other reptiles heal, you don't want to expose the tissue to a corrosive agent. I'd grab some betadine for the future, but normal soap and water does pretty well too. Betadine is great though because in addition to killing bacteria and treating infections, it is effective against fungal infections.