Sick Beardie after Ivomec UPDATE Samson Passed Away

[augustwst]

Yes, I'm giving him jumpstart & acidophiliz. He seems all in all pretty normal except for the appetite. I just wish he'd get hungry!!!

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

How is he doing today, any improvements yet? It just takes awhile, but I really think that he is on the right track now. Keep working with him.


Tracie

 

[augustwst]

Hello!

Took him back to the vet yesterday. Poo is normal. He's been pooing about everyday now. He's less jaundiced. He's lost 25g though, that's bad!!! I have to find a way to get more food in him. He's eaten about 3cc today, that's better than the past two weeks...keeping my fingers crossed he'll eat some greens!!!

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

GREAT news. I am so happy he is doing better. Well, 25 grams is not too bad really. He should gain it back fairly quickly. Some could be some water weight. Keep working with him, & he should continue to improve now.
Very good to hear he has recovered through that medication ordeal.
Let us know if you need anything at all.

Tracie

 

[msmaui]

Hi. I've just been wondering how Samson is doing and if he's started eating any better. I think of you all often and hope that he's improving.

 

[augustwst]

Hey msmaui!

Samson appears to be doing well aside from the fact that he's still not eating on his own. His jaundice is almost completely gone, color's good, poo ok. He's alert, fairly active. He has lost some weight. Now if we can just get him to eat!!! I got some of that repti-aid insectivore from Fluker's...going to try and supplement with that also...

How are you doing??? I hope you're doing well. We're all here if you ever need anything!

 

[augustwst]

Oh Tracie, where art thou?

I don't know what it is with me and reptiles & holidays, but...

Happy Thanksgiving all, by the way...

Tue nite, looked like Samson tried to poo & couldn't. Yesterday, again. Gave him a bath. An hour later, he pooped out some urates and this hard yellow ball the size of a lima bean. He's been a little wobbly on his back legs, I just thought it was due to weakness from lack of food.

Now, I don't know lizard anatomy, but if you divided his belly into 4 quadrants, the lower right by his back leg, I can feel something hard. I don't know if it's an organ, or an impaction.

Last night, put him to bed. I've been keeping a night light on him for extra heat while he's sick. I noticed that he wasn't laying down to sleep. I picked him up to lay him on my chest as I usually do, and suddenly felt something wet. It was about a 3 inch round puddle on my blanket. Looked like mostly water and maybe some grit from the herbavore care I've been feeding him. Set him back in his cage, and the stuff came running from his nose. He kept getting high on his front legs and taking in huge deep breaths. He finally settled down sorta upright on his log and went to sleep. I watched him til about 2am and he seemed to be breathing ok. Today, he's breathing fine.

Here's what I fed him yesterday:

About 4cc in total. 3cc of herbavore care mixed with water/calcium, Jmpstart. Theonly new thing I've added to his diet is fluker's carnivore care as a supplement to the herbavore care. My vet said it would be ok. oh, and acidophiliz.

Is it possible that he's impacted, vomited,and aspirated some of it? Should I give him olive oil? I gave him another bath this morning. I'm scared to feed him today. I just don't understand how so much water came out of him. I only mixed the water with his herbavore care, I didn't give him a syringe full of water, or any fluid yesterday. His lungs sound clear today. And, of course, the vet's not open today and emergency vets around here are not herp..I dunno what to do...or did the flukers not agree with him? or is there something wrong with his heart causing some fluid in his lungs?

 

[Drache613]

Hello!

How are things today?
That sounds like he may have passed a urate plug. You mentioned that it was very hard & somewhat yellow? Poor guy. Did he appear to strain when he passed that?
Can you still feel a lump now? Do you feel it on both sides or just on the one side? I am just trying to determine if you are feeling the kidneys or not?
Can you feel the pelvic bone? How far from that is the lump?
You can use either olive oil or mineral oil. If he has an impaction, then, you will need to give all liquid or soft foods, & no feeders until he passes it through. You can have him swim around in some water, as exercise tends to help things pass through the system better.
I think the herbavore care & the carnivore care along with the jumpstart is too much for him. I would stick just with the herbavore care & the jumpstart. The 4cc is a good amount, but maybe back down to 3cc right now. Did you thin it out for him? You added the acidophiliz to the mixture, right?
I don't think that he has heart problems, but he could have been too full possibly. However, the only way to determine for sure whether or not there is fluid around the heart or lungs would be to get an Ultrasound on him.
Do you know if he aspirated or choked on any of the food when you fed him?
I hope Samson is doing well today!

Tracie

 

[augustwst]

Hello!

Thanks for your prompt reply. If the pelvic bone is a little ways up from the tail flap, then, yes. The lump is about an inch up, moving towards the head, and about 1/2 inch to the right. I looked online for a diagram of the anatomy of a bd but couldn't find one.

He didn't aspirate or choke while I was feeding him. It was several hours later, when he should've gone to sleep. He's able to put his head down today and breathing normally. I was under the understanding that if you have a 500g bd, you should give him about 8cc of food per day. Not that I get that much into him anyway but I'm trying to get as much into him as possible, as I don't want him to lose any more weight.

Yeah, I guess it must have been a urate plug, it came out with some urates. How do they get that? Yeah, he strained like crazy to get it out, poor guy, he was beat after he finally went. Today, he hasn't acted like he had to poo at all. That must've been it!

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

They can get urate plugs for no reason at all, or just from built up urates or from being dehydrated.
Poor thing, it sounds like he did have a hard time passing that plug.
Well, if the lump was that high up then it was some type of impaction or the urate plug. The kidneys are lower, & the liver is in the middle but you really can't feel that. The kidneys you can feel but usually only if they are enlarged or if you are very careful you can gently prod around.
You can feed, as a general rule, .5cc of food per 50 grams. So, 1cc of food per 100 grams. At a 500 gram dragon, he should be able to comfortably have at least 5, maybe 6 cc's of food. I am sure you can get away with more, but usually that amount is fine. Good he did not choke on the food, that always worries me. So he is breathing well today then?
Maybe make sure he gets some extra oral fluids for the next few days just to help him out if he has any residual urates left over, or other type of impaction looming.

Tracie

 

[dreshany]

I am sorry your baby is having trouble. I hope he is doing better! When he is feeling better, I had a suggestion about getting him to eat. I have heard that butter worms are irresistible for beardies. They have a sweet smell that BD's love. I know my baby goes crazy for them. Maybe it might help to stimulate his appetite? I know you can get them from Mullberry farms.

 

[augustwst]

Hello all!

I'm really hoping he hasn't taken a turn for the worse. Since the incident on Thursday, he seems a bit more lethargic, and a little more black. I hope he doesn't have an impaction. I've been giving him baths 2-3 times a day, and he hasn't passed anything since the vomit and the urate plug. I also gave him 3 drops mineral oil from a dropper. I don't feel any lumps on his spine, I think I feel something in his belly in the right side, but I can't tell if I'm palpating organs or an impaction. I really wish I could find an anatomical diagram of a beardie. If anyone has one, please pass it along, that would be swell!

Thanks for the tip on the butterworms, also. Maybe I could blender him some.

I'm gonna try and get him to the vet tomorrow. If anyone has any other imput, please feel free! You all have been so helpful with this issue, especially, you, Tracie! Thanks.

 

[beardie parents]

I sure hope he hasn't either! Here I was hoping he was the only beardie I've read about that survived Iomec. Don't give up hope, he may just survive yet!!

 

[augustwst]

Hello all!

Just got back from vet. Had x-ray - no impaction, but a mass in center of belly which is pushing the stomach over to the right side. You can't see the mass on the x-ray. Had an ultrasound, couldn't really tell either. Complete bloodwork will be back in the morning. He is super anemic. Has 7% of red blood. Needs a blood transfusion. Needs a donor beardie. For being that anemic, he sure does have alot of strength. I don't know what 2 think.

My normal vet is out for 3 weeks on surgery. Figures. I saw one of his associates. He's got fluid coming out of his nose once in a while. Doesn't look mucousy, looks watery. I'm going to wait to see what the bloodwork says in the morning, put in a vm to my regular vet, hopefully he will call me back. I don't feel he has that much time left

 

[msmaui]

Oh no, I'm so sorry he's not doing well. I know how hard you've worked with him. Hopefully he'll be okay. I'll say a prayer for him. I understand how worried you are about him. Poor little baby.