Sunken eyes, not eating, dark beard ~URGENT~

[Drache613]

Hello,

How is she doing this evening?
Were you able to get a bit more baby food into her with calcium? I hope she hangs in there until your appointment on tuesday. Is her beard still black?
Did you get the temperatures adjusted on the cooler end?

Tracie

 

[Koggle]

she seems to be doing okay
she mostly lays around at the bottom of the tank, but is also sometimes up on her basking rock.
been able to get her to eat more of the baby food with calcium and get some water into her with ease.
her beard is still black, and the cool end temps are around 75-80

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

How is she doing this evening?
Have you been able to get her to a vet yet? I hope she is feeling better. I am worried that her beard is still black though, something is causing her some stress.
Let us know how she is doing.

Tracie

 

[Koggle]

Her beard isn't as black as before, but it is still dark.
The appointment is booked for Thursday since the reptile specialist won't be in until then.
The shaking is getting a bit worse, and she did this weird thing with her front arm. She raised it in the air and it appeared to be 'locked' in that position. After several seconds she managed to get it down.
She shaking isn't constant, it comes usually when I'm feeding her. Also noticed that the tip of her tail is hard, and kind of dry? It is only the very tip of the tail, though.
I am really hoping that the vet will be able to help. I took her to the same vet around eight months ago for an upper respiratory infection, and the same vet prescribed some medicine and fixed her right up.

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

That's good to hear her beard isn't as dark right now. Did she eat anything today?
It sounds like she may have a calcium issue going on, with the seizure like behavior.
I hope you are able to get some food into her, somehow.
Let us know how the vet visit goes.
The end of the tail is hard, did some retained shed get stuck?

Tracie

 

[Koggle]

the vet took an x-ray of her and nothing showed up other than some extra fluid.
doesn't think its a calcium problem.
she gave us some salix-furosemide to give to her on saturday.
she wasn't sure what was wrong with her, we have another appointment for her on tuesday for a check up.
she pretty much said that when you buy a bearded dragon from a pet store at a young age, you get some who live a long life with no issues, but you also get some that get constant issues.
vet doesn't know whats wrong with her, and pretty much in directly said that we shouldn't be surprised if she passes away.
i am extremely sad.
i don't know what i did wrong.
i dont know what else i can do for her.
she is obviously very sick and i just feel completely helpless.

 

[AHBD]

I'm sorry she's not improving. No, you did nothing wrong....she may have a hidden illness as the vet said. Has she been tested for adenovirus ? If not, Tracie can test for it.

 

[Koggle]

she was not tested for adenovirus.

 

[AHBD]

I think you should do that ASAP. Tracie can do the test for a low price , she's affiliated with an organization that specializes in diagnosis of ADV. You might also look in to getting some bee pollen to boost her immune system as well as milk thistle possibly to help her liver function. Tracie knows about the various supplements.

 

[Koggle]

how would i go along about getting the test done?

 

[AHBD]

Ask if your vet is familiar with it and how much $$ it will cost, and/or p.m. Drache613 [ Tracie ] ans she will tell you what to do for her org. to do the test .

 

[Koggle]

i'll bring that up with her next check up on tuesday.

 

[SHBailey]

Some of her symptoms do sound like what my beardie did when he got adenovirus two years ago. My vet told me that it was not a death sentence, although it can be serious and there was no cure. The strategy was "supportive care" -- overall good husbandry and treat other conditions that arise, and hope that his own immune system gets a handle on it. He was pretty sick for a while, but after several rounds of antibiotics (for secondary infections) and supplements, he finally started to slowly improve.

So if yours does turn out to have adenovirus, it's not over yet. She may still be able to pull through.

BTW, you might want to save a sample of her next poop for testing. I'm not sure if there are other ways to diagnose it, but mine was done via PCR with a poop sample, so ask your vet (or Tracie) what they need for the test.

 

[Koggle]

she just passed a way moments ago while i was at her side.
there are no words to describe how i am feeling. just complete sadness.

 

[SHBailey]

I'm so sorry. At least you were with her, and hopefully she knew she was loved.