Sweetie is really sick, I think she has an RI

[sweetiepie9]

My Sweetie is having trouble breathing & when she does breath out, she gapes her mouth open & puffs a breath, with sometimes bubbles showing. I called my vet's office, the vet hospital that's on duty tonight has no idea what a dragon is, never mind what's wrong. My vet's not open until Monday at 8:30a, what can I do for her in the meantime?
Deb

 

[Esther19]

I am sorry to hear that Sweetie is sick! You must be so worried!
The only thing I know to do is to keep her temp in the viv up around 80 overnight.
Also to not bathe or mist her. I wish I knew more. This is just what I've read here on the forum.
Hopefully somebody smarter than myself will be along soon.

Best of luck,
Esther

 

[sweetiepie9]

Thanks Esther, so far she's still breathing & I'm keeping her on my chest to keep her warm. I'm going to stay up with her & stay with her all day tomorrow, until I can get her to my vet at 8:30a on Monday. Thanks so much for your answer, I'm in a bit of a panic. I'm beating myself over the head as I could have gotten her into the vet's office earlier today, even if there was no-one there used to dragons, they could have maybe called my vet to see what could be done. I'll keep after her to keep breathing,
Deb

 

[Drache613]

Hello Deb,

Just keep her warm right now, wrapped up in a blankie overnight. Also, place her on a slight decline in case she has any fluids that need to drain out.
Try to keep her as calm as possible. Is her beard black?

Tracie

 

[sweetiepie9]

No, she has her happy colours on, she hasn't hardly had a dark beard at all. I've had her on my chest, then back in her tank. I'm going to wrap her up & put her on a decline in her tank, I'll leave the night heater on so she stays warm. I've closed the bedroom window, I usually have it cracked open a bit, so that'll keep the bedroom warmer. I'm going to cancel whatever I had going on tomorrow, I'll be watching her every second. I have to get to the pet shop for worms, but can run out quickly, it's only 15min away. I've run out of everything, so had planned that in the am anyway, before Sweetie got sick. Other than that, I'll stay home with her. I can always shop tomorrow night, as she'll be at the vet's overnight, I have to be at work tomorrow, I have Tuesday off so can pick her up early Tuesday am & see the vet at the same time. So, I'll get back to her & I'll do as you're advising Tracie. I'll get you updated in the am.
Thanks
Deb

 

[MissT]

Oh poor Sweetie! Hope she is doing better soon!

 

[MissT]

Deb, I just though of this- perhaps with her arms being broken, additional pressure is beig placed on her lungs which could cause the open mouth breathing-I know with Phoebes eggs right now, she acts as though there is pressure on her lungs when she is sitting in certain positions.
You didn't mention if there were any clicking sounds? Or perhaps I missed that.

 

[sweetiepie9]

Clicks & blowing bubbles. I know she got either water or CC in her lungs on Friday, only thing that makes sense. She's still alive & breathing, meanwhile I haven't slept hardly at all, so will having an afternoon nap. I just have to make sure she breathes until tomorrow am, taking her to her vet at 8:30a tomorrow morning. She got alot of stuff out of her lungs, looks like, so hopefully she has a better time of it now. I'm not even going to wake up the babies, maybe in an hour or so,
I'll keep you posted
Deb

 

[MissT]

I know that feelig Deb- I barely ever sleptfor the 2 months that Kazi was ill.
Hopefully her lungs are clearing now. Just keep doing what you are doing and try to rest!
Keep us posted.

 

[sweetiepie9]

I sure can relate Christina, but you've been sleep deprived more than I have. I've been sleep deprived before but never 2 nights in a row. I'm going to have to get a good sleep tonight as I have Pilates (which I hate to miss as I can't make up the session, they're all done during the day when I'm at work), then to work. Then I have Tues off. So if I let Sweetie off at the vet tomorrow am, I can pick her up on Tues afternoon when I have an appointment anyway. If I'd known she'd get so sick I would have requested Monday off, too. At least we got through last night & she spit out alot of liquid during the night. Now she's under her basking rock with her tummy elevated & her nose lower. I'm hoping keeping her warm all night helped.

I'll keep you updated later,
Thanks for your support Christina, it really helped
Deb

 

[diamc]

Hi Deb, I'm so sorry to hear this. It would also be a good idea to kick her tank temp up a few degrees. What temp do you usually have her basking spot at? How is she doing now? Had she been star gazing too?

So, you're pretty sure that she aspirated on water or CC on Friday? Had she choked? If you feel she has more water in her lungs and she seems she is trying to bring it up, hold her in your hands and tilt her head down (in the upright position of course) and that should help get a little more out.

 

[MissT]

Phoebe aspirated some water a few weeks ago and I did what you described, Diane and, sure enough, the water began draining out of her mouth. I tried to
open her mouth to help her out but she wouldn't let me, but tilting her like that seemed to clear it.

 

[sweetiepie9]

Sweetie spend most of the night bringing up frothy fluid & swallowing it, then licking her lips & close her mouth again. She was very slow to start breathing again after these episodes, so I made sure I could make her breathe again before she'd have her next spasm. It was like a spasm in her upper torso, she'd squirm sideways, then would start bringing up more liquid, but always frothy & she'd swallow it. By this morning she's calm, but still in the bum higher than the head position, all by herself. The blankies will all be out of the washer by now, so she'll have nice warm blankies to cover the bottom of her tank. I think she's pooped out by now, but she's not getting a bath. Should I feed her, or give her another day without food? I didn't feed her yesterday, either. Plus I let her lick the calcium off the syringe now, instead of squirting it into her mouth by the side. I won't make her eat if she doesn't want to, I need to make the CC thicker, so she can't aspirate it.

The sun's trying to burn through the fog, so we might have a sunny day after all. I'm off to eat something & check on Sweetie.

I'll keep you all updated,
thanks for all the good advice,
I think Sweetie will be ok, as I really need to sleep tonight as work tomorrow,
Deb

 

[diamc]

Something else that you can try, Giz would have a lot of mucous on the side of his mouth and I was able to use a cotton tip and rub that area, then he would open his mouth so that I could get a little more out with other cotton tips. He always seemed more comfortable after that. Of course, I only did right on the inside of his mouth and that's the only area I saw any mucous. Yes Christina, tilting them like that can make a big difference. Deb, it might be a good idea to try doing that a few times today to see if it's easier for her bring it up and to help prevent her from swallowing it.

Do you think she would tolerate you raising the temps just a little?

Do you use rice socks or cornbags? Those are a big help in getting their head lower than the rest of them and also helps keep them a little warmer. Do you use a heat emitter at night yet?

Edit: I'm not sure about feeding her, perhaps Tracie will chime in on that. Do you think she acts hungry or is does she just seem more comfortable the way she is in her tank?

She must be exhausted and I'm sure that you are too. (((((((((hugs))))))))) I hope she can improve so that you feel you can safely take a nap.

 

[sweetiepie9]

She's already improved greatly since last night, but that doesn't seem to mean that it's over. I can put down her light a bit for when she gets back under it. I put fleece blankies on the black sides underneath her, on top of all the towels, as that will help her retain the heat that she needs right now. I'll give you an update, so far she's been calm since 7a, 3 1/2 hrs, the longest she's gone so far without having spasms & expelling that frothy water. I'm hoping a good part of it is gone now or maybe all of it! We'll see later on, she gets worse about 8p so far Friday & Saturday night, so we'll see tonight.
Deb

I will try a bit of chicken w/vegs, it's very pasty, and she can eat small bits at a time. The squash is too watery.