Swollen Limb - Update Dec 21/11 - Uh-oh...

[MissT]

Great news!!!!! Hooray!
Phoebes Uric ACid went from 535 down to 37 last round so I'm really happy about that too! Like Squishy, her WBC is low now I'm hoping the boost of b vitamins will help her out.

Phoebe has a black beard at times. She gets very angry- I put it down to her waiting to see how soon I'm going to poke a syringe in her face! Poor girl!

Oops, I'm hijacking with Phoebe talk again!

So glad to hear Squishy has improved so much- hopefully everything will continue getting back to normal for her!

 

[baby_geek]

So I was giving Squishy a bath tonight to try and get her to poop (I have company coming over right after work and I would prefer if there isn't a bunch of smeared fecal matter all over her tank). She isn't pooping regularly due to not eating regularly (brumation) and it has been a couple of days so I figured there would be a good chance she would. She was in the bath for a little while but hadn't pooped so I decided to give her a bit of a tummy rub to see if I could stimulate her (which was successful). I reach around under her to start at her armpit and work down and about midway down her abdomen (in the middle right side) there is a large mass. It is about the size of a large grape (round ~ 1 inch diameter). It is firm but feels like it is full of fluid maybe. It is in the position of her kidney but on her abdominal wall not her back. She doesn't seem to be sensitive to me manipulating it.

I'm going to call the vet's tomorrow and find out if the reptile vet is working at all over the holidays. Maybe they can take a look at her, maybe take a radiograph and maybe even try to aspirate some of the fluid out. She is still in relatively good spirits, eating bugs and greens tonight, drinking water, taking her meds, she did poop tonight as well... She has been grumpy on the colder/darker days but then again so have I...
Maybe it is an extra large round egg? - one can be hopeful.

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

Oh poor Squishy! I hope that is just an egg. She has been doing pretty well lately, all things considered.
Are you having her bask a little bit more during the day to help with expediting the uric acid excretion? I know she is brumating, but you can't really let her brumate fully due to the gout.
At least she has been very good about taking her meds & all right now. Wow she is even eating her bugs & greens too, that is super!
I hope the vet can take an x-ray to see what that mass is!


Tracie

 

[Mirthy]

Oh dear, I hope it is an egg, too!
I know I don't often post but I always read and I just wanted to know that my family is wishing you all the best with this new vet visit.
-Carrie

 

[baby_geek]

Thanks for the support guys, she is doing very well in my/the vet's opinion all things considered, I hope it is an egg but my medical background tells me it's not. I called the vet hospital today and there are pros and cons to having the hospital owner dealing with your pet... 1 - they tend to give better discounts and take things off your bill because it is their practice. 2 - if they know you are a tech you get to help and assist in the back with your animals. 3 - they tend to be quite knowledgable as they have been a vet for many years... A big con to working with the practice owner - they tend to take the holidays off and have the other vets work work in the clinic during that time...

So that being say Squishy's doctor is not in town until the 18th of January and no other vet there works with reptile. The doctor is going to come in on the 18th just to look at Squishy so until then I am to keep a close eye on her - if she goes downhill rapidly the vet knows I will bring her to my work with me to have her euthanized and a full necropsy and histology done on her - if it comes down to that as we have all the equipment to do that.

Squishy was doing well tonight - took her meds, her cherry juice/water, ate a couple of bites of greens but no bugs (she only gets a couple twice a week or one if she looks really grumpy) and even did some glass dancing prior to bedtime. And although she is brumating she is actually quite active. She doesn't go to the cool side of her tank very often so when she sleeps much of the day she is sitting where the temperature is 97.2F so she is technically basking. I'm thinking a Christmas photo shoot might be in order... it could be her last (although it may not be - she could surprise us all).

I was palpating her stomach and looking at Squishy today when she was out for her treatments and cuddles and if you hold her front and back end and let her belly hang a bit in-between your hands (if that even makes sense) you can see a bit of the lump there. It feels about the same size/firmness today just not so ventral on her stomach wall - it felt deeper as in closer to her back this time. I was told with her very first set of bloodwork that it looked like she was in renal failure so I'm wondering if the mass is actually her kidney that is swollen, maybe her other kidney is still working okay? I was trying to find reptile anatomy pictures today to see what might be in the region where the lump is but there are not many internal beardie pictures on the web...

Oh well, I'm off to bed. I have a busy day of prepping for Christmas (such as starting to wrap gifts) and after finding the lump last night I did not sleep well - I hate not being able to turn the brain off for the night... here's hoping I get more than 2 hours sleep...

 

[baby_geek]

I think Squishy had a little too much Christmas Cheer this year...

 

[pyffersnpaws]

that's adorable.... she's like just leave me alone...

 

[baby_geek]

Hi everyone, long time no chat. So Squishy has her appointment on Wednesday (Jan 18th) but I'm wondering if I should cancel it now... I went a gave Squishy a bath last night and was massaging her abdomen a bit and low and behold her lump is gone... I can't find it anywhere in there. So now I don't know if I should be taking her in or not next week. Is it going to be a waste of time?

Sigh - why must they be so confusing!

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

I hope the vet visit goes well!
I forgot to respond after your Christmas picture of Squishy, that was such a cute picture of her.
I think the lump could have been an egg, but it is also possible she could have reabsorbed it also which is somewhat common.
It also could have been a soft water filled cyst for that developed. The kidneys are pretty low but are easily felt when swollen. Their kidneys can be dysfunctioning up to 75% & still actually work so hopefully that is not the case.
If the lump is gone, then it most likely was not a tumor which is great news! Has she been going to the bathroom regularly now with taking her meds & fluids?

Let us know how things go at the vets.

Tracie

 

[baby_geek]

So I had to cancel/postpone Squishy's Jan 18th appointment as I had a meeting come up at work that I couldn't miss. So instead she goes this week (her vet is back on the 18th and she is heading in that day) on Thursday. The lump is still not there although there was a small lump there for about 24 hours. She has been eating and defecating normally throughout this entire time so I'm confident it is not a blockage (and she is not on any loose substrate).

She has been taking her meds like a champ - she doesn't automatically open her mouth for them but she doesn't whip her head and tail around while I get the syringe in there anymore. She is still on Allopurinol daily with milk thistle 3-4 times a week and vitamin B12 the other 3-4 days of the week. She is also receiving metacam as needed. She likes small amounts of fluids but I am not getting anywhere near the 10ml into her that she in theory needs. She drinks a total of 2-4 mls a day. I figure she is good about drinking from a syringe so I offer it to her multiple times throughout the day. She drinks as much as she wants and then stops. She is 'healthy' enough to know how much she needs to drink... so I've left it to her. There are no signs of dehydration or anything like that so I'm not worried.

She is still in love with her lamb. She sleeps with it most nights. She has been active the last couple of days however prior to that she's been pretty sleepy. The weather here has been gloomy and dark so I don't blame her for wanting to sleep all day.

Well I will update on the vet visit probably Friday or the weekend. I'm not sure what we are going to do at the vets but I wanted it in her file that she had a large lump that is now gone - maybe we will take a radiograph.

 

[baby_geek]

Okay, so the vet is very, very happy with Squishy's progress and actually feels that the swelling in her joints has decreased. She gave a very thorough palpation of the abdomen and there is no sign of anything abnormal. We are questioning if she had a very large egg that she resorbed, maybe a small GI blockage (unlikely as she was eating and defecating normally), or maybe she had eaten a pile of pellets and it was sitting as a lump in her stomach. She does have pellets available in her tank 24 hours a day but she gets her feeders/veggies everyday. The pellets are there for when she's eaten all the greens or wants a morning snack before I wake up.

The plan: if I notice a lump again at some point I'm to monitor it for 24 hours. If it is still there after 24 hours I am to take her in (without an appointment) and have a radiograph taken that day. I can then make an appointment and come back to discuss what was or wasn't on the radiograph.

I love mysteries but sometimes I want a break.

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

Great update. I am thinking she probably had an egg that she reabsorbed, it happens fairly often.
So the vet feels her swelling has gone down a little bit then, that is great news!
How is she getting around now, still active I hope? At least Squishy has her little lamb to sleep on, that is so sweet. :love5:
That is good she is taking in fluids daily, as long as she is staying hydrated that is what is important.
She may stay lazy until the weather starts to get better though. How is her appetite coming along?
How often does she take the metacam? I hope that the allopurinol & milk thistle continue to help her out!
I hope Squishy is doing well & wont have to go back to the vets anytime soon.

Tracie