Hi Tracie,Hello Brandon!
How is little Zilla doing today?
I am sorry she is having trouble with her back legs still. I have thought about that & I am wondering
if her spinal column or nerves have gotten damaged in all of the egg issues & the two surgeries?
It doesn't make a lot of sense for her not to have use of her back legs if her calcium levels are good.
That is too bad she is on medications again. I hope she doesn't stay on them long. Her uric acid is
low & that can be caused by mineral deficiencies like thiamin & niacin, etc. The critical care should
have adequate nutrients in it for her.
Kelp is rich in iron so you could try some of that for her. It is all natural so you wont overdose her. Or,
blackstrap molasses & regular molasses are rich in iron & minerals too.
I hope you are able to get her into the sunshine to help improve her mood.
Let her get some rest & keep us posted on her!
Tracie
Hello Brandon,
How is little Zilla doing?
I am wondering if perhaps she has a parathyroid issue causing irregular release of calcium? It
honestly doesn't make sense that she would have high calcium levels after this long. Are they
doing an ionized calcium reading? The blood serum level isn't always indicative of the overall
levels of calcium. If the body is leaching calcium from the bones, to maintain homeostasis or a
good calcium levels, that can cause higher readings. The ionized calcium test will determine the
stored D3 levels aka 25 Hydroxy levels. I certainly hope she hasn't developed metabolic bone
disease at this point! Keep trying to get her to swim & exercise in her bath if you possibly can.
Have they mentioned that the bones look ok in density?
Keep her lighting cycle the same. If you get her outdoors in the sun, that is fine as well but you
can also keep her under her UVB lights also. Both should equally help, really. She needs it dark
to sleep so definitely don't leave lights on while she sleeps.
Continue with the critical care, for nutrition right now.
Let us know how she is doing.
Tracie
Definitely try the surgery! You can also buy a red light therapy bulb and let the beardie bask in the light but you have to make sure the bulb is for therapy. One like this: https://a.co/d/0MtyyFVMy girl Zilla has had health problems since her follicle removal last year. I’ve posted on these forms quite a few times and you all have been very helpful. Last month we found out she is getting follicles back and from what I can tell they me be growing fast, they didn’t show up on the scans a month before that.
Anyways the vet had her on some different meds and on the 15th put her on an anti inflammatory/pain killer and and an anti infection med hoping it would help. She had her on a little calcium .02ml a day but took her off since her blood work it was showing high.
Anyways Zilla hasn’t been wanting to eat and she’s very weak in the limbs to where she don’t move and when she does she drags herself not actually walk. I talked to the vet over the phone fri and told her that Zillas eye look sunken to me and she’s sleeping constantly. All of which I feel she had first time they needed to do surgery. (This is a different vet then the original) She told me to give her between 4-8 ml of herbivore crit care a day preferably closer to 8. I’ve been getting around 5-6 a day in her. She fears she’s badly dehydrated and with not wanting to eat losing her nutritions so that’s why she wants me to push it. Anyways I’m suppose to call this week to give an update.
What I was told is if I can get the crit care in her we can possibly look at follicle removal surgery on the 17th. If not or she don’t show improvement we may want to consider putting her to sleep. The only other option is to admit her and let them run a Cath and stuff to feed her a day or 2 before surgery to see if we can strengthen her. I really don’t want to put her through that though. Surgery and forcing her to eat and take meds are and enough.
I really don’t want to rush the decision either to put her down if there is a chance the surgery could save her. Her colors are fine even her beard is normal. It’s just her eyes that make the vet worry. Hopefully someone on here can help me decide if the herbivore crit care is worth trying. How long does it normally take to show results if people have used it before. Just any advice would be really helpful. I don’t want her to be sick or feel bad and hate the surgery would be another week out. Yet I want to have hope. She’s like my baby and I don’t want to throw in the towel.
I should add my mother says her eyes look better to her since starting the herbivore crit care. And she is holding her tail up and head up more. She just is always sleepy. Sometimes after 5 min others 30 she’s ready for bed. I know a lot of that comes from the follicles too.
I also have emailed Tracie her last test results from blood work and X-rays.
Thanks,
Brandon
She is off the antibiotic and medicam since last Mon. She’s still on the Ursodiol and milk thistle. She has been doing ok for most part. The swelling so far is staying down in her paws and when she gets to hot or wants to fight for whatever reason she’s strong. But sometimes when she tries to move you can see her arms move a bit slow and paws are somewhat shakey at times. Not sure if it’s because of the swelling, calcium buildup or just where she lost muscle mass but I do see it once in awhile. She swims good when she wants. But there are days where she was not wanting to go to sleep at all now she is back to wanting naps and acting like she’s tired at 5 or so. Just when the weather started to get mid to high 80 possibly 90 out.Hello Brandon,
I hope Zilla continues to do better. I know she has been through so much.
So she will be off of the medications now, for awhile? Hopefully she just wont need them anymore.
Is the swelling staying down for her? That is too bad the weather hasn't cooperated very well. If she
starts to move more maybe that will improve her strength. Keep encouraging her, that does really help
a lot. I'm sure it's difficult not to get your hopes up, she has been up & down a lot the last couple of
years.
Continue with the critical care as she needs but in time her natural appetite should start to come back.
I hope you are feeling better!
Tracie
The vet didn’t say exactly how many bugs to give her, just said once a week And to switch out weekly. I’m going to up her to 5 or 6 starting tomorrow to see how she does. Been starting slow to be careful with her gallbladder. Hopefully getting some super worms in her will help out on more weight.Hello Brandon,
Zilla looks better, we still need some weight put on her though. Her pads on her head do need to
fill in. Are you giving sweet potatoes & squash for some starches for her? That can help with some
weight gain.
The head shakiness can be calcium issues or a thiamin issue. The herptivite should help with that,
if there are any vitamin or mineral deficiencies, that is at this time. It does have some calcium in it
but that is ok. You don't give any calcium at all, correct? That just seems like such a long time for
her not to have any type of calcium intake, very unusual. If you can take a video, that would be good.
They normally don't shake if they are cold, but, can if they are nervous, or scared, etc. I don't think
that's what is going on with her though.
Can she fully support herself right now, walking, etc?
I noticed her eyes do look alert, which is a good sign. I would like to see more weight gain on her,
so let's work on that right now. Did the vet say how many bugs/insects she can take in, or did he
not mention it?
Keep us posted on her.
Tracie
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