Vet wants me to consider putting down

[Subion]

I don't know but it could be from the repeated visits and injections now. She may be very stressed by the ride to the vet, the sights, sounds + smells can be causing fear and the fluids may be unnecessary as well. Maybe give her a break from all of this and recuperate on her own slowly, little by little.

Could that cause swelling? She seemed like on the way to the vet she was doing ok just a bit tired. After her injection she was acting like she was exhausted. But she does everytime she gets the shot except this time she acted like she was a lot more exhausted. I think they gave her fluids and more vitamin b. They take her back by herself so I’m not sure what they did or if she struggled some. Seems like everytime she starts getting a good appetite or gets ahold of something outside the swelling hits in a day or 2. Maybe I’m just trying to make connections because I want answers so we can stop it. It just seems weird how it hits around everytime she starts eating more to me.

 

[Drache613]

Hello Brandon,

Poor Zilla, she has definitely been through it. I agree, personally I don't think she needs more
fluids at the moment & the stress may be weighing on her. Getting injections is stressful & doesn't
feel great, either.
Definitely let her rest right now.
Were her urates hard or soft? You can "overhydrate" them also, which can cause issues as well.
Keep giving soft foods right now if she will take them, that is. Sweet potato, squash, mixed are very
good & give fiber to fill her up.
Let us know how she is doing.

Tracie

 

[Subion]

Hello Brandon,

Poor Zilla, she has definitely been through it. I agree, personally I don't think she needs more
fluids at the moment & the stress may be weighing on her. Getting injections is stressful & doesn't
feel great, either.
Definitely let her rest right now.
Were her urates hard or soft? You can "overhydrate" them also, which can cause issues as well.
Keep giving soft foods right now if she will take them, that is. Sweet potato, squash, mixed are very
good & give fiber to fill her up.
Let us know how she is doing.

Tracie

She only goes potty in water but it seems to be runny and not formed up. If I try to get a sample it falls apart as soon as touched.

I do have a quick question though about parasites. Can you see them in stool? When she went potty today it broke apart and there were little probably rice size things floating in the water. I didn’t see any movement or anything but not sure what she could have ate that would look like that. There were quite a few from what I could tell. But I’m not sure what I’m looking for to see if it is.

Anyways I did call the vet today and talked to them. They said it could be water settling down in her foot. Another thing was it may be a sign calcium is starting to run low. Even though it looked good on last weeks test it may be dropping some and the lab they use don’t really specialize in reptiles as much as what the exotic vets may use so even though he trusts the results they could be off. He also said since it seems to swell when she eats more then it could be her gaulbladder but they don’t see enough reptiles here to feel comfortable doing an ultrasound that they may overlook something small because they don’t see that many reptiles. He suggested I try to get back to see the vet in Ohio mind next month who being a specialist would probably have better understanding of the ultrasound and may use a more accurate lab for reptiles. In the meantime he wants to try a little calcium to see if it helps her any. If she doesn’t show improvement or gets worse to bring her in to check her.

@Drache613 did you look at the labs? Just wondering how they seem to you. I don’t know what I’m looking at to even try to understand them.

 

[Subion]

Just a small update.

Since Zilla went bathroom and had a bit of calcium, not sure which helped, but that night her foot swelling went down. Today they look to be almost normal. She is still limping when trying to walk and acts like they are weak but when she was in the pool she swam some. Her appetite is not back but she has been eating a little more fruit each day as of now it’s all she wants. I’m just offering her food and water and letting her take what she wants and not force anything. If she doesn’t eat more on her own this weekend I may have to try to force her to take a bit. Besides her left leg acting a little weak today instead of it just being her right she seems to be doing better. So hopefully over the weekend she’ll show more improvements.

 

[Drache613]

Hello Brandon,

Sometimes you can see parasites or worms in their stool yes if there are a lot of worms, but it doesn't
happen all of the time, no.
Are you referring to the fecal test results, where did you post them? I thought I looked them over, but
perhaps I didn't. Please post again, or let me know where they are at, thanks.
Her swelling has gone down some? That is good to hear, I hope she is feeling better. That's great she
swam around a little bit then, that will help her strength. If you can get her to do that several times a
week maybe that will get her moving more.
She still isn't eating very much right now?
If her calcium levels have gone down some, maybe they will start to normalize some & she will feel
better.

Let us know how she is doing.
Tracie

 

[Subion]

Hello Brandon,

Sometimes you can see parasites or worms in their stool yes if there are a lot of worms, but it doesn't
happen all of the time, no.
Are you referring to the fecal test results, where did you post them? I thought I looked them over, but
perhaps I didn't. Please post again, or let me know where they are at, thanks.
Her swelling has gone down some? That is good to hear, I hope she is feeling better. That's great she
swam around a little bit then, that will help her strength. If you can get her to do that several times a
week maybe that will get her moving more.
She still isn't eating very much right now?
If her calcium levels have gone down some, maybe they will start to normalize some & she will feel
better.

Let us know how she is doing.
Tracie

Hi again. Sorry for the few days of not responding. My depression has had me down while she’s sick again.

I don’t have a fecal test yet. I was just curious if I’d be able to notice worms or not. I should have been more clear when I asked if you saw the results.. I was referring to her last blood tests. Sorry for the confusion.

So her paws both look like the swellling is gone to me, if not maybe very small amount remains. She swims daily when we are outside. She will try to crawl off me to get in the pool then she goes potty. Most the time she’ll want out after. A few times she had wanted to swim more so I change the water. Her stool is soft and falls apart just trying to get it out of the water. It’s taken on more of a natural shape but I am seeing some unprocesssed watermelon it looks like in it from last few days just trying to get her to get more fluids.

I did get her to take a little over 2 syringes of crit care today but that’s nothing compared to the 10-30ml fluids daily I hear they should have. Not sure if I’d ever get that much in her.

Her legs in front have both gotten weak and I’m wondering if it’s calcium related since she has only had very little since Nov or Dec. or if it’s just dehydration. Usually the legs are only this weak to where she limps when she has swelling, only other thing I can think of is maybe the serrrapeptase got the swelling down faster but she’s still sore or whatever from it. For the most part she seems to do good in the pool or tub with moving/crawling. It’s not her normal move but it’s a lot better then when she tried to climb up on my shoulder to lay down.

She is acting like she’s exhausted a lot last few days not wanting to hold her head up much. Only if I hold her certain ways she seems to. The rest time she just want to lay flat. The day after the calcium she was at least holding herself up and fighting me some. So not sure if the calcium was too much or if the dehydration or whatever but something has to be done. I can’t keep letting her go through with this.

I have a vet appointment set up with her specialist mid next month and if we can’t figure something out there I may go to Florida when my sister goes back for a few weeks in sep and look for an exotic vet there to take a look. My niece says she has a good one there. Someone has to figure out what’s going on. I mean I’ve been looking up everything from calcium, dehydration, viatmain toxicity to the adrenovirus just looking for answers.

Over next few days I’m going to be redoing her entire enclosure to see if it helps. I have a few things on order and waiting for them first. I’m going to try and raise her basking light up so it’s not as hot where she lays the most. Im taking her uvb that normally runs 36” and putting one in that is 24” so I can focus it more on one side in case it’s too bright or intense where she lays. Im also going to be adding a second dome to the cool side with a plain white bulb just to provide extra light or make up for the difference she will be losing. I got her a little swing and down other stuff to add in like a running water source to hopefully help with humidity and maybe she’ll drink out of it when feeling better. I’m also replacing her rope hammock with a full cloth one so she can’t get feet stuck in them and hurt her more. So I’m trying everything to help her at this point.

In the meantime we’re trying to get as much sun as we can and hope it helps make her feel better

 

[Drache613]

Hello Brandon,

How is Zilla doing today, any improvements? It is very possible her system is becoming
calcium deficient now if she hasn't really had any calcium intake for quite awhile. Are
you getting a blood test done on her?
Maybe you should consider giving her some calcium a few times weekly to see if that
begins to help.
I'm happy to hear that the swelling has gone down & seems to be staying away.
I think the serrapeptase most likely did help already, with the swelling. I hope that it did
help out that quickly, that would be terrific!
How are her fat pads doing? Giving 10-30MLS daily is really too much. Did the vet tell
you to give that much? How much food is she eating on her own, or is she essentially
just taking in what you are giving her via syringe?
Are her urates solid or watery?
Let us know how she is doing.

Tracie

 

[Subion]

Hello Brandon,

How is Zilla doing today, any improvements? It is very possible her system is becoming
calcium deficient now if she hasn't really had any calcium intake for quite awhile. Are
you getting a blood test done on her?
Maybe you should consider giving her some calcium a few times weekly to see if that
begins to help.
I'm happy to hear that the swelling has gone down & seems to be staying away.
I think the serrapeptase most likely did help already, with the swelling. I hope that it did
help out that quickly, that would be terrific!
How are her fat pads doing? Giving 10-30MLS daily is really too much. Did the vet tell
you to give that much? How much food is she eating on her own, or is she essentially
just taking in what you are giving her via syringe?
Are her urates solid or watery?
Let us know how she is doing.

Tracie

She held her head up some today while we were at the park but soon as we left she acted like she was exhausted. While we were there she kept gaping a lot of the time. Yesterday as soon as she got hot she wanted to climb on my shoulder to be in the shade so hopefully that means she’s a little better. She got in a good nap after the park and when she got up would look around some even hold her head up briefly but she’s still not wanting to use her legs or try to move. Today the only time she really moved was when I tried to give her meds she tried to scoot down in the cover I had her on.

Eating is not doing to good right now. Yesterday she took a little dairy free yogurt and a very small bit of crit care for me. Today she ate 3 blueberry’s didn’t want the 4th I had. Then later took a small amount of slurry. Water I have to force some on her. Just trying it get some fluids in her at least and letting her take what food she will on her own at the moment. Her pads look to be the same. Stool she’s going every day when she swims. Today she didn’t swim so she didn’t go. the urates seem to be soft they just aren’t as white like they use to be it’s more of a dirty chalk look from time to time. As for the fluids that’s what I read online in a few articles. Her specialist when I asked about it never really gave an answer only time I had got one close was before surgery when she said she needs to be taking at least 6-10 ml of crit care preferably closer to the high side daily. That it would be enough water in it and her food source to keep her going. This vet here when I asked said he’d say around .5 ml a day but he also the one giving her fluids so that makes me wonder if .5 would be enough.

We go back wed for a consult with this vet. He’s going to look into some different labs to see if any can do tests with less blood so he don’t have to drain a lot. I asked about an iodized test and he said he’ll look into it also. I was told they may want to do some wed or he may decide to just look at her and wait until we go to the specialist in a few weeks so they can do all they want to do with the blood, ultrasound, and or whatever else they want to test. He don’t want to do an ultrasound here because they don’t see enough reptiles that they may overlook something if it’s small.

 

[Drache613]

Hello Brandon,

How is little Zilla doing?
I am glad she had a good time at the park in the sunshine. Did she get some rest today? I hope she
is feeling better. I personally think you need to add some supplemental calcium back into her diet. The
only other thing I can think of is if she possibly got some type of spinal damage during all of her egg issues
or surgical procedures. They could do another x-ray to see if they could see any spinal type of damage.
As you had mentioned, an ionized calcium test would help to determine the 25 Hydroxy levels or the D3
storage.
Are her fat pads looking any better now?
Keep trying with her feedings, etc to get nutrition into her. Is her weight stable now or has she lost weight.
Feel free to post more pictures of her condition. Her fat pads do need to fill in more. It does take some
time for recovery.

Tracie

 

[Subion]

Hello Brandon,

How is little Zilla doing?
I am glad she had a good time at the park in the sunshine. Did she get some rest today? I hope she
is feeling better. I personally think you need to add some supplemental calcium back into her diet. The
only other thing I can think of is if she possibly got some type of spinal damage during all of her egg issues
or surgical procedures. They could do another x-ray to see if they could see any spinal type of damage.
As you had mentioned, an ionized calcium test would help to determine the 25 Hydroxy levels or the D3
storage.
Are her fat pads looking any better now?
Keep trying with her feedings, etc to get nutrition into her. Is her weight stable now or has she lost weight.
Feel free to post more pictures of her condition. Her fat pads do need to fill in more. It does take some
time for recovery.

Tracie

Hi Tracie,
Sorry again for another delay in response been a busy few days.

Her fat pads seem to be looking about the same still. She has some saggy skin like she has lost some weight but I Havnt gotten a new weight on her lately to see for sure. Her appetite is just not really there. One day she may only want a blueberry and that’s it next day she may eat 3. So I give her a bit of crit care every few days when she’s not eating much to try to get her to build her self up. Usually get between 1-2 ml in her. I offered her some BSFL yesterday, first time since she got sick again I offered bugs incase it was her gulbladder but she just looked at them. I’m going to try here in a bit after we’ve been outside for a while. It’s a little cloudy but hoping enough sun will come through that she will get hungry.

So I went back to her vet the other day and he said he wants to wait until we go to her specialist in a few weeks for blood work and any test they want to have done. I assume they will do an ultrasound and maybe X-ray. In the meantime he gave her a little fluid with vitamin b and a small dose of calcium. We also talked about the serrapeptase. Since her swelling and weakness came back a week after starting it and she was getting better before that he wants me to take her off until we go back to the specialist just incase it may be doing something to make her weak. Seems like when we looked it up some of the side effects in humans were swelling, joint/muscle soreness and loss of appetite. So he just wants to make sure it’s not that and we can ruin it out as being part of the issue.

Since all of that she has been holding her head up more daily, once in awhile she’ll want down on the ground to lay or take a few streps. She also will climb from one shoulder to the other on me if she gets too hot or wants out of the sun. She seems to want in the shade more today. Then after a while she just acts like she’s exhausted and needs a nap. No matter what around 5-5:30 she acts like she’s ready for bed. It’s like she knows when that time comes around. She climbs to my shoulder and puts her head down and goes flat.

 

[Drache613]

Hello Brandon,

We really need to beef up those fat pads. Are you getting starches into her, such as sweet potatoes
or squash along with the critical care?
She may be anemic perhaps, you could add some kelp a few times weekly to try & get some natural
sources of iron. She has had 2 major surgeries so that is a possibility which could explain why she is
so tired all of the time.
It is a good sign though that she is trying to move around a bit more. I would personally add in some
more calcium at least a few times per week in case she might be losing reserves.

Tracie

 

[Subion]

Hello Brandon,

We really need to beef up those fat pads. Are you getting starches into her, such as sweet potatoes
or squash along with the critical care?
She may be anemic perhaps, you could add some kelp a few times weekly to try & get some natural
sources of iron. She has had 2 major surgeries so that is a possibility which could explain why she is
so tired all of the time.
It is a good sign though that she is trying to move around a bit more. I would personally add in some
more calcium at least a few times per week in case she might be losing reserves.

Tracie

I still try to mix in yellow squash with her slurries when she’ll take them. Every once in awhile I do add sweet potato or butternut squash baby food to it also. Sometimes she may eat a little bite or 2 of fresh yellow squash but that’s it. She won’t even try to take any sweet potato unless it’s baby food. I got her to take some BSFL yesterday and I put a little repashy+ inside her slurry but she only took 1 ml of it so not sure how much of the repashy she got since I only added a few small pinches in.

The crit care does have iron in it. But I’ll see if I can find any kelp around. I’ve never seen it at all for sale in stores around here. Unless it’s in a row I normally don’t go down they may not carry it.

Yesterday we had tornado and flood watch going on so we didn’t get out hardly any. I was going to leave her sleep a good bit but soon as I uncover her she through her head up high like she was restless then she’d stay up a bit even if the room was dark from lack of power. After a bit she’s go back to sleep. Today and next few it was suppose to be rainy but as of now it’s saying just cloudy so hopefully I can get her to the park for awhile and sun will be out some. We’re going to the vet next week probably going up the night before her appointment and staying since it’s early. I’ll ask about the anemia and going to see if maybe she needs something to boost some appetite. I know we talked about that before but then she started eating better.

 

[Subion]

Just an update.

Zilla seems to be doing a little better in some ways. It’s hard to tell sometimes. A lot of time she just likes laying around holding her head up to look around. Other times when she gets mad at me or needs to reposition herself she’ll use her front legs to stand up and hold her self up with them, once in awhile it seems like she’ll put more pressure on one then the other. She’ll also get warm enough when we’re outside she wants down on the ground and may even take a few steps here and there.

She’ll even sometimes fight me a little on meds other she takes no issues. When she does try to walk she seems to do pretty good. I’m not seeing any shakiness anywhere or at least not as noticeable. She’s also holding her tail up more instead of just leaving it lay. Although there are times when she is laying she’ll move her paw forward when laying and it’s like she’s doing it in slow motion, sometimes I have to help her straighten it out some or it’s in a weird curled position.

She has been moving more it seems when she takes a bath or swim. Shes even starting to use her back legs about to scratch the side of her face like she use to while in the water, She hasn’t done that in awhile. At one point I don’t know if she was trying to dig or just wanted to work her one arm that had the swelling it in last time but she kept moving it only in the pool for a bit then quit. She’s even starting to get to the point if you touch her and she doesn’t like it she’ll push your finger away or even arch her back up yo get her head high in the air as possible to get you to stop, yesterday she did it so far back I though she was going to flip, she didn’t even have her front paws on the ground. She’s also been putting her paws on my face when I’ve got her on my shoulders or she thinks I’m talking to much I guess and puts one on my lips Ike stop lol.

Any ways we’re leaving for the vet sun night and her appointment is early mon. So hopefully we get some good news. It just worries me with her not wanting to eat much. Some days she has a bit better appetite but she seems to want her crit care more then she will take slurries or solid foods. But other then looking like she lost some weight her coloring and stuff look good.

Not sure what she was doing in the pic. She wanted to hang out of the car but couldn’t have been comfy. I moved her shortly after the pic so she wouldn’t hurt herself, just love the look of excitement.

 

[Hazel_Basil10]

Just an update.

Zilla seems to be doing a little better in some ways. It’s hard to tell sometimes. A lot of time she just likes laying around holding her head up to look around. Other times when she gets mad at me or needs to reposition herself she’ll use her front legs to stand up and hold her self up with them, once in awhile it seems like she’ll put more pressure on one then the other. She’ll also get warm enough when we’re outside she wants down on the ground and may even take a few steps here and there.

She’ll even sometimes fight me a little on meds other she takes no issues. When she does try to walk she seems to do pretty good. I’m not seeing any shakiness anywhere or at least not as noticeable. She’s also holding her tail up more instead of just leaving it lay. Although there are times when she is laying she’ll move her paw forward when laying and it’s like she’s doing it in slow motion, sometimes I have to help her straighten it out some or it’s in a weird curled position.

She has been moving more it seems when she takes a bath or swim. Shes even starting to use her back legs about to scratch the side of her face like she use to while in the water, She hasn’t done that in awhile. At one point I don’t know if she was trying to dig or just wanted to work her one arm that had the swelling it in last time but she kept moving it only in the pool for a bit then quit. She’s even starting to get to the point if you touch her and she doesn’t like it she’ll push your finger away or even arch her back up yo get her head high in the air as possible to get you to stop, yesterday she did it so far back I though she was going to flip, she didn’t even have her front paws on the ground. She’s also been putting her paws on my face when I’ve got her on my shoulders or she thinks I’m talking to much I guess and puts one on my lips Ike stop lol.

Any ways we’re leaving for the vet sun night and her appointment is early mon. So hopefully we get some good news. It just worries me with her not wanting to eat much. Some days she has a bit better appetite but she seems to want her crit care more then she will take slurries or solid foods. But other then looking like she lost some weight her coloring and stuff look good.

Not sure what she was doing in the pic. She wanted to hang out of the car but couldn’t have been comfy. I moved her shortly after the pic so she wouldn’t hurt herself, just love the look of excitement.

I love how she is happy in that picture
Prayers for your beardie!

 

[Subion]

I love how she is happy in that picture
Prayers for your beardie!

Thank you!