Sweet Crikey

I did something I don't normally do-- I held onto Crikey while the vet injected a lethal dose of anesthesia this afternoon. I pet his head & talked softly to him while he passed. He didn't want to be held, so I laid him on his soft blankie and let him rest that way.

This was him after he was "gone."

Another educational bit for you--- reptiles' hearts are notoriously slow at stopping, even long after death has occurred. When my beardies die at home, I wait until they are done breathing and then I wrap them in a blankie and put them in my freezer to finally stop their hearts. The vet gave Crikey a fatal dose of anesthesia (as normal), but even two hours later, his heart was still going. I just went back to pick up his body and found, instead, they were giving him a second dose of meds. I'll go back later to get him.

Some reptile hearts can beat sporadically for several hours after the time of death! If you have a reptile die with you, I recommend that you put them in the freezer for a few hours before burial to stop all random body processes.

Crikey, rescue number 57

This is Crikey, a 14 month beardie who, I think, is suffering from severe gout. Poor boy. He's got a vet appt first thing tomorrow morning at 8 am. A friend of mine rescued him from a bad situation in Vegas and has done a good job with him, but his condition continues to worsen.

Gout is a condition where the kidneys fail to work correctly and uric acid is released into the bloodstream where it accumulates in the joints. The acid crystals are sharp and make movement very, very painful. You can see how swollen Crikey's joints are. He's stopped moving almost completely and has very little appetite. 

Gout is very difficult to treat because it's root cause is kidney malfunction. You can often get rid of the symptoms, but you will always have a beardie with poorly functioning kidneys. So you have to have a special diet and continual treatment to keep the beardie's uric acid levels in check. 

Look at his poor feet & knees! Every joint in his body is swollen and so painful to move. Poor little buddy. We'll see if we can get him better. Dr Folland is a rock star (in case you haven't figured that out from my posts already) and offers Crikey the best chance of survival.

I will keep you posted.