Stella's Necropsy

I had Dr Folland do a necropsy (an animal autopsy) on Stella. He found a mass of very infected ovum (under-developed eggs). 

Remember Fat Lucy's egg removal? See the dark colored and misshapen ones? Those had started to decay and rot in her belly. 

Then there were Skye's eggs. See how they were all orange and round? 

Stella (like Fat Lucy & Skye) had ovum develop in her ovaries, but, for some reason, they never dropped into her oviducts and down into her lower belly to be laid. Over time, her eggs rotted and became a toxic mess inside of her. The eggs mutated into one large mess that wasn't distinguishable on an ultrasound. 

This leads to the question-- could her death have been prevented? My best answer is "I don't know." Stella had laid eggs before, but stopped. That's totally normal. A yearly check up might have allowed a vet to feel eggs/lumps with his fingers. I say "might" because my vet felt Stormy & Fatty Patty for eggs and felt none. Three days later, Fatty Patty laid 11 eggs after arriving at her her new home. Two weeks later, Stormy laid 18 eggs at her new home. 

If you have only a one or a few beardies, I highly recommend yearly exams with an experienced reptile vet. At least every other year, have a full blood panel done. Because Nubs is my beardie and because he had such a rough beginning, I had a blood test done last year. It came back normal and now I have a base line to compare things too in the future. 

Reptiles hide their illness very well. Knowing your reptile's habits will help you spot changes in behavior more easily. Budgeting in a yearly exam and blood work (around $200 to $300 for both) can help insure your beardie stays healthy. 

Sweet Stella

Stella's X-ray this morning showed a very large mass (not eggs or fecal matter). Because she was in such poor shape, the vet and I agreed that she would not survive surgery. 

We opted to put her down. :( 

By the time the craziness with the fire victims had died down enough, I returned to the vet to hold Stella while they euthanized her. 

Unfortunately, something catastrophic occurred shortly before I arrived. Stella had blood coming from her mouth and she was gone. Whatever happened, happened fast. The vet techs had checked her only 20 minutes before. :( 

I will have Dr Folland perform a necropsy on her on Monday so we know what happened in her belly. I suspect a tumor. 

Poor Stella. She had a happy life the past few years. She was loved greatly and mourned deeply. 

Poor Sick Stella

Stella was one of my first rescues & adoptions. She's been in an amazing home and doing great for years. 

The problem with reptiles is that they hide their illnesses SO well that it's hard to know if something is wrong. By the time, they appear to be ill, they are so sick that it's often too late to save them. 

Stella has the hallmarks of a sick beardie-- flat eyebrows, sunk in eyes, and a black beard. See? 

Stella has been hiding an illness. My guess is that she has stuck eggs or egg follicles that have started rotting inside her, but we won't know for sure until my vet does an x-ray tomorrow. 

I gave her a saline injection tonight to rehydrate her. Sunk in eyes can mean pain and/or dehydration. She'll go in first thing for an x-ray and we'll decide what to do next for her. If she needs surgery, it will have to wait until Monday. Hopefully we can limp her along until then. 

She's in a warm sick tank tonight. She fell asleep standing up and I laid her down. It's hard to say at this point if she'll 

make it or not. I'll check my notes, but I don't think we ever knew how old she was. 

More updates tomorrow. 

Stella, rescue number 4

Stella also came to me through my KSL ad. She was the very first female I rescued. She had come from  a home with two male beardies who used to pick on her. She had gotten into the habit of laying eggs and was missing half her tail.

Stella's first placement discovered she had intestinal worms and treated her for them. Unfortunately, she was unable to keep her and Stella came back to me a couple weeks later. She was placed for adoption the next day and is doing well in her new home.

My petite girl

Half of her tail

Showing off her size

Stella checking out the window

Enjoying the sunshine with me 

Stella celebrating Easter with her owner