Update on Spike

Last fall, I learned that Spike had yet another major infection in his body in less than a year. Because each of the infections we treated before were in different extremities of his body, it was obvious that his infection was systemic (or widespread) and there was nothing to be done. Instead of opting for a major surgery (removing his foot), I chose to bring him home and let him enjoy his life with all his limbs.

Within the past few days, Spike's infection has returned again to his throat. He has stopped eating well and is beginning to gasp like he did last October. Based on the progression last fall, I know it's only a matter of a few weeks before he is gravely ill. I don't want him to suffer again like that.

Dr Echols, one of my amazing vets at Parrish Creek, is conducting two incredible research projects on reptile circulation and respiration at the University of Utah. I had discussed donating Spike to the project a few weeks ago. So, if all goes well, Spike will become part of this amazing study and will be humanely put to sleep this week. If, due to his illness, he is no longer a good candidate for the study, then I will pay for Dr Folland to put Spike humanely to sleep. He has had a super good life here for the last 5 months and I hope that makes up for the fact that his life beforehand stunk.

Poor Spike. He's been bounced many, many times in his 6 years of life, but here he has been loved and cherished. I am sad that there is nothing to be done to remove the infection from him, but happy that he can (as my beardie friends say) "cross the rainbow bridge into beardie heaven."

Our House of Sickie Pets

Our house feels like a pet hospital right now. 

#1 is Mr Nubs. He perks up after I give him the saline injections. Tomorrow will be his last day of injections and then we'll move to food.

Nubs this morning, 11/5/13

#2 is Nigel. His amputation wound is doing great and looks good, but the stubborn beardie is still not eating. Silly boy. 

Nigel likes to sleep under his tank covering

#3 is Spike. He is still fighting a pretty bad infection caused by an untreated bite wound from another male beardie. He's on antibiotics and twice a day I have to clean out his wound.

Spike is plugging along 

#4 is my dog Kip. He's old, he's grumpy, and he's determined to eat nasty things that make him ill. Twice in the last month, he's had a horrible night where I've wondered how much longer he'll be alive. Currently he's wheezing and whimpering when he breathes because of his collapsing trachea. His eyes are cloudy and weep all the time, but he won't let me clean them any more. His teeth are gross but I can't touch his mouth without him biting me. His heart is bad, his knees are bad, he's covered with liver spots & warts, and his ears bother him. He can still smell (and he smells! ;) ), but that's about it. Silly dog. I've had him for over 8 years and we are guessing he's at least 13 years old. This may be his last autumn.

Kip is happiest when he's snuggled up in my blanket

#5 is Lil Foot, my tiny tortoise. He has grown from 99 grams to 150 grams over the past 4 months, but he is still tiny and rather sickly. He shares his tank with my Russian tortoise Oogway because they both are happier with a friend. Lil Foot eats more and is more active with his buddy.

He's palm-size!

The Sickest Beardie on the Block

Nubs has had a very, very hard day and I'm less optimistic about his recovery than I was yesterday. His eyes are deeply sunk into his head and his beard is perpetually black. He keeps throwing up random cricket parts and has severe diarrhea. I keep giving him fluids and critical care formula to keep him hydrated, but he still looks really bad. I may give him a saline injection this evening to see if I can get him hydrated better. He's in a sick tank that I can clean easily when he spews & poops. 

I thought when the babies left that I'd be done with beardies that die on me. I'm not sure if Nubs has the willpower to pull through this. I keep giving him pep talks and he keeps getting worse. I can't even say he has a 50/50 chance-- I just have no idea. I hope so and I'm praying he survives, but I'm preparing myself for the worst. 

And I'm back to checking for breathing (which creates an unpleasant sensation of panic).

I'll update again tomorrow morning. 

His beard turned black this morning when I force fed him 

His eyes are deeply sunken and black underneath 

Brothers: Blue & Green

With the advice of my vet, we put Green & Blue to sleep tonight. They were both doing very poorly and were struggling to breathe. I watched them all day to see if there was any improvement, but they continued to deteriorate. Green started having full body seizures every time I touched him.

I agonized over it and finally decided it was time. :(  They are buried in the herb garden with the other babies that came from the same parents in an earlier clutch.

Babies & Hospice Care...... Again........

It's a long story. And I'm a glutton for punishment. And I have 5 sickly baby beardies now. 

But I also have a new "system" for keeping them alive: color coding for identification, more frequent & smaller feedings, and lots of heat. 

The babies with their colors

My emergency supplies box & a chart with their colors & weights

In their tank

Not sure how many of them will actually survive. I expect one in particular to die by this weekend. I think he's too far gone. But at least now I can be sure that each one is being fed and each one is being weighed. They are so tiny (the smallest is 3 grams) that missing even one feeding would be catastrophic.

Rescues 19 through 21 and How Hospice Continued

Remember how I said I was done with baby beardies? Apparently I lied.

I brought home three baby beardies on Sunday. Two babies that were 2 grams each.

And a 7 gram baby with a fractured spine.

Baby #1 died on Monday. Baby #3 with the broken back died on Tuesday. Baby #2 died yesterday. We buried them all in my herb garden. The two little babies were just too little and too far gone by the time I got them. It's possible they had genetic issues too. The baby with the broken spine had stopped pooping and was impacted along with his fractured spine. There was too much wrong with him that couldn't be fixed.

They all had a happy, safe, and loving end. That was all I could do with them.

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Here's Yoda who I thought was so tiny next to one of the 2 gram babies. He looks huge & healthy!

Yoda, rescue number 18 *and* the Start of Hospice Care

Today I brought Yoda home to die. He is a tiny beardie, only 6 weeks old and weighs only 7 grams. He has been having full body seizures for the past 24 hours and I don't think he's strong enough to survive. His owner tried everything he could to get him healthy and keep him that way, but it wasn't enough. Sometimes beardies are just genetically flawed.

Having some sun time

I gave him a bath to get him to drink a little

He's a tiny little guy 

 After getting him out of his bath, he had a full body seizure. He went completely rigid while shaking and then flipped upside down. Poor little guy. It's heartbreaking to watch.

Sometimes beardies can't be saved. Sometimes beardies just die. Sometimes all you can do is make the end peaceful & loving.

So once again I am doing hospice care for an animal.

----------------UPDATE 9/12/13-------------------

Yoda is still alive. He is healthy and happy and headed to his new home on Saturday. Crazy, huh? Even though he had all the right supplements & lights, his body was not processing calcium. I gave him calcium syrup & an injection and he never had another seizure. By the next Wednesday, he was running around and active. He's been eating like a champ -- only when I give him roaches-- and has a new lease on life.

Crazy, huh? You just never know sometimes.