Beardie having surgery : (

[n00bie]

Lovely 4.5 y.o. central beardie is having surgery today to identify a blockage in his upper intestine. The blockage isn't showing on x-ray, so it could be another organ or a tumour getting in the road.
Has anyone had a beardie survive this type of surgery?

 

[shellfisch]

I hope all goes well for him, he is in good hands.

 

[Chris1]

Hi,

I havent heard of any having surgery to identify the problem, but have heard of quite a few surviving surgery for impactions or egg binding,...

Best of luck to ur little man, fingers crossed it isnt a tumor, and i hope all goes well,..

please let us know how he goes!

 

[n00bie]

Thanks guys. The vet is great and I know she'll do everything she can for Boris. He's been with her since Monday and she's tried all the medical (ie: non-surgical) options she can. All we know for sure is that something in his upper intestine is stopping food from passing through. He vomits anything he eats and there's nothing left at the other end to come out.
He just saw the vet two weeks ago for his normal check-up and he was fine. He got sick on the weekend. He did two poops in two days, which is not like him, and the poop had lots of urates. He also had a bit of weepiness around one eye. I was planning to call the vet first thing on Monday but when I gave Boris his morning calcium he did a huge vomit, so I rushed him over to the vet straight away.

 

[Chris1]

good on u for getting him in at the first sign of trouble,...

what time is his surgery?

dont forget to give us the GOOD NEWS when hes finished!!!

 

[n00bie]

Boris is out of surgery and in recovery.

There was no physical obstruction but his upper intestine was full of yucky stuff, meaning that the muscles/nerves aren't working properly to move food through his system. His liver also has lots of spots on it, which is a very bad thing.

Tests will be done on a sample of the yucky stuff and also on a biopsy sample of the liver.

Poor little boy is still deep in the woods : (

 

[sebbie0983]

Thats no good, I hope there is a solution. At least he's got someone who'll take care of him

 

[Chris1]

oh, good news that hes out of surgery, but disturbing about the gunk and spots on his liver,...does ur vet have any ideas on what the problem might be?

i know the testing will take some time, but please post the results when u get them.

fingers crossed ur poor boy is fixable,...at least u know ur doing everything possible to help him.

 

[squishi]

I hope all goes well for you I had a little girl that was born with an absyst above her eye and the vet could not remove it. She died at 4 months old.
Good Luck my Best Wishes goes out to you.

 

[nicman72]

Hey, I've nothing of value to add except that I'll be thinking about Boris over the next few days. I tip my hat to you for getting him to the vets as soon as you did; it's so frustrating when people get on this site with animals in obvious need of vet assistance, yet procrastinate around, trying to get free answers and save a buck.
Please make sure you post the results - I reckon a few people will be eager to hear the news when it comes. You've done everything you could. He's in the lap of the lizard gods now...
Cheers,
Nic

 

[PhilK]

Hey mate, good on you for paying for a vet and surgery for your lizard - that's the kind of herp keeper everyone should be!

Can you elaborate any more on "yucky stuff"? Was it inside the intestine or outside? Did the vet call it anything other than "yucky stuff?"

Cheers mate all the best for you and your lizard!

 

[n00bie]

Vet just called - Boris's heart has stopped

Am going over there now - will post more when I know more

 

[nicman72]

Damn. That's awful news. Thinking of you and Boris big times mate.
Nic

 

[squishi]

Aww that is sad. My condolences.

 

[Chris1]

aww mate, so sorry to hear that,..

 

[Jimmy_jam]

so sorry mate....
i remember when my beardie went into surgery to have an lump cut out of the top of his mouth and from behind he eye..
was very nerv racking.
my surgery cost like 600.

 

[n00bie]

So, I am sitting here looking at an empty cage.

The vet doesn't think it was anything I'd done wrong, which I guess is a small comfort.

The 'yucky stuff' was bacteria, fungus and ameoba that had gone crazy in Boris's intestine. These are things that all reptiles usuall y have in small amounts but when the animal's immune system is weak, they get out of hand.

They are going to do tests on Boris's organs to see what exactly went wrong but at this stage it looks like the damaged liver was the COD. The liver damage may be viral or may have been from poor husbandry when Boris was a baby (I got him as an adult).

I am gonna really miss my little boy.

 

[Chris1]

that totally sucks that u lost him, u sound like such a good beardy parent,..

just think of the awesome life he had with you, take comfort in that, and the fact that you did everything you could.

i know exactly how heartbreaking it is losing a beardy, take your time and think about getting a baby when ur ready emotionally.

maybe cover the cage with a blanket for a while if it makes you too sad to see it empty,...

sorry mate, i hope ur ok.

 

[PhilK]

That stinks, but good on you for being such a diligent owner. Many people would not have done what you did so Boris was a lucky beardie! It'll be good to get the tests done so you will have some closure and at least know what happened.

It may sound insensitive but the only thing to do now is to get another one! Nothing is better than focusing your energy on a new pet when you've lost one, it's the advice we give everyone at the clinic!

 

[the jungle guy]

,Sorry for you loss, but you did everything you possibly could many people will bum off forums to save some dollars instead, of gettin them to a vet i think its awesome your following up to find out what went wrong keep us all updated if you dont mind


as PhilK says might be a bit soon but could be a good thing to get another rep and focus your time on them