So Nala, my 7 year old anery boa passed last night. I took her to the vet when she didn't seemed able to defecate a couple of days ago. The vet did a whole work up, x-rays, blood tests, enema, fecal tests, the whole nine yards, and sent me home with antibiotics. The blood test showed she was anemic and had high levels of calcium. He said that could mean cancer or she was ovulating.
The thing that concerned him the most was that there was a definite lack of muscle tone in the lower half of the body. I noticed it too when I was putting here in her tub to take her to the vet. Her lower half was really flaccid and her cloaca wasn't really staying closed, just leaking urates. She would right herself if placed on her back and she could move, it was just really atrophied and he thought she didn't have the muscle control to produce a bowel movement. He tested for parasites that have a neurological effect, but they were all negative.
There was some blood in the stool and the x-ray showed fecal matter in her digestive tract. It also showed some abnormal distention of what appeared to be the intestines. He is doing a necropsy now and will send the tissues to someone for a histology report. I will let you know what he finds out.
All these symptoms came on in the last month. She has always been a great eater then 1 month ago, she seemed disinterested in her food. I left it in the cage, and she still ate it, but didn't have the usual "grab it as soon as I open the lid" response. 2 weeks ago I fed her and she regurged the next day. I waited a week and tried to feed a 1/2 sized meal and she wouldn't take it. She has mainly been staying on her heating pad.
Again, I'll let you guys know what I find out, and thank you Joel for responding to my original thread.
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Scott
