Reptile & Amphibian Forums

You have all been so helpful in answering all my questions, but now I have a big one to ask. What should I do? I just spoke with the vet and he said that there is nothing eles we can do for Rex. He also said Rex should be improving not becoming worse, their must be something eles, a disease or something affecting him (still don't know about his/her sex). I know Rex is clearly suffering, but hanging in there. The vet said if I want to bring him in to be euthanised I could drop him off in the morning . What would you do?

I told the vet I would wait untill the weekend is over and see his condition on Monday. Is this being selfish? I just can't stand the idea of putting Rex down without knowing what is wrong with him. Maybe he is improving, like I said before, often medicine makes you sick before it makes you better. Please help!!! any opinions would be appreciated. Thanks again,

Lisa

Lisa, I think we are all a little selfish. If we weren't we wouldn't keep pets. As long as we have their best interest in mind I feel it's ok. I beleive that you have Rex's in mind. I would wait the weekend as well. I know you have had issues with your vet and that could make your decsisions harder. Has he had any interest in food yet. Are you still feeding baby food. Along with the baby food you could try the insect smoothie. Crickets, mealies, a little baby food, some calcium and vitamins whip it up in a blender and try dripping that on his nose. If you can get some nurishment in him he may perk up. I'm not a vet and would never try to give advice that I would not follow myself. That being said I don't want you to get your hopes up for the best either. You ultimately may have to have him put down. I know it's hard but the decsision is yours. None of us are in your shoes. Let us know what is happening. We'll be here for you.
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Sleep, what is that???????
Just my thoughts and opinions based on my experiences.
Jeremy Letkey
jletkey@yahoo.com

No intrest in food at all , he even gags from baby food. Yesterday I made an insect smoothy, I thought for sure he would like it, but it just made him sick again. It seems like the only time he gets up is if he is going to start violently gaging or excrete milky white stuff. After that happens his energy is gone. Thanks so much for your support and info,

Lisa

Yes I’ve been following your posts Lisa, and I commend you for all the efforts you have put into getting Rex better. It’s things like this that really tug at your heart strings, because most of us care for our leos like they are a member of the family. Like Jeremy said none of us are vets, and we’re not in your shoes. I can tell you that leopard geckos are fighters; I’ve read countless stories of them overcoming adversities. But on the other hand it would be overly selfish to prolong the suffering of your leo if you have tried all the options at your disposal and he is still not improving. I’m sure you know Rex better than any of us, and you alone can understand his quality of life. We all know that you have fought the good fight. What it all comes down to is it’s your decision, and we’ll all stick by you one way or another. I hope you can find peace with yourself in this situation.

DaveCable

Thank you so much for your support. It's so nice to have people to talk to who understand. Everyone eles in my life thinks I'm crazy for caring so much about. Thanks you,

Lisa

I wouldn't put a lot of trust in a vet that can't sex a leopard gecko.

I don't know the whole story, but unless it is only a few months old, I wouldn't put much stock in whatever this guy has to say.
If there are any other reptile vets in the area I'd definately take your leo there for a second opinion.

best wishes!
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The following sentence is true.
The above sentence is false.

4.4 Leopard Geckos
1.0 Marbled Gecko
1.1 Red Eared Sliders
0.2 Siamese Mice

I wish there was other reptile vets here, but there isn't. The closest one is a three hour drive to Calgary. I should have just gone to Calgary in the first place, but a three hour drive right now would stress Rex out way to much. He gets stressed out just driving 15 minutes to the vet here. About the sexing, I thought for 4 years Rex was a male, he looks like all of the pictures of males. He has all the same stuff down there, the bulges, the pores, the v shape. But the vet said he is a she, and I'm not sure if it's true. Unless Rex gets better I'll rever really know for sure. Anyways, thank you so much for your support,

Lisa

I agree with Fritz. Reptiles just might not be the vets specialty. He could be selling you a load of crap. If you have tried everything and baby Rex is truely hurting, I would let him go to Gecko Heaven.

I can't say I know how you feal, but I know we are all behind you and Rex 100%.

Ill pray for you.
Austin

I agree with the others. I wish I could give you more advice, but I've never been in the situation...I'm really sorry, and I really hope he starts getting better!
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Christina

1.3.1 leos
-0.1 tangerine het rainwater albino w/jungle background (Blinkers)

-0.2 jungles (Vahz & Skissor)

-0.0.1 albino (supposed Tremper)(Spitfire)

-1.0 tangerine rainwater albino (Bronx)

Thank you, I really hope he gets better as well.

Lisa

I don't think this vet has ever dealt with a leo. Also it's so frustrating knowing all of the things that the vet could have done but wouldn't. For example he never did do a poop test, even after I asked him to and brought in a sample. Thanks for you support and info,

Lisa

Hey lisa, sorry i just got back to read your post. Honestly i've been checking a couple times a day to see if anything new(andhopefully good) news comes up about him.
I agree with everyone else whos posted, its ultimately your choice and none of us can tell you what to do.
But the wait till monday is a good idea.
And if it makes you feel any better, even if Rex gets better he may have long lasting deformities from this battle, so you'll prolly be doing him a favor.
No matter what you do, you have to promise us you'll get another leo, i would personally send you one if i ever breed any. Everyone has commended you on your great nursing job, i just come here to BS, but the other ppl who have responded from this forum all know what their talking about.
Good luck and take it easy

~Noella~

Hey Noella, every time you reply you put a smile on my face, thats better than any advice I could get (for me not Rex ). He is still hanging in there, but he refuses to eat. I just tried to feed him the blended cricket and mealworm concauction, but it only made him gag using up all his energy. I just wish I knew what the real problem is, something that probably could have been answered by doing a fecal. I just don't understand why the vet wouldn't do one, I think he just doesn't have enough experience to even know what to do with a fecal (from a leo). I kinda think if Rex is to go that he would rather go at home on his own. I don't want to give him anymore uneeded stress. Plus who knows with this vet, the last time I picked Rex up from his x-ray he was freezing. I'm sure they didn't even have any heat on him (he was there for 2 hours), I don't want him to go like that, I want him to be comfortable. In fact the receptionist told me they didn't have the proper lighting for him.

I would love to get more leo's someday, unfortunatly, I have the broke student syndrom. With all my other pets, right now I'm just going to hold off untill I'm done school. After schools a different story, I've allready planned out a leo sanctuary. I would love to be able to somehow get only unwanted leos, if that makes any sense. My 2 mutts are rescue dogs. Just knowing that there are so many homeless neglected animals amkes it hard for me to go out and buy one. Anyways enough of my ranting, thanks once again for putting a smile on my face.

Lisa

Yes, it doesn't sound like your vet is competant to handle him. I'm not a vet--none of us are, but when even WE know that there's been mishandling, something's very wrong.

What medication has been prescribed..what are you giving him? (I do think it's a him, based on what you've described).
If all you are giving him is a calcium supplement, I would cease giving it for a couple of days, and instead, push a 50% gatorade/water solution--with an eyedropper, same way you have been with the food.
Give his digestive tract time to rest, keep him hydrated, and hope that he rallies.
If he rallies in the next few days on liquids alone, then get him to a real vet, who will run a fecal, check for infection, and find out what's really wrong with him. He may have MBD, as your vet claims, but the failure to bother to run a fecal makes me question whether anything that vet said can be trusted at all.

The real danger now is dehydration and electrolyte imbalance from his vomitting and possible diarrhea.

I wouldn't trust the advice of a vet who won't do a fecal test. That is my personal opinion though. There are so many things that could be wrong, even something not that bad, thats only getting worse cause it hasn't been diagnoses properly.

I commend your hard work and i hope Rex gets better!

Red
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Crested Gecko Zeek:1.0, Ziggy and Zeus
LEOS: Boo: 1.0 normal , Bronx & Nala: 1.1 blizzard,
Lily: 0.1 patternless, Abby: 0.1 albino, Zoe: 0.1 reduced pattern, Dot: 0.1 hypo
New Girls: Flame, Karma, Bubbles and Bell pics coming soon
Chip: 1.0 papillion (small dog)

I'm pretty sure the vet just gave us a liquid calcium/vitamin D supplament. I did the blended mealworn/criket thing (discusting by the way ) and I have tried a gatorade/water solution, both still make him sick. The gatorade thing was an appitite electolyte powder for lizards that I bought a while ago, I'll give it a try again. I don't think I'm going to use the stuff from the vet, it is what seems to really upset his stomach (maybe just to much calcium at once). He has had diarrhea for about the last month, you know that white sticky liquid type of stuff. Would you recomend going to another vet even if it's a two hour drive. Thanks again for all of your info,

Lisa

I would definitely take the drive out there if rex is that sick a proper vet might know what to do.
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Yes, I would recommend going to the other vet, 2 hour drive or no. You need a real answer and some good advice, to get him to pull through.

That is your choice if you want to wait then go ahead but if rex is suffering badly you might want to i dont know its your choice.
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I'd hate to see her give up on him when the problem at the moment may be largely an upset stomach due to force-feeding supplements.