gecko died from leukemia

[boywonder]

I had a female gecko who was just over a year old, 60+g , she mated earlier on this season and layed 4 clutches of eggs 2,2,2,1. after the last egg she went totally off her food, she'd had a small pink mouse after clutches 2 and 3 along with her normal mealworms but after the last egg she showed no interest in food, after a week of not feeding i noticed that she hadn't shed her skin and she wouldn't open her eyes, so i shed the skin for her and bathed her eyes, they weren't stuck together and she could open them if she wanted, i separated her to a RUB and gave her fluids with a syringe, she was loosing weight daily so i took her to the vets and he thought she could be eggbound, but an x ray showed no egg and normal bone density that ruled out hypocalcemia, the vet did a fecal float which seemed fine and he gave her an injection and some ccf for me to give her daily, i made the ggg slurry but had to force feed her wit it, the following week i had a follow up appointment at the vets, he had no more suggestions, so i took her home again but an hour later she passed away, the vet did a necropsy and found that she was highly anemic, her liver was white and her heart was also very pale, he thought that her bone marrow had ceased hemoglobin production , she's been sent away to a lab for a histogram, the results are due on thursday, has anyone ever heard of this in leopard gecko's before?

 

[MelissaDiane]

I am very sorry for your loss. I know its hard watching them go down hill & there is nothing you can do to fix it. I had a female (Tremper Albino) who was up to 45g & then stopped eating & was lethargic and limp. She was sick for almost a month before she passed away & our vet had no more suggestions either. The necropsy we had done showed her liver to be white & the kidneys were small too. She was perfectly healthy until she got sick on 10/1/08. She was never bred. So if the white liver represents leukemia than perhaps that is what she had. We did not send it out for further testing as the cost was just too much for us to pay. Whatever she had was not contagious as her cage mate was fine & still is (almost two months later).

This was my first gecko & I had only had her for 3 months. I just think there is more illnesses with reptiles than has been found or talked about. Perhaps after further testings the will be in a better position to diagnose & treat the problems. The more people share their stories the more knowledge can be gained. It is good you sent yours out to be tested further.

Please let me know (or post it) when you find out. I am very anxious to hear the results.

 

[boywonder]

i don't think the pale liver automaticaly means the gecko has leukemia, but my vet seemed to think in my gecko's case, and in his oppinion, the bone marrow not making new blood cells would be a probable cause of death, the lab tests hopefully will provide a conclusion

 

[MelissaDiane]

I was wondering how your lab results came back. It's always good to know for informational purposes. I am starting to see there are a lot of different diseases & sickness besides the typical impaction, C disease or parasites.

Thanks,

Melissa

 

[Gregg M]

First I want to say sorry for your loss...
Sounds like there was kidney and liver damage... The cause can never really be pinpointed... But there are reasons this happen in captive reptiles... Those problems almost always stem from poor captive diet and/or over or under supplementation... It is unlikely that the vet is seeing a non-production of hemoglobin... Unfortunately, most vets, not only do not specialize in reptiles, but they are unqualified to even examine them...

What were you feeding it and how were you supplementing it???