Gecko sick, Vet can't figure it out, not sure what to do

[eventer289]

Hello everybody. I have a female leopard gecko around a year old. I bought her from a reputable vet store about 4 weeks ago. A week ago I was feeding her, and she lunged at a cricket. All of the sudden, with the cricket in her mouth, she squirmed violently and she stopped moving, laying there as if she were paralyzed. Slowly she began to move a little bit more, but since then she has been extremely lethargic and isn't eating. I took her to the vet and explained what happend. The vet took x-rays to see if she was impacted, and she claimed there were no visible impactions. She sent me home with a liquid calcium and anti-inflammatory and had me give her .015 mL water every 3 hours (she was looked dehydrated) to see if she would get better. I took her back to the vet two days later since she was only slightly more active. She had lost 3 grams in two days. She started her on a liquid diet along with an antibiotic since the only stool she passed was extremely smelly and diarrhea like. I asked if it could be parasites, and the vet said she didn't believe it was given the acute onset of her symptoms. She literally went from happy and healthy to her current state in a few seconds. She still has not passed a stool since starting the liquid diet a few days ago, and she seems bloated and tender in her abdomen. I'm out of options because I do not have money to hospitalize her given that I am a college student with limited income.

Any advice or experience would be appreciated. I really love this leo and don't want to see her suffer.

 

[Dog Shrink]

Bloated belly, plus still eating, plus lethargic, plus bad stools screams to me parasites esp. since crickets can be loaded with bad things even when purchased from a pet supply house. I would have your vet run a fecal to confirm or refute parasites. Also in my experience with dogs you can see acute onset of physical problems from a parasite load in one day. It gets to a point where the system just can't handle the load anymore and the new batch of hatching cysts is the straw that literally breaks the camel's back. I have seen dogs with worms go months with out showing symptoms (a bloodhound that died of hookworm comes to mind) and then all of a sudden they're down. Never rule out parasites until you actually rule out parasites thru testing. An educated guess is ok but not for something like this where y'all are both out of logical answers, all that's left is the illogical ones regardless of your vet's thinking.

 

[gothra]

I'm sorry your leo is sick and I don't have much advice. The only thing I can think of when you mention bloated belly and rapid weight loss is organ failure (therefore swelling). Probably won't do much help mentioning this, but I have a few deaths before; most of the time when the gecko becomes very lethargic, sleeps in cool open area, body bloated and have sunken eyes and deflated tail; they will die shortly after. Have you consider asking your vet to do a bacterial culture of the gecko's feces? Or blood work?

I'm sorry but this is all I can think of, I might be completely wrong. I hope your leo pulls through. Good luck!

 

[fl_orchidslave]

As soon as you get a poop it needs to be taken to the vet's office for a fecal test. Geckos are slow to show parasitic symptoms, and until they have a hefty load, it often isn't obvious. Then it may seem like the life is being drained from them, which it is, if left untreated. Antibiotics will not treat parasites, and can be quite harsh on their systems. I may get blasted for saying this but, to give antibiotics without a firm diagnosis confirming infection can harm the animal much more than help it.