Gout Update

[Neon Aurora]

Just wanted to start a fresh thread for people's input when I make updates on this situation. For anyone who didn't read my previous thread, I have a female leopard gecko with a case of gout. She's currently getting medicated as well as daily subcutaneous fluids, assist fed, and syringe fed calcium. She's been getting this for 5 days now.

Things aren't looking so good. She regurgitated all the mealworms I assist fed her yesterday(I'm wondering if the medicine is bothering her digestive system). Over these 5 days, she gained 3 grams and than dropped 4. I noticed something a bit concerning. She really doesn't like to be given the medicine, and I'm beginning to notice that after I finish the dose, she star gazes. At least, that's what I think it is. She's not an enigma, and I've never seen star gazing in person, but it looks really weird. She lifts herself on her front legs and stares straight up at the ceiling with her eyes half closed. She also makes some really tight circles, but never more than one or two before continuing a straight line. Is the treatment stressing her out so much that she's developing symptoms of ES, even though she's not an enigma? She's also pretty wobbly when she walks, but I'm guessing that's because the gout is really painful.

I'm honestly much more concerned that I'm forcing her to live than that I'm not doing enough. To me it seems like a fine line for reptiles. They can't really indicate how they're feeling, and I'm literally forcing her to take nutrients, water, and medicine, none of which she will do herself. She still won't even shed herself. I have to pull literally all of it off or she just leaves it there.

I understand that the gout medicine takes a while to work, but I'm worried she's suffering. How do I judge how long I should wait before deciding whether it would be more humane to put her down? Should I keep doing this for the course of the medicine(42 days) or is it cruel to make her suffer for so long? This is definitely a new situation to me and I don't know what to do.

 

[rothsauce]

Gout - information, symptoms and prevention (please contribute)

Not sure if this thread(s) will help, but worth a read.

Wonder if she would benefit from a few baths instead of/along with the fluid treatment?

Instead of mealies, crickets might be better since they may be easier for her to digest and might help ease the meds.

 

[Neon Aurora]

Yup, I've read that thread already. It had some good information.

I'm thinking about only doing the fluids every other day or every few days. It seems like too much to do all of this stuff to her every day.

I agree crickets would be better, but I've found it a lot harder to get them into her mouth. I normally cut the mealies in half because she takes them easier. She won't eat on her own at all(she even spits out the ones I put in her mouth sometimes), and this is the only way I've found to get any food into her.

 

[DrCarrotTail]

What is the medication again? I agree that every day treatment may be a whole lot for a reptile. Their metabolisms are much slower than mammals. The vet could have prescribed a dose that, while right for her weight, is overdosing her as it isn't having time to make its way out of her system before the next dose and slowly building up. She also might have been a bit dehydrated and the fluids caused the weight gain you saw.

 

[Neon Aurora]

It's Allopurinol. This seems to be a medication that all reptiles are given. She has it as 1 mg/ml and I give her 0.7 ml a day. I did guess that the weight gain was from the fluids, she's dropped that weight now, though. I skipped the fluids yesterday after I saw what I think was star gazing. Do you think that's what it could actually be? It really concerned me. I'm just feeling really undecided about what to do because the treatment seems so intense for a tiny lizard and Allopurinol only works like half the time, if that, and takes months to actually work.

 

[Neon Aurora]

I'm really leaning towards having her put down.. With each treatment her condition seems to deteriorate. She can't hold any food down and every time I dose her with the medicine, she looks very uncomfortable and tries to vomit it back up. She won't drink water on her own, she won't eat on her own, she won't shed on her own. I didn't give the fluids for two days to give her a break and she's pretty dehydrated now. I feel like I've done all I can, but I don't think it's right to force an animal to live through this suffering. Chances are if I ever encounter gout again, I'm not going to try to treat it. It was an all-around depressing and bad experience. I feel like the treatment did more harm than good.

Do I need to have this done as a lethal injection, or is there a different way that's better for reptiles? I've never had to do this with a reptile before.

 

[mcwendle]

Sorry to hear that. I'm sure your doing what feels right. I can't stand to see anything suffer.

 

[indyana]

So sorry the treatment is not going well. If you do decide to euthanize, I strongly suggest having a vet do it via injection.

 

[Neon Aurora]

I've read a lot of debate on the whole topic. I really have no idea what to think. So far the conclusion I've come to is either lethal injection or destroy the brain. Some people say nothing is humane besides a lethal injection, and others say that a lethal injection is sometimes not very pleasant and destroying the brain is better. I read that it's like 50 to 80 dollars for a lethal injection for a reptile. That seems like a lot. That's like the same amount as it is for a dog or a cat. In the end, if it's really the best way to do it, I'm willing to pay that, I just want to see if anybody else knows? I'm also going out of town next week for a week, so I need help deciding what I should do. Should I have her put down before I leave, or see if she improves while I'm gone and decide then? I have someone willing to medicate her(this person will be taking care of my dogs and cats as well, so she'll be able to do it every day), but she won't be able to do the fluids or the assist feeding.

I'm just really torn on what to do.. I can't decide if she's suffering so much that I should just do it, or if I should wait and see.

 

[indyana]

Yes, destroying the brain works, but you would have to do it correctly and very quickly to be humane. It's not as simple as just hitting an animal over the head. I know that I personally would not feel comfortable with trying it myself, which is why I always recommend having a vet euthanize an animal.

As for the timing, that's really a determination you need to make yourself. I'm not sure leaving her for a week with less treatment than she's already receiving will do much for her, but if you start seeing signs of improvement, it might be worth giving her more time to recover.

 

[Neon Aurora]

Well I decided to have her put down before I leave on my trip. She didn't have much chance of improving. She became extremely difficult to assist feed(just kept spitting them out) and regurgitated any food I managed to get into her. She started dropping about a gram a day, so I thought it was time to end it. The deed is done and she no longer has to suffer from her condition. Thanks for the help, guys. It wasn't a very fun thing to go through.

 

[DrCarrotTail]

So sorry to hear! She was a lucky gecko to have found such a dedicated owner!!

 

[sausage]

so sorry for your loss. you did your best and you did the right thing. as already said she was lucky to have you.

 

[indyana]

My condolences, Kirsten. I hope she's in gecko heaven, eating all the fat bugs she wants.

 

[Neon Aurora]

Thanks, guys. =) I think it was for the best. At least now I know more about gout, how to prevent it(not that I think I caused this case), and how to catch and treat it early if I should ever see it again. I wonder if I'd recognized the signs earlier if the treatment would have been more effective. But oh well, nothing I can do about it now.

Again, thanks for the help.