X-rays of Leopard Gecko (pics)

K

kendalll

Guest
Hi there,

I posted this on some other forum, but I thought the x-rays were really cool and thought I would share them here too.
X-rays Gallery

I've had Guido for the last 11+ years. He's always been fat and happy until he quit eating about a month ago. Two weeks ago he ate two wax worms and passed those without a problem. But now still won't eat anything.

When I went to the vet she was a bit stumped and she couldn’t tell anything definitive without x-rays. Their price was $90. But it just so turns out that my friend is an x-ray / ct tech and he said to sneak him into the hospital at the end of his slow shift that night. Here’s the results! We took 4 shots. Two digital, two on film, these are pictures i took of the screen on the digital machine.

The diagnosis offered by the vet after the seeing the x-rays:

0.) Not that worried about the particles in the intestine area since he passed the wax worms that he did eat two weeks into the hunger strike.

1.) Possible congestive heart failure, the abdomen is filled with fluid and heart might not be keeping up leading to the other organs like the liver swelling up and retaining fluid everywhere.

Treatment: Blood pressure medication, diuretic effect should help with swelling and then appetite will return.

Result: No change

2.) After consulting with sr. vet figured infection might be a possibility

Treatment: Antibiotics

Result No change

3.) ???

Treatment: Next wants to try aspiration (draining with needle) or exploratory surgery.

My Response: Not happening (even if it’s free), if he’s got a tumor or failing organs I guess it’s just his time...?

Status right now:
Guido hasn’t eaten anything but two wax worms in the last month. (And that was a couple of weeks ago. I can’t see him lasting much longer with no food, but he’s still active and alert, and doesn’t really appear to be in pain. Though he doesn’t seem to mind the taste of the medicine he’s pretty annoyed when I stuff the syringe in his mouth! :)

He’s still drinking water, and passing that in the form of urates or whatever you call them. Giving him warm water soaks, not sure what else, if anything to do.

Here are some more pics of his bloated vent area Picture gallery
 
B

brad.a.c

Guest
Those are really cool pics! Thanks for sharing those. Good luck with your Leo though. :)
 
K

kendalll

Guest
^yeah I'd like to get the films scanned somehow so I can make a wallpaper or get an image suitable for printing a small poster. The films are cool, but have to be back lit to display them.
 
M

Morpious

Guest
Just a suggestion to get him eating again, try pinkies. my gecko stopped eating in march and after two vet visits, which didn't help, some one at my herp society suggested pinkies. I was worried about the high fat content but it only took two small pinkies to get her running to my hand for food again this week.
 
P

PacHerp

Guest
Also... try teasing the side of his mouth with a superworm or mealworm ... he might open up and bite the worm. This requires LOTS of patience though... try it out, you might be surprised.

Second, add just a tiny amount of Pedialite to his water daily... (make sure you clean the bowl out every day). This might help him if he is lethargic.

I hope he begins to recover for you!
 

GeckoGathering

GrizLaru
Messages
4,323
Location
Indiana
Concerning/Interesting

kendalll said:
Hi there,

I posted this on some other forum, but I thought the x-rays were really cool and thought I would share them here too.
X-rays Gallery

I've had Guido for the last 11+ years. He's always been fat and happy until he quit eating about a month ago. Two weeks ago he ate two wax worms and passed those without a problem. But now still won't eat anything.

When I went to the vet she was a bit stumped and she couldn’t tell anything definitive without x-rays. Their price was $90. But it just so turns out that my friend is an x-ray / ct tech and he said to sneak him into the hospital at the end of his slow shift that night. Here’s the results! We took 4 shots. Two digital, two on film, these are pictures i took of the screen on the digital machine.

The diagnosis offered by the vet after the seeing the x-rays:

0.) Not that worried about the particles in the intestine area since he passed the wax worms that he did eat two weeks into the hunger strike.

1.) Possible congestive heart failure, the abdomen is filled with fluid and heart might not be keeping up leading to the other organs like the liver swelling up and retaining fluid everywhere.

Treatment: Blood pressure medication, diuretic effect should help with swelling and then appetite will return.

Result: No change

2.) After consulting with sr. vet figured infection might be a possibility

Treatment: Antibiotics

Result No change

3.) ???

Treatment: Next wants to try aspiration (draining with needle) or exploratory surgery.

My Response: Not happening (even if it’s free), if he’s got a tumor or failing organs I guess it’s just his time...?

Status right now:
Guido hasn’t eaten anything but two wax worms in the last month. (And that was a couple of weeks ago. I can’t see him lasting much longer with no food, but he’s still active and alert, and doesn’t really appear to be in pain. Though he doesn’t seem to mind the taste of the medicine he’s pretty annoyed when I stuff the syringe in his mouth! :)

He’s still drinking water, and passing that in the form of urates or whatever you call them. Giving him warm water soaks, not sure what else, if anything to do.

Here are some more pics of his bloated vent area Picture gallery


First, sorry for his troubles but you certainly are caring for your friend of 11 years.....

Treatment: Next wants to try aspiration (draining with needle) or exploratory surgery.

My Response: Not happening (even if it’s free), if he’s got a tumor or failing organs I guess it’s just his time...?

I certainly agree with you 100 %.
Please don't count him out as I had one that would not eat on his own for 8 months. (yes 8 months).....I forced fed him daily but not much because he was forceful about that process and bit me bad. I handled him a lot until he finally gave in to me and started pigging out. He started at 123 grams and got to 106 before he started eating on his own, and retained a weight of 120 grams till I lost him this year from complications from a respiratory infection.
hope you both hang in there. take care.... HJ ...
 

Alusdra

New Member
Messages
475
Location
Washington, DC
I'm having a similar problem with one of my geckos- it's really frustrating when they do this sort of thing! You're doing all you can for this guy, medically. I agree to try different feeders- last time this particular gecko stopped eating pinkies helped to get her interested again.

It's a good sign, too, that your gecko's little toes are so solid looking in the x-rays. When they start getting MBD from the anorexia it's really hard to bring them back. If that was the case with yours the toes wouldn't have shown up as much/at all.

I agree the exploratory surgery is too much, especially with the risks of the anesthesia and looking around on such a small animal. The aspirate might not be a horrible idea if your vet is confident about it- that isn't invasive like surgery, though there are risks there, too.

Good luck.
 
K

kendalll

Guest
thanks for the replies! i'll post if there are any developments
 

fallen_angel

Fallen Angel's Geckos
Messages
7,937
Location
Stockton, CA
We find the pics of his bloated vent area very interesting, as we have a gecko with the same problem, except he hatched that way. Actually, when he hatched, he had an entire bubble covering the vent area that we had to get removed. After removal, our little one looks like yours' vent area *sometimes* (only when he needs to use the bathroom - once he does, it goes back down).

Our only other options were for some kind of major surgery that could result in death, so we are just keeping our little guy and raising him alone. He does just fine, deposits waste normally and everything. Is your gecko's vent area always look like that, or just when he needs to deposit urates?

We too have seen geckos go for months without eating and doing just fine. We also have some geckos that haven't eaten in a month, but are "fat and happy." Best wishes to you and your gecko!!

PS - thanks for sharing the x-ray pics, they were very interesting/awesome to be able to see.
 
Last edited:
K

kendalll

Guest
thanks for the encouragement all.

fallen_angel, I actually read through that thread about your little guy's vent bubble, great that they were able to fix him up. Guido's vent has always been "normal" and this swelling is new since he stopped eating and has been acting constipated. I'd seen it puffed up before but only like you say right before he has to pass something. He is still passing urates but seems to struggle to do so.
 

fallen_angel

Fallen Angel's Geckos
Messages
7,937
Location
Stockton, CA
kendalll said:
thanks for the encouragement all.

fallen_angel, I actually read through that thread about your little guy's vent bubble, great that they were able to fix him up. Guido's vent has always been "normal" and this swelling is new since he stopped eating and has been acting constipated. I'd seen it puffed up before but only like you say right before he has to pass something. He is still passing urates but seems to struggle to do so.

Did the vet say anything about possible blockage in the cloaca or one of the ureters or anything? Our litte one did need some "assistance" passing urates at first. I would just put a little bit of pressure on the area and it would all come out. I was doing this for a few weeks before I no longer needed to help him anymore. He now seems to be passing urates/poo just fine by himself, and it's been over a month since I stopped assisting him.

Also, since you are hand-feeding meds, have you tried hand-feeding some kind of food like Marcia's slurry or just plain ol' human baby food?
 

HepCatMoe

Escaped A.I.
Messages
758
Location
Tempe Az
super cool! thanks for sharing!

p.s. i hope your gecko makes it! if not im sure hell pass away content that he led a good life. :)

p.p.s. hi fallen angel!
 
Last edited:
K

kendalll

Guest
guido.jpg
 

moosassah

New Member
Messages
2,180
Location
Weymouth MA
That was not the update I was wishing for...sorry Guido. I hope you are happy where ever you end up on the otherside. Sorry Kendall, you did everything you could & then some.
 
R

RepBex

Guest
so sorry for your loss i am sure your leo is in a happy place now
 

Visit our friends

Top