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Bad news for Wink...

7K views 45 replies 15 participants last post by  Jess 
#1 ·
Well, the vet is like 99% sure his pancreus/liver are failing him. :( He hasnt been wanting to eat at all the last 2 weeks or so, and I called to vet to see if I could do anything for him before I left on vacation. He put the pieces together, and hes pretty positive that Winks not going to make it. The only way I would know for sure whats going on is bloodwork, but its going to be over $80 for it. The vet said that if he were in my place, he wouldnt even do the blood work since theres nothing I can do anyway.


So he never actually had parasites to begin with, and its making more sense now... Why he tested negative for them, why the Panacur didnt work, why he wont gain weight, why he isnt digesting his food, ect...


So he is pretty much going to starve to death even if he does eat, and Ill eventually need to have him put down. He isnt in pain, and he is happy right now, so Im not necessarily in a rush.


I found all this out yesterday, and it was the day that Lizzie died a year ago... March 1st. So he is basically going to die the same way. :(


I feel horrible... He came so far, and I thought we were out of the woods a long time ago! But I guess not. So I just have to keep force feeding him, and keep him as comfortable as possible. Im not sure how long he has left. :(
I dont think I could survive being beardie-less, so I will probably adopt another one...


Ugh, I have to go now. I feel like crying again, and talking about i ttoo much is making me feel nausios....
 
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#4 ·
I'm so very sorry hun. :hugg2:
You are such a great mother to him and you gave him the best chance at life!
 
#5 ·
Thanks :(
Its probably genetic or something he was born with, but Im not sure cause I didnt ask. Im going to see if I can bring him in to weigh him tomarrow, and Ill ask more questions then. I was too upset to talk more yesterday...


He cant prescribe me anything unless I do the blood test. If he gives me the meds, and it turns out that something else is actually wrong with him, it would just make things worse. Im going to talk to him tomarrow... My mom talked to him, so Im getting alot of the info second hand.
But he said that he doesnt think there is anything I can do except keep him comfy. Wink is still his happy, silly little self... Just not hungary. He still loves his baby food though. Im mixing his calcium in with that right now so he doesnt get MBD. He actually did eat 2 super worms today, but that was the first time he ate (on his own) in a few days.


Just trying to remember everything happens for a reason right now. Even if he wont be around much longer, Im still really thankful I got to know him! There are SO many beardies that need help out there, so maybe he has bigger plans.
I took some really good pics of him the other day, so maybe Ill fix those up and post them when Im feeling up to it.
 
#9 ·
Poor Wink. He came into your life so suddenly and made you fall in love with beardies! He is so awesome and you are wonderful to have rescued him. You gave him a chance when many others would have given up. I loved seeing his pics and reading his updates.
 
#10 ·
Oh no I'm so sorry. I had a similar experience with a rescue iguana before and I know it's heart breaking.

Wink is so lucky to have found such a caring home. Make the most of the time you have with him, and if it isn't long (it's never long enough even when they live out their full lifespans) then at least you know that he got to live out his life in comfort with good care and people who loved him.
 
#12 ·
Well, I actually did get some good news from the vet :)
He said that Wink looked ALOT better than he thought he would, so I shouldnt give up hope yet. I guess he was expecting him to look really skinny and sick from the symptoms I was describing, and he said he actually looked pretty good. He gained weight since last time too.


So Im going to keep giving him babyfood squash, and see if his appetite changes when the season does. He said Wink looked dehydrated even though I soak him regularly, and he mentioned something about kidney issues. So he probably does have something, but I dont know exactly what or how severe it is.


So Im feeling ALOT better today. I guess its going to be a wait-and-see kind of thing. Keep him in your thoughts!



Edit: Flickeringhope~ You just beat me! I am flying, and from what I hear it costs $100 to bring them with, and they have to ride with the cargo. So IMO its not worth it. If I was driving, Id take him without a second thought!
 
#14 ·
I'm so glad to hear he's doing a bit better. Good luck with him, I hope he pulls through.

As for taking him on the plane, the rules depend on the airline. It was $80 one way to take my dog (they let small animals stay with you on the plane as long as the carrier fits under the seat in front of you...so most airlines wouldn't make him ride with the cargo). But I don't think it'd be worth it, the stress wouldn't be good for him.
 
#15 ·
Maybe you could have the vets watch him? I thought you mentioned that one of the techs would? I don't remember if you said that was too expensive or what, but they would probably be able to handle things well if something went wrong and would probably already have experience with force feeding and such.

How long are you going on vacation for?

I'm glad to hear that Wink is doing better than you thought!
 
#17 ·
Well, I havent checked with the airlines that I am taking, but it isnt a direct flight, so I would have to pay for 2 plain rides. And some one on a beardie forum who works for an airlines said that ony dogs, cats, and birds are allowed in the cabin, but i havent checked on that either. My grandparents condo doesnt allow pets anyway. We are gone for 8 days, but we leave early and get home late so that is 10 days worth of Wink-sitting.


I actually found someone good to take him. She has 6 leo geckos of her own, and she works at a pet store that takes great care of their reptiles. She sounds excited to take him, and she set aside a 40 gal breeder for him too. Wink is licking babyfood squash from a syringe, so I wont ask her to force feed him solid food. I just put his calcuim/multi vites in the sqaush, and he seems to be doing pretty good that way. He will eat a super or 2 every couple days too.
The vet tech would have been $80, and I really cant afford that for one lizard... I have 4 different pet sitters watching every one, and they need to be paid a little something too!
 
#20 ·
The baby food Im feeeding him is just organic squash and water, nothing else. :)
Im still giving him his calcium so he wont get MBD. I have still have some collards and acorn squash, so I can blend some for a little variety... Or make a delicious super worm smoothie. Yum!
 
#21 ·
Guess who downed 11 superworms today?! He has never eaten that much, even before this all started! Geez, its like he woke up this morning and thought "Hmmm... I think Ill be healthy today." Hes a mystery, thats for sure :rolleyes: He also grew a little bit too... hes about 17 inches now. I hope he keeps it up!
 
#23 ·
Wink threw up this morning or during the night. :( I didnt see it happen, but there were superworm parts everywhere and his little beard was dark-ish. I gave him a bath and some babyfood right away this morning, but he wont eat any more bugs for now. Ugh... One step forward, 2 steps back I guess.
I think he just ate too much. It makes me really sad, cause he was in such a good mood yesterday. :(
 
#25 ·
Wink threw up this morning or during the night. :( I didnt see it happen, but there were superworm parts everywhere and his little beard was dark-ish. I gave him a bath and some babyfood right away this morning, but he wont eat any more bugs for now. Ugh... One step forward, 2 steps back I guess.
I think he just ate too much. It makes me really sad, cause he was in such a good mood yesterday. :(
He probably just expanded his stomach too much, puked it up, and is feelin poopy.

Its good that he WANTED to eat the other day though, just if he wants to do it again feed him in moderation, probably less than what he was eating before.


I would try giving him less food. It like when you have a starving person you don't want them eating tons of rich foods right away, they need to eat small amounts of bland food to get their body use to food again.
 
#26 ·
Yeah, I know that thats what probably happened. It just freaked me out a little, since hes never done that before!
Hes not interested in his supers today either, so I think we are going back to normal now. He is still alert, happy, and kinda pudgey lookin, so thats good.
 
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