I had to put my first and only herp (a leopard gecko named Chica) to sleep yesterday because she was on her last leg. The night before and yesterday morning I did everything I could to improve her condition, but it only got worse. Her eyes were closed and she wouldn't move. She kept gasping for air. When we first went to the vet, she weighed 67g. This morning, she was down to 54g. That's a massive loss of weight for a leopard gecko in one week I think... anyway. Her breathing was very sporatic and she looked like she would've died in a couple of days, so I went to the vet one more time and he said that I had three options. 1) He could inject her with some fluids, which would solve her dehydration, but wouldn't really do anything else or solve the underlying problem. 2) I could drive to Berkeley and get an expert opinion from a reptile specialist at UCBerkeley (50 miles away), but at this point there wasn't much even a specialist could do. Plus, I had already spent $400 on her thus far (multiple vet examinations, medicine, etc), and while that might not sound like a whole lot, I am an 18 year old college student who barely makes enough money to survive as it is. 3) Euthanasia. After thinking about how little she was moving and how unresponsive she was, I decided to euthanize her. It looked like she was in a lot of pain.. I think it would've been selfish to let her suffer. So... yeah.. I took about 10 minutes to say good bye to her. I talked to her softly and pet her head until she closed her eyes. Then the vet took her away.. I've been crying on and off ever since.. But I keep thinking about what would've happened had I not put her to sleep. What if she would've gotten better with just a little bit more time and patience? Here's what happened to her in a nutshell: Stopped eating, diagnosed with Fatty Liver Disease, started wheezing/clicking/open mouth breathing, diagnosed with pneumonia, rapid weight loss/health deterioration/dehydration Here's my opinion about why this may have happened: The initial problem was that she wasn't eating. However, she was still very alert and energetic. Just no appetite. Well, she was a bit dehydrated, too, because she had difficulty shedding. Anyway I took her to the vet and he said that she had Fatty Liver Disease, because she was on a high-fat content diet which caused a lot of fat deposits to form in her liver. This also caused her to lose her appetite. This was my fault because I gave her too many wax worms, which were her favorite food, but not very healthy as they're high in fat (no one had even told me this until it was too late). The vet said that I should force feed her, and he gave me syringes and a formula. Then he said that within a couple weeks of force feeding she should regain her appetite. Both my boyfriend and I are inexperienced in force feeding reptiles, and we probably force fed her wrong. What we should've done is attached tubing to the syringe and inserted the tubing directly into her esophagus. Instead, we just syringe fed her into her mouth and let her swallow. Normally I think that this is would be okay, but since Chica really didn't want to eat (she was being forced), I think what probably happened is that her glottis (the piece of tissue in the back of the mouth that separates the esophagus from the trachea, it closes up during swallowing and opens up when breathing) probably didn't close up fast enough while we induced her to swallow, so some fluid passed into her lungs. The fluid in her lungs caused a bacterial respiratory infection (pneumonia). She suddenly had difficulty breathing, severe wheezing, and little energy because she had very little oxygen. I don't know a whole lot about reptiles, but I think that respiratory infections can cause an extreme decrease in activity in reptiles because reptiles lack the multichambered heart that mammals (like us) have.. meaning that their oxygenated blood is mixed with their deoxygenated blood and they have low stamina to begin with (so a RI just makes it worse). So she became very dormant and stopped drinking. This made her even more dehydrated, and her eyes started sinking in. My boyfriend and I were afraid to force feed her at this point, because there was already such a large amount of fluid backed up in her lungs. Whenever I picked her up she stressed out and started choking on the mucuos in her lungs. So, we stopped force feeding her and instead continued with shots of Baytril and nebulized Gentocin, which cleared up the RI a bit but it was not enough. By this time she was starving, and I think her liver started to fail. Also, since all input of calcium had stopped, she started to get Metabolic Bone Disease. The flexibility of her bones made it hard to support her own weight, so she started to drag herself around. Soon she had cuts and scrapes all over herself because of this. Anyway, MBD is a whole other problem by itself.. On my last night with her I gave her her shot and 3 nebulizer treatments. I also gave her 2 cc's of a formula I made myself out of Pedialyte (for the electrolytes to help with dehydration), emergency reptile protein/crude fat powder, calcium powder, and a Leopard Gecko multvitamin powder. But I think it was already too late. She looked horrible yesterday morning.. Her skin was dull and flaking, her eyes had begun to recede into her head, her limbs were rubbery and weak, she was gasping for air and wheezing, and she wouldn't respond to sound or being touched.... I just couldn't stand to see her suffer anymore. So.... =( I know it's too late now to do anything differently, but I can't stop blaming myself for everything. I keep thinking about what I should've or could've done, and it's driving me nuts.. I should've known about wax worms, I should've been more careful while force feeding, I should've devoted more time to her, I should've this I should've that... etc.. I would really like to own another leopard gecko, but at this point I just feel traumatized. I'm still shocked that just a little over a month ago she was fine, and now she's gone.. I think most of the people on here are breeders so maybe they don't get so attached to their reptiles, but this girl was my only reptile and I raised her since birth.. I even used to hand feed her. She recognized me and she liked to be handled.. whenever I put my hand in the cage she would walk up my arm and sit on my shoulder. I loved her very much.. Anyway, do you think I did the right thing by having her euthanized? Oh, and I made a little memorial for her.. http://www.reptilerooms.com/forumtopic-33228.html[/url]
yes, i think you did the best thing, with all of that going on, it doesnt seem like there was much to do. She was obviously suffering, and it's nothing you could have helped. I'm sorry to hear for your loss, hopefully you'll stay and maybe return with a new leo?
you know...i'm sorta going through the same thing but on a smaller level. my baby is going in for surgery to remove her left eye. it's all black and swollen and it must be painful. she is going in for surgery on thurs and for less then a week now she is dopped up on pain meds and antibiotics to see if that would help. i was told that i could take her to a specialist too. but just like you i dont have the money to. already the surgery will be around $300. I've had her for a while now and honestly i thought it would just go away. i got her like this so i have no idea how long she has been like this. her toes were full of skin, she had lost her tail, and the eye problem. i just feel in love with her when i saw her though. she is so smart. when i give her the pain meds i know she hates the taste but closes her eye (she cant close the other one), opens her mouth and just swallows it like she knows it makes her feel better. then right after she stays perfectly still so i can put the antibiotics in her eye. i think leopard geckos are very smart reptiles and i think even in heaven she doesn't hate you and understands what you did was right and that you had no other choice. dont feel horrible, she would want you to get another one and take care of that one the best you can. you will see her again someday. i hope i made you feel at least a little better.
You did the right thing. Like Steve said, the other two would have taken her and caused her much more pain. At least she's in peace now...
You absolutely did the right thing. My husband and I take in sick or ill treated Leo's, Petsmart will give us the ones they can not sell because of sickness, and we buy the others from Pet stores that just don't care for them the way they should. We have been in your shoes and it is not a good feeling. The last one we got from Petsmart we fell in love with right away, she was so sweet, and just absolutely a doll. We have found in the 3 that we have had that have passed some differences then the ones that have survived. The ones that have passed have been horrible to force feed, they will lock their jaws and not take anything be it food, meds, water. The ones that were saveable so to speak, take their meds, food, water with little to no problems at all. We have had one get down to 19 grams in about 2 weeks time, she started out at like 40 grams, she is now up to over 50 grams. She took her meds and force feedings just fine (She had Cocciddia, and a bacterial infection), then there was Kiari (The one from Petsmart) She came to us at 29 grams, and flucuated two or three days up to 31 grams, and back down to 29 but never dropping below her original, she never took her meds nicely, didn't want anything to do with the slurry formula, started stargazing and within a weeks time she was gone. She had a bacterial infection, cocciddia, and a yellow fungus. The bacterial infection got in to her CNS (Centeral Nervous System) and caused a new one for us, a symptom called star gazing. She passed away shortly after we force fed her for the last time and we knew after we had fed her that time she was going to go the star gazing had stopped and she couldn't even pick up her head, if she would have made it through the night we would have been back at the vets possibly forced with the same decision you were. We have already went through the what if's and what could have beens with her and the 2 others that we have had pass. Ultimately it comes down to one thing, YOU were unselfish enough to do what you thought was best for your loved one, and ended her suffering. We own 11 Leo's and have 10 eggs in the incubator, and each of them get the utmost care, but I must say until we joined this forum we didn't know as much as we thought we did. Others here have been very supportive, and helpful throughout our numerous ordeals. You will find that you will get the same respect here, do not let what happened discourage you, or make you think that you are a bad person or a bad pet owner. Sometimes we learn from things and it only makes us better! Our Leo's have been so much more happier and healthier since learning the things we have here (Thanks a great deal to Clementine3, and Cerus). Do your research here if anyone steers you wrong there is someone 2 seconds behind to correct it but for the most part your info will be correct and accurate and will make for a much better experience. I think after all the time, effort, money and most importantly love that you have invested into your Leo you make a great pet owner. Your decision in my opinion was not only the right one but a very unselfish one on your part! =) Hope this has made you feel a little better even though very long. We are also very sorry for your loss!
Thanks everyone.. I needed some reassuring. I still blame myself a bit but.. just give me some time. I'm actually thinking about getting a new leo. I will get a high yellow and name her Chiquita, as a tribute to Chica. I hope she turns out to be just like her (personality-wise, but hopefully she will be healthier).
