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Resistant RI?

Robust_Beardies

Robust_Beardies

Rich Siegel&Lacey Gugula
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About three weeks ago, one of our dragons started acting funny. It sounded like she was coughing and trying to get something out. There was this really bad gurgling noise when she "coughed" and sometimes shook her head violently knocking into the walls of her cage and anything else nearby. We took her to the vet and he wasn't sure what the problem was but we had researched it on the Internet and it sounded like a respiratory infection. We told him this. He looked her over, weighed her (193 grams) and decided to give her injections of Baytril. 0.04mg of Baytril every other day for a total of 6 shots. After the first 2 she sounded even worse so when we brought her in for her 3rd shot, he took a x-ray of her, to rule out something lodged in her chest. There was nothing. He gave her a dose of Panacur to rule out parasites (we already knew she didn't have any but he gave it to her without asking us first :angry: ) We finished up the shots and she stopped for a few days. Now, she has started it again.

This vet seams to take everything in stride and is a little sneaky about adding on more charges to the bill. The total for the shots and visits were over $600. If this didn't make her healthy, we don't want to go back to this guy so he can do more shots that aren't going to make a difference. We don't know of other vet nearby. What could the problem be with her?? What should the next step we take be?? Why didn't the Baytril help??

Please help us out on this, we are really really lost. :crying:
 
Baytril only helps if there is an infection caused by something that is susceptible to it. (I have ridden the soap box of proper diagnosis of RI vs respiratory symptoms for quite sometime) At least you attempted to bring your animal to the vet for diagnosis - unfortunately it was either a vet that doesn't deal with herps, or one that saw something he didn't recognize. Either way, he told you honestly that he plain ol' didn't know - I give him credit for that, at least. Could it be a resistant RI, sure...but be careful about using that term, too. It refers to a respiratory infection that is not cured with APPROPRIATE antibiotic treatments. That means that the bacteria have been identified, and therapy has been selected based on culture & sensitivity testing...or at least based on known susceptibility. I have dealt with resistant strains first hand - both professionally (in humans) and with personally (with a couple of animals in my collection - now all deceased despite aggressive and prolonged treatment) - they suck.
What kind of charges did he sneakily add to your bill? Everything adds costs - every test, and drug. As for the panacur, and your knowing the animal didn't have parasites, unless you had JUST had a full workup done, you don't know whether an animal might have parasites. They can come from food items, water, or contact with other animals/environment...test clean one day, and positive the next. Some parasites do cause symptoms that can mimic RI - lung worm for one - but I don't believe panacur is the treatment. Again, it comes back to knowing what you are treating vs giving meds randomly (or to satisfy a client).

I am always reserved about offering diagnoses online because 1) I am not a veterinarian and have no business doing so, regardless of my experience, and 2) there are often pieces of the puzzle missing. In this case, I will offer a 3rd - I don't deal with the animals in question.

Good luck with your dragon - track down a vet that deals with them before pursuing further treatment. There is an online source to assist you with that, but I don't remember it & I am on my way out the door.

*Many will say that since I didn't offer to help, this was a useless post. So be it. I am sure that some at least will pull out little bits of information that may help them in the future.

**by the way, stopping a drug early, even in the face of apparent improvement, can lead to returned symptoms AND build resistance to that drug. (Yes, I know you followed the "prescribed" plan of 6 shots.) It also sucks that your vet hit you with an office visit everytime you came in for the shot.
 
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