Sick little guy?

[Susann]

No worries El Lobo, no fright. And I think I figured out the deal with the dose. You said you were used to the dose of 20mg/kg for reptiles. Well, my little guy weighs MUCH less than a kg, and I give Joey only 4 units (.04mg?) IM every 72 hrs for a month. Hope that sounds better...

And they did aspirate mucus from his lungs and throat and sent it off for a culture. Hopefully I'll hear about that in the next few days.

And on a complete side note,
I think your quotation about the different kinds of people at the bottom of your posts is hilarious! and very similar to one of my favorite quotations: There are three kinds of people in the world: those who can count, and those who can't.

[El Lobo]

I don't have experience dosing reptiles but that rate came from the Merck Manual previously linked. Right near the top of the article is a blue underlined link named (Table: Antimicrobial Drugs for Use in Reptiles) which will open a new window containing a listing of antimicrobial drugs together with recommended dosages.

Ceftazidime was unfamiliar to me so I just had to look it up mostly for curiosity as well as dosage recommendations. It is a third generation cephalosporin, showing efficacy against gram+ and improvement against gram- bacteria. There is a different link below which details some information on the actual drug. I note that it states "Poor penetration... into the aqueous humour of the eye." Please note though this reference is for lagomorphs and may or may not hold true for skinks.

http://wildlife1.wildlifeinformation.or ... zidime.htm

I think the dosage is probably 4mg q72hrs but as it is injectable would be measured in mls.

Good luck with treating Joey, you seem to be doing everything right. I look forward to a positive outcome.

OT - The sig; is 10 always ten?

[Susann]

Joey is finally doing better. It's been a rough weekend though!
I could tell his breathing was much more normal, but for my peace of mind I took him in to be looked at and have an x-ray done. All looks good.

Still not eating, but I'm not worried yet.

A great week to everyone! XOXO for help and good thoughts coming our way!

Susann & Joey

[Susann]

And it goes on.
Sorry about picture quality.
This is Joey about one week ago; this is the good eye:

And here's the bad eye:


I've just brought him home after he's spent 4 days in the hospital.
First I noticed Joey had pretty much rubbed his eyelids OFF! As you can see, a big CHUNK is missing off the lower lid, but even outside of that he has rubbed off so much he can barely get the eye shut. Was about to make an appointment with a veterinary opthalmologist since the eye had never responded to any antibiotic treatment.
But,
Sunday night I, AGAIN, noticed he was panting and not inflating his lungs! Could not find a single vet who would see a reptile in an emergency, so held him till morning and was outside the door when the vet who had previously seen him opened.

No sign of pneumonia, but he was quite obviously sick, so they kept him for observations and tests.
Next day he was better. Next day he was worse. On the fourth day he was not a whole lot better, but since he passed ALL tests with flying colors, including keeping down tube-feeds; I was free to take him home. Dr wants daily updates, but nothing to report yet.

I have removed all substrate and replaced with towels. He has nothing except a smooth water bowl so he can't rub his eye on anything abrasive. He has maximum amounts of antibiotic on board and an antibiotic ointment for his eye.

I always found him on the cool side of the tank, so I evened out the heat a bit so his warm side is a bit cooler, but his cool side is a bit warmer--a gradient from about 80-95.

And my anxiety will go on.......

[El Lobo]

Has there been any improvement in Joey?

[Susann]

I'm so sorry guys, you've been so helpful to me, but as things have been so up and down with Joey I just havent had the energy to try and explain something that I nor anybody else understands or has answers to. Rather than continue here I will do it under the topic of "We still keep fighting"