My 13-year old male leopard gecko Spot has been diagnosed with kidney failure and I can clearly see deposits on his front elbows indicative of gout. He has been to the vet recently and has been prescribed allopurinol daily and just finished 10 days of marbofloxacin antibiotic (results of blood tests indicated potential presence of infection). He has had two fluids treatments at the vet, but the only hydration he has gotten is what is in the fluids injections or the medicines or what he absorbs from sitting in his humid hide (moist paper towels in a reusable ziploc container).
I have observed a lot of behavioral changes including preferring to keep his eyes closed and not eating and not drinking. I can clearly see the gout on his front legs. Other deposits are not obvious elsewhere, but he keeps his back left leg tucked up and CAN move it but prefers not to.
The new very frightening symptom he is experiencing is uncontrollable twitching/spasm/seizure in his tail. It is NOT normal twitching or tail waiving, and is NOT in response to a female or aggression towards me or anything like that. It appear to be out of his control, and it varies in intensity from minor twitching to all-out violent swaying of his tail (to the point where I thought for sure he would drop the tail). During the worst of it, he moves to try and reposition himself or to try and get away from it.
I have been watching him on a webcam and have uploaded three videos showing different intensities of this tail twitching and spasms. You can see him move his position in response to the worst of it. (In two of the videos, he has climbed up on top of his humid hide to get away from twitching episodes, and in the worst one, he is trying to climb over to his slate rock cave formation to the far-left of the cage).
Most severe intensity: https://youtu.be/dOa-5WD7cJ0
Medium intensity: https://youtu.be/o6oUgR03060
Mild intensity: https://youtu.be/4HJQMWWiIp4
Has anyone seen anything like this in their own geckos or have any idea what is going on?
I will be talking to my vet again today when they open, but I believe my actual vet may be out of the office on Thursdays. In the meantime, I'm hoping someone here might be able to help me.
Thank you for your time looking at this. Please help me help my Spot.
- Abbie -
I have observed a lot of behavioral changes including preferring to keep his eyes closed and not eating and not drinking. I can clearly see the gout on his front legs. Other deposits are not obvious elsewhere, but he keeps his back left leg tucked up and CAN move it but prefers not to.
The new very frightening symptom he is experiencing is uncontrollable twitching/spasm/seizure in his tail. It is NOT normal twitching or tail waiving, and is NOT in response to a female or aggression towards me or anything like that. It appear to be out of his control, and it varies in intensity from minor twitching to all-out violent swaying of his tail (to the point where I thought for sure he would drop the tail). During the worst of it, he moves to try and reposition himself or to try and get away from it.
I have been watching him on a webcam and have uploaded three videos showing different intensities of this tail twitching and spasms. You can see him move his position in response to the worst of it. (In two of the videos, he has climbed up on top of his humid hide to get away from twitching episodes, and in the worst one, he is trying to climb over to his slate rock cave formation to the far-left of the cage).
Most severe intensity: https://youtu.be/dOa-5WD7cJ0
Medium intensity: https://youtu.be/o6oUgR03060
Mild intensity: https://youtu.be/4HJQMWWiIp4
Has anyone seen anything like this in their own geckos or have any idea what is going on?
I will be talking to my vet again today when they open, but I believe my actual vet may be out of the office on Thursdays. In the meantime, I'm hoping someone here might be able to help me.
Thank you for your time looking at this. Please help me help my Spot.
- Abbie -
