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Bowel Obstruction

Even though it's inconclusive, it's good to understand how and where the confusion is arising. Certainly better than a vet & receptionist who don't tell you anything useful at all. Nice to know that the results have been forwarded elsewhere as well. There's always the chance of another well-informed opinion.

I think "guarded" is probably the best you could hope for at the moment reading the report you've posted. Regardless of the root cause, with that amount of fluid in her body, her heart, lung and other organs would have been struggling to function for some time now.

Sending you best wishes.
 
The vet called this morning. She's still getting feedback from posting the case to VIN. I asked when I should try feeding Shesha again and she said I should do it today and then call and tell her how it went. I don't have any small mice so I'll have to stop by PetCo on the way to work.

The vet also recommends a series of contrast X-Rays to find the root cause, but we just can't afford to spend any more. I understand how important it is to find the cause of all this, but we've already spent $560 and contrast X-rays would be around another $200. I love Shesha, but we're talking $800 or more in vet bills.

Shesha seems to be doing better at least, although she's barely moved since I brought her home. She burrowed down to lay directly above the UTH and has stayed there. I guess she needs the warmth. I'm glad we were able to afford the procedure and reduce her pain, but I'm not sure what we'll do if it happens again (and without fixing the root problem, it's certainly a possibility). We may have to euthanize her because of finances. I don't want her to die on her own from something like this. It wouldn't be a pleasant way to go.
 
You're doing the best you can in your circumstances and she's lucky to be with people who care enough to try. *hugs*
 
bitsy said:
You're doing the best you can in your circumstances and she's lucky to be with people who care enough to try. *hugs*
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Ditto. In a perfect world, we'd all be billionaires and could afford any treatment any of our pets (or ourselves, or our children for that matter) needed. Or, all health care and vet care would be free! (really dreaming now lol) Unfortunatly thats not the case, and you are doing the best you can to prohibate pain and improve quality of life.

You obviously love her and you are going above and beyond what a lot of people would do. She is lucky to have you!

Keep us updated, I am really hoping and praying
 
I know how you feel about the money issue. I have a 12 year old cat with cancer. I paid for the surgery to have her eye removed. Now not even a year later she has a tumor in the socket. They could remove the tumor but that doesn't get rid of the cancer. So I've decided not to have another surgery unless the tumor gets really huge and/or causes her pain.

If it comes down that your snake might have to have more done you could always try to find a new home for her with someone willing to pay the vet bills. If not then having her put to sleep would be kinder than letting her suffer. Fingers crossed that she is ok now and the fluid won't come back.
 
Thank you everyone for your advice and support. The last couple of days have been rough on me and you've all been a big help.

I gave Shesha a fuzzy mouse tonight and it was down her gullet in less than 2 minutes. I had to use gloves to get her back in her viv because she was expecting more and still in hunt-mode. One of the gloves had a small hole in it and guess where she ended up striking? Yeah... I'm lucky like that. She's bitten me a few times but it's always during feedings and generally due to carelessness on my part. She still looks kind of bad, but she's acting like her old self again, so that's fantastic.
 
Haha she's probably wondering where her ginormous rat is!! So glad she ate!! Hoping for her to make a full recovery :)
 
Raiyne said:
Thank you everyone for your advice and support. The last couple of days have been rough on me and you've all been a big help.

I gave Shesha a fuzzy mouse tonight and it was down her gullet in less than 2 minutes. I had to use gloves to get her back in her viv because she was expecting more and still in hunt-mode. One of the gloves had a small hole in it and guess where she ended up striking? Yeah... I'm lucky like that. She's bitten me a few times but it's always during feedings and generally due to carelessness on my part. She still looks kind of bad, but she's acting like her old self again, so that's fantastic.
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Am I missing something here?? :shrugs:

It was only 4 short days ago that the snake had a serious blockage problem, and still obviously hasn't healed yet, and now it seems more important to FEED the huge 1400 gram overweight corn again instead of allowing it to get better from all the internal trauma it already went through first??

Feeding should be the very last thing you need to be concerned about to be quite honest. That snake could live in perfect health for many months on end with absolutely NO food at all. That being said, more food in the gut at only four short days later could only run the risk of causing very serious digestion issues and start the entire problems all over again.......


~Doug
 
According to the second vet, Shesha never had a blockage to begin with. I have no idea what the first vet saw and removed. Maybe it was just a little bit of poo that was going to be passed soon. The second vet wasn't worried about Shesha's weight. She's guessing the amount of fluid in her system and the distention of her stomach made her seem a lot heavier than she really is (I'd like to weigh her again to see how much she's lost, but I'm trying not to stress her too much).

The vet was worried about her nutrition (I'm not sure exactly why), and seemed to think it was pretty important to make sure Shesha would eat on her own, and to do so as soon as possible. I think it has a lot to do with testing her overall health. I couldn't afford a full diagnostics, so I think the advice to feed her is to make sure she can digest properly. If she didn't eat, then she might still be in pain, or the root problem causing the fluid buildup might be causing serious damage to her system even after the procedure.

I'll be calling the vet soon to tell her how the feeding went, and I can ask her more questions about Shesha's weight, the stress from the procedure, and what and how often I should be feeding her from here on out.
 
(I just took a snake to the vet yesterday who hadn't pooped in several weeks. Full story in Health. But after removing the poops, the vet wants me to feed her as much as she will eat, as often as she will eat, until her recheck in two weeks. Wait till she poops, feed, repeat- to get her gut moving and get her good bacteria to increase. Maybe your vet is advising that for a similar reason?)
 
I called and talked to the vet and she's glad that Shesha's appetite is back. She still doesn't have any information on the cause of the fluid buildup. She says she'll need to take more ultrasounds, contrast X-rays, and lab tests. At this point, it's up to me and my financial situation.

She said I should be offering Shesha food once a week and if I'm worried about her weight, just offer very small items. The point of the feedings is to try and catch a relapse as soon as possible. Unfortunately, I don't think that's going to work very well considering how "enthusiastic" she is about food. It took her to the brink of death to refuse a feeding. It'd probably be better to handle her every day so that I can check her belly for distention.
 
Raiyne said:
I called and talked to the vet and she's glad that Shesha's appetite is back. She still doesn't have any information on the cause of the fluid buildup. She says she'll need to take more ultrasounds, contrast X-rays, and lab tests. At this point, it's up to me and my financial situation.

She said I should be offering Shesha food once a week and if I'm worried about her weight, just offer very small items. The point of the feedings is to try and catch a relapse as soon as possible. Unfortunately, I don't think that's going to work very well considering how "enthusiastic" she is about food. It took her to the brink of death to refuse a feeding. It'd probably be better to handle her every day so that I can check her belly for distention.
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The cause of Naci's cornsnake's problem and distension was a worm problem that caused internal swelling and was given Panacur (Fenbendazole). So I am having trouble with how your snake got virtually to deaths door if everything was fine and their wasn't a serious nematode/trematode problem, or a serious protozoa problem that is the root of the issue in the first place????

Yes, after the Panacur treatment that Nanci's snake received, you would want to purge as many larva and dead worms as possible, so that case is very understandable to me. But I still don't really understand your snake's situation with the vet wanting it to feed without knowing what was going on internally to begin with. The weight thing has me baffled too..LOL! I can't see how a several year old corn that eats rats could weigh only 140 grams, and an obese monster of 1400 grams would be obese, yet the vet was very concerned about the snakes low weight from what I gathered. So I'm really confused here..LOL!

Also, administering some electrolytes is very simple to do, and I'm also wondering why the vet didn't do this real quick as well if he/she was this concerned about it being dehydrated and underweight. The only risk of the snake drowning is if the person is totally incompetent and puts the tube down the snake's small wind-pipe (glottis) at the base of the lower jaw adjacent to the tongue hole instead of down the throat.

Anyway,..yeah, I am really baffled with this one. :sidestep:



But in any case though, I hope it gets back 100% real soon and gets whatever it needs...... :)


cheers, ~Doug
 
Hmmm... this case is indeed very confusing and it doesn't help that I've had two vets saying opposite things (the first had no idea what she was doing though, and everything she said should be disregarded). Even worse, I don't have the money to do everything that needs to be done, so it's far from over. This is why the vet doesn't know what's going on internally. It's highly unlikely that everything is fine now that the fluid is drained, but we need some time to recuperate our finances for more tests and we're hoping she'll be OK until then.

It was the first vet (the incompetent one) who was worried about dehydration and recommended administering electrolytes. I don't think anyone considers Shesha underweight, though the second vet was worried that she might not eat on her own after the procedure (apparently not an issue). After discussing the case with everyone here, I would agree she's overweight and will be changing her diet from here on out.

Shesha was trying to get out of her viv tonight, so I opened it up and assisted her on a trek around the house, just helping her up or down from various furniture and steering her away from dangerous areas. She still looks a bit funny with her skin a little too loose, but she feels solid. She left me a "gift" on the kitchen floor, so her digestive system is working fine. I was able to get a reading on the scale and she's now at 1304 grams. Still no apparent "hips" on her. I took some close-up pictures of her tail if anyone is interested.

I'm a little worried about how much water she's been drinking, though. I've found her hovering above her water dish several times today. From my own research into "ascites" (in humans at least), it seems one of the treatments is to restrict water and administer diuretics. I'll be calling the vet soon and asking for advice on which tests would cover the most likely causes of her condition and how much they'll cost. I'll ask about the excessive thirst when I do.
 
Also, if anyone is planning on researching "ascites" I would recommend steering clear of images if you can. It's not pretty.
 
I fed Shesha again tonight. She might be getting fluid buildup again, because she feels "puffier" than she has the last few days. I was planning on taking her in for the contrast X-rays earlier this week. My reasoning being that, yes it would be expensive, but losing her would mean the $500 or so we've spent thus far would be wasted. Everything seemed to be going as planned until my wrist (which has been sore for a few weeks) suddenly swelled up and the soreness became excruciating.

So today we had to spend several hundred dollars in medical bills for myself, and the icing on the cake is that I won't be able to work for a while. The doctors don't know how long. They don't even know what the problem is. They "think" it might be tendonitis. Whatever it is, it's very painful and typing isn't helping anything, so I'm going to hit "reply" and take a break from the computer for the night.
 
Oh crumbs, how rotten for you. Sending god thoughts - both for Shesha and your wrist.
 
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