In the last two weeks the snake in question has had three meals: 1 hopper, 1 hopper, 2 hoppers. As of last night she was blue and felt gassy and hadn't pooped, at all. This morning, after I'd had her out last night for a weight, I found she had pooped after being returned to her viv.
Today she got her second dose of dewormer. She feels much less gassy, and is not distended. I am to continue the frequent feedings for a month, and recheck a fecal for parasites at that time.
That's great to hear Nanci.
It would seem like it would have been great insurance to have it dosed with Flagyl too in my opinion, since all the necrotic worm remnants and the tissue inflamation they caused would be greatly helped by the soothing, healing affects of the antibiotic. It works incredibly well on intestinal bacteria and the inflamation it causes. It seems that it would help the process along even that much more. I wonder what your vet's opinion on this would be if you showed him.
A long while back, I was pretty much under the impression that metronidazole kills ALL gut bacteria, both bad AND good, but now I don't think this is likely the case from things I have read from DVM's more recently.
Here are some interesting things regarding it:
The only microorganisms Flagyl affects in the gut are Protozoa and such anaerobes as the Clostridia. The latter include C. botulinum, tetani, schottmuelleri (gas gangrene), and the increasingly deadly difficile. These do not contribute to the health of the gut. And they can flat kill their hosts. There a few dozen more genera of anaerobes, none of which you can't live without in your gut.
Flagyl belongs to a group of drugs known as imidazoles that as a group are somewhat more deadly to commensals than to their hosts. They are not drugs about which anyone with a high regard for the truth would say, "Well, it can't do any harm." Why they work only on anaerobes is interesting: in a reducing environment inside the organism, metronidazole yields hundreds of daughter products such as sulfanilamides that do a job on the organism. Another compound in this group. fenbendazole, has been found somewhat more effective against Giardia, even though the labeled use is as an antihelminithic drug (Panacur).
Here is what DVM Douglas Mader says about Flagyl -
Thought of as anti-protozoal agent but is also excellent anti-bacterial agent (anaerobes)
Metabolized by the liver, excreted by kidneys
Compromised liver necessitates lowering dose
Excellent penetration of tissues to target anaerobic bacteria
Anyway, glad to hear your snake is coming along much better now.
~Doug
