URGENT: Severely Diabetic Beardie

We are members of the bearded dragon forum Dragontank as well as here and multiple other places, and have been keeping fellow members informed about a situation we are having with our dragon, Sunny. I have posted pics of her on here before. She is yellow, and 1-2 years old. I had mentioned in the post that she had always been lethargic, or "laid back." Well, in the past she'd had parasites, and we treated them. She was briefly better, and then became her "laid back" self again. All of a sudden, she was looking very dehydrated, and we thought, "Hey, maybe her parasites were never completely gone" because she was exhibiting similar symptoms to the first time.

I'll just post what we had on Dragontank:

So lately Sunny has been a little lethargic and not eating as much, then all of a sudden she got really dehydrated. So we got a fecal done with a local vet that we use and he couldn't find anything. After that, we went to our real reptile vet in a nearby town, thinking he would be more thorough and actually find the parasites. He didn't really find parasites but did seem worried about her. So he prescribed some special powdered diet for her and some other things for us to try while the blood work was being analyzed. He told us that she was EXTREMELY anemic and that there was the possibility that she was having kidney or liver failure and that she may have to be put down. This is the most absolute horrible thing that we, as reptile owners, have ever had to deal with. Tomorrow he will call with the verdict.

All right, guys, heres whats going on. Today the vet called me and said that Sunny's kidney's seemed fine but there was another problem. Apparently Sunny's blood glucose level is astronomically high. The doctor said that he had never seen and animal with that high of a blood glucose in his life. Apparently, normal levels for beardie's are like 95 to 110, Sunny's is between 1600 and 1700. This is so crazy that he is calling the lab on Monday to make sure that no mistakes were made, even though the lab ran the test twice. Basically, Sunny is ridiculously diabetic. The doctor told us to hold off on a diet that he has perscribed and just give her water until we heard from him on monday. About 5 minutes after we got off of the phone with him, Sunny vomited and had a seizure. So we tried to contact him, couldn't get through to him so we eventually had to call the local emergency vet. They told us to bring her in and they would contact our doctor. They got in touch with the doctor and we basically ended up getting some more fluids in her and were told to just give supportive care until Monday when the doctor calls us. Essentially, there is not much that they can really do until the doctor finds out what else is going on with her. If she has more seizures, they may perscribe valium to calm her but that would be it. The doctor, on Monday, is supposed to have information for us on a new drug that is being used on people with severe diabetes. The drug is made from the saliva of Gila Monsters but it has a nicer name. If he can figure up a dosage, he said with our permission it could be the only thing that may work. Other than that, there isn't much that they can do. We just have to wait and see.

No matter what happens, I'll post with information on what happened and whether or not this drug works for beardies.

So, that's it. My heart breaks for her. She looks so awful. I can't even tell for sure that she is alive most of the time, and we have thought she was dead on multiple occasions. I'm not sure whether she wil make it through the night, let alone all of tomorrow. And I am off of work and will be home all day, so I know it will be awful. I'm so torn. I know that, no matter what happens (euthanasia or pulling through), it will be better for her than the suffering. But I am selfish and want her to stay alive for me, because I love her. She has been affected by this for months or almost a year to some degree or another, so I feel like we should wait these last few days if there is any chance that she will survive. It is looking grim, though. The vet said her prognosis is poor. Too many organs seem like they could be affected.

Anyone know anything about diabetic reptiles? I know they are rare. Hopefully, if nothing else, a vet will learn a little more about reptiles from poor Sunny.

If you have read all of this, then thank you. I'm not sure why I'm posting. Partly because writing is part of how I grieve, and partly because I am looking for some support. And, maybe, by some miracle, someone will know something.

Either she will die or we will try this experimental drug. Or both. Cry