Bad news -- Darling

[Marie]

Poor little Darling! I hope she feels better soon.

Don't be too hard on yourself for the fall. It happens. My husband dropped Popsicle from 4 ft when she was about Darling's age. Bluey's are tough little creatures. Look at all of Ian's rehabs. They can overcome the seemingly worst trauma. You are a very caring and responsible mommy for taking Darling to the vet and providing treatment. I'm confident that Darling's recovery will be successful.

Thank you very much for sharing your story.

[kristymac]

Darling ate!!!!!
This is something I was hoping for. And the vet too. Her lump looks even bigger today even though this is her fourth day of steroids, but I offered up some ham and blueberries tonight and she had 3 pieces of ham. A good sign anyway.

[SailleSkinklover]

How is her pooping, with her back injury by the way? If her bowels are normal/working, I would figure that means the nerves are still working for involuntary digestive muscle contraction, which I think is a good thing. I am so glad to hear that she's eating, which is also a very good sign in my experience. But I was wondering, is ham OK for them? I thought cured meats were very salty?
(I don't eat pork or beef, so Chuffer doesn't either!)
Do you have more pics of her lump? My thinking was, cataloging the progression of her injury might help future vets/Bluey owners
Keep up the good work, Darling!

[suez]

so sorry for poor darling however she is one lucky girl to have such a great mum hope all ends well for both her and you

[kristymac]

Yeah, I know ham isn't ideal. I was just trying to offer her all kinds of different things to peak her interest in eating.
Today......the lump looks bigger to me. I haven't seen any indication of a bowel movement, but I've seen her drinking and when I gave her the meds today, she peed on me. A lot.
She still completely drags her back legs, but she twitches a little now when I touch her around her hind end. She just shed but has kept a lot of shed on her rear so I will have to get that all off if it remains.

[kristymac]

I was standing a the exact spot where she fell and looked down. My bed is right there and it has wooden side slats?. I think maybe she hit that slat of wood on the way down and that's when the spine broke.

[DeadEye]

Yere iam sorry for you to i find with honey who got her back broken by a tractor .That they can manage to drag themselfs around , but cause they cat lift up to do pooz they hold on and on ,my wife takes her outside and has to tap her like a human baby over her shoulder then she will really makes a mess down my wife towels .

I know she has to put a towel over her shoulder , we guess its cause she knows she will drag herself through her poo bringing fly stike . Your welcome to pm me about it and were waiting for MBD cause she cant get her muscle strength around the spine . That might be different that your darling its something we have noticed in a few with no rear leg power. See top pics of mine honey went threw a tractor lawn mower

Iam glad you are taking good care

cheers

[aggiegirl]

I'm so relieved that she is eating for you. That means she is a little fighter! Also, if she reacts to you touching her/pinching her toes (not just reflex), then the prognosis is better for longterm recovery. Keep us posted as we care about you guys and want to know what is going on. I'm glad to hear that other blueys with similar injuries have fared well. Thanks for the encouragement Deadeye! Keep up the good nursing care Kristymac. My kids and I are hoping she will continue to improve.

[Zach]

I'm so relieved that she is eating for you. That means she is a little fighter! Also, if she reacts to you touching her/pinching her toes (not just reflex), then the prognosis is better for longterm recovery. Keep us posted as we care about you guys and want to know what is going on. I'm glad to hear that other blueys with similar injuries have fared well. Thanks for the encouragement Deadeye! Keep up the good nursing care Kristymac. My kids and I are hoping she will continue to improve.

We're with you all the way!

[Jenn]

Any updates? Did she go to the bathroom?

[Zach]

Any worse? Any better?

[Marie]

I've been thinking about lil Darling a lot. Please keep us updated.

[kristymac]

She appears the same. She is eating a lot better. Sunday I missed her steroid dose because I couldn't find the syringe. I even went down to a local pub and asked if anyone knew a diabetic. They probably would have thought I was a junkie if the owner didn't know me.

Darling is eating really well. I can't tell if she is defecating. The carefresh really absorbs moisture and smell very well. I searched through the bedding and found some dried feces. Of course, I am not sure when they are from. I am thinking of putting her on paper towels so I know for sure. I'm not sure if the paper towels will be too rough on her belly. She still drags her back legs completely. Thoughts on the paper towels would be appreciated.

She gets around well. Harley gets full run of the living room and so I put her in the middle of the floor inside one of those pet playpen fences. She followed Harley's movements all around her. She also goes pretty fast trying to hide when I get home from work. I guess she has learned that when I get home is when she gets the meds.

[SailleSkinklover]

Paper Towels should be a good substrate, even if its only for a couple of days. (just so you can tell whats going on with the bowel movements) Right now I'm using unprinted newspaper for Chuff and thats not as soft as paper towels. How's her swelling, and when does she go back to the vet for a follow up? Does she still react when you poke at her hind feet? Can your vet give you a couple of extra syringes? The good news is her appetite seems healthy which is a good sign.
Good luck with Darling, keep us updated!
Saille

[kristymac]

Paper Towels should be a good substrate, even if its only for a couple of days. (just so you can tell whats going on with the bowel movements) Right now I'm using unprinted newspaper for Chuff and thats not as soft as paper towels. How's her swelling, and when does she go back to the vet for a follow up? Does she still react when you poke at her hind feet? Can your vet give you a couple of extra syringes? The good news is her appetite seems healthy which is a good sign.
Good luck with Darling, keep us updated!
Saille

The swelling looks the same, however like I said.......the vet thinks she sees the lump as 'bony' and so it probably won't be reduced by steroids. The vet said to bring her back in two weeks and today is one week. I do plan on calling her this week to check on the proper steroid dosage. The prescription said 10 days every day and then if things were looking better, go to every other day. So, I'm wondering if I should continue every day doses as she doesn't 'look' better. Anyway, I'll be calling the vet this Thursday to ask what to do. Then Tuesday will be her next appointment.

I don't need extra syringes. I just need to not lose any! Besides, I can get them from the pharmacy right by work. The vet is almost an hour from my house.

Yeah, whenever I see her chowing down, I cry a little in happiness. If I see some skink poo in her tank, I'll probably cry a lot!

[Zach]

I would definitely move to paper towels...I would think that would be much easier and less lump than the carefresh? Maybe it would be better for her back in that sense since she would have a steady even surface...

Glad she's eating.

[aggiegirl]

Glad she is doing better. I think about the two of you daily.
How about normal towels? They would be softer, thicker, and easier to get a grip on.
Steroids taste nasty but I bribed Pele' when we had to do Panacur. I would get something yummy (bananas, snails, blueberries) and put it in front of him. Then, when his tongue went to town, I would put a drop or two on his nose and he'd lick it off. I know you have more meds (that taste yucky) and less bluey to work with but I thought I'd offer. Before I learned to do this, Pele' seriously hated his meds. (I'm a bad mom who believes in bribery and I used chocolate syrup when my asthmatic son needed liquid steroids. Obviously this wouldn't work for Darling. )

[SailleSkinklover]

I know how weird this sounds, but I'm rootin' for a nice healthy poo from your Darling. I agree with towels as well, as they're soft, easy to throw in the wash, and easily show poop/pee. I think Zach has a good point about the nice flat surface with the paper towel idea though.
I wonder, if you don't see poo in a couple of days, if you'll have to rub her to stimulate the bowels like DeadEye has to do with the shingle that got hit with the tractor? I think in this case, time will tell, and we are all thinking of you and your Darling.

By the way, never be embarrassed about wanting a nice healthy poo, its the best thing in the world to know your skink is healthy!

[Jenn]

You could always shred some of the paper towel to give her something to hide in.

[Lisa]

Oh no! Hope she's OK. They are remarkably resilient, so I'm confident she will be.

I wouldn't stress too much over food & poo in the short term. She might be a little stressed from all the drama.

Jubby and Ralphie and Santos send their very best wishes to the patient