Iguana Coughing

Question
QUESTION: Hello Diane!  It's Ursula's mom again!  

Ursula has been doing really well after her OE surgery!  She has not been gaining any weight, but she has been eating ok and drinking fine.  Still hates bathes as usual and since it's shedding season she's been quite a pisser lately, lol! Overall she's been great and she doesn't mind sitting on my shoulder anymore (unless her face is shedding, that is, lol). =D

About 5 days ago I took her in for a check-up.  I drew some blood from Ursula and ran a few tests.  She passed her physical exam with flying colors!  The only problem with her blood work was that she had some mild dehydration (no wonder, considering she never lets me bathe her anyway, lol) so we tube-fed her 11cc fluids and 1cc dextrose.  Two days later I noticed Ursula starting to cough in the mornings and before bed.  She was still eating, active, and alert so I thought it was just irritation from the feeding tube.  

The coughing has been getting worse ever since.  This morning she coughed up yellow mucus and I took a sample in to school to do a gram's stain for bacteria.  We did not see any bacterial overgrowth, but since the mucus was obviously yellow in color the vet prescribed baytril 0.4u SQ sid.  

When I got home for lunch today to give her the first shot she was in her basking spot in the middle of a pretty bad coughing fit. After the fit passed she was sitting with her head up and neck extended in such a way as to maximize her lung capacity.  She has no nasal discharge and she is not open-mouth breathing . . . but she does not leave her basking spot anymore and she only eats if I hand-feed her.  After swallowing she usually has a mild coughing fit so I can understand if she doesn't want to eat.  

I feel so bad for her!  Is there anything else I can do for her?  I will probably give her more oral fluids, but I'm worried about her aspirating a little since her lungs are already compromised.  Is there any other advice you could offer?

Thanks so much!
-Jess

ANSWER: Hi Jess,
Geez, she sure is giving you a hard time!
With feeding, I would try smaller pieces and possibly gently massage her throat after eating.  You may find that she does better with syringe feeding her the greens that have been blended well.
I would try arranging towels so that she can be on a incline in her basking area and see if that helps with her breathing.
You are right that she can aspirate easily so everything you do has to be with extreme caution.
If you can, I would get her outside for some real sunshine and see if that perks her up at all.
Also, you may have to play around with humidity...does she do better with a warm mist humidifier and higher humidity?  A cool mist humidifier?  Lower humidity?
With Baytril injections that is much more direct than the oral so hopefully that helps.  You may want the vet to put her on an oral regimen after the injections are done..generally for about 3 weeks.
I would probably do an x ray to see if she has fluid around her lungs or possibly a tumor.
I wish you and Ursula the best.

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Thanks so much Diane!  You are always extremely helpful.

She was doing great for several months so I knew that something was bound to happen.  She doesn't give me much rest from worrying about her, lol!

This morning I was encouraged initially because she didn't cough at all!  Then after I gave her the baytril shot she started doing some open-mouth breathing for about 5 minutes.  Her chest was expanding and contracting very deeply . . . it made her body look small, thin, and dark.  I felt so bad that after she calmed down I tried to offer a piece of melon (her favorite thing in the world), but she refused it and started breathing heavily again.  =(

I can try to get her outside a little more, but she always gets stressed out when I do that.  As for humidity, her habitat is at 45% right now . . . not ideal, I know, but it's never seemed to bother her.  I will try adding a humidifier, but I will have to do it overnight since I am rarely home during the day.  She overheats so easily!  Anything over 98F and she's roasting (and recently it's been in the 100's here).  

Could this be something viral that she picked up?  How long does it usually take to see improvement with a URI or LRI while treating with baytril?  

Thanks so much, again!
-Jess

Answer
Hi Jess,
Silly thought here....  Where are you giving her the baytril injection?  If in the shoulder area, is it possible that the medication(even though a small amt) is putting pressure on her lungs until the meds are absorbed?  You may want to ask the vet about that one and if its possible, use a different injection site. Also, it may just be that the stress of the injection is setting her off with coughing...but, its important that she gets the meds!!
With antibiotics and reptiles, it can take weeks to see a difference.
Your humidity level isn't horrible by any means.  If you want to add more humidity, you can also use a cool mist humidifier which won't add heat, but actually will lower the temps a bit.
I would try getting her warmest area down to more in the mid 90's to see if that helps her. many igs as they get older do prefer the lower end of the basking temps.