Sudden onset neurological problem

[hissies]

Wonderful news! He ate four chunks of silverside roughly the size of his head, and one whole one (broken in half) this morning. He's still circling and moving slowly, but appears to be moving around a little more, and his tongue is flicking again. I did have to help him eat- he'd smell the silverside and open his mouth toward it, I would get the edge of it in and hold it in place while he "chewed" it down like a normal feeding. He usually eats 5 or 6 chunks at a time, so I stopped there- it's been longer than normal since he last ate, but I didn't want to overfeed him. I will offer him more tomorrow if he seems interested. He also looked a little dehydrated to me- neck thinner than usual, slightly wrinklier than usual appearance to a couple parts of his skin. I held him near some running water for a few minutes, he opened his mouth and seemed to go for a few drinks. I switched out his water dish for a shallow tupperware lid, hopefully making that a lot easier for him to access.

Fingers crossed that he won't regurgitate it. I haven't seen him seize yet today, either, not like he was. Granted, I've only been home/around him for a couple hours, but still. He did three times shortly after we returned from the vet yesterday.

I do think it's early to call "the thiamin shot helped!", and we're definitely not out of the woods yet, but with his condition the past few days this looks like a major improvement. I'm just excited that he's tongue flicking again, and that he ate. I'm going to report back to the vet, and I will ask about the oral thiamin. (guidofatherof5, I did look at that article! Thanks to you and Chris for the IBD links, too.)

edit: talked to the vet, he told me the shot he gave is good for at least a week. He still seems fairly convinced that vitamin deficiency isn't the problem, but told me that if it helps he'd rather teach me how to give injections, which would be fine. I can only hope he improves, but if this is the extent he remains at I may go for the blood test, or quite likely a second opinion.

[guidofatherof5]

Great news. Hope he continues to improve.

[chris-uk]

Great news. Keep observing over the weekend and let us know how he's doing.

[guidofatherof5]

Any chance he has a retained shed?
This part of your post caught my attention "slightly wrinklier than usual appearance to a couple parts of his skin."

[guidofatherof5]

Check this out. B1 for sale. Thanks Steve Schmidt.

Vitamin B1 (Thiamine)

[d_virginiana]

You'll never know for certain whether or not the thiamin shot helped, but I think you definitely made the right call getting the shot.

It's great that he's eating and doesn't seem to be in much pain/distress! Since you are looking at a condition where the snake was seizing badly, keep in mind his condition may never get completely back to normal (it could, but neuro issues are funny like that).

[guidofatherof5]

Check this out. B1 for sale. Thanks Steve Schmidt.

Vitamin B1 (Thiamine)

Also keep in mind that injectable B1 can become toxic. Oral doesn't have that issue.

[chris-uk]

Also keep in mind that injectable B1 can become toxic. Oral doesn't have that issue.

But in a crisis situation injection is the way to go. Supervised by a vet you'd hope that you wouldn't end up with a toxic dose.

[Selkielass]

Im so glad he's holding on and eating!
Warm soak can help with both dehydration and shed problems.

[guidofatherof5]

But in a crisis situation injection is the way to go. Supervised by a vet you'd hope that you wouldn't end up with a toxic dose.

Indeed, you would hope so. Good point to bring up Chris.