Leopard Gecko CT scan

[scutechute]

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2...-ailing-gecko/

For those of you that can't get the link, I'll sum it up. And if you can't get the link...just do it, there's a halarious picture of the gecko strapped down going into the CT scanner. Good stuff.

This guy from Santa Barbara named Erik Fields had a sick leopard gecko. She wasn't eating, shedding a lot, and had diarrhea. He went to a vet, the vet thought the gecko had hyperthyroidism after all his normal tests came up negative. That vet recommended him to another vet that had a really small CT scanner. Long story short, they treated the gecko for hyperthyroidism and it's believed to be the first ever!

“I don’t know if I get any love from her, but I really like having her around,” Erik Fields

Erik Fields is a super cool dude! And yay for San Diego...had to throw that in

[Kuba]

Seeing the gecko strapped down is just .... it makes me laugh

[kc261]

Yay! Positive press for reptiles!

Thanks for sharing!

Oh, and as long as we are throwing stuff in... yay for UCSB! I went to college there!

[NightLad]

Fantastic article, thanks for posting! I've reposed on a Canadian Gecko forum to share the positive news.

As usual, some of the comments to the article shock and sadden me, but I will choose to focus on the positive of the story itself.

Seeing the gecko strapped down is just .... it makes me laugh

I was actually surprised by the position of her being strapped down. As far as I know, the MRI would not be affected by leaving her upright. But maybe she was not sedated and they were afraid of her moving? Then again, you have to be still for an MRI, so she must have either been fully strapped down or sedated.

Either way, it was kind of cute. (So long as she was not stressed out of her ever-loving-mind! MRIs are noisy!)

[olstyn]

Seeing the gecko strapped down is just .... it makes me laugh

My leo says that looks undignified.

I wonder how much that cost. It really shows dedication and care on the owner's part if it cost as much as I'm guessing it did. Heck, even if it was a small fraction of what a human CT scan costs, it's an impressive outlay for a pet's health care, and the owner is to be commended.

[mechnut450]

lol hey if it saved the life it all good. I just hope the tape was sticky side out lol..

[vicsd]

Hi All,

Thanks for all the support for Girlie Grrrl!!

If you have any questions about the CT scan or the treatment you can drop me an e-mail by going to our site, www.vicsd.com, and e-mail me from there.

I know there was a question about why she was on her back. She was anesthetized for the procedure. This CT machine also has a nuclear medicine scanner attached so it not only provides CT images but also shows thyroid activity. The scan took about 20 minutes so she couldn't move. There are only 4 of this type of GE scanner in the world and thankfully a group we work with has this scanner. Without the special CT scanner this would not have been possible.

Regards,
Seth Wallack DVM, DACVR

[AaronP]

Hilarious Picture, pretty cool to be seeing such advanced technology being used on Pet Reptiles.