Gout?

[Pluto_the_Panther]

I think the thought is maybe it's not a breathing issue, unless his whole body is like... visibly struggling to breathe. Perhaps the constant mouth opening/gaping is indicative of something else. Pain? Discomfort? Yawning?

His open mouth doesn't have any stringy saliva, and if you've not been hearing popping/squeaking or seeing tons of nose upturns, gaping alone isn't *necessarily* a sign of an RI.

I see him breathing with his mouth open. Sometimes he'll open it wider as he's taking a breath in. At times his mouth has had a lot of stringy saliva. Sometimes it has made bubbles in his throat.

 

[Pluto_the_Panther]

It’s been bothering me that there’s no real nose high in the air gaping. I’m wondering if it’s not a respiratory infection but maybe something else….like a kidney issue. I’m not a vet though so I can only guess based on what I think.

Any thoughts on why his gaping stopped at one point during both antibiotics? That's the one thing throwing me off.

 

[Pluto_the_Panther]

Appointment is scheduled with Dr. Todd Cecil at 12 on Thursday.

 

[Pluto_the_Panther]

This might give some insight. Today I did not mess with him as far as trying to get him to bask or take him outside. All I did was feed him some dubias. He never went to bask and stayed in the lower areas of the cage the whole time. He also never gaped that I know of. I seems that going up to bask might be what triggers the gaping? The confounding variable is the antibiotics he's on that could be working? I feel like this suggests it's not an RI though.