Bad news

I considered taking him to the vet but I’m not sure if there’s anything they can do, other than euthanize him. I’ll start calling around and asking vets in my area
 
danny_cham said:
I considered taking him to the vet but I’m not sure if there’s anything they can do, other than euthanize him. I’ll start calling around and asking vets in my area
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I am not saying take him in for treatment... I am saying if you want to help him pass without this taking more time then you might want to put him through. I do not see anything that a vet could do for him with him in full shut down like this other than ease his pain and humanly euthanize.
 
Beman said:
I am not saying take him in for treatment... I am saying if you want to help him pass without this taking more time then you might want to put him through. I do not see anything that a vet could do for him with him in full shut down like this other than ease his pain and humanly euthanize.
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Yeah I figured they couldn’t treat him. I guess I’m just still really hoping he can pull through. This all just happened so suddenly
 
danny_cham said:
Yeah I figured they couldn’t treat him. I guess I’m just still really hoping he can pull through. This all just happened so suddenly
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I understand. I just looked through your passed threads... Other than being thin for his age the only thing I saw was you said he was treated for parasites last year. What parasite was found? Did you get multiple clean fecals back to be sure that the parasite was killed off?
 
By the way... I'm not a complete cham expert but I do know that he might pass very soon or take longer to die which will be worse for him since he is obviously in so much pain. If he continues to breathe but still continues to have trouble drinking and such I'd recommend that you put him down.
 
I’m really sorry you’re going through this and I know how it is.

I can only agree with @Beman if you can get him to a vet to humanly euthanize him, that’s most friendly thing you can do for him. My girl showed the same behavior as your boy, starting in the beginning of the evening and it took her till noon the next day to finally pass. And the sight and the suffering will only get worst. It’s our belief that keeps them unnecessarily alive. Sorry to say this. I wish you all the strength 🙏🏻 my thoughts are with you.

https://www.chameleonforums.com/threads/sudden-deaths.187927/
 
Beman said:
I understand. I just looked through your passed threads... Other than being thin for his age the only thing I saw was you said he was treated for parasites last year. What parasite was found? Did you get multiple clean fecals back to be sure that the parasite was killed off?
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The vet never asked for another fecal sample after his treatments to ensure they were all killed off. I wasn’t aware that was needed
2284207A-0ACC-44F5-B57F-555FEC514B7C.jpeg

This was the results from the fecal sample I did give him.

I also have no way of knowing how old he is. He came from a chain pet store and was most likely wild caught. Pet store said they weren’t sure if his age but that he could be 1 or 2 at the time his previous owner purchased him
 
danny_cham said:
The vet never asked for another fecal sample after his treatments to ensure they were all killed off. I wasn’t aware that was needed
View attachment 334660
This was the results from the fecal sample I did give him.

I also have no way of knowing how old he is. He came from a chain pet store and was most likely wild caught. Pet store said they weren’t sure if his age but that he could be 1 or 2 at the time his previous owner purchased him
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Ok so yeah typically you want at least 2 fecals done after treatment to ensure the parasites are gone. My vet recommends fecals 30 days apart to ensure the meds worked and there was not a reinfection from the cage being contaminated. Especially if the cage was not cleaned properly to ensure reinfection would not happen.
 
Beman said:
Ok so yeah typically you want at least 2 fecals done after treatment to ensure the parasites are gone. My vet recommends fecals 30 days apart to ensure the meds worked and there was not a reinfection from the cage being contaminated. Especially if the cage was not cleaned properly to ensure reinfection would not happen.
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I will admit, his vet wasn’t very familiar with chameleons but he was the only exotic vet in the area I lived at the time. All I was told was that he would be fine after the treatment and he did show improvement for a very long time. His treatment ended almost a year ago
 
danny_cham said:
I will admit, his vet wasn’t very familiar with chameleons but he was the only exotic vet in the area I lived at the time. All I was told was that he would be fine after the treatment and he did show improvement for a very long time. His treatment ended almost a year ago
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Yeah the post I was looking at saying he was parasite free was done the end of July last year which would put you right about 6 months out. If the meds did not in fact clear the parasite or he reinfected himself then they could have come back and with a higher parasite load. Meds can lower their immune system so if they were not in fact cleared or reinfection happened with a contaminated cage this creates the perfect storm in their bodies. I am not saying this is what happened but it would certainly explain the sudden decline. Which would be totally outside of your control since you did not know and the vet was not helpful in correctly telling you.

Additionally I do want to mention because he does not look like he is going to make it. Should you decide to get another cham. The cage should be stripped. All porous items thrown away and the cage sterilized. This ensures contamination does not become a factor with a new chameleon.
 
Beman said:
Yeah the post I was looking at saying he was parasite free was done the end of July last year which would put you right about 6 months out. If the meds did not in fact clear the parasite or he reinfected himself then they could have come back and with a higher parasite load. Meds can lower their immune system so if they were not in fact cleared or reinfection happened with a contaminated cage this creates the perfect storm in their bodies. I am not saying this is what happened but it would certainly explain the sudden decline. Which would be totally outside of your control since you did not know and the vet was not helpful in correctly telling you.

Additionally I do want to mention because he does not look like he is going to make it. Should you decide to get another cham. The cage should be stripped. All porous items thrown away and the cage sterilized. This ensures contamination does not become a factor with a new chameleon.
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I honestly doubt I would get another chameleon unless it was literally given to me, like Danny was. I am definitely keeping the enclosure for future use so I’ll be sure everything is tossed and the enclosure itself is thoroughly sanitized.

It’s really hard to not blame myself at this point, even though everyone I know is telling me it isn’t my fault.

My local vet that does reptile euthanasia isn’t in office and won’t be able to see him until tomorrow morning and I am not sure if he will make it that long.
 
danny_cham said:
I honestly doubt I would get another chameleon unless it was literally given to me, like Danny was. I am definitely keeping the enclosure for future use so I’ll be sure everything is tossed and the enclosure itself is thoroughly sanitized.

It’s really hard to not blame myself at this point, even though everyone I know is telling me it isn’t my fault.

My local vet that does reptile euthanasia isn’t in office and won’t be able to see him until tomorrow morning and I am not sure if he will make it that long.
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It is not your fault... You can not be blamed for something you did not do or did not know. These guys hide illness so freaking well. And then when they do a sudden decline like this it is almost always too late to try to fix something or figure out what happened.

You gave him an excellent life while you had him. He at least was able to experience a good living situation with a human that actually cared about him. There are so many chams that do not get this. So please do not blame yourself.

I hope you do not feel that my explanation of a possible reason for the decline was in any way blaming you. I was hoping to give a possibility for what may have happened to cause a sudden turn like this. Hoping that would give you comfort that it was not caused by you. Which it was not.
 
Beman said:
It is not your fault... You can not be blamed for something you did not do or did not know. These guys hide illness so freaking well. And then when they do a sudden decline like this it is almost always too late to try to fix something or figure out what happened.

You gave him an excellent life while you had him. He at least was able to experience a good living situation with a human that actually cared about him. There are so many chams that do not get this. So please do not blame yourself.

I hope you do not feel that my explanation of a possible reason for the decline was in any way blaming you. I was hoping to give a possibility for what may have happened to cause a sudden turn like this. Hoping that would give you comfort that it was not caused by you. Which it was not.
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I am so grateful to have had him, even if it was for a short time. While I likely won’t ever own another chameleon I have grown to love them and respect them.

And of course I don’t think that you were blaming me at all. Thank you so much for all of your helpful comments and support.

I am trying to remind myself that I did everything in my power to give the best care possible
 
He is still the same. I considered driving him to the vet in the city but it’s nearly a 2 hour drive and I was worried that the stress of transport would only make the situation worse. He hated car rides. He has lost all interest in water and is no longer squeezing my finger when I offer it to him to hold. He is stiff but still breathing.
 
danny_cham said:
He is still the same. I considered driving him to the vet in the city but it’s nearly a 2 hour drive and I was worried that the stress of transport would only make the situation worse. He hated car rides. He has lost all interest in water and is no longer squeezing my finger when I offer it to him to hold. He is stiff but still breathing.
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I am sorry hun. sending heaps of love your way.
 
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