Ferdinand not doing well

[Lathis]

Something has just seemed "off" about the Ferds for the last week. He just hasn't been his normal pissy self. Appetite is down, basking for long periods, not lethargic but definitely not active.

Last Thursday, he was almost black, he's never been black before, and didn't move from his favorite spot until Saturday. He's also been doing this weird thing where he holds a bug in his mouth for a long time before swallowing. Strange behavior for Ferds. But, he has always been a good drinker and continues to drink well every day. We found feces with a largely undigested cricket on Saturday. His color was much better yesterday and today. This morning, the hubby says he ate a cricket and a small superworm, then vomited. Lots of foamy saliva and almost completely undigested bugs.

My vet was out until today, unfortunately, but I'm really glad now that I made the appointment last week. The Ferds has an appointment at 4. I'm traveling, so the hubby is taking him, but I'm all stressed out about it. I gave the hubby a laundry list of things to discuss with the vet. He has fresh fecal and vomit samples, too. My temperatures are good, so I'm worried most about parasites or a URI.

Poor little Ferds. I just feel terrible. I hope we can figure this out. I'll keep you guys posted.

 

[LilBlue]

Oh no Will be keeping Ferninand in my thoughts, and sending good vibes your way.

 

[jannb]

I sure hate to hear Ferdinand is not well. I'll be keeping him in my thoughts and prayers. Let us know how the vet visit goes.

 

[Lathis]

Thanks all. I'm literally biting nails for the next hour or two until I hear back about the vet visit. I wish I could be there for my little guy

 

[Lathis]

Ferdinand really is a sick little guy. First off, the vet said his esophagus was very inflamed. Vet couldn't see any obvious injury but said the soft tissues looked very angry and may be infected. He swabbed the esophagus and found dead white blood cells and quite a bit of bacteria present. On top of that, he is carrying a pretty heavy parasite load (paramecia) in his stool. We have a course of flagyl and baytril to administer for at least a week, then a follow up visit.

It must hurt to swallow, poor little guy. Vet said if he has an overgrowth of bacteria in his system, it's likely causing the vomiting and poor fecal digestion. I'm getting him some soft bodied worms for hydration and going easy on the crickets for a bit. He's responded well to both medicines before, vet says his lungs sound clean, and he hasn't lost any weight, so he should make a solid recovery.

I feel so very badly for my poor little Ferdie.

 

[jannb]

Poor Ferdie. I hope he has a complete recovery.

 

[Lathis]

Thanks, Jann.

All my good thoughts towards Lottie right now, too. I hope it's something she can recover from easily.

 

[jannb]

Thanks, Jann.

All my good thoughts towards Lottie right now, too. I hope it's something she can recover from easily.

Thank you! These little guys sure know how to worry us.

 

[MelissaB]

Poor Ferdinand, I hope he's back to his old self soon.

 

[bobcochran]

Best wishes for Ferdinand!!

 

[laurie]

Sad to hear your guy is having problems. Hopefully Ferdinand will recover quickly. Traveling when one of our chams needs us is so hard. I feel guilty even when I was traveling for work, it happened once when I was visiting friends and I almost flew home early, but my husband followed what I ask him to do and it turned out fine. I will pray your Fredinand is fine too.

 

[Dave Bolamperti]

Hey Lathis,
Sorry to hear Ferdinand isn't feeling well, Chams health can change so fast, stay positive, my prayers are with you.
Dave

 

[Lathis]

Thanks, everybody, for the well wishes. I'm still stuck in NYC because of cancelled flights and delays for the last two days. Hopefully, I can get home tonight and back to my Ferds.

 

[jannb]

How's Ferdinand doing? Are you back home yet?