What you are trying to do for this guy is very commendable! I think that if he continues to show the will to live then you should by all means do what you can for him. How is he doing?
Today's update: We got the records from the previous vet. There's a couple curious things from them. First of all, his name is Max. Second, the records say he was born in '02. Maybe the owner said that and I thought he said 2 years old, maybe he said 2 years old. I don't know. The other thing is that the left eye, the eye that is completely gone, is not mentioned in the other vet's records at all. He was being treated for problems of the right eye and was prescribed Fortaz and Silvadene.
As for Max, he doesn't seem any worse and may even be improved in hydration at least. I haven't seen him drink on his own since that marathon on the first afternoon though. To be on the safe side I started giving him water from a small syringe by hand tonight. Over the last three days I have assist fed him 11 large crickets, which he took rather easily. Since he doesn't smell like he's rotting from the inside and still has enough grip and equilibrium to stay perched, I'm assuming his digestive system is still functioning. We started him on injectable Fortaz which Jeweled Chameleons had left over and was kind enough to bring out. On a side note, Ron, it was cool to meet you and hang out. Hopefully we'll both be in a position to head up to Anaheim and can continue some of those discussions. Thanks again for helping this guy out, enjoy your karma bonus points haha.
So, since it seems that Max can still take food and water, the team will now be expanding our care to clearing out the debris under the eyelid and cleaning up the multiple infections in the lips. I have some leftover Silvadene that I will use once I have a chance to spend some time flushing the eye again. I am thankful to have found some people who care enough to offer their resources solely for Max's benefit. Thanks to everyone concerned.
Bad news. My neighbor took Max with him to work two hours ago. He was going to do a fecal check and give some sub-q fluids. He set him up in a cage and shortly thereafter watched him take a couple deep breaths and expire. As Ron from Jeweled Chameleons can attest, the picture I posted really does not do justice to how bad he was when I took him on. His body didn't look that bad, but his whole head was extremely emaciated. Nevertheless, thanks everyone for the support and help. I'm going to go with the assumption that I misunderstood what the previous owner said and that Max was indeed 5 years old. His fecal seemed to be clear in May and I'm waiting on the results of today's check as well as the necropsy. If anything significant is found in the necropsy I'll update here.
hairfarm67, Isn't understating the fact that this cam was the sickest animal I've ever seen.
Honestly it didn't take me long to start talking about euthanizing it when first I saw it.
Never the less, I'm sorry that you lost him.
It would have made a great story about how you were able to bring him back
and I know you gave it all you could.
but don't forget. you got him in HORRIBLE SHAPE to start with.
and don't forget that heat wave must have added to his stress levels.
all my veileds were panting due to the excessively high temps on saturday
A weakened panther didn't stand a chance.
Sorry that there wasn't a happier ending
but it was indeed very good to meet you and hang out that night as a new chameleon friend
We'll have to do it again soon over a pint or two somewhere where people aren't rioting on the beach.
Looks like I'm going to be making that drive up to the LA show this weekend
Do you two wanna carpool?
I'm thinking of getting there early for the best animals before the cluster gets annoying.
perhaps, spending most of the day saturday looking around or until we get bored.
(not gonna happen...right?)
Forgot to update this. The vet did a necropsy and found the gut and intestines were necrotic in places. There was no impaction found. So, there was really nothing anyone could have done except to have euthanized him to cease his suffering.