George is my 6 year old veiled chameleon and my oldest. He had papillomavirus warts that I removed twice and some MBD when he was younger before I got him. He also had a tongue injury causing it to shoot crooked so he has to cup feed. George has been through a lot. He's always been a pistol, in the endearing way to nicely describe him aggressively trying to eat me if I just look at him or get near him. The Friday after Christmas George crawled down to the bottom of the cage and just sat there grabbing his own feet, and he hasn't perched since then. He will walk around the bottom a little and still eat superworms in front of him. But he's not trying to eat me anymore so definitely something is wrong. He lost about 20 grams in just a few weeks and even though that wasn't a ton for him he looked bony. So I did X-rays, which were pretty normal aside from some mild arthritis of some of his vertebrae and he had good bone density. But on his bloodwork his phosphorus has doubled since it was done 6 months ago. His calcium levels and supplementation have stayed about the same, and his uric acid is normal. But that increase in phosphorus is most consistent with early kidney failure. Dr. Alfonso was nice to look over everything as well and agrees that is most likely and nothing else seems amiss.
I moved him to a hospital cage setup, which actually just the cricket bin. He stays warm this way and isn't interested in perching or climbing so he's happy with it. He's been getting fluids under the skin to keep him hydrated and flush out his kidneys and is still eating. He put the weight that he lost back on. His front feet are more normal now, but his hindlegs are either grabbing each other or just kind of limp behind him sometimes. I'm still not entirely sure why that is. If his kidneys are enlarged they could be causing discomfort to the nerves of the hindlimbs, but his bloodwork doesn't look that severe yet.
I've tried pain meds and an injectable joint supplement/anti-inflammatory in case he's painful or has severe arthritis. They haven't seemed to make a difference for him. I'm going to start a phosphorus binder to help reduce the levels of phosphorus because that can make them feel crummy. He's an old man so I consider him on hospice care now regardless of the cause. If he moves back into his old cage that'd be great, but I have a feeling we won't get there.
I moved him to a hospital cage setup, which actually just the cricket bin. He stays warm this way and isn't interested in perching or climbing so he's happy with it. He's been getting fluids under the skin to keep him hydrated and flush out his kidneys and is still eating. He put the weight that he lost back on. His front feet are more normal now, but his hindlegs are either grabbing each other or just kind of limp behind him sometimes. I'm still not entirely sure why that is. If his kidneys are enlarged they could be causing discomfort to the nerves of the hindlimbs, but his bloodwork doesn't look that severe yet.
I've tried pain meds and an injectable joint supplement/anti-inflammatory in case he's painful or has severe arthritis. They haven't seemed to make a difference for him. I'm going to start a phosphorus binder to help reduce the levels of phosphorus because that can make them feel crummy. He's an old man so I consider him on hospice care now regardless of the cause. If he moves back into his old cage that'd be great, but I have a feeling we won't get there.
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