major problem w kevin!!!

[Jay ray]

ok so here is my day so far. yesterday i noticed kevin had a lot of saliva in his mouth and i worried he had an upper respiratory infection. I called the vet that we have been seeing and took him in at nine am today. he forwarded us to a specialist at the veterinary university and we saw those three specialists at 11 am. one specialist was from texas one from portugal and one canadian all with huge knowledge of chameleon species. KEVIN HAS PNEMONIA AND IS SUFFERING FROM A SERIOUS THERMAL BURN that may have damaged his liver. he came with the thermal burn and three types of parrasites. he is taking oral deworming meds but hasnt completed them yet. the vets said kevin is in such bad condition it was hard to even determine his sex. He had xrays at one today to determine the extent of damage to his skin, skeletal structure and his organs...we will have to wait and see about his liver functions. there were testies present in his body so he is male. kevin is on three types of antibiotics and a special cream for his burn. im so upset with his condition and the fact that a pet store could even sell a creature with these problems is beyond me!! poor kevin he may no make it the specialists say...but we are going to do our damnedest...he needs to be forcefed and watered by hand now....i just pray for an improvement with his condition

 

[Olimpia]

Poor thing! I'm so sorry you are having these issues. I knew that patch on his side didn't look like any bruise I'd ever seen. Although it seems like such an awkward place to get a burn, but who knows what happened to him in all the time before you got him.

Is he not eating on his own? No willing, not capable?

Hoping for the best, please keep us updated on Kevin's condition.

 

[Jay ray]

Kevin isn't interested in food at the moment, but the specialists that we saw today said it is imperative for his survival to eat now before he deteriorates so we are popping waxworks and medicated butterworms in at his feeding. He isnt upset just totally willing! We will post an update on Kevin soon thank you for taking the time to respond to us... It's along journey

 

[Olimpia]

Poor guy, I really do feel bad for both of you. Hopefully he'll respond well to the treatment. It's a shame that the weather is awful now, sunshine helps in healing tremendously. I would brin gup his basking spot a 3-5° if you can, it seems to speed up their metabolism and helps fight off the infection. I do this with any chameleon that has a respiratory infection/pneumonia and it does help.

I also recommend that you contact the other moderator, Laurie, about her bug juice recipe. She makes it qwith bugs and other good things mixed in that really help sick chameleons, I'm sure she'd talk you through it if you sent her a message. But if he's accepting insects then that's a good thing.

 

[squeekz1992]

Poor Kevin keep us posted!!!!

 

[Jay ray]

quick update on kevin! he is totally happy with me popping his worms in his mouth! that cricket smoothy sounds great i will try to find it...thankyou for all the advice will keep posting his progress

 

[Lovereps]

Jay Ray what a bummer. How lucky Kevin is to have a devoted owner like you.
FWIW, I found a post with Laurie's bug juice recipe for you and for others who might need it:

If you need the homemade way to make food, make bug juice. Bug juice is easy and really good for your cham. Take a small blender add 4 oz of pedalite, 4 oz of ensure, some calcium, and a lot of well gut loaded feeders, I use crickets cause they blend best. Blend it until everything is liquid, strain it to get out legs and thinks that did not blend. Put it in a syringe and give it to your cham. i have kept extra in the frig for a max of 3 days. It makes more than you need but it doesn't blend well unless you have sufficient liquid.

Laurie recently had surgery so I suspect that she isn't able to participate as often as usual just yet.
I'm sure I won't be the only one saying a prayer for your cham and for you.

 

[deadhd5]

Kudos to you jay ray for helping this little guy in distress. I will be following this thread and rooting for improvement.

 

[ChameleonMom]

Glad to hear that Kevin is feeling happy today. Keep us posted on his progress!

 

[Jay ray]

Thanks for the recipe!!!! I am an executive chef my crew is going to get a kick out of this when I tell them what I'm making tonight for dinner lol...Kevin is having a good day so we will keep feeding him as much as we can. The medicated cream seems to be aiding the burn quite nicely too hopefully he is more comfortable

 

[ChameleonMom]

Thanks for the recipe!!!! I am an executive chef my crew is going to get a kick out of this when I tell them what I'm making tonight for dinner lol...Kevin is having a good day so we will keep feeding him as much as we can. The medicated cream seems to be aiding the burn quite nicely too hopefully he is more comfortable

So good to hear!! Good luck with the bug juice...and remind me, where do you work? I'll be sure not to go there for dinner while Kevin is sick!!

 

[Jay ray]

Good evening!!! Kevin is just going to bed and we are doing quite well. The feeding is gong well and his thermal burn has made an improvement
With the medicated cream. He is drinking on his own but we r still opening his mouth to put the medicated worms in! Will keep posting Kevin's journey!

 

[ChameleonMom]

Good evening!!! Kevin is just going to bed and we are doing quite well. The feeding is gong well and his thermal burn has made an improvement
With the medicated cream. He is drinking on his own but we r still opening his mouth to put the medicated worms in! Will keep posting Kevin's journey!

Thank goodness! Its SO nice to hear that he's making an improvement. I've been thinking of him today...so again, keep us updated or I won't be able to sleep for the rest of the week!

'night Kevin!

 

[Jay ray]

Just some quick news! kevin gained an extra gram in 4 days! anything even small is progress for the poor little guy! he seems comfortable and continues to drink on his own, even though we are hand feeding him the medicated horn and butterworms, will keep updating!

 

[Bunke]

You're doing a great job with Kevin, keep it up. I know your pain and how you're feeling. I'm strungling with Sheldons light MBD atm. I will quote something that someone from this forum told me while I was ripping my hair out. "You got the best medication a chameleon can get, a dedicated owner."

This rly gave me and boost of hope and a thought "da**it we will do this, we will make it to the better, right Sheldon?!". And it's the people at this forum who makes me keep doing my best, I've been thanking alot of people at this forum, and I will do it again to anyone that read this commment, you're just awesome and really supportive even if you might not know it, it helps alot.

 

[Jay ray]

Kevin is doing really well! He has been gaining a little weight and his colours are coming around....his black necrotic skin scab is loosening and lifting in a couple of areas and you can see pink healed skin underneath...the medicated cream is working wonders....soon we will post before and after photos of his burn so others can see the improvement and have an understanding of what to expect if their Cham suffers from a thermal burn!

 

[deadhd5]

Kevin is doing really well! He has been gaining a little weight and his colours are coming around....his black necrotic skin scab is loosening and lifting in a couple of areas and you can see pink healed skin underneath...the medicated cream is working wonders....soon we will post before and after photos of his burn so others can see the improvement and have an understanding of what to expect if their Cham suffers from a thermal burn!

Awesome! Keep us updated, I can't wait to see pictures when he is all better. Kevin is lucky you came along, good work man.

 

[Kate]

So glad Kevin is doing good. Popeye suffered a thermal burn 11 months ago which was treated with antibiotics and flamazine cream. He came on leaps and bounds. He is now very healthy and has just a tiny bit of burn left on his belly. I keep thinking it will go at his next shed but no he wants to keep it to punish me.LOL

 

[Jay ray]

Hi quick update on Kevin...two Days ago he ad a poop and his butter worms were still fairly intact! So I decided to make bug juce for him and we are having some improvement...I am squeezing the innards of a variety of his worms and crickets into a little dish where I suck them into a syringe combined with his meds...he is doing pretty well w it! Just so you know....hornworms smell like peanut butter....no wonder they enjoy them so much lol!

 

[ChameleonMom]

Hi quick update on Kevin...two Days ago he ad a poop and his butter worms were still fairly intact! So I decided to make bug juce for him and we are having some improvement...I am squeezing the innards of a variety of his worms and crickets into a little dish where I suck them into a syringe combined with his meds...he is doing pretty well w it! Just so you know....hornworms smell like peanut butter....no wonder they enjoy them so much lol!

Ewwwww.....that's enough to put me off my peanut butter! Glad to hear that Kevin continues to improve!! Give the little guffer a kind word from me and perhaps an extra drop of butter worm juice! Keep up the good work and as always, keep us posted!