Panther has a Malignant Tumor

[Dave Weldon]

Howdy All,

You feed them all of the good stuff, keep them well-hydrated, give them real sunlight on a regular basis, use a linear Reptisun 5.0 at other times, keep them free of parasites, supply a nice temperature gradient, give them plenty of live plants to hang-out in, grow them from 9 grams to ~240 grams keep them happy for 4.5 years and what happens: a malignant tumor - cancer . I noticed a slight swelling with some discoloration on his dorsal crest just behind his head. I had Dr. Greek take a sample for the lab to do biopsy. I just got those results today . It is a slow growing tumor but it is located in an area that makes it not realistic to carve away. I'll continue to give him a nice home until he shows signs that he is in pain or otherwise suffering and then...

Happier days:

 

[lilblacky]

I'm sorry to hear that man =( He's a beautiful cham too

 

[BocaJan]

Dave, I'm so sorry for you and your little buddy. What terrible news.

 

[FOREVER ENDEAVOR]

sorry to hear that dave, like you said you couldnt have done anything more for the lil fella..

 

[beeze]

Dave; That is terrible news. Hopefull, since it's slow growing he will still have some quality time left with you.

 

[kenya]

Dave, I am so sorry about Panther. I hope that his tumor grows slowly and you get many more happy years together.

 

[luckykarma]

I'm so sorry. He's my Panther hero. Such a beautiful animal.

 

[ciafardo 4]

he is such a beautiful specimen what a waste im really sorry i know how depressing it can be good luck with him dave

 

[jannb]

I am so sorry Dave. I know you have been the perfect panther owner.......from the way you help all of us out. Since it's slow growing, hopefully he will have allot more time left with you.

 

[Kat77]

Dave, I'm so sorry. No one could have given him a better life than you could.

 

[dodolah]

Oh no...
He is such a mellow guy and I always love to see him every time I came to visit.
Sorry to hear that, Dave.

All the best for you, your family and pets

 

[Julirs]

Wow-sorry to hear this. At least he has someone like you that has the sense to know when something is wrong, and to care for him.

 

[THECHAMMAN]

with the amount of time you spend with them, the money you spend on them, and the amount of love you put into them, its like having a person you know being diagnosed with cancer. sucks. what a beautiful guy imo

 

[Dave Weldon]

Howdy All,

Thanks for all of your thoughts . I'll keep everyone informed as to how things progress over the next months .

 

[summoner12]

Dave, im sorry to hear about Panther He is in good hands

 

[ponders]

Dave, So sorry to hear about Panther, he's such a spectacular Nosy Be. Hopefully it will grow slowly and not bother him for awhile. He couldn't ask for a better owner.

 

[chamelisa]

Awww Dave!!! That's terrible news. I'm so sorry to hear this. How frustrating. You are a wonderful chameleon keeper and everyone's right, he couldn't be in better hands.

 

[Chameleons Northwest]

Elliot and I are so sorry to hear about your guy's condition. As Ponders said- hopefully it will develop very slowly, or, better yet, not develop any further at all. A beautiful little guy. We wish him the best.

 

[panthercham]

Sorry to here this Dave You said it was slow growing so hopefully this gorgeous guy will be around with you for a while yet.

At least he is in good hands with you.

 

[Dave Weldon]

Howdy All,

Panther's time had come. Its almost been a year since his cancer was diagnosed. He did really well up until about a week ago when he started to show signs of stress from the illness. Rather than have him suffer, I took him to Dr. Greek who gave him a lethal injection of an anesthetic. He just went to sleep and his heart stopped beating shortly thereafter . After a handful of Kleenex later, I took him home.

I felt it important that I perform a (novice) necropsy to understand how the last 5 1/2 years of my husbandry had affected the condition of his organs. I'm relieved to report that his heart and kidneys looked great. It looks like the cancer had reached his liver and large tumors were spread through it. His bones were very strong, no organ mineralization, and there were no excessively large fat pads to be found. The combination of strong bones and no mineral deposits in the organs would suggest that he was able to process the mineral dusting levels, D3, and sunlight properly. I've often worried that lightly dusting with Miner-All (I) several times a week might either be too much calcium and, oddly enough, maye too little D3. The D3 content in Miner-All (I) is 1/100th that of Rep-Cal/D3 for example. The bottom line is that other than the cancer, his organs appeared to be normal from my novice point of view. I've probably done a dozen necropsies and I've seen plenty of mineralized/gouty organs. I don't know how much of that was related to over-supplementing, dehydration, excessive fatty foods etc. but I'm relieved that Panther wasn't suffering from any of those maladies . Time to grab another Kleenex.