Terrible Gas Prolapse (waiting at Vet ER now)

[ASobbleMom]

Well it’s a pretty journey across the ocean, however a ticket and the vet bill will be less then numbers you named. And of course we got a free spare room to stay and a deluxe apartment for Ryan.

Big thumbs up for handeling your situation and your dedication

Awww thank you!

 

[ASobbleMom]

Vet just called, great, great, GREAT news. Ryan did very well in surgery, and it was easier than we hoped. She said he went under very well and came out very well, he is still groggy but she did a partial reversal of anesthetic and has him in the warm reptile room which should help metabolize the drugs out of his body faster.

She said there was no tissue death whatsoever, since I caught it early and did a good job keeping it lubed and moist, so she went through the abdomen and carefully pulled the intestine back in, while a second person with a lubed q tip guided from the Prolapsed side. Then she tacked it to the abdomen wall. He is not prolapsed at all now...

She was really happy with him, because normally most of their Chams don't have as great an outcome.

Not out of the woods yet, she said she still worries a lot about the first night as the reptiles wake up, so hopefully that will go ok. He has extra fluids and she continued the same antibiotic and gave him pain meds, too.

And now she thinks it could be parasites! We don't have a useable poop yet, but when they get one they will send the fecal out and determine if that is a factor before deworming.

He will still be staying the weekend but I will be by tomorrow w silks, and hopefully pick him up Monday.

Lessons learned: you can save your Cham SO MUCH pain, if not their life, and yourself so much money and heartache by having a plan in place (which I did, but didn't work as nearly all my go-to vets weren't in) and when it doesn't work, never give up hope. I texted my breeder, who had the fastest advice. Act AS FAST as possible. Just do something, don't wait, There are answers out there and people that will help (even if you have to plead to be taken in as a new patient!). Don't worry about being a pest, I called some of the same vets 3-4 times because I either didn't get all the info I needed, or I couldn't read what I wrote down! "Do you treat reptiles? Do you have a herp SURGEON? They're not in? Exactly when will they be in? Will a referral get us seen faster? Where else can you recommend? If we come now and wait the night, will we be seen faster?, etc".

Other lessons learned: even if you think you have a totally sanitary feeder situation, GET your darn lizard tested for parasites NOW. You don't even need to disrupt them by taking them in (which was my worry). Just grab a poop! $100 bucks could save their life and you $2000+ shortly down the road.

Be insanely diligent about feeding times and if there is leftover live food from the prior feeding or not, and how much they are eating at once.

And, you know what? I could not have done this without all of you. Your support and helpful suggestions have be indispensable, but even moreso, in the months before I got Ryan, this was my go-to place to learn about proper setup, supplement schedules, the best products, do's and don'ts, everything. If you see some of my first posts about cage set-up, all of that is what I learned here. That is what got me this far with a healthy Cham, and that is why he so far has such a good outcome.

Thank you!!! So far, a very, VERY happy ending.

 

[kinyonga]

Glad the surgery went well. I hope he will recover well now too.
Did the vets do a purse string suture on the vent?

 

[MissSkittles]

Yay! So very glad all went so well! Your super quick action most certainly saved the day! Praying his recovery goes just as uneventfully!

 

[ASobbleMom]

Glad the surgery went well. I hope he will recover well now too.
Did the vets do a purse string suture on the vent?

I am not sure but I don't think so. She did a stitch up inside of him in the tummy area it seemed like, since it was such a large and long prolapse, and said anything can happen, but that hopefully will work so this isn't repeated.

I also am pretty sure she didn't neuter him at the same time since the hemipenes weren't involved at all and she didn't do any cutting near the vent, just the stomach.

I will get more info in the days to come.

 

[Fchamel]

I am so glad that Ryan is okay! Praying for a nice and smooth recovery!

 

[Lindasjackson]

Oh that’s such good news!

 

[jamest0o0]

Glad it went well, but I'm skeptical of the feeding time thing. It makes no sense. They aren't being fed at certain times through the day in the wild, they may eat a lot at night, morning, nothing at all, etc. They're opportunistic and take what they can get, when they can get it. I've seen many chams eat later in the day with no issues like this. Maybe more of just a genetic predisposition, in which case maybe it was triggered by how he was fed

 

[jamest0o0]

And that bill is insane, I'd have to old yeller my cham if i was looking at a few grand bill going to check out that pet insurance

 

[Sonny13]

The best news in long time to read after waking up. Happy to hear the surgery went well and now for the recovery. You did great, chapeau

 

[dinomom]

Vet just called, great, great, GREAT news. Ryan did very well in surgery, and it was easier than we hoped. She said he went under very well and came out very well, he is still groggy but she did a partial reversal of anesthetic and has him in the warm reptile room which should help metabolize the drugs out of his body faster.

She said there was no tissue death whatsoever, since I caught it early and did a good job keeping it lubed and moist, so she went through the abdomen and carefully pulled the intestine back in, while a second person with a lubed q tip guided from the Prolapsed side. Then she tacked it to the abdomen wall. He is not prolapsed at all now...

She was really happy with him, because normally most of their Chams don't have as great an outcome.

Not out of the woods yet, she said she still worries a lot about the first night as the reptiles wake up, so hopefully that will go ok. He has extra fluids and she continued the same antibiotic and gave him pain meds, too.

And now she thinks it could be parasites! We don't have a useable poop yet, but when they get one they will send the fecal out and determine if that is a factor before deworming.

He will still be staying the weekend but I will be by tomorrow w silks, and hopefully pick him up Monday.

Lessons learned: you can save your Cham SO MUCH pain, if not their life, and yourself so much money and heartache by having a plan in place (which I did, but didn't work as nearly all my go-to vets weren't in) and when it doesn't work, never give up hope. I texted my breeder, who had the fastest advice. Act AS FAST as possible. Just do something, don't wait, There are answers out there and people that will help (even if you have to plead to be taken in as a new patient!). Don't worry about being a pest, I called some of the same vets 3-4 times because I either didn't get all the info I needed, or I couldn't read what I wrote down! "Do you treat reptiles? Do you have a herp SURGEON? They're not in? Exactly when will they be in? Will a referral get us seen faster? Where else can you recommend? If we come now and wait the night, will we be seen faster?, etc".

Other lessons learned: even if you think you have a totally sanitary feeder situation, GET your darn lizard tested for parasites NOW. You don't even need to disrupt them by taking them in (which was my worry). Just grab a poop! $100 bucks could save their life and you $2000+ shortly down the road.

Be insanely diligent about feeding times and if there is leftover live food from the prior feeding or not, and how much they are eating at once.

And, you know what? I could not have done this without all of you. Your support and helpful suggestions have be indispensable, but even moreso, in the months before I got Ryan, this was my go-to place to learn about proper setup, supplement schedules, the best products, do's and don'ts, everything. If you see some of my first posts about cage set-up, all of that is what I learned here. That is what got me this far with a healthy Cham, and that is why he so far has such a good outcome.

Thank you!!! So far, a very, VERY happy ending.

Awesome wonderful news!!!! Good cham parent

 

[ASobbleMom]

This morning I called the vet. Ryan is bright and alert... And hungry! I'm on my way with a delivery of silkworms.

 

[Fchamel]

Yay!

 

[bbyoda]

 

[ASobbleMom]

Hanging out at the vet now. Their version of "bright and alert" is a bit different than mine! Ryan is up but very much resting, looks super dehydrated to me but his records show he got fluids this morning and some Carnivore Core oral squirty food this morning. He did "pee" already. I suppose this is how chameleons look 14 hours after surgery and being prolapsed for 24 hrs. He also just opened his eyes and saw me and moved a bit! He is getting fluids twice a day but I will ask them to recheck him. It's also pretty dry in here with the heat, so I will ask them to spray his plant/offer water more often.

 

[Lindasjackson]

Yes his eyes are pretty sunken but that can be from stress as well. I’m glad he’s doing better!

 

[Fchamel]

 

[MissSkittles]

Aww…poor guy. This must be so stressful for him. When is the soonest they’ll let you take him home? I would think that once he’s back home in his own ‘house’ he’ll be feeling better.
Thank goodness he can’t read as they gave him the obituary part of the newspaper.

 

[jannb]

 

[MzLaurie11]

I having been tracking your dilemma since your first post and have been sending prayers your way. you are a wonderful parent! You saved your boy. Well done. Bravo to you i am so impressed and happy toknow there are people like me out there. I have posted this several times but i believe here may be the best place. Fecal home test from rainbowmealworms.com $25 kit includes prepaid envelope to lab which is included. omce again i am so happy for you and your boy. so did soooo good!