Trip to the Vet!!!

[dante8858]

Well a little over a month ago I posted about my Mellers lobe looking hard and dried up....I had been giving him Reptiaid and it seemed to be getting better. A few days ago I noticed that the discoloration on his shoulder was bigger so I decided to make a vet app. just to see what is going on with him, since he is eating, drinking, pooping, and acting normal. My app. was at 1 and I just brought him home 20 minutes ago with almost $300 less! The vet said she hasn't seen this before it appears that one of his lobes is dead, he seems well hydrated and feed. She told us that we could just try antibiotics and a cream and see if in a few weeks he gets better or we can go ahead and do a biopsy of the area. I told her to go ahead with the biopsy..... A few(almost 4) hours later I go back and he has stitches on his shoulder and his bicep. I now have to wait 7-10 days to see what the biopsy says to see what type of infection it is and how we can treat it. Right now he has a cream to apply to the area everyday and every other day I get to take him back for an antibiotic shot. The vet did say that it isn't a burn and I probably made it worse by wetting it down thinking that it was skin that wasn't peeling! I feel so bad! So after a very long stressful afternoon I must urge everyone who thinks that there is something wrong with their cham just take them to the vet and eat Ramens for months! I regret my decision to wait.....maybe the infection would have been stopped before it got larger on his shoulder!

I will keep everyone posted on Ichis' progress....I am just beating myself up for not going to the vet earlier!

 

[Syn]

I hope he gets better. You did what you thought was right, but luckily a vet could correct you.

What vet did you go to? I know there are some great vets in California.

 

[dante8858]

I hope he gets better. You did what you thought was right, but luckily a vet could correct you.

What vet did you go to? I know there are some great vets in California.

Thanks I hope so too I love my Ichi!
I went to Bakersfield Vet Hospital and saw Dr. Jennifer McGraw. She was recommended on a website I just can't remember which one!

 

[Syn]

By chance you want a second opinion, here are some great vets.

[FONT=verdana, arial, helvetica, san-serif]Geoff Stein, DVM
Dr Shipp's Animal Hospital
351 Foothill Rd.
Beverly Hills, CA 90210
Tel: (310) 550-0101

[/FONT][FONT=verdana, arial, helvetica, san-serif]Tom Greek, DVM
Village Animal Hospital
23379 Golden Springs Dr.
Diamond Bar, CA 91765
Tel: (909) 861-7463

Those are two I've seen suggested a lot by people in California.
[/FONT]

 

[laurie]

By chance you want a second opinion, here are some great vets.

[FONT=verdana, arial, helvetica, san-serif]Geoff Stein, DVM
Dr Shipp's Animal Hospital
351 Foothill Rd.
Beverly Hills, CA 90210
Tel: (310) 550-0101

[/FONT][FONT=verdana, arial, helvetica, san-serif]Tom Greek, DVM
Village Animal Hospital
23379 Golden Springs Dr.
Diamond Bar, CA 91765
Tel: (909) 861-7463


Those are two I've seen suggested a lot by people in California.
[/FONT]

Syn, Bakersfield and LA area where the other two vets are are many miles apart. Once again check information before giving it to people.
In this case your idea isn't practial for anyone, you should try to use what you know not what other people say or do. You can be much more helpful if people are able to feel they can rely on what you say because it comes from what you know.

 

[Syn]

I know someone who drives 2 hours to get to a good vet, and they are a senior member.

If I had to, I'd drive a couple hours to get to a great, knowledgeable vet. I hope you would too.

Bakersfield to Beverly Hills is 110 miles, while Bakersfield to Diamond Bar is about 140.

 

[NewOwner]

I know someone who drives 2 hours to get to a good vet, and they are a senior member.

If I had to, I'd drive a couple hours to get to a great, knowledgeable vet. I hope you would too.

Bakersfield to Beverly Hills is 110 miles, while Bakersfield to Diamond Bar is about 140.

The good vets around here i would probabl have to take a ferry... and then drive a couple hours, or more in rush hour to a good vet......... or drive to victoria (1.5 - 2 hrs away.)

 

[Sporkthedork]

I know someone who drives 2 hours to get to a good vet, and they are a senior member.

If I had to, I'd drive a couple hours to get to a great, knowledgeable vet. I hope you would too.

Bakersfield to Beverly Hills is 110 miles, while Bakersfield to Diamond Bar is about 140.

There are other factors involved as well. Bakersfield is kind of in the desert area of California (on the way to Vegas). I don't think the chameleon would appreciate a long car drive through the desert heat. Also 110 miles can be longer than it sounds with California and LA traffic. Sometimes a 3-4 hour trip to Vegas can turn into a 6 hour hell in the middle of the desert because a car over heated in the middle of the road because it kept its AC on. I wouldn't risk it. If it weren't for those two factors, I would say go for it if you have the time and money to do such a trip.

 

[reptilemancan]

There are other factors involved as well. Bakersfield is kind of in the desert area of California (on the way to Vegas). I don't think the chameleon would appreciate a long car drive through the desert heat. Also 110 miles can be longer than it sounds with California and LA traffic. Sometimes a 3-4 hour trip to Vegas can turn into a 6 hour hell in the middle of the desert because a car over heated in the middle of the road because it kept its AC on. I wouldn't risk it. If it weren't for those two factors, I would say go for it if you have the time and money to do such a trip.

hope your cham can recover soon, post some pics after he looks better, i want to see his colors!

 

[dondeb562]

Just for the record that is Dr. Greeks old office. You can get all his info on his web site www.tomgreek.com
I hope your cham recovers quickly. You may want a second opinion. What tests were ran for a $300 office visit?? Are they going to be calling with any results??

 

[dondeb562]

Just curious, do you have any updated pix from the ones you posted last month? Has it gotten worse?

 

[skyedog]

A second opinion could be helpful. I brought my mellers to a vet several weeks ago and the care he was telling me to give the mellers was completely off as far as temperature to keep him and things like that. Even though the vet is highly recommended around here I question the familiarity of mellers chameleons to some vets. The vet I went to charged me $430 for a checkup, an injection of baytril and some baytril to take him home with. The bill was the same when I went back to have more bloodwork done on him. Best wishes for a speedy recovery with your Mellers

 

[Syn]

Spork - I completely understand the heat issues - I don't have air conditioning so I have to bring a spray bottle for my vet visits.

I'm just giving you other options in the case that your vet isn't really being 100% truthful with you, or they are trying to just get money out of you.

All vets aside, I wish your chameleon a speedy recovery.

(P.S., for the vet I plan on visiting soon, he's about an hour and a half away, with no AC, so I'm still trying to figure that out LOL, probably just going to bring a spray bottle and my Digital thermometer.)

 

[dante8858]

Syn, Bakersfield and LA area where the other two vets are are many miles apart. Once again check information before giving it to people.
In this case your idea isn't practial for anyone, you should try to use what you know not what other people say or do. You can be much more helpful if people are able to feel they can rely on what you say because it comes from what you know.

Thank you...I really am not going to drive three hours to go to a vet! That is also depending on the traffic it could take 5 hours to get to one of those vets! Ichi is already stressed just from the 20 minute drive to the vet yesterday so there is no way (unless I really have to) I would drive to LA to go to a vet! Thanks anyways....and I really like this vet that I saw she knew what she was doing and she came highly recommended!

 

[dante8858]

There are other factors involved as well. Bakersfield is kind of in the desert area of California (on the way to Vegas). I don't think the chameleon would appreciate a long car drive through the desert heat. Also 110 miles can be longer than it sounds with California and LA traffic. Sometimes a 3-4 hour trip to Vegas can turn into a 6 hour hell in the middle of the desert because a car over heated in the middle of the road because it kept its AC on. I wouldn't risk it. If it weren't for those two factors, I would say go for it if you have the time and money to do such a trip.

YES!!! I went to Oceanside last weekend with my family to go to the beach and to lllreptile. It should only take three hours but with the traffic it took 5 and for about an hour of it we were at a standstill in almost 90 degree weather!

 

[dante8858]

Just for the record that is Dr. Greeks old office. You can get all his info on his web site www.tomgreek.com
I hope your cham recovers quickly. You may want a second opinion. What tests were ran for a $300 office visit?? Are they going to be calling with any results??[/QUOTE
It really wasn't that much...it was a good 60 dollars less! He had two biopsy done and that was 90 some odd dollars, he had the exam almost 40 dollars, cream that was about 20, doing the culture from the biopsy another 85, then his shot which I can't remember the cost so in all the visit yesterday was in the 240's. It actually came back about 50 dollars cheaper than estimated. In about seven to ten days they will call with the results from his biopsy and then let me know where to go from there.

 

[dante8858]

Just curious, do you have any updated pix from the ones you posted last month? Has it gotten worse?

When I get home tonight I can upload a photo I took after the vets visit. I have a crappy camera so I don't know if you will be able to tell.....