Finally Got to the Vet

CaptainMorgantown

New Member
Hey everyone,

I finally got to take my MBD Cham to the vet today, but it was a rather useless visit. He did not give me any shots for her or anything like that. He gave me a bag of this stuff called Carnivore Care. Its a powder that I have to mix with water and give to her twice a day with a syringe. I actually have a small bag of this stuff that I use for my frogs whenever they go on hunger strikes, which kind of makes me a bit upset that this is all he gave me. I got the smaller bag about a year ago at a speciality pet store for ten dollars.

Anyway, not only did I not get any injections for her, he also did a fecal that I did not ask for, and that he did not tell me he was going to do, that cost me twenty dollars. I didn't even find out he did it until I got up to the counter to pay for it. Not only did I not learn anything new or helpful from him, but I honestly feel like it was a wasted $90, and being a college student, that's a lot of money to me. I would not have cared at all if he would have given me what I needed, but I don't feel like this stuff is going to help her at all. I gave some to her when I got home, and she hated it. She kept trying to get it out of her mouth, and she has never done that with anything I've even gave her. Plus, the vet said not to give her anything else for about two or three months.

I don't know what to do. I literally have no more money for the rest of the month unless I sell my books early, so going back or going to a different vet. What do you guys think I should do?

Also, I don't mean to sound angry or like I'm giving up or anything, I'm just very frustrated at this point.
 
What did the vet say would correct the MBD since he didn't give her injections?
Did he say anything at all about the MBD?
 
He just kept saying that it was going to be a long time before she gets back to leading a fairly normal life. He also kept saying she is about at 25% right now, and the best we can hope for is that she gets up to 70%. The only other thing that I can think of is that he told me to contact him in about a month and a half with her progress. That's literally all he said about her condition. The rest was about their husbandry and things like that.
 
You could buy some liquid calcium sandoz or gluconate at a pharmacy and give the chameleon some in a needleless syringe or eye dropper...but its syrupy so you need to give it a little at a time to prevent it from being aspirated (ending up in the lungs) and to allow it to swallow it more easily. I'm not a fan of carnivore care because it usually contains D3 and prEformed vitamin A.
 
Its not intended to correct the nutrient imbalance IMHO...its to make sure the chameleon gets enough food to eat.

The trouble is that if the imbalance isn't corrected quickly it can continue to make the chameleon worse.
 
That is disappointing and I share your frustration with the situation. :( He was right about the long time to heal and that she may not make it back to 100% though. There are lots of things you can do at home to get her back on track however. The carnivore care is to give her the calories and energy she needs to heal, which is important. However, if she is interested in food and eating on her own then by all means let her! I agree with kinyonga that it's not necessarily the best option for chameleons, but if she's not eating then she does need the nutrients. If she will eat on her own this is a situation where good gutloading is absolutely critical! https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/ferretinmyshoes/446-basics-gutloading.html She needs as much calcium as possible to replace the deficit so she can begin to repair the damage. Just regular maintenance levels of calcium are not enough. Make sure every feeder is dusted with a calcium powder (no phosphorus or D3) and use the calcium rich food for gutloading. Then you'll need to get the liquid calcium as kinyonga suggested:
You could buy some liquid calcium sandoz or gluconate at a pharmacy and give the chameleon some in a needleless syringe or eye dropper...but its syrupy so you need to give it a little at a time to prevent it from being aspirated (ending up in the lungs) and to allow it to swallow it more easily. I'm not a fan of carnivore care because it usually contains D3 and prEformed vitamin A.

The liquid calcium really jumpstarts the calcium levels and is the first step on the right track. This should be given several times a week for at least 2 months and should be in addition to the things mentioned above. Just one of these options is not enough, she'll need all of them together. To be honest you would have needed to do all of this even if you had gotten calcium injections so you're not that far behind. They do recover slowly with their slow reptilian metabolism so be prepared for that. We are happy to offer as much guidance as possible!
 
Its either calcium gluconate or calcium sandoz. All it really is is liquid calcium. It shouldn't cost more than a few dollars. I don't live where you do so I don't know the price for sure.
 
I have a chameleon with a broken bone, she was prescribed calcium glubionate(liquid calcium) I am to administer .05cc per day. I don't know what dosage you would want to use to treat MBD. I am going to the vet tomorrow at 1pm with another cham of mine. I can ask questions for you if you like.
 
That sucks. There really is no chameleon experienced vets in that area. Im from New Martinsville. I would go with what Kinyonga said and get the liquid calcium. Other than that the closest chameleon savy vet is in Northern VA. The place is called SEAVS but that is a good 3 or 4 hours from you.
 
Oh man, I just saw the picture of him:( Its sad a person can let an animal get like that. Its obvious something was wrong for a while. Hopefully you can turn him around but if he dies just know you did what you could for him.
 
Hey everyone,

Anyway, not only did I not get any injections for her, he also did a fecal that I did not ask for, and that he did not tell me he was going to do, that cost me twenty dollars.

FWIW, A fecal is always a good thing so you know just what parasites this cham is carrying. I agree that he should have told you he was going to do one but it is a baseline test that should be done on new animals. A massive overpopulation of parasites can complicate other health problems.
 
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