freezing urate samples?

leetsauce09

leetsauce09

New Member
My chameleon has a vet appointment this morning, but she hasn't pooped for about 2 days. The last time she did, I froze it, with the intent of asking here if anyone knew if parasites would still be noticeable in frozen/thawed urate. I'd really like to have the vet look at it, just to be safe.
Hopefully she'll poop before 10 A.M. and I won't have to worry about it, but just in case..
 
leetsauce09 said:
My chameleon has a vet appointment this morning, but she hasn't pooped for about 2 days. The last time she did, I froze it, with the intent of asking here if anyone knew if parasites would still be noticeable in frozen/thawed urate. I'd really like to have the vet look at it, just to be safe.
Hopefully she'll poop before 10 A.M. and I won't have to worry about it, but just in case..
Click to expand...
Howdy,

The urates won't tell you much about parasites but they do give a good indication of hydration levels and kidney function. You need a fecal sample - "poop" - for a parasite check. Freezing the urates is no problem. Freezing poop could potentially damage certain parasites beyond recognition. It will certainly kill any live swimmers like flagellates etc. The best is fresh within an hour, 2nd best is within a day and no refrigeration, 3rd is a couple of days with refrigeration, 4th is a few days without refrigeration and dead last is freezing :eek:
 
Dave Weldon said:
Howdy,

The urates won't tell you much about parasites but they do give a good indication of hydration levels and kidney function. You need a fecal sample - "poop" - for a parasite check. Freezing the urates is no problem. Freezing poop could potentially damage certain parasites beyond recognition. It will certainly kill any live swimmers like flagellates etc. The best is fresh within an hour, 2nd best is within a day and no refrigeration, 3rd is a couple of days with refrigeration, 4th is a few days without refrigeration and dead last is freezing :eek:
Click to expand...

That is a very useful snippet of information Dave!
 
Thanks for the info everyone :)
Took Emmy to the vet today because she hasn't been well. Turns out she's only 2-3 months old, and I realized I have only owned her for one month instead of two...losing track of time I suppose.
But anyway, she was loaded with coccidiosis, which she's now being treated for, as well as being on the skinny/dehydrated side due to not eating/drinking. I'm supposed to force-feed her pedialyte and a special type of a/d dog/cat food for the next week until her next check-up. Since she's been home and gotten some fluids and food into her she seems to have perked up a bit.
Here's to hoping that continues.

It's good I don't have kids...they'd take second to the chameleon :p
 
leetsauce09 said:
...she was loaded with coccidiosis, which she's now being treated for...
Click to expand...
Howdy,

What drugs is she getting for the coccidia? Ponazuril is currently the chameleon community's drug of choice for that parasite. If she is being treated with Albon or one of the others, keep a close eye on her condition. Those other drugs can have side-effects with chameleons that sometimes send them into a tailspin :eek:.

What part of the world are you located :)?
 
It is Albon, unfortunately. As soon as I looked it up and saw other opinions about it, I kinda worried a bit. But, I'm gonna remain optimistic and hope for the best. I'll see how she reacts to it, and if it's not good, I'll phone the vet to see if it'd be okay to give her less than suggested. She has an appointment next week, so if things don't go as planned, I'll say something about other medication options.

I'm located in Pennsylvania at the moment, California within a year hopefully :D

*EDIT*
Veiled is 8 grams (bit on the small side).
Suggested dosage for Albon is 0.08cc every 24 hours for 5 days, then every 48 hours for 2 weeks.
 
I am strongly opposed to feeding any chameleon (sick or well) any kind of dog or cat food.
There is way too much preformed vitamin A, which can be the source of a myriad of problems including hypervitaminosis and a reduction in the ability to absorb calcium.
Does your vet have experience treating chameleons?
Adcham has a recipe that is very good when force feeding is required, which in my opinion is in extreme situations only.

-Brad
 
The vet I started taking her to has owned veileds in the past, and seems to at least know more about chams than any other vets I've talked to.
The food she gave me is mainly to get some weight on my cham so she can better handle her meds properly.
It's Hill's Prescription Diet a/d canine and feline.
Ingredients listed on the back:
8.5% protein, 5.25% fat, 0.5% fiber, 78% moisture, 2.2% ash, 0.18% calcium, 0.17% phosphorous, 0.019% magnesium, and 0.06% taurine. What that other ~5% is, isn't listed.
Anyone have comments on the food? Just outta curiousity.

*EDIT* again...
Is the bug juice recipe the one you're talking about Brad?
 
I am referring to the bug juice recipe.
I knew exactly what food your vet prescribed ... I would not feed it to a chameleon.

-Brad
 
Alright, well I just got back from getting some crickets and supers. Gonna give this bug juice a shot. I'm gonna take your word for it and stop feeding the cat/dog food. After her vet appointment next week, I'm going to find another vet for a second opinion and see what they have to say about her condition.
This is my first cham, and I feel really lousy for the condition she's in, but I appreciate the tips and pointers from everyone.
 
leetsauce09 said:
...Veiled is 8 grams (bit on the small side).
Suggested dosage for Albon is 0.08cc every 24 hours for 5 days, then every 48 hours for 2 weeks.
Click to expand...
Howdy,

Does the bottle list the strength? It might be the typical 50mg/ml strength. It is usually dosed at 50mg/kg. If yours is the 50mg/ml strength then from what I know, your dose would be more like 0.008cc(ml) which is waaay to small of a volume to accurately measure :eek:. Your vet may have supplied you with Albon that is diluted ~10:1 which would then be fine.
 
Yeah, I suppose I could have mentioned that lol. 10:1 is the exact dilution ratio.
On the plus side, Emmy took to the bug juice a hell of a lot better than the canned food. Still doesn't like a syringe in her mouth, but I can't say that I blame her.
 
Wow, thanks. That's definitely helpful. She seems to be getting used to the syringe a bit more now, thankfully.

Nice. Lehigh is a good school.
 
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