HELP ASAP PLEASE

Emilyautumn24 said:
I thought that too, I asked if I could bring her in ASAP and they shit me down right when I said chameleon. :(
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Forget about an appointment, wasting time. Just show up at the emergency vet. You show up with a dying animal and they are not going to turn you away. Remember, they became a vet because they love animals too, or just couldn’t cut it as a human doctor! Either way they will not just sit back and watch you two suffer.

These are her last two options:
1- show up unannounced, or
2- put her out of her misery.
 
Brodybreaux25 said:
Forget about an appointment, wasting time. Just show up at the emergency vet. You show up with a dying animal and they are not going to turn you away. Remember, they became a vet because they love animals too, or just couldn’t cut it as a human doctor! Either way they will not just sit back and watch you two suffer.

These are her last two options:
1- show up unannounced, or
2- put her out of her misery.
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I will be heading there. Any tips on transporting her with least amount of stress possible?
 
Brodybreaux25 said:
Show box. You want something that blocks out all light. If the vet is more than a few mins away they typically go to sleep. You can put a sturdy stick in there two if you want. Just make sure it doesn’t roll around.
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Thank you so much I am going there now. I hope she makes it.
 
Brodybreaux25 said:
Forget about an appointment, wasting time. Just show up at the emergency vet. You show up with a dying animal and they are not going to turn you away. Remember, they became a vet because they love animals too, or just couldn’t cut it as a human doctor! Either way they will not just sit back and watch you two suffer.
Click to expand...

1. Or just couldn’t cut it as a human doctor? Do you realize that it is much harder to get into veterinary school than human medical school? It is the same amount of schooling for a DVM as an MD and yet at the end of it a veterinarian can treat a great number of species, a factor that you are banking on with your suggestion. And not only that, but can perform a much wider variety of services and procedures on a daily basis than any MD I’ve met. Everything from pediatrics, preventative care, surgery, dentistry, radiology, oncology, ophthalmology, etc. Vets don’t go to vet school because they couldn’t get into med school. In fact, it’s the other way around with people unable to get into vet school going to medical school instead. Vets go to vet school because it’s their passion.

2. Reptiles however are not every vet’s passion and not many are comfortable with their unique and specialized care. Especially in the emergency vet world where it is almost exclusively dogs and cats. It is much more worthwhile to find a reptile vet than just rush to any vet who may not even know what the best solution is in this particular and delicate instance. They won’t sit back and let her suffer, but they may not know the best way to help her. Hopefully that’s not the case. And just for clarity’s sake, human hospitals are required to help people. Veterinary hospitals are not under the same obligation, especially when it’s a species they may not be comfortable with. It’s not fair to the animal to not be able to provide best medicine. Poor medicine could in fact kill a delicate critter like a chameleon. So yes, they absolutely may turn you away even if you show up with a dying chameleon for fear of doing more harm than good.

I hope for all the best for this girl.

For those insisting that any vet can call in a reptile vet or teleconference with one I would just like to say that I WISH this was the case everywhere. Unfortunately the veterinary world is not set up like that, at least not yet. Very experienced reptile vets are hard to come by and are not exactly readily available at all hours of the day and night. For example, I am always happy to help when I am contacted by another vet by email or call, but not always at that moment. I have a full work schedule I have to account for first as my patients are waiting. And when I’m off of work I have a family that I owe my time to. Reptile vets aren’t common enough to have a service available at all times. It’s not like human hospitals that always have multiple specialists available or on call at all times. It’s not for lack of wanting to help, I assure you! Just that most veterinary hospitals have less than 10 vets employed total, they can’t be all different specialists, especially reptile specialists when the majority of patients are dogs and cats. I just want everyone to know how this kind of things work because unreasonable expectations don’t set anyone up for success.
 
ferretinmyshoes said:
Or just couldn’t cut it as a human doctor? Do you realize that it is much harder to get into veterinary school than human medical school?
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Respectfully, your completely misinterpreting that part of my post. It was a joke. I’ve obviously struck a nerve with you, it was not my intent.

The OP had exhausted every other option as far as getting the Cham to an emergency or reptile vet. OP made several posts saying this. It was either show up at the vet unannounced in the hopes of them possibly hooking the OP up with someone that could help them or to just sit back and watch this girl die. it’s much easier to turn someone away over the phone than it is to do it in person. I feel the vet and his office would put more effort into finding help for anything they can’t do when your looking them in the eye, not over the phone. That’s all I’m saying.

If both of those options are bad advice what would you have done?

What is the correct course of action here?
 
As Brodybreaux said, filling out the form completely is extremely helpful. I recommend getting her to a vet; then, once she’s stable, sit down and fill out the form in detail. This not only helps us get a clearer picture of your cham’s life, but saves you time if you ever need help again: you can just copy and paste.

Anyways, you’re in good hands here, and best wishes to you and yours!
 
Brodybreaux25 said:
Respectfully, your completely misinterpreting that part of my post. It was a joke. I’ve obviously struck a nerve with you, it was not my intent.
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It’s not a joke, it’s an insult. Veterinarians are paid less than a human nurse and have the highest rate of suicide of any profession. It’s not a joke to demean them while at the same time expecting them to know everything about every species and be available 24/7. It’s why vets feel so helpless in the public eye. Be kind to your veterinarian because the struggle of wanting to help your patient while being unable to do so, whether it be lack of knowledge about that species, lack of funds, or watching them die despite all the best efforts to intervene weighs extremely heavy on the soul. Just like some mechanics will turn you away if they don’t work on your type of car vets can turn away species they don’t have the knowledge of expertise for. Not for lack of caring by any means. It’s worse if they try to treat it like a dog and it’s wrong and they cause death. Then it’s pitchforks for the vet that “took her money” and “let it die”. No winning.

I still would have waited for a competent reptile vet to be available. This is complicated by it being a holiday weekend. But if she dies before being seen in a day or two then not even the best vet in the world was going to be able to save her anyway. The best thing would have been to have her seen weeks ago. Sometimes it’s just too late. I know it was not the OP’s intent by any means. But sending her on a wild goose chase with a very sick chameleon is possible more stress than that very sick chameleon can handle and it could just make it worse to be dragged around in a box for hours. That’s too much stress when she’s already on the edge. It is not in the best interest of the animal we’re all trying to save.
 
MissSkittles said:
@Emilyautumn24 I don’t believe anyone is being intentionally rude. Please don’t take my comment as being rude or snippy as I don’t mean it to be. In my short time on the forums I’ve seen many people asking for help and are told their cham needs immediate veterinary care and for some reason don’t listen, leading to very poor outcomes of unnecessary suffering and death of chams. Bottom line - your girl needs a vet yesterday.
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I see the rudeness.
 
ferretinmyshoes said:
It’s not a joke, it’s an insult.
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Again, if this offended you, it was not my intent. I never suggested the OP should insist on the cat/dog vet treating her Cham. I suggested showing up without an appointment because she would have far more experience and contacts at her disposal than she would if she only spoke to the secretary over the phone. Even if no one at that office could treat her on the spot there is a much greater chance that she’d come across someone who could say maybe, make a phone call to someone who was capable of treating her. There is no chance of that happening over the phone.

I agree that this wasn’t an ideal situation but doing nothing is a death sentence. Yes the box would be stressful but I think it’s worth the risk. We have a difference of opinion.

@Emilyautumn24 can we get an update?
 
"So I'm gonna have a vet check us out. Oh I'll take a vet over an M.D. anyday. They gotta be able to cure a lizard, a chicken, a pig and a frog all in the same day."
 
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