My melleri might have cancer!!!

[chamlover]

In my previous thread "Huge Cyst" i showed pics of what i thought was a cyst. It had yellowish clear fluid coming out so i didn't think it was any more than that. But i was wrong. The vet says it is some sort of tumor and he is not sure if it is malignant or benign. He is having x-rays done next Mon to see if it can even be operated on, he doesn't know whether it is connected to the bone,in which case it would be inoperable. Has anyone come across this before? Is it very unusual for them to get cancer? I am so worried about my buddy any info would be greatly appreciated.

Debby

 

[ciafardo 4]

Im very sorry for your situation ihad a savanna monitor about 15 years ago who had what you are describing unfortunately it killed him the vet said they were malignant there was nothing they could do but he had multiple tumors they didnt ooze

 

[kinyonga]

One of my panther chameleons had cancer of the eye. The surgery to remove the eye also removed the cancer. It didn't come back (proven in the necropsy a long time later).

 

[Kat77]

Debby, maybe shoot Kristina an email. She had a Melleri with cancer that I read about on her site. She at least may be able to offer you some better moral support. I wish you the best of luck and I hope everything is alright, you are in my thoughts!

 

[studiocham]

melleri cancer

I think it is very unusual... I have only heard of my foundation female and one other female in the N East that had cancer. My female seemed totally normal, and was in her new home two months when she went slightly off. Her owner had her checked, and the vet's X-ray (memory fuzzy, may have been ultrasound) showed a shape near the ovary. An exploratory surgery revealed that it was not an egg, but a tumor that had metastasized. The main tumor on a kidney was being fed directly by an artery, so it could not be removed without risk of a bleedout. There was nothing to be done for her, so she was put down. The vet said that it was an aggressive, extremely fast, and rare cancer. If I'm not mistaken, he'd found it only once before in an iguana.

Unfortunately, the owner never sent me the necropsy/histo report or further information. He was absolutely devastated, and it felt like I was salting the wound every time I asked.

Years later, I wondered if using regular garden hoses to water the chameleons had caused it. It is now a known link to cancer in humans.

I've never seen a pelvis tumor before, I hope it is benign.

 

[littleliz]

garden hoses???? so what exactly is the problem with these?

 

[studiocham]

garden hoses???? so what exactly is the problem with these?

From the MD Outdoor Cage Dressing tutorial:

Regular garden hoses are not safe for drinking water, as they are made of recycled materials (recycled PVC with lead stabilizer). As the hose sits in the sun, lead leaches into the water. People may get cancer from this source, and a melleri watered with such hoses died of a rare cancer in 2005. We now know recycled hoses are a health risk, so please use only hoses described as the following:

boat/camper hose for drinking water
potable water hose
motorhome hookup drinking water hose
drinking water safe hose
100% virgin materials drinking water hose

A search for these on Amazon or Google will provide you with specialty retailers, or you can call local campgrounds and boat docks for suppliers. The safe hoses are NOT available at WalMart or regular hardware stores. Read the card of the hose carefully; the only warning some hoses give is, "this product is not labeled for sale in California". Some garden hoses only have a "not for drinking water" message molded (without ink) on the plastic cuff.

*************

That was my foundation female that died in late 2005. Here is the link that isn't showing up in the above quote:

http://www.cehca.org/news.htm scroll down to Aug 9, 2004

Since the above was written, WalMart stores now DO CARRY potable water hoses, in the 25' size, but you have to search for them. Sometimes they are in automotive, or with camping gear. The safe hoses are NOT displayed in the garden centers.

Apologies for the thread hijacking...

 

[Kat77]

From the MD Outdoor Cage Dressing tutorial:

Regular garden hoses are not safe for drinking water, as they are made of recycled materials (recycled PVC with lead stabilizer). As the hose sits in the sun, lead leaches into the water. People may get cancer from this source, and a melleri watered with such hoses died of a rare cancer in 2005. We now know recycled hoses are a health risk, so please use only hoses described as the following:

boat/camper hose for drinking water
potable water hose
motorhome hookup drinking water hose
drinking water safe hose
100% virgin materials drinking water hose

A search for these on Amazon or Google will provide you with specialty retailers, or you can call local campgrounds and boat docks for suppliers. The safe hoses are NOT available at WalMart or regular hardware stores. Read the card of the hose carefully; the only warning some hoses give is, "this product is not labeled for sale in California". Some garden hoses only have a "not for drinking water" message molded (without ink) on the plastic cuff.

*************

That was my foundation female that died in late 2005. Here is the link that isn't showing up in the above quote:

http://www.cehca.org/news.htm scroll down to Aug 9, 2004

Since the above was written, WalMart stores now DO CARRY potable water hoses, in the 25' size, but you have to search for them. Sometimes they are in automotive, or with camping gear. The safe hoses are NOT displayed in the garden centers.

Apologies for the thread hijacking...

That is really great to know Kristina. I do not do it myself, but I do know people who water their outdoor enclosures using hoses. I'll have to give them the heads up.