Took my Cham to the vet today....

[Bernie]

Hi all,

Being a new Cham owner I have found this forum extremely helpful and educational, so thankyou to all that have advised me.

I bought my Cham at 14 weeks old, he is now just under 5 months old. From day one I have been like a worried parent and have done my utmost for him to make sure he is healthy and happy.

His apetite has never been that big which has always been a concern for me. However, he is such an active healthy looking Cham that it never alarmed me. Some of you may have seen my threads recently talking about his vomiting and his potential worms previously.

After a course of worming he has continued to show no improvement with his vomiting and eating. So I decided to finally get him checked out.

The vet said he was very thin for his age, his stomach was empty and he weighed just 9grams. They have kept him in over night to take some tests and feed him via a tube to get some food in him (that he should keep down).

She is concerned that MBD could be setting in. He has had all of his food dusted from the first day but as he hasnt been eating very much and vomiting so he has been lacking calcium intake. Can MBD be cured if caught early enough?

She also fears he may have a parasite that is uncurable. Any idea what this is? And what implications it may have? I cant remember the name of it.

My girlfriend and I have done our very best for him from day one and treated him like a king. Its such a shame that we bought an ill Cham from a pet store. We just hope he can make a full recovery. If anyone out there has had a similar experience or can answer any of my questions they would be much appreciated.

Thanks.

Get well soon Karma!

 

[kinyonga]

You said..."She also fears he may have a parasite that is uncurable"...Coccidia?

MBD can be stopped so that no further damage occurs, but if you don't make the appropriate changes to his husbandry then it can return. Its an imbalance in nutrients...so if he doesn't eat enough and he doesn't get them some other way he will have the problem again.

 

[ataraxia]

a lack in appetite + vomiting, imo says parasites.

only other thought that comes to mind is possibly a organ defect since birth.

what was the course of action for the de worming? what drug/dosing?

 

[Bernie]

a lack in appetite + vomiting, imo says parasites.

only other thought that comes to mind is possibly a organ defect since birth.

what was the course of action for the de worming? what drug/dosing?

I grabbed a reptile wormer from a local shop. Not sure what drug It was but the name of the product was "Beaphar Wormer". I gave him the minimum dose as he is only small. This seemed to trigger the biggest turd i have ever seen him lay. But that's all it seemed to do.

 

[kinyonga]

You said..."After a course of worming he has continued to show no improvement with his vomiting and eating."...without doing a fecal test how do you know what parasite the chameleon had if any?

 

[Tazjunky]

if the vets havnt done so already, get a faecal test done as Kinyonga mentioned. sometimes this can be expensive having it done at the vet but seeing as though the chameleon is there, get it done!

I use a lab that is based in Cheshire http://www.palsvetlab.co.uk/ - basically you collect some samples of stool over 3 days then sent it off to them and they run the test for parasites etc for £12+vat. they then email you with the results within 24 hours of receiving the sample. then you can go to the vets and show them the report and get some proper medication prescribed. over the counter products are usually no good. especially the commercial ones. you might want to keep hold of these details for future use? i emailed them and they sent me some collecting pots, order forms for the tests and some prepaid envelopes to send the samples to them.

there is also a herbal remedy that has been used by alot of members on this forum, I myself have used it called Reptaid. it claims to be an immune system booster for chams and also a natural parasitic agent. its quite expensive but might be worth you having in, just for future use. it comes in 2 sizes Reptaid for reptiles under 250g and reptaid XL for those over 250g.
http://www.butterworms.co.uk/17-reptaid.html

I hope you cham gets better soon.

 

[Bernie]

Thanks everyone. Had news from the vets that Karma can come home this evening. Won't know the problem or any details until he is discharged but I will definitely report back.

I am hoping they did a fecal. He wasn't pooing properly and wasn't keep his food down when he ate. Hopefully they have managed to get a sample whilst in their hands.

Fingers crossed he has been diagnosed and treated and thats the end of it!

 

[Hoj]

just some warm wishes to Karma for a safe recovery, keep your head up sounds like you are doing what you can, be sure to get all the info you can from your vet..

 

[laurie]

Good news that he is coming home, let's just hope all is now well for the little one. Let us know what the vet has to say.

 

[Bernie]

He came home. The vet did a blood smear (too small for a blood test) which revealed hardly any white blood cells. Clearly he has been fighting something.

He now has antibiotics. We need to try and force feed him to get a poo so we can do a fecal to detect parasites.

Apparently he is the most feisty Cham she has ever come across, as most turn up almost dead.

So the positives are that he is active and possibly caught his illness just in time to make a full recovery.

 

[ataraxia]

best of luck to your cham! i hope for a good recovery and a POO!!

 

[bradleymarky]

if the vets havnt done so already, get a faecal test done as Kinyonga mentioned. sometimes this can be expensive having it done at the vet but seeing as though the chameleon is there, get it done!

I use a lab that is based in Cheshire http://www.palsvetlab.co.uk/ - basically you collect some samples of stool over 3 days then sent it off to them and they run the test for parasites etc for £12+vat. they then email you with the results within 24 hours of receiving the sample. then you can go to the vets and show them the report and get some proper medication prescribed. over the counter products are usually no good. especially the commercial ones. you might want to keep hold of these details for future use? i emailed them and they sent me some collecting pots, order forms for the tests and some prepaid envelopes to send the samples to them.

there is also a herbal remedy that has been used by alot of members on this forum, I myself have used it called Reptaid. it claims to be an immune system booster for chams and also a natural parasitic agent. its quite expensive but might be worth you having in, just for future use. it comes in 2 sizes Reptaid for reptiles under 250g and reptaid XL for those over 250g.
http://www.butterworms.co.uk/17-reptaid.html

I hope you cham gets better soon.

the link is showing on holiday until 7th june

 

[laurie]

I hope all goes well and that you did catch it in time.

 

[Bernie]

I thought I would report back with an update. Sadly my Cham was put to sleep this morning. He was around 5months old.

His course of antibiotics showed no sign of improvements. His fecal sample showed that he had Coccidia, however his condition had become so bad that we thought we would do him a favour. We were treating him for Coccidia, but the few days after his initial dose saw him become violenty sick and rapid rate of deterioration.

He was tube fed by myself for over a week however it was rare that he kept his food down.

Eventually weakness kicked in. His back legs had become like jelly, he was starting to sleep and his eyes were flickering. He was starting to lose his grip and slip/fall. He collapsed in my hands this morning, I actually thought he had died.

After a long talk with the vet we decided to let the vet put him to sleep. We couldnt bare to see him suffer anymore. The vet had done all she possibly could for him. R.I.P little guy, always loved and never forgotten.

 

[jannb]

I am very sorry for your loss. He was probably weak to began with from the coccidia and then the drug for coccidia probably made his weak condition worse. Ponazuril is the ONLY safe drug to use for coccidia.

 

[dreamforthedead]

Awww im very sorry for your loss. Poor little guy but you did the best thing for him.

 

[Bernie]

if the vets havnt done so already, get a faecal test done as Kinyonga mentioned. sometimes this can be expensive having it done at the vet but seeing as though the chameleon is there, get it done!

I use a lab that is based in Cheshire http://www.palsvetlab.co.uk/ - basically you collect some samples of stool over 3 days then sent it off to them and they run the test for parasites etc for £12+vat. they then email you with the results within 24 hours of receiving the sample. then you can go to the vets and show them the report and get some proper medication prescribed. over the counter products are usually no good. especially the commercial ones. you might want to keep hold of these details for future use? i emailed them and they sent me some collecting pots, order forms for the tests and some prepaid envelopes to send the samples to them.

there is also a herbal remedy that has been used by alot of members on this forum, I myself have used it called Reptaid. it claims to be an immune system booster for chams and also a natural parasitic agent. its quite expensive but might be worth you having in, just for future use. it comes in 2 sizes Reptaid for reptiles under 250g and reptaid XL for those over 250g.
http://www.butterworms.co.uk/17-reptaid.html

I hope you cham gets better soon.

Superb recommendation, I will definitely use those for future fecal samples. Thanks Tazjunky