Waiting at the vet :(

[rlschwer]

I went to check on my girl and mist her enclosure, only to find her sitting on a branch, eyes tight shut and VERY sunken, and with extreme coloring. She opened her eyes when I picked her up, but made no move to escape and closed them right away. I'm currently sitting in my emergency vet's parking lot waiting on x-rays and hopefully a diagnosis, but have no idea what's wrong.
This morning Bonnie only ate one dubia, but I fed her earlier than normal and she had three superworms and a hornworm yesterday. She's been acting fine all week if roaming a bit more than usual. Any idea what it could be? She's showing gravid colors, but that's new in the last few hours, plus she laid a month or so ago.

 

[Grayson Payne]

I’m sorry. I can’t help as I don’t know much about females. I just want to say I hope everything goes well. Please update us on how it goes.

 

[rlschwer]

They say it looks like liver failure, she's going to be euthanized. No necropsy available because of Covid (I guess they're only doing possible infectious cases), so I'm going to open her up later and look. Currently crying in the car

 

[JacksJill]

I'm so sorry.

 

[kinyonga]

So sorry to hear that.

 

[CJ's Exotics]

I'm so sorry to hear that.

 

[nickeeyy]

I’m sorry to hear this as well; did your vet elaborate on the kidney failure, I.e. causes? remember I firmly believe they go from here to a better place ...

 

[MissSkittles]

I’m so sorry that you lost your girl. ? As hard as it is, have peace that you did act quickly and spared her unnecessary suffering.

 

[NikkiA]

I'm sorry for your loss.

 

[rlschwer]

Thank you all for your condolences. I opened her up last night (crying makes it a lot harder, apparently; I managed to slice my finger open despite never having done that in a year of semi-regular necropsy at my job) to see if I could find anything abnormal, since the vet couldn't offer necropsy services. It looks like she did have liver disease or at least some enlargement; laid flat, it was about the size of her head. She also had a cyst on one kidney that contained material about the consistency of a tonsil stone. I'm not going to post pictures because they are pretty graphic, but if anyone wants them for comparative purposes or to draw your own conclusions I can sent them. If anyone has ideas to prevent this from happening to my other two chameleons, please say. I can't believe she went from happy and roaming the house on Saturday to catatonic by Sunday afternoon, and now I'm terrified.

 

[kinyonga]

So sorry you had to do your own necropsy...and that you cut your
finger. I hope you are taking care of the finger.
At least you know that she was having issues.
Hopefully there's nothing going on with the other chameleons.

Regarding the others...Did they come from the same clutch as the one you lost? Same person/source?

Since your care (I assume) would be the same for all of them, maybe you should run your husbandry by us by answering the questions in the how to ask for help thread...or direct us to your answers if you've already done that..to see if anything stands out?

Again...sorry for your sudden loss.

 

[rlschwer]

One of the chameleons is from the same clutch (a sister), the other is an unrelated male. I did ask for advice once before (https://www.chameleonforums.com/thr...and-other-weird-behavior.174206/#post-1572781). I made a few updates since then; the cage has more branches and walkways (though it is currently deconstructed while I deep clean everything just in case, since it was split with Gert).
Food:
I was feeding each of the girls 2-3 small/med dubia (around 3/8") a day, plus one of the following on a rotational basis: one superworm, one hornworm, two black soldier flies, two blue bottle flies, one waxworm, one mealworm beetle, 3 newly hatched Chinese mantis. Hornworms are generally 2-3 times a week, while the others are less often.
Supplements:
These are mostly the same as last time (human-grade powdered calcium carbonate that I dust all feeders lightly with; One day each week, instead of plain calcium: flukers (it was on sale) calcium powder with D3 on weeks 1 and 3, Exo-terra multivitamin on week 2, and Miner-all indoor formula multivitamin on week 4). In addition (as of last month), twice a month I have been giving them each one superworm lightly dusted with Repashy Vitamin A. This is because my male started rubbing his eyes, and I read that could be due to a vitamin A deficiency from possibly not being able to metabolize beta carotene (He gets two supers, since he's about 2x the size of the girls). It seemed to solve his issue, and I wanted to prevent the girls from having the same.
I've been reading and it looks like chronic dehydration and vit A deficiencies are common causes of liver and kidney issues. I think I have the Bit A thing covered (could that have caused it and only showed up Sunday?!) Each of the chameleons has a dripper and plant I've SEEN them drink off of, a mister at night, and are sprayed down 1-3 times daily. I also have a pic of Bonnie from Friday night (was trying to describe pajama colors to a coworker), and she doesn't seem dehydrated, but maybe Saturday made the difference? The vet mentioned diet and stress could be contributors, but that you'll usually see a more gradual decline :/