This weekend, I decided to board Tycho with a pet-sitter, who specializes in small animals, especially birds. I asked her if she would be willing to sit a lizard, and after some discussion and assurance that I would give her detailed instructions, she agreed.
I took him there on Wednesday evening, and spent about an hour with the woman telling her all that she needs to do to keep him happy. This included the usual things like bathing, feeding, handling, and caring for.
Today, I went over there, and she said that she really really wants one. She said that he had been very active since Wednesday, and has been running around like crazy. He got a lot of baths, and lots of attention. She said she kept him on her the entire time she was just hanging out watching TV, or reading. He seemed to love it. He also went to the bathroom once for her. He had gone two days ago, so that was an excellent sign!
Today, I brought him home, and on the way, I decided to get him some food and see if he would try some other things than greens. I bought him some crickets and waxworms. He usually tends to not like crickets, and would prefer mealworms or superworms. I got rid of all the other worms that I had since I think that they impacted him once before. So, I bought a small tub of crickets for him, thinking that they would last for at least a few feedings. There were about twenty in there (there should have been thirty). I put them in one by one, and he just devoured them! He even ran after a couple of them. Before I knew it, he had completely eaten all of them. Then I put in some waxworms, and lo and behold, he ate ten of those! And, when he was finished, he even had some greens to boot.
I just gave him a bath, and he even drank a whole bunch. He still cannot recognize water, even when he's sitting in it. So, I have to drip some on his nose, and he drinks it that way.
Today is the 26th of November, which is almost a week after his supposed impending death by that evil veterinarian. I can't believe how much of a recovery he has made. He's better than he's been in a very long time, and seemed to have gotten over whatever he was going through.
Tomorrow, we set up his new cage for him, and I will need to spend some time setting him up with lights and decorations. I'm so glad that he's back to his old self!
He also just had six more waxworms as a nightcap before turning in for the night.
What a difference a good doctor makes! I am still in shock! I drove the 30+ miles to get to the Littleton Animal Hospital. I saw the doctor, who literally fawned over Tycho the entire time. She said that he is indeed, a little dehydrated, but since he looks so alert and aware, there's no reason for concern. She gave him a full exam, and she said that she felt something "tubular" in his gut, which might be just constipation. She did not seem worried at all. She even complimented me on having such a good looking lizard! He was such a trooper as she prodded and poked and felt him up.
The doctor was gentle, sweet, and knew exactly how to handle him, and how to calm him down. She even wrapped him up at one point, and cradled him, and he just looked so content. He didn't puff himself up once, his beard didn't turn black or anything. He just let her do what she needed to do, and when he got antsy, he would take off, and she would gently calm him down.
Since he hadn't had blood work in the past, she thought it would be best to do it, just to be on the safe side. His breathing hard didn't really bother her. She gave him a lot of fluids, which resulted in two "bumps" on his back, which she said he would gradually absorb.
Today I gave him a bath, and boy was he psyched! He splashed around, and kept splashing water on his back (is that normal??). He even dipped his entire beard under water, and drank a whole bunch. That was after I had given him a lot of water.
What the doc thinks, however, since we moved from a very hot weather to a colder one, that he might start brumating. He's never really done it in the past, but it might just be normal for him.
So... the next course of action is this. The blood test result should come back by Monday, and she will call and tell me what's up. I have to get him a fecal sample, so she can rule out any worm/parasite problems (indicated by the "bad smell", maybe). But, if everything turns out okay, then it's time for me to just let him be. He's going through a very normal process!
I have to get him a little "log that he can sleep under in case that's what he's doing.
Again, all seems okay with him for right now. Monday, I'll learn more.
BUT.... all that said... HE IS NOT ON DEATH'S DOOR like that other evil vet told us! His weight was fine, and no reason for concern! He didn't look like he's starving to death. That evil vet scared the living daylights out of us! We were so scared, we even thought to put him outside at night, and euthanise him, because there was no hope. I'm so glad we decided against it!
Man oh man. Depending on what the doc says on Monday, we might report the unethical and inhumane treatment we got at that stupid clinic.
Tycho today looks great, and almost back to normal. He's very altert and active. He ate almost a half a bowl full of food today. His breathing is still a little disconcerning. I called over to the vet's office, and they refuse to see him or prescribe antibiotics, because the vet is convinced that he needs radiation, and blood test, etc. etc. I asked if I can get some meds for him, while I wait and see what's going on, and they refused. The next available appointment they have is not until after thanksgiving. But, they still refuse to make one for me, because "you can't wait another week, because you might not have a beardie by then". Right. Thanks for the concern.
Somehow, I wonder if this is ethical.
So, tomorrow I made another appointment at another clinic that's 30+ miles away to go see another vet, and hopefully get another opinion.
If he confirms that Tycho is in fact severely ill, and needs hospitalization ASAP (which is what the vet here said), then it's probably something along those lines, and I'll have to consider what the best course of action. I just hope he's much nicer than the one here. I really really didn't like her.
But, I know why she seemed like a complete bitch. She's the only doctor in that entire clinic, and they have an appointment booked solid every fifteen minutes. It's been like that for a few weeks. The other vet is on maternity leave. I would totaly lose my bedside manners if the entire clinic was riding on my attention. It's very easy to miss a lot of things.
Tycho the lizzard seems to have bounced back like the trooper he is. The first day he came back from the doc's, he was miserable, and looked like he was on death's door. The follow day, I got him some supplements, and started (force) feeding him. He hated them! The smell was repulsive, but I don't know if it had any effect or not. Two days later of that regimen, he looked like he was bouncing back. In fact, two days ago, he actually ate almost three plates of greens! And I've been supplementing with vitamins and everything.
I got home tonight, and he had been laying there on top of his "house" that I built him. He looked like he was fighting sleep. I took him out to give him his calcium supplement. And as soon as I put him back, he perked right up! And started scratching like mad to get out of the cage. Took him out, and put him on the bed, on which he ran around for a while. We thought he was hungry, and B went to get him some food. BUT.... he wasn't hungry!
And all that scratching wasn't just because he wanted to come out. He had to go to the bathroom! He was doing the "i gotta go potty really really bad" dance. So, we rushed him back to his cage... and...well... I had to leave the room. He definitely has an upper respiratory infection. I can tell that. And, he definitely is not dehydrated! So, after two baths, and some cleanup, he went back in there. He looks so much lighter.
So why is this significant? Because, a) he will not go in his cage no matter what, unless he is absolutely desperate, and b) he has to be on a soft thing when he goes! It's the strangest thing. I had put a little towel with him in the cage to make him comfortable two days ago, and well, I had to throw that out. The day before he went to the doc, same thing happened. I put him on a small towel, under a heat lamp, and sure enough... it didn't take any time for him to soil that. I gotta buy him a bunch of towels to keep with him, because he's going through them like crazy.
This is insane behavior for a lizard. I've never heard of such a thing! I'm very puzzled.
I woke up this morning to find Tycho has completely perked up! His eyes are wide open, and while he seems to still be relatively low key, he looks tons better. And, the area surrounding his eye has started peeling, indicating that he's going through another shed! As the morning has progressed, he seems wide awake/alert, and while he's still not really eating, he's back to scratching on the glass wanting to come out! He's also made full use of the small towel that I put in his cage yesterday. He has his arms around it (when he's laying still), and has decided that it makes a very comfortable seat for him.
I really hope he pulls through. He's about 300% better than he was yesterday! He scared the bejeesus out of us last night. Today, he seems about 70% back to his old rambunctious self. I need to get him some greens, and a new UV light, and a thermometer to keep track of the temperature in his cage. We'll just be waiting and seeing how he does in the next few days.
My pet bearded dragon of eleven years is on his last breath. I doubt he'll make it past the night, and if he does, I really don't want him to go on for too much longer. This is the worst I've ever seen him. He just is not reacting any longer. It's very sad to see him that way. If anyone is interested, they can read B's journal where he talks about what's going on.
Also, my mom just went in the hospital today. She's due for a second mastectomy tomorrow, and reconstructive surgery. She's supposed to be in the hospital until Monday. The good thing is that this is a routine operation, and very common. The bad thing, of course, she's at a very high risk of deep vein thrombosis (she's on blood thinner since she's developed two very bad clots in the past), and they're worried of complications from the blood thinner. The other bad thing is that neither one of her kids is with her. She's very far away, and despite my insistance on coming to be with her, she's refused. She just doesn't want me to see her in the hospital. We don't see each other very often, and she wants us to enjoy our time, and not be at the hospital.
I am not having a good time emotionally these days.
Not even the Muppet Show could cheer me up, despite the episode with Charles Aznavour.
Tycho is about to shed, and he's starting to rub his chin on the ground. I just gave him a bath, and after he was done drinking, he tried to jump out, and scratched the heck out of me. After his bath, I usually wrap him in a towel so he warms up a bit before jumping back out. This is a picture of him after his bath wrapped in a towel. He's all clean now, and I just put him back in his cage so he can sleep. He's up way past his bed time right now.
I hadn't realized how long it's been since I last updated this blog. I'm now in Worcester, MA, and have been for almost three weeks. The period of adjustment is challenging, as with all adjustment periods. I have been cleaning my office (pictures will be in another post), and wanted to get all the pictures off my phone before I make any new ones.
The quality is not the best, but I really don't have the time to futz around with them.
It took four days to drive from Tallahassee, FL to Worcester, MA. The trip was long, but definitely not too exhausting, except for the day that I passed through DC and CT, and got lost on the way, and ended up spending 11 hours on the road in the car. CT has aweful traffic!
This is the first picture of Tycho helping me read the directions. The cooler is right below him. He's so helpful.
Here's another one of him hanging out. At one point, he discovered that he can get himself up to the area that's under the back window, and spent about an hour running back and forth from side to side of the window, scratching, and eventually he would just settle down and just hang out. Eventually, he would get himself back to the cooler, and slowly but surely he would fall asleep. But, sometimes the excitement got to be too much for him, and he would literally refuse to sleep. As active as he was, he only bothered me once while I was driving, and I simply moved him away. That was enough for him to learn that he should not be getting too close to me. He just learned how to entertain himself very well.
I actually miss him being in the car with me now when I drive somewhere. He was such a good lizzard the entire way.
