Cat Attack

Tuesday I had a beardie out (he is about 6-8 months old, I got him at a pet store so I’m not sure) and I set him on my desk while I was coloring. I stood up to go get my phone off my bed and I turned around and he wasn’t there. All my family came to help look for him and my mom found him in our living room hissing and puffed out with our cat walking down the hallway.
I rushed over and I saw blood... I freaked out and my sister picked him up and put him in his tank, we called the vet and about 15 minutes later we were on our way to the closet reptile vet that was 1 hour away.
He looked dead in the car but he started to move around some in the car. The vet took him back and said he was stable and then the main doctor came in. He has 4 definite wounds (by his neck, his side, his armpit area, and his back) and they couldn’t tell him blood just splatteredi to his ear or if he banged his head.
They gave me instructions on how to clean his wounds and medicine to give him daily to hopefully prevent infections... he managed to jump onto his hammock yesterday but he seems worse today and I’m worried he’s going to die...
I tried to get him to eat his roaches (Dubai) and he didn’t, but he did eat not even a bite of watermelon... the vet said to let him bask in his light and he won’t have any desire to eat for a while because it will hurt. I’m not sure what to do I feel horrible

You did the right thing, what meds. is he on, what is the dose and how long will he be on them ? Antibiotics can affect the appetite so it would be good to get a probiotic if you can get him to take them. And yes, the stress is a factor as well so it's natural that he may not want to eat. See how he does after a few days or so and tempt him with his fave insects. If he is very stressed when you give him the meds you might inject them in to a juicy hornworm and he may gobble that up.

I hope he comes good but it depends on how quickly you got him to the vet ….
> the damage done while being thrown about and caught with claws and fangs
> what organ damage has been done
> what damage was done to the neck and spine
> how effective the broad spectrum antibiotics are , did anyone think to take the cat to the vet to allow swabs from it's mouth / fangs and claws to make sure the antibiotics will be effective against the viruses and bacteria that are certain to be present at pathogenic levels there ?

I hope now everyone in you family will take proper steps to protect him from that vicious cat (ie when he's out the cat is locked in cage or the laundry).
You are going to have to be extra vigilant from now on because the cat know about the lizard and will be extremely hard to keep away from it and it's tank.

The tank must be made cat proof or one day the cat will find a way into the room where it is and it WILL get through the mesh on the lid (wire mesh is no deterrent to a determined cat) and it will savage the dragon ("play" with it / torture it for the fun of it).
This is one way to cat proof a top opening glass tank : viewtopic.php?f=75&t=240221&p=1840683&hilit=cat+proof#p1840683

this is another way to cat proof a glass top opening tank (by turning it on it's side) : viewtopic.php?f=34&t=244922&p=1863668#p1863668

AHBD":1jftyjnc said:

You did the right thing, what meds. is he on, what is the dose and how long will he be on them ? Antibiotics can affect the appetite so it would be good to get a probiotic if you can get him to take them. And yes, the stress is a factor as well so it's natural that he may not want to eat. See how he does after a few days or so and tempt him with his fave insects. If he is very stressed when you give him the meds you might inject them in to a juicy hornworm and he may gobble that up.

Click to expand...

I’m not quite sure what he is on, but the vet said it’s an antibiotic to help fight off and protect against infections. Since he is only 22 grams he is taking .002 mm everyday for 14 days

kingofnobbys":3ilv516u said:

I hope he comes good but it depends on how quickly you got him to the vet ….
> the damage done while being thrown about and caught with claws and fangs
> what organ damage has been done
> what damage was done to the neck and spine
> how effective the broad spectrum antibiotics are , did anyone think to take the cat to the vet to allow swabs from it's mouth / fangs and claws to make sure the antibiotics will be effective against the viruses and bacteria that are certain to be present at pathogenic levels there ?

I hope now everyone in you family will take proper steps to protect him from that vicious cat (ie when he's out the cat is locked in cage or the laundry).
You are going to have to be extra vigilant from now on because the cat know about the lizard and will be extremely hard to keep away from it and it's tank.

The tank must be made cat proof or one day the cat will find a way into the room where it is and it WILL get through the mesh on the lid (wire mesh is no deterrent to a determined cat) and it will savage the dragon ("play" with it / torture it for the fun of it).
This is one way to cat proof a top opening glass tank : viewtopic.php?f=75&t=240221&p=1840683&hilit=cat+proof#p1840683

this is another way to cat proof a glass top opening tank (by turning it on it's side) : viewtopic.php?f=34&t=244922&p=1863668#p1863668

Click to expand...

I rearranged my room about 2 months ago so the cat can’t get into his tank... it’s on a tall dresser. She can’t jump on it (she’s tried and couldn’t even reach where the tank starts). We took him to the vet not even 2 hours after it happened, and the vet said that no organs seemed to be damaged, and he might have a broken rib, but it just has to heal. We did not take the cat

Ag201":2tnxwgcs said:

AHBD":2tnxwgcs said:

You did the right thing, what meds. is he on, what is the dose and how long will he be on them ? Antibiotics can affect the appetite so it would be good to get a probiotic if you can get him to take them. And yes, the stress is a factor as well so it's natural that he may not want to eat. See how he does after a few days or so and tempt him with his fave insects. If he is very stressed when you give him the meds you might inject them in to a juicy hornworm and he may gobble that up.

Click to expand...

I’m not quite sure what he is on, but the vet said it’s an antibiotic to help fight off and protect against infections. Since he is only 22 grams he is taking .002 mm everyday for 14 days

Click to expand...

From my experience with a skink about the same size who I rescued from a cat, 14 days is not going to be long enough , the pathogens on cat fangs, and claws are extremely resistant ( they are what are called in medical terms SUPERBUGS ).
My elderly mother found this out the hard way where her cat ambushed her and bit and scratched her on ankle …. took over 2 years to finally heal the infection the cat attack caused.
and it was my experience that reptiles who are victims of cats are very likely to develop a life threatening systemic infection if bitten or they are have penetrating crawling injuries …. I was told in Lucky's case that the prognosis was very poor in the vet's experience , and ordinarily the first week or two are make or break.
…. I had my to give both injections every day for and oral antibiotics 6 weeks followed by oral antibiotics only for 3 more months , and was having followup vet visits every two weeks for the first 2 months , then monthly from then on til the vet gave me the all clear to stop the oral antiobiotics. Still lost Lucky as no one knew he had developed an hidden abscess in his neck that ruptured 4 months after treatment was stopped. He was dead inside 12 hrs.

Keep a very close eye on your little hatchling and keep him warm 24 hours (over 26 degC at night) and don't be shy about asking the vet for advise should you notice anything at all unusual. treat any decline in his health as a vet emergency , as they can go downhill extremely fast.

Ag201":93e11y6j said:

kingofnobbys":93e11y6j said:

I hope he comes good but it depends on how quickly you got him to the vet ….
> the damage done while being thrown about and caught with claws and fangs
> what organ damage has been done
> what damage was done to the neck and spine
> how effective the broad spectrum antibiotics are , did anyone think to take the cat to the vet to allow swabs from it's mouth / fangs and claws to make sure the antibiotics will be effective against the viruses and bacteria that are certain to be present at pathogenic levels there ?

I hope now everyone in you family will take proper steps to protect him from that vicious cat (ie when he's out the cat is locked in cage or the laundry).
You are going to have to be extra vigilant from now on because the cat know about the lizard and will be extremely hard to keep away from it and it's tank.

The tank must be made cat proof or one day the cat will find a way into the room where it is and it WILL get through the mesh on the lid (wire mesh is no deterrent to a determined cat) and it will savage the dragon ("play" with it / torture it for the fun of it).
This is one way to cat proof a top opening glass tank : viewtopic.php?f=75&t=240221&p=1840683&hilit=cat+proof#p1840683

this is another way to cat proof a glass top opening tank (by turning it on it's side) : viewtopic.php?f=34&t=244922&p=1863668#p1863668

Click to expand...

I rearranged my room about 2 months ago so the cat can’t get into his tank... it’s on a tall dresser. She can’t jump on it (she’s tried and couldn’t even reach where the tank starts). We took him to the vet not even 2 hours after it happened, and the vet said that no organs seemed to be damaged, and he might have a broken rib, but it just has to heal. We did not take the cat

Click to expand...

Unless the dresser is something like 8 feet high, I can assure you a determined house cat can indeed leap and claw it's way ontop of it.
I've seen local cats leap over 6 feet straight up to drag birds, insects, and possums out my big gum tree's lowest branch.
Your hatchling is NOT safe ontop the dresser if the cat has access to that room.

I have Colorbond Steel boundary fences that are 6 feet tall and neighbourhood cats are regularly seen climbing over into and out of my yard , especially when I catch them in the yard and they see and hear me heading their way with a steel bar and cursing like crazy …. if I can catch a cat it'll i'll do my best to beat it to death it'll become disappeared permanently (I'm fed up with these vermin killing everything in sight that visits my yard (they've exterminated my colony of tree and bell frogs, most my wild resident rainbow and water skinks and regularly kill wood doves and rosellas …. I'd gone to a lot of trouble trying to make my yard attractive to native birds and reptiles and befriending them and people who let the cats roam 24/7 obviously don't care and don't really love their cats (else they'd keep locked up and inside), these are times when I wish I had a rifle.. any cat that comes onto my land is fair game (pet or not).

Sometimes a cat bite will become infected but most times it won't. I have been bitten + scratched over the years many times , many of my friends have as well and never developed an infection. I DO know an acquaintance who did get the very serious infection that almost cost her a hand but she did make it O.K. So the risk is there but it's not a foregone conclusion that it will become a severe infection.Trauma from the stress and from the meds. are also going to play a part now, hpefully not though.

And I agree, you must keep the cat out of the room, they can easily leap straight up as much as 6 feet to get at something they want.

kingofnobbys":1jeumfm8 said:

Ag201":1jeumfm8 said:

AHBD":1jeumfm8 said:

You did the right thing, what meds. is he on, what is the dose and how long will he be on them ? Antibiotics can affect the appetite so it would be good to get a probiotic if you can get him to take them. And yes, the stress is a factor as well so it's natural that he may not want to eat. See how he does after a few days or so and tempt him with his fave insects. If he is very stressed when you give him the meds you might inject them in to a juicy hornworm and he may gobble that up.

Click to expand...

I’m not quite sure what he is on, but the vet said it’s an antibiotic to help fight off and protect against infections. Since he is only 22 grams he is taking .002 mm everyday for 14 days

Click to expand...

From my experience with a skink about the same size who I rescued from a cat, 14 days is not going to be long enough , the pathogens on cat fangs, and claws are extremely resistant ( they are what are called in medical terms SUPERBUGS ).
My elderly mother found this out the hard way where her cat ambushed her and bit and scratched her on ankle …. took over 2 years to finally heal the infection the cat attack caused.
and it was my experience that reptiles who are victims of cats are very likely to develop a life threatening systemic infection if bitten or they are have penetrating crawling injuries …. I was told in Lucky's case that the prognosis was very poor in the vet's experience , and ordinarily the first week or two are make or break.
…. I had my to give both injections every day for and oral antibiotics 6 weeks followed by oral antibiotics only for 3 more months , and was having followup vet visits every two weeks for the first 2 months , then monthly from then on til the vet gave me the all clear to stop the oral antiobiotics. Still lost Lucky as no one knew he had developed an hidden abscess in his neck that ruptured 4 months after treatment was stopped. He was dead inside 12 hrs.

Keep a very close eye on your little hatchling and keep him warm 24 hours (over 26 degC at night) and don't be shy about asking the vet for advise should you notice anything at all unusual. treat any decline in his health as a vet emergency , as they can go downhill extremely fast.

Click to expand...

I had left over pellets from my first lizard I got earlier this year (he died due to sickness) so I mashed them up and put them in water to make a paste. Floki (my lizard) ate about 1mm of that so that made me feel better.

That's good that you got something in to him, and you can ask the vet for something called " Critical Care " supplement, it's high calorie + high nutrition. How is he doing today ? Any obvious signs of infection like swelling or redness ? Can you post a few pics when you get a chance without disturbing him ? Here's how :

https://www.beardeddragon.org/useruploads/ Then use the XIMG to upload them

Other good liquid high potency food substitutes are
>> VetaFarm Critta Care Reptile see https://www.vetnpetdirect.com.au/vetafarm_critta_care_reptile

I've used this for several sick and injured skinks and rescues , it's great , my most recent success using it was to pull a rescue back from the brink in November / December last year was Fluffy the rescued wild water skink …. a month and she ready to take whole insects again. She's healthy and fully rehabilitated and thriving and now a permanent member of my family.
I found she was not overly keen on the stuff until I first deposited a drop of manuka honey on her lips (to get her to lick), I then deposited the Critta Care , one drop at a time on her lips …. very time consuming getting 0.2 - 0.4ml of the food into her per feed, and this happened 3 times per day.

>> VetaFarm HerpaBoost see https://www.vetnpetdirect.com.au/vetafarm_herpaboost , I've used this too for sick skinks and dragons. This is a very popular supplement for reptiles who have been sick or are under treatment.


This is the kind of kit you'll need to find these types of thick food slurries to a lizard :

I've had success using this


(It's the flexi plastic tube from a 22G catheter needle) see viewtopic.php?f=45&t=232687&p=1828868#p1828868
to get nasty tasting antbiotics and nice tasting CalciVet into skinks , the trick is to get the plastic tube past the lips and teeth at the back corner of the mouth , not necessary force the mouth open but is a two person job
one person restrains the lizard
the other person slips the catheter tube into mouth and pushes the syringe plunger.

I've also used this kind of setup

to get HerpaBoost , VetaFarm Reptile Critta Care and viscous liquid meds into the mouths of lizards, got to get the mouth enough to get the nozzle into the mouth , again a two person job unless the lizard is prepared to lick the paste off it's nose and lips , works well

and for really difficult situations this works and is indestructible and wont hurt the lizard's teeth, gums , jaws or mouth

I'd suggest investing in a 10G crop needle (to use to draw the very thick vicuous paste into the syringe) , and a 14G crop needle to give liquid food substitutes if it's refusing food.

A syringe cap is a good investment (available on Ebay) :

will allow you to draw up more than one feed worth of liquid food substitute and keep it ready to use in the fridge.

Here's my latest success
The day she was found / rescued 14Nov2017 : very lethargic, blind, and initially thought she was dead


I didn't expect her to see the first 24 hours out.

2 days after she was rescued and had been in my intensive care hospital / isolation tub and forced fed Critta Care by feeding tube, was stating to show interest in freshly killed crickets already.



Enjoying a cuddle under my hand last night. A rare moment with her as she is a true livewire and rarely stays still for more than a few minutes …. too many strange and interesting things to investigate and explore.
Never dull moment with her … she may be small , but she's got a huge personality and is full of character and super interactive.

I suggest applying a small drop / smear of manuka honey to each penetration wound , make sure to do this when no feeder crickets or roach are igoing to be in the tank after application , else they will be drawn to the sweet stuff ….. this doesn't substitute for the antibiotics , but will help with healing.
I used a mixture of 1:1 manuka honey in boiled water on Fluffy's eye's , tail stump, and lacerations on her back and sides and found this was runny enough but still stayed relatively put where I applied and smeared it.
A 14G blunt drawing up needle is perfect for drawing the honey from the tube into the syringe for mixing with warm water
I'd invest in some of these https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06Y2JWDQ3/ref=sspa_dk_detail_0?psc=1&pd_rd_i=B06Y2JWDQ3&pd_rd_wg=XqoDQ&pd_rd_r=KRHWFH3R5BKVJ3JD7N2W&pd_rd_w=7385L.
I find the 5ml and 1ml syringes very useful for critta care food and honey mix respectively.