sunnystunna
Member
- Beardie name(s)
- Oslo/Ozzie
This is more of a vent than anything, but I’m just so frustrated with my vet. I rescued my bearded dragon in April of last year. I went over to a coworkers house, saw him in an absolutely pitiful condition, and I ended up taking him home the next day knowing nothing about reptiles. Essentially my coworker had been claiming he was in brumation, which her vet friend had told her was basically him committing suicide, so she turned off the lights and stopped feeding him. I honestly think she was just trying to get rid of him before she moved. The instructions for care she gave me were absolutely horrific, even to a newbie. Like two hours of light a day (no uvb), no water, etc.
That is to say Oslo is pretty messed up. MBD, his arm twists sideways, his mouth doesn’t close all the way, ribs are misshapen, etc. he’s about 2 now and is 14 inches. He’s grown an inch while in my care.
I really wanted to do right by him, so I immediately took him to the only vet in my area that takes care of reptiles, and I’ve been disappointed time and time again. The first time I went I only saw his nurse. No one told me he was out or I would have postponed the visit, but he had just had surgery so I let it go. Let me tell you she is AWFUL. She made comments on how big he was (he’s literally the size of a 6 month old) and acknowledged that he definitely had MBD, then gave him worm medicine without taking a fecal sample first. It gave him two seizures that I know of. I don’t know, I feel like if you diagnose an animal with an issue that effects them neurologically, you should make sure the medicine that can cause seizures is 100% needed before giving it to them, but maybe that’s me being too critical. I also commented on the fact that he wasn’t really pooping, just leaving small puddles everywhere, and she gave him diarrhea medicine and critical care to take at home.
Two days later I’m rushing him back because despite staying diligent on everything, he’s throwing up and having seizures. The vet is actually there (the only time I’ve ever seen this man in 3 vet visits) and says it’s not diarrhea, it’s impaction and we just made the issue 10x worse. He gives me mineral oil, tells me Oslo is going to die because he more than likely has organ failure and I have no option but to let him die. Even if I paid to run tests, there was nothing they could do. He essentially told me not to bring him back, so I wasn’t going to. I had pretty much accepted that he was going to die, and I cried about it daily for a long time, but I still insisted on doing everything I could to keep him comfortable.
I spent so much time and money on this lizard and pretty much brought him back myself. I had no life outside of him and my job. Electrolyte soaks twice a day, baby food three times a day, transitioning him to solids and bugs (which he would only take by hand for months), giving him pedialyte, appetite stimulants, vitamins, etc. and he’s doing really well! He’s not as active as a normal lizard, and his arm keeps him from climbing, but he has a decent appetite and he’s not miserable. He loves being rocked and he loves playing outside.
Since the vet had given up hope on him, I was desperate to find someone else who wouldn’t. I have called everywhere that I can think of within 1.5 hours of where I live and they have only referred me to this vet. I had an easier time finding a vet for my chinchilla and hedgehog, two pets that are way less popular.
So despite my displeasure, I took him back to this vet three weeks ago. I had noticed his femoral pores were getting clogged, so I had tried what I could at home first. Bought him a nice rock to scratch on, hour long soaks 1-2x a day, brushing coconut oil on them, then Neosporin at night to prevent infection. I was going to give this two weeks to see what happened, but then I noticed a major change in demeanor. He had been the best he’s ever been, super active with a huge appetite, but then he lost interest in even roaches, his favorite, and stopped doing anything but pooping. He pooped 3x a day. I took him to the vet ASAP, and I had confirmed the vet would be there this time. I even took off work just so that I could see the vet instead of the nurse.
They called me the day of his appointment and told me instead of bringing him at 3, they wanted me to bring him that morning so they could keep him all day, and I did. I only saw the nurse, but I was just dropping him off so I thought the vet must be in the back. I picked him up at 3, and the nurse basically gave me the whole spill about how he had MBD and was just going to die again. That wasn’t even the reason I brought him in. I wanted a fecal exam and his pores unclogged. It frustrates me so bad because they think MBD is a death sentence, and that it’ll just get worse, but I know it isn’t! It can be reversed, but any time I’ve asked them for calcium supplements they talk as if it’s no use. She also refused to acknowledge how much better he was. He’s gained a healthy smoking of weight, grown an inch, has a healthy appetite, and poops a lot. She only wanted to talk about how he’s smaller than average, his MBD, and since she couldn’t get him to poop while there she assumed he had stopped pooping (I had told her he was pooping an excessive amount), which meant he was on the brink of death.
They tried to give me critical care, to which I explained the vet told me last time not to give him food so high in protein because he was afraid he had liver damage. They also told me they didn’t unclog his pores because they didn’t look bad enough, they had only barely started to poke out, so basically I sent him up there to just be soaked and put on a heat rock for 6 hours, get the most discouraging speech of my life, then pay for a vet visit.
Since they couldn’t get him to poop for a fecal exam, and I wouldn’t let them worm him without an exam, they sent me home with a vial. As soon as I sat him in his enclosure, he pooped. It makes me wonder if they soaked him at all. I scooped it up and immediately took it back. That’s when they told me the vet wasn’t there to even look at it. They had lied to me this whole time. They put it in the fridge and I never heard back from them.
So, today, three weeks later, I called. I assumed that they didn’t call me because everything looked good, but I wanted to double check, and with the weird hours this place had I haven’t been able to until today. I was informed that he has hookworm and no one had tried reaching out to me about it. It is literally as if they want my lizard to die. Now I have a bearded dragon with hookworms, which I went and got the medicine for today but I’m still worried about seizures, and still-clogged femoral pores and I have no idea what to do about it. Before I even brought Oslo home I was aware that he would need vet care and had made sure I had a herp vet in my area. I had called friends and one even vouched for the nurse. But now I feel like I’m almost better off without one.
That is to say Oslo is pretty messed up. MBD, his arm twists sideways, his mouth doesn’t close all the way, ribs are misshapen, etc. he’s about 2 now and is 14 inches. He’s grown an inch while in my care.
I really wanted to do right by him, so I immediately took him to the only vet in my area that takes care of reptiles, and I’ve been disappointed time and time again. The first time I went I only saw his nurse. No one told me he was out or I would have postponed the visit, but he had just had surgery so I let it go. Let me tell you she is AWFUL. She made comments on how big he was (he’s literally the size of a 6 month old) and acknowledged that he definitely had MBD, then gave him worm medicine without taking a fecal sample first. It gave him two seizures that I know of. I don’t know, I feel like if you diagnose an animal with an issue that effects them neurologically, you should make sure the medicine that can cause seizures is 100% needed before giving it to them, but maybe that’s me being too critical. I also commented on the fact that he wasn’t really pooping, just leaving small puddles everywhere, and she gave him diarrhea medicine and critical care to take at home.
Two days later I’m rushing him back because despite staying diligent on everything, he’s throwing up and having seizures. The vet is actually there (the only time I’ve ever seen this man in 3 vet visits) and says it’s not diarrhea, it’s impaction and we just made the issue 10x worse. He gives me mineral oil, tells me Oslo is going to die because he more than likely has organ failure and I have no option but to let him die. Even if I paid to run tests, there was nothing they could do. He essentially told me not to bring him back, so I wasn’t going to. I had pretty much accepted that he was going to die, and I cried about it daily for a long time, but I still insisted on doing everything I could to keep him comfortable.
I spent so much time and money on this lizard and pretty much brought him back myself. I had no life outside of him and my job. Electrolyte soaks twice a day, baby food three times a day, transitioning him to solids and bugs (which he would only take by hand for months), giving him pedialyte, appetite stimulants, vitamins, etc. and he’s doing really well! He’s not as active as a normal lizard, and his arm keeps him from climbing, but he has a decent appetite and he’s not miserable. He loves being rocked and he loves playing outside.
Since the vet had given up hope on him, I was desperate to find someone else who wouldn’t. I have called everywhere that I can think of within 1.5 hours of where I live and they have only referred me to this vet. I had an easier time finding a vet for my chinchilla and hedgehog, two pets that are way less popular.
So despite my displeasure, I took him back to this vet three weeks ago. I had noticed his femoral pores were getting clogged, so I had tried what I could at home first. Bought him a nice rock to scratch on, hour long soaks 1-2x a day, brushing coconut oil on them, then Neosporin at night to prevent infection. I was going to give this two weeks to see what happened, but then I noticed a major change in demeanor. He had been the best he’s ever been, super active with a huge appetite, but then he lost interest in even roaches, his favorite, and stopped doing anything but pooping. He pooped 3x a day. I took him to the vet ASAP, and I had confirmed the vet would be there this time. I even took off work just so that I could see the vet instead of the nurse.
They called me the day of his appointment and told me instead of bringing him at 3, they wanted me to bring him that morning so they could keep him all day, and I did. I only saw the nurse, but I was just dropping him off so I thought the vet must be in the back. I picked him up at 3, and the nurse basically gave me the whole spill about how he had MBD and was just going to die again. That wasn’t even the reason I brought him in. I wanted a fecal exam and his pores unclogged. It frustrates me so bad because they think MBD is a death sentence, and that it’ll just get worse, but I know it isn’t! It can be reversed, but any time I’ve asked them for calcium supplements they talk as if it’s no use. She also refused to acknowledge how much better he was. He’s gained a healthy smoking of weight, grown an inch, has a healthy appetite, and poops a lot. She only wanted to talk about how he’s smaller than average, his MBD, and since she couldn’t get him to poop while there she assumed he had stopped pooping (I had told her he was pooping an excessive amount), which meant he was on the brink of death.
They tried to give me critical care, to which I explained the vet told me last time not to give him food so high in protein because he was afraid he had liver damage. They also told me they didn’t unclog his pores because they didn’t look bad enough, they had only barely started to poke out, so basically I sent him up there to just be soaked and put on a heat rock for 6 hours, get the most discouraging speech of my life, then pay for a vet visit.
Since they couldn’t get him to poop for a fecal exam, and I wouldn’t let them worm him without an exam, they sent me home with a vial. As soon as I sat him in his enclosure, he pooped. It makes me wonder if they soaked him at all. I scooped it up and immediately took it back. That’s when they told me the vet wasn’t there to even look at it. They had lied to me this whole time. They put it in the fridge and I never heard back from them.
So, today, three weeks later, I called. I assumed that they didn’t call me because everything looked good, but I wanted to double check, and with the weird hours this place had I haven’t been able to until today. I was informed that he has hookworm and no one had tried reaching out to me about it. It is literally as if they want my lizard to die. Now I have a bearded dragon with hookworms, which I went and got the medicine for today but I’m still worried about seizures, and still-clogged femoral pores and I have no idea what to do about it. Before I even brought Oslo home I was aware that he would need vet care and had made sure I had a herp vet in my area. I had called friends and one even vouched for the nurse. But now I feel like I’m almost better off without one.
