Lilith86
Member
Hi everyone,
Before I ask anything more of this forum, I want to thank all the moderators and members who contribute to these threads. You guys are an amazing community, and you help pet owners more than you may ever know. But I kinda hope you do know a little bit at least. I really appreciate that this forum exists, and I know that it must be a labor of love from many people. This is not the first time I've turned to this community when I've had a challenging beardie situation. I'm glad I have someplace to go now.
Does anyone have experience with recovery of an adult beardie from a full tail amputation? This is a last ditch effort to remove a cancerous tumor high up on tail and prevent dry tail rot from progressing. Right now, he is a strong, happy and healthy boy, so we are hoping he will tolerate surgery well. But I am aware that no anesthetic is without risk, and that this is a very large, very serious surgery.
I would love to hear any stories that anyone would be willing to share about their experiences with tail amputations and helping their babies heal. I am worried that I will be taking Agni, my 7 year old beardie in for surgery, but that I will not get him back. Again, he is acting very bright and happy now, but I feel like we are at a turning point. If I don't do something soon about the tumor/ tail rot start, I feel like it will be too late to do anything other than inevitably watch the tumor invade his torso or die from sepsis as the tail dies.
Please let me know if you want any details from me. We are taking him in for surgery this coming Wednesday. He will be staying at the vet for 2 nights after to stabilize.
Details:
I have a 7 year old male beardie named Agni. We found a tumor on the underside base of his tail, below the hemipenes but still pretty close to the torso, in January. We removed it, but that vet did not take good margins. Pathology came back, said it was a slow growing spindle cell cancer, not likely to metastasize. Got referred to a better vet that specializes in exotics and has more cancer experience. New vet said to watch it, it may not even come back. 6 months on, it has grown back more quickly than we thought it would and is now pretty big, to the point that we think it's encroaching on blood supply for the rest of the tail and is responsible for a tiny bit of dry necrosis at tip of tail.
This vet is the best I've been able to find across three states. She is recommending a high tail amputation. We know this may not cure the cancer (he may be on borrowed time... this cancer doesn't *usually* she cells and relocate in other parts of the body, but who knows?) but the idea is to prevent him from getting severe tail rot and going septic, and possibly prevent the tumor from spreading into the important structures where the tail meets the body. She's done a lot of tail amputations and feels fairly confident Agni will pull through the surgery and heal enough to have the best chance possible at the best quality of life left to him, however long that is with whatever cancer remains.
I hate to admit this, but part of my hang up about the surgery is that I can't imagine him without a tail. My other problem is that I am worried that *he* will be weirded out without a tail and that he will have trouble healing and living a full life, if he heals, which also seems like a big if. My other other problem is that I'm worried I'm taking my beardie that is currently full of life into a serious surgery to get cut up and I might not get him back... am I being selfish by putting him through this?
Does anyone have a story about a beardie who has come through a high tail amputation and had a good quality of life after?
Thank you so much for any stories you are willing to share.
Before I ask anything more of this forum, I want to thank all the moderators and members who contribute to these threads. You guys are an amazing community, and you help pet owners more than you may ever know. But I kinda hope you do know a little bit at least. I really appreciate that this forum exists, and I know that it must be a labor of love from many people. This is not the first time I've turned to this community when I've had a challenging beardie situation. I'm glad I have someplace to go now.
Does anyone have experience with recovery of an adult beardie from a full tail amputation? This is a last ditch effort to remove a cancerous tumor high up on tail and prevent dry tail rot from progressing. Right now, he is a strong, happy and healthy boy, so we are hoping he will tolerate surgery well. But I am aware that no anesthetic is without risk, and that this is a very large, very serious surgery.
I would love to hear any stories that anyone would be willing to share about their experiences with tail amputations and helping their babies heal. I am worried that I will be taking Agni, my 7 year old beardie in for surgery, but that I will not get him back. Again, he is acting very bright and happy now, but I feel like we are at a turning point. If I don't do something soon about the tumor/ tail rot start, I feel like it will be too late to do anything other than inevitably watch the tumor invade his torso or die from sepsis as the tail dies.
Please let me know if you want any details from me. We are taking him in for surgery this coming Wednesday. He will be staying at the vet for 2 nights after to stabilize.
Details:
I have a 7 year old male beardie named Agni. We found a tumor on the underside base of his tail, below the hemipenes but still pretty close to the torso, in January. We removed it, but that vet did not take good margins. Pathology came back, said it was a slow growing spindle cell cancer, not likely to metastasize. Got referred to a better vet that specializes in exotics and has more cancer experience. New vet said to watch it, it may not even come back. 6 months on, it has grown back more quickly than we thought it would and is now pretty big, to the point that we think it's encroaching on blood supply for the rest of the tail and is responsible for a tiny bit of dry necrosis at tip of tail.
This vet is the best I've been able to find across three states. She is recommending a high tail amputation. We know this may not cure the cancer (he may be on borrowed time... this cancer doesn't *usually* she cells and relocate in other parts of the body, but who knows?) but the idea is to prevent him from getting severe tail rot and going septic, and possibly prevent the tumor from spreading into the important structures where the tail meets the body. She's done a lot of tail amputations and feels fairly confident Agni will pull through the surgery and heal enough to have the best chance possible at the best quality of life left to him, however long that is with whatever cancer remains.
I hate to admit this, but part of my hang up about the surgery is that I can't imagine him without a tail. My other problem is that I am worried that *he* will be weirded out without a tail and that he will have trouble healing and living a full life, if he heals, which also seems like a big if. My other other problem is that I'm worried I'm taking my beardie that is currently full of life into a serious surgery to get cut up and I might not get him back... am I being selfish by putting him through this?
Does anyone have a story about a beardie who has come through a high tail amputation and had a good quality of life after?
Thank you so much for any stories you are willing to share.