Criagslist Rescue - Sienna's progress

[Drache613]

Hello,

Oh she does look so much better now without all of those eggs in her. Poor girl, she was
probably miserable with all of those eggs, too.
She should be fine now, thanks to you.
I hope she continues on the mend now.

Tracie

 

[SkeptiBee]

She still doing very well! I had her out earlier today to give her a quick bath and let her have some snuggle time. She got so comfy in her fleece blanket she zoned out on me within a half hour. Last week she had all her stitches removed and I had a nice chat with the vet. We decided that unless we spotted her melanoma getting larger on her, that we would leave her be. There are a couple spots that are a touch bigger than the pin point black scales she has and I plan on keeping an eye on those just in case.

 

[ncc74656]

there are types of drug treatments for humans, has anyone ever looked into such things for reptiles?

 

[SkeptiBee]

Well, I know that dogs and cats can get chemo or immunotherapy treatments. But that is extremely expensive. Just like humans, this is really rough on their bodies too and it's no guaranteed cure either. I can't imagine how tough it would be on a reptile if clinics even provide those services to them. The vet I take Sienna to had one of her golden retrievers die of melanoma. When the vet first found the lump in her dogs mouth, she excised it along with a portion of the jaw. She explained that tumors forming in the mouths of animals generally don't have good prognosis for recovery but she did what she could to make her pup better. She even sent her to a second lab for additional treatment. Sadly four months later she had to euthinize her Goldie due to tumor recurrence. The cancer had metastasized through several organs.

Even if chemo was available as an option, I don't think I could afford it. I also need to think of Sienna and how her quality of living would be if I did put her through treatments. Laying limp, not eating, barely interacting with anything is not the kind of life I would want for her for a long term period. I can keep having larger growths excised, that just requires cutting, stitches, and meds.

 

[ncc74656]

all good points. i hope that in the next 10 years we have perfected the cure for cancers, from nanites to modified HIV there are so many cures in experimental RnD at this very moment. just want to see one of them materialize into the holy grail.

at least she will have a good end of days. i cant imagine she would have had any sort of pleasant end with that old owner

 

[Dragonkate17]

Aww she looks so much better and I'm sure she'll always be thankful for a great owner like you who actually LOVES her. Yea that's right there's a difference between having a pet and caring for it. I just get so angry when I hear of abuse towards any creature.

 

[SkeptiBee]

Me too. I'm not so sure the former owner was abusing her, he was just very neglectful. Those two words mean something very different but I know many see the two as mutually exclusive. Honestly if he retained her, which I think would have been the case considering 1) how expensive she was and 2) her then condition, she probably would have died. The vet said she was already pretty compressed internally from the eggs she had so she might have either developed septicemia or starved. Her X-Rays show her pretty bloated up at that state.

I had gone on a mini tirade while I had talked with the vet. Honestly I get really sick of humans being impulsive pet buyers and then not doing a drop of research on care. We live in the era of the Internet, and I can only think of a few places where accessibility is limited but there is something called libraries that can supplement that. Get a dang book. Call a herp vet. Hell, that's free! There is no excuse. Research BEFORE you get the animal. You don't want a pet that lives longer than 3 years? Find out what animals will be right for you. I get so sick of reading ads on craigslist "My son/daughter no longer is interested in caring for the animal." Hermes, my first beardie I got earlier this year, was a product of that. The teen son of a coworker didn't want his beardie anymore because he wanted to chase girls instead of give 30 minutes out of his day to handle, feed, and clean up his reptile. I swear, there should be tests given to everyone wanting to buy animals. For reptiles, you need to have a box equivalent to the size of a viv plunked in your house for six months and a recording of crickets playing every night. Can't stand the sight of it or the sounds? Okay, don't get the animal. Seriously, it's not like beardies are even that difficult to care for!

Sorry, I get really angry about this sort of thing. I am very committed to animals when I adopt them into my life. Right now it's sort of consuming me and my time but I made that choice when I brought Sienna home. I love her to bits (she's sleeping on my chest at the moment) and wouldn't dream of parting with her. My only worry is if I had an emergency take place, I have four animals to pack up and transport. But eh... that's life. I have to work around that. Anyway... sorry. Mini tirade over. lol

By the way, Missy Dragon is doing well! She's going through a shed now. Cast off her legs, tummy, under her tail, arms and is currently shedding off her beard and soon the top of her head will come. Let me tell you, with all the old, stained up scales gone, she is such a beautiful girl! Her toes have some stunning patterns on them. When she's fully done, I'll post some new pics of her!

 

[destiny1998]

Hi. I agree 100% on what you said. I'm so glad to hear she's doing great and can't wait for pictures