My baby beardie was attacked by the cat

[Rylie Skye]

This morning, my cat broke into my baby beardie’s terrarium. Athena (the cat) somehow managed to get inside the light compartment, tear the screen, and shimmy her way down into his home through a tiny tennis ball-sized hole. She attacked Marvin (the beardie) and left some pretty nasty gashes. Luckily, I was home and was able to intervene. I got Marvin to the vet asap and he was treated immediately.

Poor baby has a cut under his right eye, a scratch on his front right arm, two puncture wounds on his mid-body, and some bruising on his tail. The vet said the puncture wounds were not deep (to his knowledge) and that these were injuries he has a good chance to recover completely from. Marvin was prescribed an oral antibiotic and eye drops to prevent infection. He was patched up very well and we were sent home with a follow-up three days from now.

It’s a bad situation but it could have been much worse.

We kicked Athena (the cat) out of the room and moved Marvin into the “quarantine tank” just to keep a better eye on him. He’s been moving around fine and has since de-stressed a little since this morning. I offered him some greens and crickets but he has refused all food so far. He pooped without an issue and his stool looks normal. Marvin is currently resting.

I’ve with never dealt with injuries like this before (thankfully) and any tips on helping him recover would be greatly appreciated. I was given a list of things to watch out for, but any and all advice is welcomed. Thank you!!

 

[KarrieRee]

This morning, my cat broke into my baby beardie’s terrarium. Athena (the cat) somehow managed to get inside the light compartment, tear the screen, and shimmy her way down into his home through a tiny tennis ball-sized hole. She attacked Marvin (the beardie) and left some pretty nasty gashes. Luckily, I was home and was able to intervene. I got Marvin to the vet asap and he was treated immediately.

Poor baby has a cut under his right eye, a scratch on his front right arm, two puncture wounds on his mid-body, and some bruising on his tail. The vet said the puncture wounds were not deep (to his knowledge) and that these were injuries he has a good chance to recover completely from. Marvin was prescribed an oral antibiotic and eye drops to prevent infection. He was patched up very well and we were sent home with a follow-up three days from now.

It’s a bad situation but it could have been much worse.

We kicked Athena (the cat) out of the room and moved Marvin into the “quarantine tank” just to keep a better eye on him. He’s been moving around fine and has since de-stressed a little since this morning. I offered him some greens and crickets but he has refused all food so far. He pooped without an issue and his stool looks normal. Marvin is currently resting.

I’ve with never dealt with injuries like this before (thankfully) and any tips on helping him recover would be greatly appreciated. I was given a list of things to watch out for, but any and all advice is welcomed. Thank you!!
View attachment 76958

Poor Marvin -- some raw unpasteurized honey is good for his wounds as well - its a good anti bacterial and will also kill infection - the best thing you can do now is make sure his UVB is up to par NO coils and the long tube fixture needs to be properly placed and distanced for the tank --- screen will determine that-- surface basking temps are 105-110 taken w/ a digital probe thermometer- and NO more cat around him -- moving him around like tank to tank is going to stress him more please leave him in the tank that hes going to be in --- he needs to acclimate to his tank and surroundings - keep him hydrated please - drop water on his nose to see if he will lick -- he may not eat now but keep offering him food

 

[Rylie Skye]

Poor Marvin -- some raw unpasteurized honey is good for his wounds as well - its a good anti bacterial and will also kill infection - the best thing you can do now is make sure his UVB is up to par NO coils and the long tube fixture needs to be properly placed and distanced for the tank --- screen will determine that-- surface basking temps are 105-110 taken w/ a digital probe thermometer- and NO more cat around him -- moving him around like tank to tank is going to stress him more please leave him in the tank that hes going to be in --- he needs to acclimate to his tank and surroundings - keep him hydrated please - drop water on his nose to see if he will lick -- he may not eat now but keep offering him food

Thank you so much! I will get some honey asap.

I completely agree about keeping the cat away from the lizards. She’s normally not allowed in the reptile room, even with supervision. She slipped in this morning when I was feeding them - cats are sneaky predators.
I was thinking the same thing about moving him into a new tank, but I plan to keep him in this setup for a while (while I’m upgrading him to a 75 gallon) and made the call to transition him today. This was in part because he had a fairly traumatic experience in the other terrarium AND I can keep a closer eye on him in this one. He’s been doing fine in the new setup and has even been exploring a little bit. I don’t plan on moving Marvin around at all or changing the layout for several weeks. But all the same, I will definitely heed your counsel and make note of any stress!

I greatly appreciate your help and will keep your advice in mind as I’m helping him recover. Again, thank you!!
(Marvin thanks you too)

 

[xp29]

Poor little guy. I'm a cat person, i love cats, but i love beardies more. As long as i keep beardies I'll never bring a cat into my home for that very reason. (I'm not suggesting you should get rid of your cat, cats need love to, just saying as i don't have one i won't ever be getting one if i have beardies.) It's hard to be aware of everything at every minute, it's like you said cats are sneaky and can get into some surprisingly little holes. Best wishes to marvin, i hope he makes a full recovery

 

[Dinky26]

We had 3 cats prior to getting our Beardie or any lizard for that matter.
Keeping them out of the lizard room is next to impossible without putting up two baby gates one on top of the other.
The untrainable chihuahua stays in said room also with the lizards at night. (Fostering for over a year now )
I know things can happen when we expose them to our other animals.
All the dogs and cats get uber jealous when we go into the room.
No animal is getting in the room at night or out.
We are very careful when they are around each other.
We have a dog door that is always open for them to come and go as they all please.
I know that this is not the most ideal situation for lizards to be in, we’re not getting rid of any the other dogs or cats, so they are just going to have to learn how to cohabitate with each other, under supervision no less.
PS I know that we don’t really need the red light in the room, can’t get the wife to let it go yet.

Best wishes for Marvin that he gets better quickly.

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

Poor Marvin....I am sorry this happened. It sounds like you got to him in time & thankfully you
were able to get him to the vet quickly!
Definitely try the raw unpasteurized honey also, on any of the wounds to help with healing.
Let us know how he is doing.

Tracie

 

[KarrieRee]

We had 3 cats prior to getting our Beardie or any lizard for that matter.
Keeping them out of the lizard room is next to impossible without putting up two baby gates one on top of the other.
The untrainable chihuahua stays in said room also with the lizards at night. (Fostering for over a year now )
I know things can happen when we expose them to our other animals.
All the dogs and cats get uber jealous when we go into the room. View attachment 76966
No animal is getting in the room at night or out.
We are very careful when they are around each other.
We have a dog door that is always open for them to come and go as they all please.
I know that this is not the most ideal situation for lizards to be in, we’re not getting rid of any the other dogs or cats, so they are just going to have to learn how to cohabitate with each other, under supervision no less.
PS I know that we don’t really need the red light in the room, can’t get the wife to let it go yet.

Best wishes for Marvin that he gets better quickly.

@Dinky26 the red light on in the room is keeping your dragons up at nite - they have better eyesight than we do and it will disturb the sleep - dragons need dark and cool to sleep - it helps metabolize their systems- I recommend you get rid of it now- long term use of a red light will / can damage their eyes and cause blindness - you might want to pass that info on to your wife

 

[LilReptar]

Poor Marvin! hope he gets better soon! We have 5 cats ourselves and we haven't had any issues with them and my beardie Mu but I am always cautious still. Our only female cat loves Mu and he will let her sleep next to him while he is hanging out on the couch with me. Even though the boys couldn't care less about the dragon, if they even casually walk by him she acts like shes his great protector. its cute but i know how quickly cats can react and they are never left unattended and i am always within reach.

 

[Dinky26]

Poor Marvin! hope he gets better soon! We have 5 cats ourselves

Good to know that we’re not the only ones with cats and a beardie!

 

[Dinky26]

I recommend you get rid of it now- long term use of a red light will / can damage their eyes and cause blindness - you might want to pass that info on to your wife

Thanks Karrie
The Crested Gecko that was at her work was in a room that the lights were on 24/7 and there was a red light in the enclosure too. That Gecko has since had to come home (a blessing for him). The red light quit working for some reason I really don’t know why (another blessing). Now that he’s got a night and day schedule his colors have really come out now.

So at least we’re down to just one red light now, it might just be inadvertently get turned off tonight. If the wife doesn’t listen to me.

 

[Rylie Skye]

Good news! Marvin is eating and healing up well. He’s acting mostly like his normal self, a little extra grumpy though -understandably so. I’m still keeping a really close eye on him, but he’s right on track for a full recovery.

 

[Drache613]

Hello,


Great to hear little Marvin is doing well, after his attack! I am happy he is eating so he must not
be hurting too badly then, bless him.
We are all rooting for a full recovery.
Yes, a lot of us here have cats & lizards but it does take effort to keep them safe!

Tracie

 

[xp29]

He is a doll baby

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

Please keep us posted on Marvin's progress. He looks pretty alert there!

Tracie

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

Oops, double post there!

Tracie