Hey y'all!
So I'm new to this forum even though I've been a lurker for some time. I really would like y'all's advice on this issue I'm having with my beardie...
I have a little guy by the name of Zeus, who is about 7 or 8 years old (roughly). I got him the summer of 2011 from a guy off Craigslist who was rehoming him, and he was 2 or 3 at the time. Never had any major health issues up until this point.
Last Saturday I noticed that the tip of his tail was dark and stiff, and I immediately thought "uh oh" because I have a friend with an iguana and I knew the signs for tail rot from her. I brought him into the vet ASAP, sure enough that's what it was. They did x-rays, but the x-rays didn't show any signs of infection so the vet recommended that we put him on antibiotics and let the tail drop off naturally.
Well yesterday I was inspecting him and the tail rot had noticeably grown. I got back on the phone to the vet, and he is scheduled for surgery on Friday.
I would like some advice and input on this though. First of all, he's my buddy. I had him through undergrad, then through law school, and now as I'm settling into my new job that's in a new state. He's seen a lot of **** with me and I'm extremely emotionally attached to him because of it- I'd move heaven and earth for the little dude.
My question is... is this surgery worth it? It's an expensive procedure and he isn't a spring chicken anymore. Not gonna lie, money's tight right now and the vet was projecting this to be about $500 at least (which is after the $240 I already paid on Saturday for the first visit). Granted, if this will definitely make him better I would panhandle on the street to make it work, but I'm not sure. I don't want to put him through an unnecessary procedure if it's only gonna prolong his suffering, and I'm skeptical of the vet. She already made the wrong call by doing a wait and see approach (I was suspicious of her being overly optimistic from the get-go, as I knew the typical treatment for tail rot was removal) and I don't want them to put him through this if there's like a 20% chance of success but they want their paycheck. You know?
So is 8 too old for this type of surgery? Has anyone else had this done with their beardie, and if so what did the prognosis and recovery look like? Any candid advice would be much appreciated, I'm so torn up over what's happening to my little guy.
So I'm new to this forum even though I've been a lurker for some time. I really would like y'all's advice on this issue I'm having with my beardie...
I have a little guy by the name of Zeus, who is about 7 or 8 years old (roughly). I got him the summer of 2011 from a guy off Craigslist who was rehoming him, and he was 2 or 3 at the time. Never had any major health issues up until this point.
Last Saturday I noticed that the tip of his tail was dark and stiff, and I immediately thought "uh oh" because I have a friend with an iguana and I knew the signs for tail rot from her. I brought him into the vet ASAP, sure enough that's what it was. They did x-rays, but the x-rays didn't show any signs of infection so the vet recommended that we put him on antibiotics and let the tail drop off naturally.
Well yesterday I was inspecting him and the tail rot had noticeably grown. I got back on the phone to the vet, and he is scheduled for surgery on Friday.
I would like some advice and input on this though. First of all, he's my buddy. I had him through undergrad, then through law school, and now as I'm settling into my new job that's in a new state. He's seen a lot of **** with me and I'm extremely emotionally attached to him because of it- I'd move heaven and earth for the little dude.
My question is... is this surgery worth it? It's an expensive procedure and he isn't a spring chicken anymore. Not gonna lie, money's tight right now and the vet was projecting this to be about $500 at least (which is after the $240 I already paid on Saturday for the first visit). Granted, if this will definitely make him better I would panhandle on the street to make it work, but I'm not sure. I don't want to put him through an unnecessary procedure if it's only gonna prolong his suffering, and I'm skeptical of the vet. She already made the wrong call by doing a wait and see approach (I was suspicious of her being overly optimistic from the get-go, as I knew the typical treatment for tail rot was removal) and I don't want them to put him through this if there's like a 20% chance of success but they want their paycheck. You know?
So is 8 too old for this type of surgery? Has anyone else had this done with their beardie, and if so what did the prognosis and recovery look like? Any candid advice would be much appreciated, I'm so torn up over what's happening to my little guy.