Extreme Giant Seizure, front legs paralyzed!!!

[james.w]

If liquid calcium is the only form you can get in her, than go for it. It is not the best stuff, so if you can get her to eat that would be better. Dubias dusted with calcium, rat pups cut up small enough for her to take them would probably be the best form of calcium if she will eat. Good to hear things are getting better.

 

[apocalypse910]

So glad to see some improvement!

I think liquid calcium could help somewhat - it is better than nothing. It is not going to be the same as what the vet prescribes and it is not going to be nearly as effective as the injection they can do. I believe calcium gluconate is the oral medication they provide - it is available off amazon but the quantities are huge and dosing it without a vet is going to be very difficult/dangerous.

I don't wish to be alarmist but this is a life threatening condition, and if she's already had a seizure & paralysis it is advanced. It is your responsibility as a pet owner to provide veterinary treatment when it is needed - and she needs to see a vet.

I understand that money is tight - if that is the case explain the situation to the vet. Many will work with you - or at least give you some guidance over the phone on how to proceed. I can't tell you exactly how much it will cost - a checkup plus meds is usually around 100, if she needs x-rays it will be more.

I don't wish to lecture -you've gotten enough of that in the last few days I think but you do need to plan vet care into your budget for any animal. You may even want to consider pet insurance - it is pretty cheap for lizards. I'm going that route next month as I'm generally a bit tight on cash and I couldn't take it if I lost my tegu because I couldn't pay for a vet.

I am thrilled you are seeing good signs - please don't underestimate the severity of the situation though - she does need treatment.

 

[SuperSkylar]

Animal insurance? How much does it cost for a tegu?? That sounds like a great investment.

 

[apocalypse910]

Animal insurance? How much does it cost for a tegu?? That sounds like a great investment.

I don't have it yet because they require that you have the animal for 60 days - but when I talked to them on the phone I believe they said $9 per month. Covers 90% of the vet bill for non breeding/parasite related issues up to $5000. There is a waiting period so unfortunately it won't help right now but it may be good going forward.

 

[laurarfl]

bangs head on desk

 

[chelvis]

Health insurance for reptiles is not worth it. Make sure to read the fine print sometimes husbandry/owner neglect are not covered and most companies use this to dodge paying out even if its not the case. SO watch out for that.

 

[SuperSkylar]

GUYS SHE ATE! All this hard work is paying off! She ate 3 juicy worms! I had to hand feed her, n she accidentally bit my fingers a few times, BUT SHE DID IT!

 

[james.w]

Good to hear, she needs some calcium rich foods now.

 

[SuperSkylar]

She is exhausted now. Tomorrow I will try and feed her a deep calcium fried pinky haha

 

[apocalypse910]

Health insurance for reptiles is not worth it. Make sure to read the fine print sometimes husbandry/owner neglect are not covered and most companies use this to dodge paying out even if its not the case. SO watch out for that.

Good to know - Thank you. I hadn't seen many people with personal experience with it outside of dog/cat insurance. I read through all the paperwork on VPI and it appeared that the only exclusions were breeding complications, parasite medications, and foreign invasions or nuclear attacks for some reason. I usually hate insurance but the terms of the reptile policy seemed reasonable. I keep an emergency fund for my reptiles and can absorb a few hundred dollars in vet bills if I need to - my fear is that I will run into an issue like impaction that can result in several thousand dollars in surgery that I can't possibly afford otherwise. I couldn't live with myself if I had to make a bad call on Loki's health for financial reasons.

My main concern is that whether through insurance or out of pocket- vet bills are an unfortunate eventuality with pet ownership. For some reason very few people would refuse to take a dog or cat to the vet - but with reptiles, even expensive ones it seems to be something that a lot of people don't plan for and don't do.

 

[jumper123]

I have Health insurance on my guys and for 150$ a year it was well worth it. I get paid back a decent amount of each bill!