Taking Puff to the vet

[babyyitslove]

So after many phone consultations with the local herp vet, Puff's swollen foot has gotten better, and worse.

The first plan of action was to soak the foot in a warm Epsom salt/water solution. It took the swelling down for two days, and then it appears to have gotten worse with cracking in the skin between his toes.

Next we cleaned it with warm water and applied neosporin to the cracks and a small bit of topical anti inflammatory (cortisone 10) . Still no change.

We have reason to believe that there may be an infection from the cracks, and our wonderful vet (non-herp) decided to see him on Monday, after he does some research and consults with the herp vet. He's confident that he has everything he needs to nip this in the butt!

The reason we aren't going to the herp vet is because OUR vet is allowing us to arrange a payment plan, due to our successful history of payment plans with them.
I wont be getting paid until Oct. 21st, and I wont make puff wait that long to see the herp vet.
Vet bills are unpredictable, so they were unable to give me a quote.
Going to our vet that we've used for years seems to be the best option for puff, as opposed to making him wait.

Ill post photos, size, weight, conclusion, treatment, and cost once I see him on Monday =0)

 

[dragonmetalhead]

Good luck, pal. Kodo and I will keep our fingers, tails, and forked tongues crossed for you and Puff.

 

[james.w]

Good luck.

 

[babyyitslove]

He's in total 'stud' mode, so he's cruisin' around dragging his butt and waving his tail, marking his scent all over the place.... so he's not favoring it as much. But we know it bothers him.

 

[babyyitslove]

So he went today, and got some x-rays, they see the fluid and tried to drain it.... didn't work. So he's on antibiotics now to see if the swelling subsides. The x-rays were great.... not internal cause for concern.
he weighs 10.10 lbs.

And photos for your viewing pleasure =)

 

[Rhetoric]

Neat skull!! Hopefully it works for you guys :/

 

[babyyitslove]

You can see the fluid in his bottom foot. If it doesn't clear up with antibiotics, he's going to surgically drain it. Aside from that, he's healthy!

 

[BillieJeAn]

Those x-rays are too cool!

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And I'm glad things are doing better with him

 

[dragonmetalhead]

My vet didn't give me copies of the X-rays he took when Kodo had that rat skull blocking him. You're so lucky to have those as mementos. I'm jealous. I am sure Puff will be fine, please try not to worry. Everyone on this forum, and their tegus, is rooting for you guys.

 

[babyyitslove]

I'm just hoping that the antibiotics will work out. I'd hate to have to cut his foot open... the recovery would be pretty rough for him.

 

[babyyitslove]

NOT counting my chickens before they hatch, but half of his foot has gone down to normal size, accentuating on the one very large bubble of fluid. Hopefully the antibiotics are doing their job, and after the next three days of them, we'll be all better! If not, the vet will be expecting us for a drainage procedure.
I don't know if it was the needle puncture that helped drain it, or if the meds are aiding. Its tough to tell.

 

[Gedy]

Good luck with the treatment, I hope it works. Those x-rays are very cool, never seen them form a tegu

 

[babyyitslove]

Yeah, I thought the looked pretty nifty. For $135 I figured I'd share them with you guys lollol

 

[Logie_Bear]

Those x-rays are really cool! For the sake of curiosity, what kind of antibiotics is Puff on? (liquid, pills, shot, whathaveyou?)

 

[babyyitslove]

Puff is on Baytril. Its a liver flavored pill.... they gave us a long pill gun type thing to help us get it into the back of his throat without having to put our hands in there.
He also informed us that the chances of the antibiotics actually absorbing are slim.
He'll be heading back to the vet next week to see what the next step will be... as the problem isn't completely solved.

He has actually started eating a lot lately... which is great progress considering he was only eating once or twice a week since we've had him.

 

[james.w]

If the chances if the antibiotics being absorbed are slim, why waste the time and money? Why not go with injections??

 

[babyyitslove]

Because the vet and I agreed on a game plan. The medication is the only thing I pay for from here on out, unless they decide to do a procedure to manually drain it.
I don't think its a waste.... I think its a pretty good idea to start small and find what works.
That's like saying its a waste to use any meds at all and just jump to cut his foot open.
There are two TINY foreign bodies inside the foot. Probably the size of a pin head. He doesn't want to remove them... he says it'd be a whole lot more stress on him and require multiple procedures.

 

[james.w]

I'm saying why use a pill when it may not be absorbed, when you could inject the antibiotics.

 

[babyyitslove]

He never said.. but did say that the next step would most likely be injections if not the manual drainage.
He said that some reptiles absorb it, some don't. It all depends on the metabolism of the particular animal itself. Puff's refusal to eat much has actually aided in slowing his metabolism. His foot looks better, but not where it needs to be.
I guess this is the 'baby steps' process.

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I do NOT want to cut his foot open. I really don't. I'm hoping it doesn't come to that. I can't imagine how hard recovery would be for such a large tegu to have a foot out of service.