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Thursday, March 23, 2017

An Update on Junior

Junior saw Dr Folland today (my primary vet). Dr Folland didn't think the lump in Junior's belly responds like a poop plug should and so he had an x-ray taken. Poor Junior's bones barely showed up on the x-ray. :( They are faint outlines instead of bright, white lines.



There was no mass at all that showed up. A fecal mass would have had distinct edges and shape.

Curious.

But the thing is-- Junior is not strong enough to survive a surgery right now. So for his sake, we need to pretend as though it's not there and go back to feeding Junior. He needs the calcium and calories right now. I tube fed him as soon as I got home.

Junior got a shot of Calcitonin to help pull calcium back into his bones.

On the way home, Junior was quite active! I think he enjoys Ray LaMontagne too! ;)


Now we wait. I tube feed him twice a day and see what happens. If he has a bowel obstruction, then we will know soon. If there is a mass somewhere in his belly, we will deal with it later when he's stronger. He's got a lot of spunk in him and that helps.

As Dr Folland was leaving the room, I asked him if I was doing the right thing by keeping him alive. He said "yes, at this point." He then warned me to not put a lot more money into Junior because the chances of his survival are still low because of how bad off he is.

That's the hard thing in rescue-- you just never know. $5,000 couldn't save a $60 chameleon named Lotus. But I've saved other reptiles without a single vet visit. You do the best you can given the information you have.

So as long as Junior keeps fighting & trying, I will too.