Tegu seriously injuried by a cat-emergency-

danielix · New Member Joined: Jan 22, 2008 Posts: 4

Its a emergency.
I live in Brazil, Florianópolis Island,SC...near a forest area, so Tegu are native, and now , for the second time, a tegu baby get inside my house.First time, my cat hurt him, cutting off his tail, but he survived.
But now another poor tegu baby (20 cm, still part green) got realy bad hurts, lost some blood ,the damn cat injuried him on the neck...he still move all body, but his arms dont move.
I tried to give some water, but i am afraid to manipulate and hurt him even more.How much time this animal can survive without water , and food?
And about scarring and healing? have some analgesic indicated?
Is indicated to force him to eat?
I realy like this animals, and want to make him survive...
for last, the temperature conditions to help in the cure? warm him or cold him?
I hope you can help me.
Sorry for the bad english.
Thanks anyway.

Cowher · Posted: Tue Jan 22, 2008 8:57 pm Post subject:

i dont know what to do but ill post your text on a different tegu website to maximize you helpful responses. I hope he is ok
_________________
Arg. B+W Tegu 1.0.0

You lock the door and throw away the key. There's someone in my head but its not me.

danielix · New Member Joined: Jan 22, 2008 Posts: 4

thanks Cowher.

txrepgirl · Posted: Tue Jan 22, 2008 9:16 pm Post subject:

Hi Danielix.First make sure you put some hydrogen peroxide on the wound so it doesn't get infected.If the wound is deep and it is still bleeding a lot wrap a bandage around it so it will stop the bleeding.Make sure the cat stays away from your Tegu.Also make sure he stays very warm.The basking spot of the Tegu is 110 C.Since he is badly wounded I wouldn't let him get dirty.Pile up some towels or a blanket where he can hide under.I would let him rest for a day or two but keep a eye on him.Since you are worried about him getting dehydrated what you can do is go to your pharmacy and get a baby dropper ( it's a tube with a rubber looking ball at the end that you can squeeze) or a syringe ( with out the needle ).You also can get some baby food ( stage one or two ),chicken or turkey flavor with or with out gravy.Make sure the food is room temperature and not cold.Mix about a table spoon full with some luke warm water.Fill up the syringe or the dropper and force feed your Tegu until he can eat on his own.My vet told me to do that when my Tegu was sick and it worked great.That way he will get some food and liquid.Good luck and please keep us posted.Thank you for helping that poor little thing.God bless you for doing this.Hang in there.Hope that helps.If you can try to bring him to a vet as soon as possible.

Rick · Posted: Tue Jan 22, 2008 10:41 pm Post subject:

Honestly, I have never had that kind of damage inflicted on one of my tegus so I can only speculate as what to do. My first recommendation would be to call a vet, I realize that this is not a pet and you are not financially responsible for a wild tegu that you cat brought in. It's possible a local vet would check out the wild tegu briefly for free to tell you what you can try to do or perhaps to tell you it would be best to euthanize the tegu. I know local vets around here will occasionally look at wild squirrels, chipmunks, etc. and offer advice.

As far as the wounds. I just use triple antibiotic, the type without the pain reliever, this will help against infection. It sticks to the wound well and doesn't cause any additional pain or discomfort. Keep it clean and free of debri. If it's not bad, it should heal. If it looks red or seeping, I would call a vet because serious infection can only be resolved with intravenous antibiotics.

As far as the lack of movement.. It could be shock, in which case it may return to normal. If it's spinal damage from a cat bite to the neck, it could be permanent. It's really hard to tell. Just do you best for it and try to prevent the cat from catching more in the future, perhaps a cat collar with a noisy bell so the tegu hatchlings can not be snuck up upon.

Rick
_________________
Sisco Reptiles - Proud Breeder of the Tamest & Most Social Tegus. See www.SiscoReptiles.com

Cowher · Posted: Tue Jan 22, 2008 10:44 pm Post subject:

yeah basically what rick said is what is being repeated so I would go with that. Good luck and keep us updated on how the little guy is doing.
_________________
Arg. B+W Tegu 1.0.0

You lock the door and throw away the key. There's someone in my head but its not me.

danielix · New Member Joined: Jan 22, 2008 Posts: 4

Thank you all...i am already using the baby dropper to give him some water, and he drink a little ...i think he haven't a spinal damage because he moves, but is very letargic..(slow) ...i have one vet that can help me, but im sure that you are more experienced than she...he stop bleeding few moments after the cat bites him...so i realy hope he is in shock.Tonight is unsual cold here, and i will find a way to keep he moderate warm...
Can i expose him to sunlight at mornig?it can help him?

Cowher · Posted: Tue Jan 22, 2008 11:45 pm Post subject:

yes fresh sun light is very good for him... try to keep him warm he will survive better if he is kept warm. remember not to warm or hot and not to cold keep him a nice even warm. If you have a camera take a picture for us maybe a before picture and when he gets better an after picture.. God bless you for being so caring..
_________________
Arg. B+W Tegu 1.0.0

You lock the door and throw away the key. There's someone in my head but its not me.

meanah · Posted: Tue Jan 22, 2008 11:50 pm Post subject:

damn.. that sucks that your cat got one of thos.. thats why i dont like cats.. haha.. id rather have a lizard then a cat.. sorry to hear about all of this

txrepgirl · Posted: Wed Jan 23, 2008 12:57 pm Post subject:

that is some great news that he was drinking some water.Keep up the good job.Yes, natural sunlight is actually the best for him.Did he eat any thing yet ? take care.

danielix · New Member Joined: Jan 22, 2008 Posts: 4

the tegu died.thank you all for help me and help him.the wounds was very serius.Now, the best i can do is to prevent anyway to another tegus get inside my house again. Tegu isn"t just beautiful, they are very useful here, keeping the place free from snakes, rats, and another nocive insects.
Sorry for the bad news.
Good luck for you and yours tegus...
bye nice people.

spencer · Posted: Wed Jan 23, 2008 4:43 pm Post subject:

that sucks that the tegu died

try to do like rick sayd and get ur cat a noisy colar.
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txrepgirl · Posted: Wed Jan 23, 2008 5:06 pm Post subject:

I'm sooooo sorry to hear that he died.At least you tried your best to help him.It was very nice to meeting you and having you being a part of this forum ( family ) .You always will be welcome here.Yes,the bell would help a lot.Take care.

Hellbound · Posted: Wed Jan 23, 2008 5:33 pm Post subject:

Man that scares the crap outta me! I have two cats, and everytime i take out my tegu/beardies/boas they come creeping up. I hate it, always wondered if they were just curious or on the hunt, I guess i know now! Sorry the tegu didnt survive, sounds to me like you did your best though. Lets just hope your cat doesnt run into an adult

Paybacks a bitch

TokayK · Posted: Wed Jan 23, 2008 6:20 pm Post subject:

Shoot, my cats are wimpy, they dont care about any of my herps--well maybe the newts! My dog, though, she is way too into them--she gets apoplectic when I'm feeding our boa!(With a previously killed rat no less!)
She has such predatory drive for smaller animals(including my cats), that she goes out to her dog run if any of my herps are out.