Index

Helmut's Abcess...

Helmut went to the vet for this first on 1/25/01. After the visit I was directed to flush the affected area with lactated ringers and paint a light coating of Xenodine over the surface of that area. As you can see from the later pictures, it didn't get better.

March 2001 - Since Helmut is not very cooperative in having his mouth opened, it wasn't easy to see much more than this... These two pictures were taken by myself, one with a tripod, so it wasn't easy to catch the focus. The second picture shows what appears to be solid pus.

3/31/01- I took Helmut to the vet today to have this lesion in his mouth checked out. Dr. Bronson at St. Joe Center Veterinary Hospital removed the abcessed area. Helmut was lightly put under using Isoflorane gas and intubated during the process so the abcessed area could be safely and completely removed. A cloacal probe monitor was used to keep track of his heartrate. Helmut came out of anesthesia very quickly after getting an injection of Baytril. He was sent home with some oral antibiotics as well which I'm giving him once daily for a week. He kept running his tongue over the freshly cleaned area. I'm sure it felt different to him.

4/1/01 - Last night Helmut was awake and trying to get out of his cage. This was around midnight, when I was in the room checking on all the other lizards. I brought him out and he was incredibly active at first and after a few minutes he was content to lie on chest. I returned him to the room an hour later.
Tonight will be his first dose of the antibiotics. It's cherry flavored, so I hope he likes it.