Hi, I'm new to this site. Does anyone have experience with cancer in bearded dragons? Spike was only supposed to be with us for 1 week and that was 2.5 years ago! My husband I knew NOTHING about bearded dragons and all of a sudden we found ourselves with one! To make a long story short, his two pervious owners did not do well by him. By the time he got to us he couldn't digest. Even though I didn't know anything about them, I knew Spike wasn't well and I brought him to the vet. We found out that he had the wrong substrate, the wrong light, the wrong temperature and the wrong diet. During his recovery, he bit off the tip of a syringe and needed surgery to remove it. Poor little guy! Fast forward 1.5 years...he will be 4 in January. I brought him to the vet because he was lethargic and not pooping. The treated him for a blockage but they also found some sort of tumor in his abdomen. They don't know much about it as far as which organ it is affecting, but the cytology report came back as suspicious for lymphoma or some sort of carcinoma. I am just devastated. He is the sweetest lizard...I just adore him. The vet wanted to do exploratory surgery, but he had such a hard time with the last surgery. I don't want him to suffer, but if we can save him I want to! I am trying to give him a slurry of greens (he's not a big veggie guy...prefers pretty much any kind of bug over greens) along with some alkaline water. I know cancer can't survive in an alkaline in environment so I figured it was worth a shot. Why not, right? Has anyone ever dealt with something like this? The vet said it could be testicular cancer in which case, unless it's attached to other organs, they could probably remove the tumor. If it's spread or if it's lymphoma...well, then I'll feel like I put him through surgery for nothing. And why make him suffer needlessly? In that case I would rather take him home and spoil him rotten for whatever time he has left. I just feel bad because I think his poor care early on is catching up with him.
Oh no that's terrible I had no idea beardies could get cancer, but I guess that is a possibility in any animal. This is a very difficult decision to make. I would suggest getting together with your family and weighing the pros and cons. Only you know your financial situation and you know your beardie best. Any surgery is a traumatic experience for an animal both physically and mentally, it's up to you and your family to make the best decision for your little guy.
Thank you, Lauren. I have been making him smoothies with alkaline water and, believe it or not, he looks fantastic! He's active, alert and pooping! His drink for this week is alkaline water, collard greens, turnip greens, dandelion greens, water cress, apples, cucumber, blackberry and strawberry. He will eat none of these as a whole food, but he is taking it from me via a syringe so I'm just going with it. I blend it all together and he drinks it...go figure! Although I'll admit sometimes I have to force the issue a bit. The vet said I can take him about an hour away for a CT scan which would give them a better idea of what's going on in there, but unless they can tell me they can get it all out and essentially "cure" him, I'm not going to put him through surgery again. I think we are going to treat him holistically...at the very least he is feeling good with all of this. The vet doesn't want him eating mega worms for a while because a) historically he isn't a greater pooper and b) he did just get over a minor blockage and she doesn't want him eating anything with a hard exoskeleton. Right now I am giving him butter worms. Spike, as much as I love him, is fat and I know butter worms are fatty. Any thoughts on a high quality (with regards to nutrition) protein source? I am adding in some liquid reptile food once per day, BUT I would like to give him some solid food along with his green smoothies.
Phoenix worms (also called calci-worms in some places) are a very very good replacement. Not as fatty as butterworms or wax worms and they're very nutritious. I'm glad he's eating the slurry Keep us posted on how he's doing!
Unfortunately Spike passed away last night. It turned out that it was an abscess from his original surgery and not cancer. He had a 2nd needle aspiration on Friday and it was downhill from there. I'm not sure what happened. In any case, the time he had left was good - he should be the poster child for eating your veggies. Rest in peace, Spike. You were the best!
Actually...the vet did a post mortem...he had a tumor the size of a walnut. She is classifying it as a testicular tumor. They still don't know why he crashed so fast though.
