Another Reptile-Related Update
Tycho is looking a lot better today. His appetite has come back; he's finished off three helpings of greens so far. He also wanted out of his cage and ran around a bit and he even got a hot bath. He looks better than he has in days.
I don't know what hit him, but whatever it is, he's come fighting back over the last six days. He's almost back to his old self today. In fact, the change has been so dramatic that I'm beginning to wonder if something that was done to him at the veterinarian's clinic might not have contributed to his poor health. I think he had gotten a respiratory infection, maybe even a severe one, and then been treated by the vet for all the wrong things... so his infection got worse and he felt sick because he'd been overdosed on vitamins and had water injected into his abdominal cavity.
I have decided that we will never, ever patronize this vet again. I didn't like her when I met her, she made us feel guilty that Tycho was sick and now I think they mishandled his diagnosis and treatment altogether. I also have an inkling that we were lied to about her experience with his species.
In fact, I'll go so far as to recommend that anyone in our locality who owns a reptile take it somewhere other than to Nancy O'Leary, DVM at 347 Park Ave. in Worcester. I'm very unhappy with the result of our visit and with her attempt to convince us to spend $1500 on further unnecessary treatment. She damned near made LL cry, so strong were her implied accusations that we had neglected this animal that we have owned and pampered for the past eleven years (mind you, this is only the second time that Tycho has ever been sick in his life!). She may even have so misdiagnosed Tycho that he almost died.
As I write this, Tycho is scratching to be let out of his cage. He's still breathing heavily, so he'll have to stay in the very warm, dry enclosure for the time being. It looks like he's got a good number of months left in him after all, despite our having been told and thus come to believe that he didn't.
If you're a Worcester resident with a sick reptile, my opinion is that you avoid O'Leary like the plague. She might have had an off day with us, but I don't think I'd want anyone to risk it.
