Joe's vet trip

So yesterday, Joe had his vet appointment with Dr. Jack. (He had injured his back leg at the beginning of the month and we were hoping that it was just a sprain)

He took some x-rays and it showed that, indeed, Joe's ankle had been broken, but because we had splinted the leg to help with the initial swelling, it had reset right where it needed to to heal properly. We had been dealing with swelling that had come up over the last week at his knee and just above it, though, and no matter what type of "mama medicine" I tried, it was getting worse. Turns out an infection had set in at the knee joint. So Dr. Jack gave him a shot of anti-inflamatory (which made him groggy and he wanted to cuddle with someone all evening, which was entirely too cute) and he started on antibiotic treatment. He's already showing signs of improvement.

Hopefully at his recheck in 3-4 weeks, he'll get a clean bill of health!

BTW- He weighs 11 pounds, on the nose. And according to the vet he's a really, really natured good boy. (Gloating mommy moment)

What kind o critter is Joe?Yall got so many creatures lol.But anyways god luck Joe!

Wow... I really had a moment there. Sorry 'bout that.
Joe is one of our Savannah Monitors. He's the one that had his Christmas picture taken in a Santa hat.

Nothing like a Bigg Zardd with a Santa Hat. Merry X- Day

get well joe poor guy

Thanks.
He's at the get-a-little-worse-before-you-get-better part of the antibiotic treatment, so I'm in an absolute panic over him. The swelling has started going down in his leg, though, so hopefully he's on the mend.

I'm trying to picture a Savannah Monitor wanting to cuddle with everyone

most savannahs get like that, they love to sit on someone warm and sleep

That does seem to be their favorite accommodation, doesn't it! LOL
He's been snuggled up with me for the last few nights and one night it got rather cold in here, so Rocko decided he needed to climb in bed with the humans, too, and get warm. I woke up the next morning, with 25 pounds of Savannahs pinning me to the mattress.
Do you think ANYONE in the house would give me a hand? NOOO! Darned if they didn't take pictures, though. LOL
Had to pry myself out from under the prehistoric pile all by myself.

Ha, that's awesome

Sounds like you were the meat in a ZARD sandwitch. Too cool, where are those pics?

Well, a bit of an update on Joseph:
The antibiotics didn't work and we were back to the vet within 2 weeks to drain fluid from both his right knee and his right elbow. Dr. Jack has taken fluid samples and talk with some of the biggest named reptile pathologists on the planet. According to all of Joe's blood work, we should be looking at a healthy 2 1/2 year old Savannah. No one can figure out why this animal is doing what he's doing. We did another battery of test the other day as well as drained the joints and have started him on Metrinidozole and Prednisone (in case this is an auto-immune issue). The Pred seems to be working and he's been a little more animated.

On a more personal note: He has become a TOTAL Mama's boy and its my job to dote over him and hold him... All the time. LOL

More updates to follow.

aaww hope he gets better and you can figure out whats really going on

The Metronidozole and Prednisone worked! He's getting better every day and has even gotten back that scrappy demeanor, picking fights with Rocko.
Now, the vet still cannot figure out what on earth is going on, and he's talked with the top reptile pathologists in the world. Everyone is stumped.
The fact that the Pred started relieving the swelling, though, points to the possibility of an auto immune issue.

yay im glad hes better but that is crazy no one knows the cause for sure

The vet still hasn't gotten the last test results in, but we are all relieved to see that Joe has made almost a full recovery. He seems to have lost some strength and theres still a small bit of swelling in the joints that we're watching, but I think they will be just our constant reminder of how fragile these animals can be sometimes. He has become the ultimate mama's boy! He gets up in the morning about 9am and finds me, crawls up in my lap and its my job to give him morning loves while he snuggles up into my neck for about an hour. Had to reorganize my whole schedule for this! LOL
Wouldn't trade it for the world, though.

Love my Savannah boys!

I still say this is such a cute story about the little guy snuggling. I'm glad the new medicine is working.

Me, too. He was really rough there for a while.
Now he's become such a baby. He's my shadow whenever he's up and if Rock comes out, he chases him down to do that crazy Savannah wrestling thing. Except Joe has now realized if he bites Rock, he'll go away. It only took once, now he'll do it every time Rock starts getting the upper hand.
*sigh* Young boys and their bad habits...