Surgery's over, she doing great!

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Posted by Meggy's Mom on March 23, 1999 at 17:52:27:

Hi friends,
My vet called (long-distance)at 5:00 today to say that she was doing great--was awake and walking around. He operated on her early afternoon and found that her eggs were still in the ovaries and showing signs of fragility--not moving down to the oviducts nor being reabsorbed. Said that she would have really been in trouble in another couple of weeks and that I was very smart to have the surgery when I did.
To back up and give you some info on the vet. After much research, correspondence with fellow ig owners, plus calls to 8 vets in Pennsylvania, I had decided to have the operation done but wasn't satisfied with any of the vets I had spoken with. They had limited experience with this surgery. I finally found a vet who is listed on the Herp Connection who actually referred me to the vet I used. Said he did the spay operation routinely. I called this man who is located in Fairfax, VA and was impressed with his credentials. For one he is Pres. of ARAV (Assoc. of Reptilian and Amphibian Veterinarians) and he only sees exotics. I am not sure if I can mention names on this forum but if anyone wants to know his name, e-mail me. I'll try to add his name to the Herp Connection if I can figure out how to do this.
Most of his patients are referrels from other vets. I drove 2 1/2 hours yesterday for an appointment with him and he spent 90 minutes with me. Not only did he give Meggy a very thorough exam but also talked to me about diet, light, environment, and kidney disease which is prevalent with adult iguanas and measures I can take to ward this off. He then gave me a tour of the operating room, where she would recover and allowed me to put her in the holding cage. He has written a number of articles on spaying and teaches this procedure to other vets. He is young, very thorough, and very nice. Told me that he recommends spaying on a healthy gravid female iguana, rather than wait until it is life threatening when their health is poor. Also said that it is difficult for captive iguanas to successfully pass eggs year after year.
I am so glad that I went through with this and selected the vet that I did. Thanks again to all who wrote to me or posted here with good wishes, support, and information. Special thanks to Hakan for all your information that really helped me to arrive at the decision to operate. If anyone wants to know anything more about the operation or the vet, please e-mail me.
You are a great group!

Follow Ups:

glad to hear the good news - np Joan 3/24/99 (0)
Sounds like you dodged THAT bullet!......... Iguanamomma 3/24/99 (0)
Yeah! Meggy!! Juby/Skinny 3/24/99 (0)
Re: Surgery's over, she doing great! Harry's Dad 3/24/99 (0)
Re: Surgery's over, she doing great! cirsisue 3/23/99 (0)
2 mEggY .... the dReaDfuL dRaGoN 3/23/99 (1)
- That was VERY sweet IZ....n/p BabyHerp 3/24/99 (0)
Re: Surgery's over, she doing great! Lorry 3/23/99 (1)
- Way to Go Meggy & Mom!! n/p BabyHerp 3/23/99 (0)

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: Hi friends, : My vet called (long-distance)at 5:00 today to say that she was doing great--was awake and walking around. He operated on her early afternoon and found that her eggs were still in the ovaries and showing signs of fragility--not moving down to the oviducts nor being reabsorbed. Said that she would have really been in trouble in another couple of weeks and that I was very smart to have the surgery when I did. : To back up and give you some info on the vet. After much research, correspondence with fellow ig owners, plus calls to 8 vets in Pennsylvania, I had decided to have the operation done but wasn't satisfied with any of the vets I had spoken with. They had limited experience with this surgery. I finally found a vet who is listed on the Herp Connection who actually referred me to the vet I used. Said he did the spay operation routinely. I called this man who is located in Fairfax, VA and was impressed with his credentials. For one he is Pres. of ARAV (Assoc. of Reptilian and Amphibian Veterinarians) and he only sees exotics. I am not sure if I can mention names on this forum but if anyone wants to know his name, e-mail me. I'll try to add his name to the Herp Connection if I can figure out how to do this. : Most of his patients are referrels from other vets. I drove 2 1/2 hours yesterday for an appointment with him and he spent 90 minutes with me. Not only did he give Meggy a very thorough exam but also talked to me about diet, light, environment, and kidney disease which is prevalent with adult iguanas and measures I can take to ward this off. He then gave me a tour of the operating room, where she would recover and allowed me to put her in the holding cage. He has written a number of articles on spaying and teaches this procedure to other vets. He is young, very thorough, and very nice. Told me that he recommends spaying on a healthy gravid female iguana, rather than wait until it is life threatening when their health is poor. Also said that it is difficult for captive iguanas to successfully pass eggs year after year. : I am so glad that I went through with this and selected the vet that I did. Thanks again to all who wrote to me or posted here with good wishes, support, and information. Special thanks to Hakan for all your information that really helped me to arrive at the decision to operate. If anyone wants to know anything more about the operation or the vet, please e-mail me. : You are a great group!

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