Ellie’s Spay!
**Warning: There are some photos of Ellie’s procedure below. While not VERY graphic, these are images were taken during and after surgery**
One of the ways we’d like to use this blog space is to highlight information or procedures that we may not be appropriate for a quick Instagram post. A super-interesting iguana spay certainly falls into this category.
Back in October, Jackie (#staffmom) and Caitlin (#wearsmanyhats) brought Eleanor, their 8-year-old iguana in for a visit with Dr. Germano. She had displayed signs of lethargy and decreased appetite. According to the radiographs, #drgerm suspected Ellie could be gearing up to lay some eggs!
After a few weeks of meds and observation, a recheck of the X-rays confirmed Dr. Germano’s suspicions — Ellie had an abdomen full of eggs and she needed to be spayed, as it became clear she would not be able to lay them on her own.
We see dog and cat spays and neuters on an almost daily basis, but an iguana is (clearly) an entirely different beast. Firstly, anesthetizing an iguana can be more complicated than it is for our furrier companions.
As expected, once Dr. Germano began the surgery, she found an abdomen full of eggs! Iguanas have two sets of ovaries, so she needed to remove the eggs from both sides of her abdomen.
In total, Dr. Germano removed 49 eggs, both of Ellie’s ovaries (she saw some small cysts on them), and both of her fallopian tubes over the following 2 hours. She also warned Jackie and Caitlin that due to an imbalance in her hormones after the ovary removal, to be prepared for a sassy iguana at home.
We are happy to report that Eleanor is doing wonderfully a few weeks out of her surgery! This procedure was pretty closely watched by the entire staff — even me, your Bradcierge, who has a lower tolerance for gross stuff than most of the team! We hope getting a peek behind the surgery room door peaked your interest as much as it does ours. And if you have any questions about your exotic pet, surgeries, or if you’d like to see a particular topic addressed on our blog, please let us know!
PS — Caitlin may have taken an egg home for posterity…
~Bradcierge