Goodbye little Trixie

[Catherine]

I think newts don't live very long and it is hard to keep their conditions just right for them.
I know the Pac man frog I had died young. He should have lasted for years. I don't know what went wrong.

[Ruth]

Unfortunately vets don't know how to get rid of the newts diseases and many of them have diseases when they come here. I had Lily the Newt for a few years.

[Catherine]

A lot of the amphibians are in trouble. I know wild frogs are in trouble all around the world.
Most vets wouldn't have any amphibian experience.

They are a tricky pet.

[Ruth]

They should start specializing in reptiles and amphibians. There is a need for that.

[Catherine]

I think we will start seeing reptile/amphibian vets when we start having vets who have pet reptiles.

It wasn't that long ago that vets didn't really treat dogs and cats. All those vets would be retired now, but  vet colleges were slow to respond to the need for something other than farm vets. When I was a student vet colleges were training farm vets with some small interest in pets. I assume the focus has changed completely.

[Ruth]

I didn't know that about vets not treating dogs and cats at a point in time. It seems now that they mostly treat dogs and cats. There are a few vets who treat reptiles and amphibians. I found one once many years ago.

[Catherine]

The early vets primarily treated farm animals. Dogs and cats were mostly working animals too. Dogs herded animals and cats caught mice and rats.

It is only since we have moved into the cities that cats and dogs are more companion animals and vets are called upon to treat them.  We have a vet in my neighbourhood who only treats cats. That is her specialty. She knows a lot of details about cats that make their medical care unique.

Reptiles are complicated. Lizards and snakes are very different. Turtles are a specialty all their own. I have never met a vet who was just a lizard or snake specialist. I tend to deal with experienced breeders when I need help.

When Earl the corn snake was in trouble, I went on a reptile forum. Their advice was different from veterinary advice.
Someone on that forum had done what the vet advised and his snake was dead. I followed the forum advice and Earl lived.

Unless a vet actually has reptiles as pets, I would hesitate to take my reptile for treatment.

[Ruth]

Well, I took Lily the Newt to a vet along with a whole bunch of newts that were sick. He gave me medicine and said some were too far gone and probably would not get better. Lily was the only that lived after treatment. However she hardly did anything for the last year of her life.

[Catherine]

I wonder what was wrong with them. Maybe it was a fungal infection. Amphibians are prone to fungus.

I wonder what a reptile/amphibian breeder would have done for them.

[Ruth]

It was many years ago and I can't recall what they had. I don't know what a breeder would have done for them but maybe they could have helped.