Urgent Care :: Possible RI and vet visit

[clc4912]

I suspected that my little guy had RI last night when I heard him Wheeze and open his mouth somewhat to breath. This was the first time I had heard him do this, so I decided it would be best to take him to the vet before he got worse. He is about 2 to 2 1/2 inches.

The vet was not conclusive and it was apparent that he does not see many reptiles, but I do not have any other options available. He stated that he has not had very good luck with injections on turtles so small so he gave me the antibiotic to dilute in water to put the turtle in. He said that I should repeat the treatment every other day for ten days. He also stated that my other turtles in the tank should not be affected. Is this sound advice?

Through my readings of this forum, I have not come across this particular treatment. Has any one heard of this?

The vet prescribles Baytril if anyone is interested.

Any advice any of you have would be appreciated.

[octpusgirl8]

Baytril is a common antibiotic given for turtles with RI, but i've never heard of it being put in water. If one turtle has RI, it's very likely that the other does too, even if he's no showing symptoms yet. It might be a good idea to treat them both. Try to find a herp vet, a regular "dog and cat" vet is better than nothing, but they just don't have the specialized knowledge and experience that a herp vet does. Good luck and keep us updated!

[clc4912]

He has only prescribed .1 ML diluted in the water that the turtle is placed in. Is it usually given orally? Should I give it orally? Should I isolate him to prevent possible spread?

[octpusgirl8]

I wouldn't administer the meds any differently than the vet said to unless you talk to him about it. It's usually given by injection i believe, but i've heard of oral medication for turtles as well. Would it be possible to put both turtles in the medicine water? If you can't treat both turtles, separate them if you can.

[clc4912]

The funny thing is that I heard the wheezing repeatedly last night, but did not hear it a single time since picking him up to go to the vet or since. I think I will treat him for a few days and keep him isolated and see if there is an improvement, though I still have not heard the noise again. Even though I spent the money on the vet, it would be nice if I was bing a little paranoid. Only time will tell I guess.

[megcornell]

Definitely keep him isolated. Give the meds as directed, but keep your eyes out for a real herp vet, your vet didn't sound to good. He should have at least known that RI is contagious.
When my hatchling had RI I gave her injections with no problems, she fully recovered. The only issue was that the vet couldn't do any diagnostics due to her small size, but she still prescribed baytril and Leo recovered.

[clc4912]

Definitely keep him isolated. Give the meds as directed, but keep your eyes out for a real herp vet, your vet didn't sound to good. He should have at least known that RI is contagious.
When my hatchling had RI I gave her injections with no problems, she fully recovered. The only issue was that the vet couldn't do any diagnostics due to her small size, but she still prescribed baytril and Leo recovered.

Do you remember how much in quantity the injections were? The vet told me that the reason that he did not want to give an injection is because every time he had previously done so, the turtle had died within two days. I am assuming he gave too much. If I could get an approximation of the quantity given, I could talk to the vet if I need to return about a possible injection. Any help is greatly appreciated.

My seven year old son really wants to see the turtle fully recover.

[megcornell]

I can't remember on my hatchling... I want to say .01ml. On my adult rescue turtle, the injections were .04ml of baytril every three days.
My vet wasn't sure of the dosing, he looked it up. I assume your vet has access to the same baytril dosing charts, in fact, I found them myself online after googling baytril when my one turtle got ill just to double check.
It gives info on the dose amount and frequency.

If the vet is uncomfortable with injections, I don't see why he didn't at least offer oral doses. Soaking an animal in very dilute antibiotics seems idiotic to me. Baytril isn't topical as far as I know.

I'd strongly suggest finding a second opinion vet-wise.
Hatchlings are very delicate and as yours is already sick, a mistake on a vet's part could be costly. Hatchlings have a tough enough time recovering from illness as it is.

[clc4912]

The weird thing is that I have been watching him very closely all night and have not seen any symptoms of wheezing or opening his mouth to breath. He is swimming fine and seems to be eating as normal other than his jumpiness when he sees me, but I think that is because that last couple of times he has seen me I have taken him out of the tank so he is a little weary of me right now.

I will give it a couple of days and see how he does and take it from there.

[TheComputerGremlin]

If your vet isn't knowledgeable about treating turtles, find one that he can call to get dosing correct. I'm sure another vet can assist him in giving the correct shot ...

[clc4912]

He actually did call someone else. I think he was hesitant because of his previous experience with injections and the deaths of the other turtles. I was watching him this morning and he looks great. He is not making any noises and is not opening his mouth to breath at all. Hopefully I was just paranoid, but I will continue the treatment the vet prescribed just to make sure. If I have to, I will take him back and request an injection and speak to him about the dosage that I was told about here and see what he says.