Urgent Care :: 3 MONTHS later The vet Doesnt know - Im BROKE

[starscollided]

So here is the deal - - One of squirts eyes is cloudy and it has been for a while. I have tried EVERYTHING. I am losing my mind and this problem is killing me - and the money i am spending is killing my wallet and my relationship (my boyfriend is of the belief that i am spending too much time effort and money on this turtle especially because i had to borrow money to help pay for my school books this semester)

The Turtle Eye Drops from the Pet Store - Up to Twice a Day
(we did this for a few weeks)

Eye Ointment from the Vet - Twice a day (not with other Drops)
Ointment for his "Ears" - Twice a Day
(Both Ointment applications which i usually do at the same time - - He gets Dry Docked for a Half hour in a nice Warm Place)

MULTIPLE Vitamin A injections - Literally the Dr. Has given squirt a Shot of Vitamin A etc. Once a month for the last 3 months
(THIS Shot is $60 a shot ontop of the $30 fee just for showing up at the Vet - - This vet is over 45min drive away. *This is over $100 a month*)

I love my turtle i really do but i am starting to lose it -

He has these weird Milky pink patches on his skin by his "red ears" on the same side as his bad eye - - and his eye is Milky and slightly inflamed.
Also his shell is starting to sink in a bit. I have been going to the Vet for 3 months with this problem and it is not getting any better. He even sent pictures to another Vet who agrees with my vets diagnosis.
The Roof of his Mouth is only a very Pale Pink (the vet sais a healty turtle will have a nice rosy pink color to the roof of their mouth)

Both the Vet and i have no idea why the treatment is not working and i have run out of money that i can spend

*I have to note that he Eats Regularly, he swims and is active and he is still happy to see me and beg for food, he spends a normal amount of time basking - - You would not know this was a "sick" turtle if you couldnt see the problems*

SPECS:

Tank: 40gal breeder (full by himself) with Above basking Area

Temps: 78 degree water
85-95 Basking Temp (depending on where he sits)

Light: UVA/B Strip Light over the Basking Area + Heat Lamp
Changed every Two Months
(The Wire Top is cut away over the basking area so it does not cut down the amount of UV


Filter: Fluval 405

Food: ReptoMin, ZooMed Aquatic Turtle Food, CuttleBone, Green Leafy lettuce, occasionally bits of Apple, and once every two weeks (by recommendation of the vet) this Vitamin supplement wet food stuff. And once a month as a treat he gets dried Shrimp

Only Large River Rocks in his tank and Fake Plants - - Occasionally i will put a water Lilly in there that he completely destroys

Water Quality: Has been tested by the Pet store and the Vet and I was told everything is fine with the water and i Do regular partial Changes.


Pictures:

I tried to Cover all Angles as best i could.

The roof of his mouth (best i could get)
The Bad Side of his Head (Three)
The Better side of his head (once)
His Shell (Twice)
His Belly (Once)


















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[starscollided]

* I also have to note that the conditions of this tank are pretty much identical to those of my other 40breeder with my other (smaller) two turtles * and neither of them have had ANY problems

[megcornell]

How long has this been going on? Did it start gradually or just one day everything looked irritated and pale?

Since the vet doesn't seem to be getting anywhere, I'd stop seeing him frankly. Especially since he's giving vit A shots at such an alarming frequency. That isn't good for a turtle's body to have to process that much vitamin A. You're lucky his liver hasn't failed.

On to the actual issue, I've never really seen anything like that. Did the vet take any cultures of the swollen areas? I'd think that would have been a good angle to explore. If it were me, I'd keep him comfortable, and start saving money to see an expert. It will be expensive, but at least you're not throwing the money at an ineffective treatment.

[starscollided]

This imediate problem has been going on for about 3 months

Squirt has had problems with that eye since i rescued him - - The first time he got a vitamin A shot (about a year ago) the problem cleared up for quite a long time. This is when i started feeding him veggies and the occasional vitamin supplement (wet food stuff from the pet store)
Things went on OK for a good 5 months without any problems and then i noticed that his eye started to get cloudy and puffy again. I started using the drops from the pet store for two weeks before i took him to the VET because it was not getting better. (This was 3 months ago) Then we started all of the above treatments.

The patches showed up about 3 weeks after the eye started getting puffy and the doctor gave me some ointment for it (which didnt do anything at all) The patches have looked the same for this entire time - not getting any worse but not getting better either - Around this time is when i took my other turtle Chomper out of the tank and gave him his own because i was afraid whatever it is may spread.

The vet never took any cultures - - i think he initially thought about it but then decided against doing it (i dont really know why) but i do know that he wanted to focus on getting the eye better first...

This doctor is a HERP vet... he is one of the only ones listed within an hour of me.
The regular Vet my parents bring their dogs to said he would take a look at him for free (just for initial diagnosis) - - but he isnt a herp vet he just thinks he may be able to make a slightly more educated guess

-I dont know what to do-
Squirt is going to have to wait to at least mid-October before i can take him to any other Vets (if i can even find another one)

[megcornell]

Have you been feeding him vit A rich foods like carrots and dandelion greens?
From what I can see online, it looks like the ear may be a secondary infection.
Did the herp vet ever say what might be wrong with the ear? And did he prescribe any antibiotics for it? I saw he had ointment but you didn't say what was in the ointment.
I suppose the fact that all those vitamin A shots haven't hurt him might mean he is very nutritionally unbalanced which lead him to be susceptible to secondary infections like what's happening on his ear.
What does your vet say for a possible different approach to figuring out what's going on? If he's the only herp vet around, I'd suspect he might be your best bet.
Maybe you can encourage him to ask other herp vets, he must be in some sort of professional association or at least have sources he can inquire to.

Worst case, I'd email a vet school and send pictures and the treatment you've done so far. Maybe they'll respond and help you out.

[mat012]

What was his diagnosis?

[meltedspork]

Poor little guy. Sorry I can't offer any advice, except to stop seeing that vet if nothing he is doing is helping. Is he a herp vet?

I wish you and Squirt the best of luck!

[starscollided]

The only diagnosis that i was ever given was that he has a vitamin deficiency -

*sigh*

[untsmurf]

I'm sorry you've had to go through all this. It almost looks like scar tissue. But since you said it came up suddenly, it can't be that.

[cprcheetah]

Zeke had a vitamin deficiency when I got him, we gave him a vitamin injection, antibiotics for infection and increased the good healthy vegetables such as carrots etc. Has your vet given him any antibiotics other than topical ointments? What type of veggies are you feeding?

[steve]

I don't think it is a vitamin deficiently and I definitely agree that you should seek out a different vet.

As for this current condition, I would consider antibiotic treatment as well. A culture test would be a great idea to help determine what it is. You can then address the cause and offer a more direct treatment.

Personally, I would try to dry dock him for much longer periods of time. If this is a water-borne microorganism/condition, the dry docking might help greatly. An ointment like SSD or a topical antibiotic (not the ZooMed stuff) might help when dry docked.

What type of antibiotic ointment did your vet offer? If you want more suggestions, it wouldn't hurt reposting this on some other forums. I would check to see what some breeders (link on King Snake) think -- I would expect them to have more encounters with these type infections.