Urgent Care :: Tragic Story (long) - Please Advise **UPDATED** ~pic added~

[turtletwist]

Hello,

I'm writing on behalf of my broken hearted 9yo daughter. This story begins 3 years ago with constant begging to get a turtle. I have always declined her request due to having 2 dogs, 3 cats, a guinea pig, bunny & gold fish.

To my surprise she arrived home from her last day of school (about 4 weeks ago) carrying a bucket with a teeny tiny baby turtle inside. Never having owned turtles before I quickly did research online and found out it is a RES turtle and found this website. For several days I read all I could from the wonderful info provided and went out and purchased all the necessary items: tank, heater, light, filter, basking platform, rocks, food, water treatment...etc. I was unaware how high maintenance they were but I wanted to do everything the right way.

My daughter instantly fell in love with Bob and I knew he was now part of our family. She has been really wonderful taking care of him until this week.

This past Saturday we went to my dad's to celebrate father's day, a day early. Early in the morning my daughter had Bob in her lap on a washcloth. I told her to go get ready so we could leave and she did. When we returned home several hours later we saw the washcloth on the couch and realized that she had forgotten to put Bob back in the tank. Tears instantly started flowing. We searched everywhere for many hours. My husband even checked under the house. There is a venting grate on the floor and our house is one of those old homes that is raised off the ground. So he went under the house with a light but no Bob.

For 3 days my daughter slept with a flashlight incase she heard something, in the night, she could illuminate the area to see if it was the turtle. She carried the flashlight with her and constantly checked under the furniture every time she thought about it. She kept asking me questions about how long he could last without food and water or if our dogs and cats would eat him. She was so concerned and just broken up over losing him. I've never seen her this attached to an animal and she would just crawl in my lap and cry. I was heartbroken becasue she was in such pain.

Well, yesterday morning I was walking into the living room and noticed something out of the corner of my eye and it was Bob. I was so excited because I knew my daughter would stop hurting so much now that she has Bob back. It's actually really amazing that I even saw Bob since he's only about 2" long and it was in a shadowed corner and he kinda blended in with the wood floor.

When I picked the turtle up I knew instantly that something was wrong. His back legs weren't working at all. They were just sticking out. One was straight out and the other was contorted. At first I thought something happened and his legs were paralyzed. But they're not, as they will move if lightly touched. The legs are just dried out. Like a dead frog that you see on the side of the road. The front legs are not as bad. One works fine and the other is a bit gimpy. The nails on the baby toe on each hind leg is missing. Like they just dried out and fell off. It's awful!!

I instantly put Bob in the tank that we still have set up and he immediately rolled belly up and my daughter freaked out. I took him out of the tank as the current, from the filter, was just pushing him around the tank like a feather in the air. I put warm water in a bowl, enough to cover the legs and shell, but shallow enough that he can pop his head up. Then I called the vet and they said to just put him in water. I asked to bring him in and they said there is nothing they could do. They couldn't give me any answers about the legs or what happened or if they will recover. Nothing. Just to keep him in water.

Will his legs rehydrate? Will he ever use them again? If not, how can the poor thing swim or climb to bask? He'll just drown. He can't swim to get food. He can't climb on little rocks. He only has one good leg and his shell looks like it may have a hairline crack too. Or it may be a flake coming up??

How can I make him better? It's been about 20 hours since I found him and the legs are not doing any better. My daughter is devistated. She has wanted a turtle for so long and she finally got one and instantly fell in love with it. And I don't know if he can be helped. He moves his head fine. He is still eating. Only if it floats to him. He will not go after it.

Has anyone ever heard of legs drying out? Or rehydrating? How can I make him better? What can I do. What if he doesn't regain use of them? Will they have to be removed? Will he have to be put down? Oh, I hope not! Please help, I'm desperate!!


Thank you


EDITED TO ADD PIC:

[Spike 7.62]

I'm suprised he wasn't eaten by the cats, although it is possible they are responsible for his paralysis. The vet wouldn't even x-ray the turtle? He may have broken bones from being chewed on/attacked. I suspect that's how he lost his claws.

The only advice I can give is to keep feeding him and wait. Eating is a good sign, but the turtle will need to regain the use of his legs. If his condition doesn't improve in, I'd say a week, then you've got a decision to make. Please keep us updated on your situation.

-Spike

[BiteyBits]

Give him a pedialyte soak. 1/2 warm water, 1/2 clear pedialyte. Maybe feed him in it so he'll ingest some. That should help him feel better and help with rehydrating, especially after being out of water for so long. Don't know about the legs though. It's good that he will move them a little if touched.

Also, I would look around for another herp vet, turtle specialist, and try to find someone at least willing to see him. There may be nothing they can do, especially with him being small, but it's worth trying for a second opinion. At the least it would give you a better idea of what his injuries are and therefore if there is specific treatments you can try with him.

Best Wishes for his recovery and your daughter as well

[turtletwist]

I'm suprised he wasn't eaten by the cats, although it is possible they are responsible for his paralysis. The vet wouldn't even x-ray the turtle? He may have broken bones from being chewed on/attacked. I suspect that's how he lost his claws.

The only advice I can give is to keep feeding him and wait. Eating is a good sign, but the turtle will need to regain the use of his legs. If his condition doesn't improve in, I'd say a week, then you've got a decision to make. Please keep us updated on your situation.

-Spike

Hi, Spike. Thanks for your reply. Luckily, this took place in the front room that is shut off from the animals. They cats would climb onto the fireplace mantle and knock everything over. So we keep the french door on both sides of the fireplace closed as all times so the cats are not in there.

There has been a tiny bit of improvement today. His tail that was stuck tucked up against him has straightened out. You can see this in the picture I just took. I edited the first post to add it.

He also moved his back legs in sort of a walking motion. Which he had not done before. It was rudimentary and he did not actually put pressure on them but he made the walking gesture. It happened only the one time, that I saw, and it was at that time that I noticed his tail sticking straight out now.

From the picture you can see how his back legs are gaunt and dried looking. They are looking much better than yesterday and it's hard to capture this in the photo. The position his legs are in are frozen that way way when they are out which is most of the time. But if you pick him up he will draw them in completely.

When I spoke with the receptionist at our vet she went to talk with him and when she returned she just said there is nothing they can do so don't bring him in and just put him in water and wait.

You said if the condition of the legs don't improve that I have a decision to make. Does that mean that turtles are not able to live without the use of their back legs? Will I have to put him down if he doesn't regain their use?

Thanks again for your help.

[turtletwist]

Give him a pedialyte soak. 1/2 warm water, 1/2 clear pedialyte. Maybe feed him in it so he'll ingest some. That should help him feel better and help with rehydrating, especially after being out of water for so long. Don't know about the legs though. It's good that he will move them a little if touched.

Also, I would look around for another herp vet, turtle specialist, and try to find someone at least willing to see him. There may be nothing they can do, especially with him being small, but it's worth trying for a second opinion. At the least it would give you a better idea of what his injuries are and therefore if there is specific treatments you can try with him.

Best Wishes for his recovery and your daughter as well

Thank you BiteyBits. I will give the Pedialyte soak a try. I'm open to anything and I didn't even think to do such a thing but it sounds like a great idea to me.

I was surprised when my vet said that as he seems to tell us to bring our animals in for every little thing and I was pretty upset that he didn't offer any other advice. I'll call another vet to see what they say, too.

Thanks for the well wishes.

[turtletwist]

I updated the first post with a picture.

As noted in my reply to Spike, there has been a bit of a change today. His tail is no longer stiff and tucked to his side. He has now straightened it out. He also made a walking motion with his back legs. They weren't very meaningful motions but it shows me that they legs are not paralyzed and he is trying to use them.

I hope this is a good sign!

[turtletwist]

Oh just wanted to say that the white thing on his shell is not fungus. IT was a piece of fuzz floating in the water. I removed it when I saw it but after I had already taken the picture, lol!

[Moose]

I hope that all is going well! Keep us updated!!!

[Spike 7.62]

Well, this is good progress we are seeing. Perhaps the symptoms we are seeing are just the effects of shock. Young turtles are especially vulnerable to shock, for example, drastic temperature changes, traumatic occurances, prolonged periods of duress, et cetera. The same happens to people too. Your turtle had a horrible experiance and his defense mechanism may be telling him to save energy, stay put and see what happens next. If he is continually comfortable and feels safe, he will "come out of his shell" so to speak and move more.

Basically, keep doing what you're doing and I believe this trend of improvement will continue. Hopefully we have a success story on our hands.

-Spike

[steve]

RES only 4 have nails on each of their hind feet. If your Bob were to lose the use of his hind legs, he would adapt. Are you keeping him in his tank or dry docked? It seems like he should be fine in a couple of days, we're all pulling for him!

[bradmeisel]

I have my fingers and toes crossed for Bob. I have read many of these types of stories and I am glad to hear Bob is going in a good direction. If he is eating and pooping, he will probrably be ok.

[BiteyBits]

Update? How is Bob doing?