Florida Soft Shell Rescue, Very Sick. Opinions?

[WildExotics]

Hi all. First time poster. I just rescued this Florida soft shell, and she seems to be very sick. I wasn't sure if it was a systemic infection or cancer, so I took her to an exotic specialist. The vet was also unsure if it was cancer or an infection, but was leaning towards infection. Our next step is getting a CT scan. Vet wants to amputate the clubbed hand, and perform surgery on both lumps. Anyone experienced in soft shells seen this before?


She has hard lumps on her carapace, plastron, and a clubbed front foot. Last person who owned her didn't have any UVB, no basking, kept her in cold temp city water and a thin layer sand at bottom, fed her a pelleted diet, with no access to a water-free platform. Wild caught. Approximately 3 years old. This is all the info I have. Thoughts?

Additionally, with your knowledge, would it be best to perform these invasive and aggressive procedures in an attempt to save her life? Or should I begin to consider euthanasia?
Thank you.

 

[TammyJ]

If it was me, I would try to save her, but that's me. Poor little sweetheart. Maybe she'll surprise you!

 

[TammyJ]

@Yvonne G

 

[mark1]

my opinion would be to put her on antibiotics, something that covers a lot, injectable .... see if she responds , if she eats and acts normal , no reason to do anything in a hurry ....the growths may be just unsightly........ they should be able to get a biopsy on them growths at a reasonable cost, tell if it's cancerous or not, a good vet could probably do it themselves.... ....... i doubt i'd go for a ct scan unless they were gonna start removing stuff....... i am of the opinion , less is often more, do the least you can......

 

[WildExotics]

my opinion would be to put her on antibiotics, something that covers a lot, injectable .... see if she responds , if she eats and acts normal , no reason to do anything in a hurry ....the growths may be just unsightly........ they should be able to get a biopsy on them growths at a reasonable cost, tell if it's cancerous or not, a good vet could probably do it themselves.... ....... i doubt i'd go for a ct scan unless they were gonna start removing stuff....... i am of the opinion , less is often more, do the least you can......

Her lumps are on the hard side, so the vet didn’t know how successful a biopsy would be. She also wants to amputate the leg regardless due to whatever is inside, serving as an HQ for infection or cancer.
Full disclosure, I know nothing about soft shells and am trying to understand the vet’s advice, while also seeking info from those in the hobby. Thank you greatly for your input, I will do more research.

 

[Yvonne G]

Oh my, that poor turtle. Normally I would say do all you can to save her, but thinking beyond the surgeries, what would her quality of life be, and if she were mine, I would humanely euthanize her. If you opt for trying to save her it would mean keeping her in a sterile enclosure with the majority of her time being in dry dock. Soft shells are not meant to be in dry dock. It would be VERY difficult on both the turtle and the carer to deal with this.

 

[mark1]

the turtle is healthy at this time, eating well and acting normal ?i'm of the opinion to tell if it's cancer you only need a few cells? the "tumors" being hard/solid is probably not a good sign, abscesses may be solid but they're usually not connected to anything .... i'm also of the opinion , through my experiences , removing cancer surgically when it's in more than one place is an exercise in futility....... probably why they want to do a ct scan.....
i had a dog one time started having seizures at an older age , they wanted to do a ct scan of her brain , i asked the vet why, was told to see if there were any lesions..... i then asked if they found any what would they do????? we never got that scan , treated her for idiopathic seizures with the lowest dose of phenobarbital that worked , she lived a near normal life.......

there are ways to not dry dock them , turtles lose limbs in the wild all the time.......

 

[TammyJ]

Valid opinions from both Yvonne and Mark1! I guess it's now up to you. Let us know what happens, please.