Hi All ,
My 18 years old Hingeback Tortoise Zura suddenly stopped eating about 6-7 weeks ago . I live in Ohio and temps were low in late Feb , so i assumed it could be due to that. But he did not get any better as days passed by . He was always hiding in the enclosure, not active at all and looked sick . I soaked him couple of time but it did not help. So i finally took him to vet . he has not eaten in last 2 months , so no poop to get the fecal test done.
Zura is a very shy so vet sedated him. He checked him thoroughly and also got the blood sample to run some test . Vet noticed a big lesion on the left side , near neck area where skin folds. i have attached a photo of the lesion.
We got the blood work report yesterday and Vet informed us that Zura is Anemic. Report shows low hematocrit , protein and Albumin level. Vet believe that the lesion is not the primary reason for Zura's anemia or his lethargy. Anemia could be due to inflammatory issues going inside and suggested that we try giving him a dewormer(cannot be sure as no poop to get for worms). As Zura isn't eating the only way is to put a feeding tube .We are going to drop off Zura tonight to let Vet put the feeding tube , feed him some food and some dewormer.
I am posting pic of the lesion and the Blood work report . Any advises on what could have caused the lesion ? Also any suggestion on how to treat it ? If Zura is awake , he keep his head inside the shell so cannot apply any ointment or spray .
Thanks!
Rashmi
My 18 years old Hingeback Tortoise Zura suddenly stopped eating about 6-7 weeks ago . I live in Ohio and temps were low in late Feb , so i assumed it could be due to that. But he did not get any better as days passed by . He was always hiding in the enclosure, not active at all and looked sick . I soaked him couple of time but it did not help. So i finally took him to vet . he has not eaten in last 2 months , so no poop to get the fecal test done.
Zura is a very shy so vet sedated him. He checked him thoroughly and also got the blood sample to run some test . Vet noticed a big lesion on the left side , near neck area where skin folds. i have attached a photo of the lesion.
We got the blood work report yesterday and Vet informed us that Zura is Anemic. Report shows low hematocrit , protein and Albumin level. Vet believe that the lesion is not the primary reason for Zura's anemia or his lethargy. Anemia could be due to inflammatory issues going inside and suggested that we try giving him a dewormer(cannot be sure as no poop to get for worms). As Zura isn't eating the only way is to put a feeding tube .We are going to drop off Zura tonight to let Vet put the feeding tube , feed him some food and some dewormer.
I am posting pic of the lesion and the Blood work report . Any advises on what could have caused the lesion ? Also any suggestion on how to treat it ? If Zura is awake , he keep his head inside the shell so cannot apply any ointment or spray .
Thanks!
Rashmi