Pinkish Urates???

[DoversMama]

Our Russian, Dover, has been occasionally having pinkish urates. Has anyone else had this issue? It's not streaked with blood or anything, it's just a very light pearly pink. We just took him in for his first vet visit, and she wasn't sure...but suggested daily soaking for a week to see if it's an issue with dehydration. We had a fecal done and the results were parasite free.

Anyone have an idea?

 

[sammi]

Normally it'll be from something he ate. This happens to Ernie whenever he eats carrots or has some radicchio the day or two before. Has he had either of these lately? Its nothing to worry about, but just remember carrots and radicchio should be limited and only part of a varied diet.

 

[DoversMama]

He's been mostly on spring mix(just checked, it didn't list radicchio) with timothy, but we did feed him some kale last week which is when it started happening. It had stopped for a day, but then today he got a bit of squash and a bit of sweet potato and again, pinkish when we soaked him.

 

[sammi]

It might be the sweet potato. Anything with a strong color [red radiccho, orange carrots, orange sweet potatoes] will do the trick. Kale shouldn't make his urates pink though, so I'm pretty sure that wasn't it. No worries though. It will only last a day or two at most.

 

[Yvonne G]

Dandelion greens also cause the urine and urates to color.

 

[DoversMama]

Okay guys, Monday was the last day we fed Dover any sweet potato, but his urates are still a bit pinkish. Here are a few photos:

You still think it's okay? The vet said we should bring him in...although I'm not 100% in love with her opinions because she recommended that we use the "cage carpet" astro-turf for his tortoise condo, which I think is b.s. for a burrowing creature.

Any advice is welcome!

 

[Luvthemtorts]

If the photos show an accurate portrayal of color you have nothing to worry about other than finding a new veterinarian LOL!

 

[Isa]

Once, Hermy's urines were pinkish, I gave a sample of urine to the vet and he found a little blood in it so he gave Hermy Antibiotic. Hermy is ok now. Maybe you can bring the urates to a reptile vet.

 

[DoversMama]

Hmm. The vet said that it could be a UTI, and wants to do tests...not that Dover isn't worth the $100, but I don't want to spend money that doesn't need to be spent. I'd just feel SO bad if I could have taken care of it but didn't. Being a new tort mommy is stressful...

 

[K9KidsLove]

I agree that the urates look normal if the color is accurate in the picture. However, to ease your mind, go ahead & get it tested. Just make sure the vet is a tortoise vet, not just a puppy/kitty vet who will see tortoises.
good luck
Patsy

 

[DoversMama]

I guess we're going to go in, just to ease our minds. The vet is an exotic vet, actually the clinic is listed on the thread that this forum has. Thanks for your help, guys. It probably is nothing, but just in case...I'll give you an update after our visit! =)

 

[Maggie Cummings]

You have many experienced keepers telling you it's normal. I also think it's normal, mine have urates like that from dandelions. But I sure wouldn't waste money going to a Vet on those urates. They don't mean he's got an UTI, I think he's slightly dehydrated. I don't think there's anything wrong with him...

 

[DoversMama]

If it is because he's dehydrated, what can we do to fix that? We soaked him daily for a week(we usually do every other day), and monitor the humidity(we were told to keep it around 50%) as best we can...

We've limited his diet to romaine, greenleaf and timothy this week, to try to see if it was a food issue, but they're still pink, so I don't think it's from his food.

I totally respect everyone's opinion here, and actually value it more than the vet, because so many of you have raised and bred so many torts. I would just feel guilty overlooking something.

 

[Yvonne G]

Hmm. The vet said that it could be a UTI, and wants to do tests...not that Dover isn't worth the $100, but I don't want to spend money that doesn't need to be spent. I'd just feel SO bad if I could have taken care of it but didn't. Being a new tort mommy is stressful...

The picture you show actually looks more like what you see when a tortoise has a protozoa-type parasite infestation. I'm assuming you mean an upper respiratory tract infection by UTI? If so, I really don't think that's the case.

 

[Maggie Cummings]

Hmm. The vet said that it could be a UTI, and wants to do tests...not that Dover isn't worth the $100, but I don't want to spend money that doesn't need to be spent. I'd just feel SO bad if I could have taken care of it but didn't. Being a new tort mommy is stressful...

The picture you show actually looks more like what you see when a tortoise has a protozoa-type parasite infestation. I'm assuming you mean an upper respiratory tract infection by UTI? If so, I really don't think that's the case.

Urinary tract infection.I think he's dehydrated and you are not feeding him well enough. Feed him spring mix and add some of the good stuff like endive and kale and collard green leaf and red leaf, as much of that stuff that you can find in the store. That's how I feed my animals. I think if you make sure the food is dampened that makes a difference. He'd get fluid from the food. I sprinkle the food with water before I feed.So they get food and water at the same time.
I had a sick tortoise that I was and had been soaking everyday and when I took her to the Vet the first thing she said was "Oh my she's dehydrated".
Yet, I'd been soaking her regularly for her whole 4 years of living. Just because we soak the hell out of them doesn't mean they drink and they don't take in enough thru their cloaca to make a difference.

 

[Italianlnm]

I have a questions..

Are those what urates should look like?

Bullets are always.. almost a liquad powder.. Or something.. I will take a picture when I soak him today.

I posted them before, and I was told they looked fine.. but they look nothing like that.

 

[DoversMama]

[/quote]

Urinary tract infection.I think he's dehydrated and you are not feeding him well enough. Feed him spring mix and add some of the good stuff like endive and kale and collard green leaf and red leaf, as much of that stuff that you can find in the store. That's how I feed my animals. I think if you make sure the food is dampened that makes a difference. He'd get fluid from the food. I sprinkle the food with water before I feed.So they get food and water at the same time.
I had a sick tortoise that I was and had been soaking everyday and when I took her to the Vet the first thing she said was "Oh my she's dehydrated".
Yet, I'd been soaking her regularly for her whole 4 years of living. Just because we soak the hell out of them doesn't mean they drink and they don't take in enough thru their cloaca to make a difference.
[/quote]

Just for the record, we DO normally feed him spring mix and rotate kale, and collard and other greens. We were just using light lettuces to make sure that it wasn't from redleaf or anything in the mix. I obviously don't feed him that all the time. :shy: Thanks for the "wet" food trick, I actually saw that on another thread and have been trying that. It also makes the hay stick more, which is a plus because Dover never elects to eat it by himself.

 

[DoversMama]

Okay Guys, just an update on Dover. We did end up taking him in, and they did a urine test, and it was negative...but the vet wanted to try an antibiotic anyway. The pink immediately went away...for a couple months. We waited to see if it would go away in a few days(which would show it being caused by diet), and it didn't...so we went back and saw another doc, who tested the urine again, and he DID have a urinary tract infection, which we treated with a different antibiotic routine(and tested to make sure the UTI cleared up) and again...it went away. Wellll, now it's happening again(it's only been six weeks at most) and his urates have been quite pink for two weeks. We're taking him back in to get tested again!

Is there something that would be causing these infections? We use sand/coir mix for his substrate, soak him regularly, and feed him a diet of spring mix with varied dark greens.

I'm just getting a bit worried(he's eating less, and only if I hand feed him), and would like to help out the little guy in any way! Any suggestions are appreciated.