N
no one
Guest
Hoping for the best!! And I really aplaud all the effort!!
It turns out the CT was very useful, a Vet with less experience might not have pushed for it
and just continued looking for some sort of pneumonia. It is not pneumonia or herpes.
The CT scan showed he has a large mass in the left side of his body cavity,
most likely cancer but could be a cyst or granuloma.
I wanted to share this unfortunate but important discovery:
** From the outside of a tortoise, a tumor can display symptoms identical to pneumonia. **
The only point in doing a surgical biopsy of the mass at this point would be if we were considering removal.
Given the size and location, that would probably require opening the plastron and reattaching the piece after,
this would be extreme and chances of survival are low.
The Vet took an oral culture and ordered a broad bacterial test to rule out any secondary infection we could treat.
We're probably going to try a bronchial dilator to see if it helps his breathing.
He is still eating well and pooping normally and has periods of his usual activity.
We're basically going into hospice mode now.
The Vet said the main sign for him indicating he's in pain and nearing the end would be his stopping eating completely.
He may stay around with us for weeks or months, we're going to keep him near us, comfortable,
and shamelessly indulge him with his favorite foods and activities.
It turns out the CT was very useful, a Vet with less experience might not have pushed for it
and just continued looking for some sort of pneumonia. It is not pneumonia or herpes.
The CT scan showed he has a large mass in the left side of his body cavity,
most likely cancer but could be a cyst or granuloma.
I wanted to share this unfortunate but important discovery:
** From the outside of a tortoise, a tumor can display symptoms identical to pneumonia. **
The only point in doing a surgical biopsy of the mass at this point would be if we were considering removal.
Given the size and location, that would probably require opening the plastron and reattaching the piece after,
this would be extreme and chances of survival are low.
The Vet took an oral culture and ordered a broad bacterial test to rule out any secondary infection we could treat.
We're probably going to try a bronchial dilator to see if it helps his breathing.
He is still eating well and pooping normally and has periods of his usual activity.
We're basically going into hospice mode now.
The Vet said the main sign for him indicating he's in pain and nearing the end would be his stopping eating completely.
He may stay around with us for weeks or months, we're going to keep him near us, comfortable,
and shamelessly indulge him with his favorite foods and activities.
Thank you for this update, I think not many keepers would persist on finding out the diagnosis like you did. Still very sad news, hopefully he will have couple more happy days/weeks/months with you. Spoil him as much you canIt turns out the CT was very useful, a Vet with less experience might not have pushed for it
and just continued looking for some sort of pneumonia. It is not pneumonia or herpes.
The CT scan showed he has a large mass in the left side of his body cavity,
most likely cancer but could be a cyst or granuloma.
I wanted to share this unfortunate but important discovery:
** From the outside of a tortoise, a tumor can display symptoms identical to pneumonia. **
The only point in doing a surgical biopsy of the mass at this point would be if we were considering removal.
Given the size and location, that would probably require opening the plastron and reattaching the piece after,
this would be extreme and chances of survival are low.
The Vet took an oral culture and ordered a broad bacterial test to rule out any secondary infection we could treat.
We're probably going to try a bronchial dilator to see if it helps his breathing.
He is still eating well and pooping normally and has periods of his usual activity.
We're basically going into hospice mode now.
The Vet said the main sign for him indicating he's in pain and nearing the end would be his stopping eating completely.
He may stay around with us for weeks or months, we're going to keep him near us, comfortable,
and shamelessly indulge him with his favorite foods and activities.
Thank you Kasia. Now that we know, we're taking him with us again and he had a *Great Weekend* in his room upstate;
ate a lot and was quite active, he even played "Ram-man" with my foot for a while.
The symptoms continue, come and go in intensity, there will be good days and not so good ones.
I think his hinge back is helping too, just a hair more breathing room.
We're still waiting for the bacteria tests, and the bronchial medication is due in today,
hopefully I can get him to eat it. They mostly do meat flavors, not many fruit options, so I chose
strawberry. That's one of his favorites and maybe this will taste close enough to the real thing.
He's about as spoiled as a turtle can be, and we'll keep spoiling him as long as we can.
At this point he can even poop on the rug if he wants to.