Hello,
I haven't posted in a very long while, mostly because things have been going well with my tortoise up until recently. The last six months have been rougher though. My tortoise fell off a badly placed rock in her outdoor enclosure years ago, which resulted in a minor spot of damage which morphed into minor / moderate shell rot. I got all of that treated when it happened, and since then it was okay. However, about six months ago I was giving her shell a gentle scrub with a toothbrush, and that revealed what looked to me like new rot.
I treated it myself at home for a couple of weeks using the silver cream / anit-fungals that could be acquired over the counter. Looking back I wish I brought her straight into the vet, since that didn't work. They told me that they would characterize her current shell rot condition as mild to moderate, and that it was still very treatable topically. They put her on prescription rounds of silver cream and anti-fungal every day, and that seemed to really help for a while. I did the full course of treatment for months, then stopped. All was good for a couple of weeks. I kept cleaning her shell as recommended, and during one of those times it seems like her shell was a bit flakey again. I got worried and brought her back to the vet.
That's when things started to escalate. The new vet she saw (the old vet went out on maternity leave) thought her beak and claws were a little long. Not definitively long, but she thought combined with the persistent shell issues it could indicate some kind of deep fungal infection or bone disease. I'm a bit skeptical of this, considering Delilah seems quite healthy and is eating / active. Still, we did shell cultures to be safe. The shell cultures came back negative for all the usual shell rot suspects and showed no bacteria. That's good, but we were still considering whether to move on to x-rays to make sure there wasn't a systemic infection that we successfully treated topically before, but was now coursing through her little body.
However, it took another week to get the full culture results. Once we got those, it showed penicillium. I guess that could just be a random environmental bacteria that just happens and has nothing to do with her overall health. OR, it could be a sign of some deep insidious fungal infection.
Now my vet wants to do both x-rays and a shell biopsy. That will cost about $1200 and she will need to be sedated and take mediation after she comes home. If it shows a fungal infection we will need to put a tube in her esophagus and give her more medication for months. If it was just about the money I would do it, though obviously its a lot of money. My confliction comes more from doubt about if any of this is actually necessary? I'm not doubting my vet's ability, but we haven't actually met due to COVID. It just feels like an awful lot to do to a tortoise that seems healthy besides the shell and was treated successfully (on the surface at least) for a mild to moderate case of shell rot. It feels really invasive, though obviously letting her keep getting sick isn't a good option. The tube in her throat would have to stay in for months, and I don't have a good enough understanding of tortoise pain levels to know how uncomfortable that would be for her. I have limits on how much i'd make an animal suffer to treat them. This all just escalated so fast, and I'm kind of wondering if I'm just diving head first into a sea of crazy because of what could be a random spore?
Does anyone have any thoughts when it comes to systemic shell rot issues, or following vet advice? My first thought is that I need to just do what the vets say, even if it turns out to be nothing, but I just don't feel like I have enough experience to really judge how necessary and prudent this all is. I don't want to think any vet would just rack up vet bills, but has anyone experienced things escalating so fast in an otherwise healthy animal?
I haven't posted in a very long while, mostly because things have been going well with my tortoise up until recently. The last six months have been rougher though. My tortoise fell off a badly placed rock in her outdoor enclosure years ago, which resulted in a minor spot of damage which morphed into minor / moderate shell rot. I got all of that treated when it happened, and since then it was okay. However, about six months ago I was giving her shell a gentle scrub with a toothbrush, and that revealed what looked to me like new rot.
I treated it myself at home for a couple of weeks using the silver cream / anit-fungals that could be acquired over the counter. Looking back I wish I brought her straight into the vet, since that didn't work. They told me that they would characterize her current shell rot condition as mild to moderate, and that it was still very treatable topically. They put her on prescription rounds of silver cream and anti-fungal every day, and that seemed to really help for a while. I did the full course of treatment for months, then stopped. All was good for a couple of weeks. I kept cleaning her shell as recommended, and during one of those times it seems like her shell was a bit flakey again. I got worried and brought her back to the vet.
That's when things started to escalate. The new vet she saw (the old vet went out on maternity leave) thought her beak and claws were a little long. Not definitively long, but she thought combined with the persistent shell issues it could indicate some kind of deep fungal infection or bone disease. I'm a bit skeptical of this, considering Delilah seems quite healthy and is eating / active. Still, we did shell cultures to be safe. The shell cultures came back negative for all the usual shell rot suspects and showed no bacteria. That's good, but we were still considering whether to move on to x-rays to make sure there wasn't a systemic infection that we successfully treated topically before, but was now coursing through her little body.
However, it took another week to get the full culture results. Once we got those, it showed penicillium. I guess that could just be a random environmental bacteria that just happens and has nothing to do with her overall health. OR, it could be a sign of some deep insidious fungal infection.
Now my vet wants to do both x-rays and a shell biopsy. That will cost about $1200 and she will need to be sedated and take mediation after she comes home. If it shows a fungal infection we will need to put a tube in her esophagus and give her more medication for months. If it was just about the money I would do it, though obviously its a lot of money. My confliction comes more from doubt about if any of this is actually necessary? I'm not doubting my vet's ability, but we haven't actually met due to COVID. It just feels like an awful lot to do to a tortoise that seems healthy besides the shell and was treated successfully (on the surface at least) for a mild to moderate case of shell rot. It feels really invasive, though obviously letting her keep getting sick isn't a good option. The tube in her throat would have to stay in for months, and I don't have a good enough understanding of tortoise pain levels to know how uncomfortable that would be for her. I have limits on how much i'd make an animal suffer to treat them. This all just escalated so fast, and I'm kind of wondering if I'm just diving head first into a sea of crazy because of what could be a random spore?
Does anyone have any thoughts when it comes to systemic shell rot issues, or following vet advice? My first thought is that I need to just do what the vets say, even if it turns out to be nothing, but I just don't feel like I have enough experience to really judge how necessary and prudent this all is. I don't want to think any vet would just rack up vet bills, but has anyone experienced things escalating so fast in an otherwise healthy animal?