Ghost's vet appointment

Tim Carlisle

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Took Ghost to the vet yesterday for his yearly checkup. They gave him vitamin and calcium injections (vet said they do that for all their Sulcata patients), and also did a fecal exam. They noticed pinworms and prescribed Panacur to be administered once every 2 weeks for 8 weeks. What is the best method to administer the Panacur? Mix with food? Eye dropper?

The vet mentioned he was very happy overall with the rate of growth and weight gain, and commented on how smooth his shell is.

Here’s Ghost waiting patiently for the vet to arrive:24D98F22-BCA3-425E-8317-8C6E956AA968.jpeg
 

ZEROPILOT

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That vitamin and calcium injection just about proves that you need a new vet.
Those should never be given.
I've also NEVER administered Panacur in that way and I've never heard of anyone else doing so over a period of several days. Its usually once. Then once again a week or 10 days later.
Hopefully one of our Sulcata gurus will chime in soon.
This does not sound normal to me.
Hopefully I'm wrong.
@Tom
@Yvonne G
Anyone still awake?
 

queen koopa

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Smooth shell and good weight growth. Why would that warrant vitamin and calcium injections? Agree with ZEROPILOT
Also you could probably just bring a fecal sample in to the vet yearly, vet gets what they need there.
 

Tim Carlisle

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That vitamin and calcium injection just about proves that you need a new vet.
Those should never be given.
I've also NEVER administered Panacur in that way and I've never heard of anyone else doing so over a period of several days. Its usually once. Then once again a week or 10 days later.
Hopefully one of our Sulcata gurus will chime in soon.
This does not sound normal to me.
Hopefully I'm wrong.
@Tom
@Yvonne G
Anyone still awake?
Seemed a bit odd to me as well, which is why I came here for insight. The vet specifically said that they do that for all their sulcatas. Ghost certainly had no deficiency of Vit A or calcium that I'm aware of. I give him Repashy daily as recommended, so all his nutrients should be covered. Would the shots necessarily hurt him if otherwise not needed?
 

Blackdog1714

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Seemed a bit odd to me as well, which is why I came here for insight. The vet specifically said that they do that for all their sulcatas. Ghost certainly had no deficiency of Vit A or calcium that I'm aware of. I give him Repashy daily as recommended, so all his nutrients should be covered. Would the shots necessarily hurt him if otherwise not needed?
Imagine replacing all the fluids on a brand new car. Just Because that is not medicien that is salesmanship :mad:
 

wellington

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I would stop yearly visits. Most never see a vet unless something is visibly wrong with them. Most vets don't know how to properly treat a tortoise. I agree with whoever said if your tort is so healthy why the injections? It doesn't make sense.
 

Blackdog1714

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For $70 on Amazon you can get a microscope that will easily see all the worms that could ever be in your Torts poop! Then use Google to match the worm and off you go! For a low onetime fee of $179.95 I will provide a full Microscope kit, Panacur doses, and hand stencil your name on the microscope--- see mark up! Don.t beat yourself up you are a GOOD tort owner just imagine how many don't go to a vet even when they are very sick!
 

vladimir

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How's Ghost doing? When we had to give Vlad panacur I would use a medicine dropped to soak the medicine into individual pieces of mazuri and hand feed them to make sure he received it.
 

Tom

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That vitamin and calcium injection just about proves that you need a new vet.
Those should never be given.
I've also NEVER administered Panacur in that way and I've never heard of anyone else doing so over a period of several days. Its usually once. Then once again a week or 10 days later.
Hopefully one of our Sulcata gurus will chime in soon.
This does not sound normal to me.
Hopefully I'm wrong.
@Tom
@Yvonne G
Anyone still awake?
Agreed.

These vitamin and calcium injections are just a way for a vet to tack on more money to your bill. In smaller tortoises and babies, these injections can be harmful.
 

Tim Carlisle

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Agreed.

These vitamin and calcium injections are just a way for a vet to tack on more money to your bill. In smaller tortoises and babies, these injections can be harmful.
Thanks Tom - I'll watch him close in that case. What are some possible symptoms I should look for?
 

mastershake

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i do not agree with the dosing of panacur but what we do to get them to take it is find something they LOVE to eat even if thats a piece of watermelon or whatever then careful place the fenbendazol (fenben is panacur) on that being careful to try not to drip it off and they will eat it right up. fenben should be doses once then either one week later a second dose and then rechecked or 2 weeks later then rechecked. depends on the severity of the case, which also imo determines the dose level. to know the correct dose i would need the current weight and strength of the fenbendazole they are using. also if healthy and everything is fine they really do not need any extra stuff given like that.
 

ZEROPILOT

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i do not agree with the dosing of panacur but what we do to get them to take it is find something they LOVE to eat even if thats a piece of watermelon or whatever then careful place the fenbendazol (fenben is panacur) on that being careful to try not to drip it off and they will eat it right up. fenben should be doses once then either one week later a second dose and then rechecked or 2 weeks later then rechecked. depends on the severity of the case, which also imo determines the dose level. to know the correct dose i would need the current weight and strength of the fenbendazole they are using. also if healthy and everything is fine they really do not need any extra stuff given like that.
I use a piece of mango, sliced and the PANACUR is placed in the center like a sandwich.
But from what I understand, fruit can cause a parasite boom in other species that can't process sugars so well. But I'm also fairly certain that something like half a strawberry wouldn't do any harm given just once. 10 days apart. To make two treatments.
I think that there may be a link between fruit eating amongst non fruit eating tortoises and parasite load. Although it's just a theory of mine. In that most stories of parasites are also usually stories of improper feeding.
In my roughly 30 years of tortoise keeping, I've only ever had to treat twice.
At one point, checking the poop became an obsession. I bought a high powered microscope, slides and downloaded a bunch of parasite and egg photos.
Eventually I discovered, like most other long term keepers here, that some parasites exist a lot of the time.
But they only rarely cause a serious problem. Usually brought on by another illness.
It's also all too common for inexperienced vets to want to treat everytime they see a worm or an egg.
 
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mastershake

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they NEED certain parasite load this aids in digestion but as you said its when it blooms is the issue. their immune system should be able to keep things in control till it cant and then we have to intervene. i use watermelon because i can bore out a small piece put the fenben in the hole and then press the piece back into the spot where i dropped it or can do multiple small spots. i have personally never had watermelon cause them an issue as long as its not an all the time food. fruits as you said in low moderation are fine and a small piece is not going to hurt them but do not offer them like a whole sliced papaya if you know what i mean. we usually only have the initial treatments when they are surrendered if they were in poorer care and show a high load in the flotation or smear. very rarely do we ever have to treat after that. i have personally not seen things like mango cause a bloom though (as long as the rest of the diet is fine in some cases people feed way to much fruit and this throws off the gut flora and makes it tough to digest anything at all again imo)
 

JMM

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Find a new vet. You should find one in your area that you are confident in so that when you have a problem you can turn to someone. Injections should be avoided unless absolutely necessary. Use of any drug, even something as common as Panacur, in a tortoise must be done with great care and veterinary supervision as these drugs were developed for and evaluated in mammals, not reptiles and many are extremely toxic and/or can be associated with adverse effects in tortoises. Find someone in your area with extensive training and experience in tortoises before proceeding with treatment and use this opportunity to meet and greet this individual--if your tortoise does have pinworms they will probably be more comfortable if they are treated.
 

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