reassurance, please!

[shimmering]

hi everyone. i am the proud mama of a 9 year old eastern box turtle named Amber Punkin. (his official first name is Herman..the dr. mis-sexed him as a girl later and amber stuck)

my baby was a wild one, which we all know is dangerous. i had to keep him due to his being found in the yard, missing his little foot, when he was about 5 years old. there were some issues that year, but since i've adapted to hibernating him, he has been relatively healthy. however, i am being reminded that there's always room for improvement...he gets constant attention most of the time but if i'm not 100 percent neither is he.

right now we are dealing with what appears to be a bad case of parasites. i feel so guilty for missing the earlier signs and wish i'd gotten him to the vet sooner. in any case, he's been prescribed panacur .2 once a day for a week..then skip two weeks and start again. we're 4 doses in and he still looks so sick.

please share your experiences if this has happened to your little guy or gal. i am such a wreck at times. amb's not just a "pet". he's my boy..like my other sons. we're inseparable. he was literally an answered prayer, but that's another story. i just need to know that he's going to be ok..that the vet kows what he's doing. (initially he gave a vitamin a shot which may have made things worse, i'm not sure)

thanks and love from us to all of your turtles. i feel so connected to these beautiful, soulful creatures

 

[Itort]

Panacur kills the adult worms inside and they are absorbed. This what the first week treatment is for. It takes about two weeks for the worm eggs in the gut to hatch and that is where the second treatment comes in. You are treating for roundworms, which I assume is what the vet found.

 

[shimmering]

thanks, larry. i called the vet and we're going on saturday, which will be the last day of this week's panacur. the dr. had diagnosed pinworms, not roundworms, as those are the eggs he'd found in the sample. perhaps flagyl would be more appropriate treatment?...i am just wondering..does it take a while for the lethargy and loss of appetite to get better? ...i guess i want results yesterday..but most importantly, to know that we are on the right course.

 

[Itort]

I use the term round worms to include all annelide worms including large round, hook, and pinworms. Panacur hits them all. If I remember correctly flagyl is given for ringworm (a fungus).

 

[Yvonne G]

I'm not a vet, but USUALLY the treatment is one dose today, then another dose in 10 days to get the eggs that hatched since the first dose. It seems like a dose every day for a week is a bit much. I think all that de-worming medicine is the reason the tortoise isn't acting up to snuff.

 

[Stephanie Logan]

I was instructed to dose my tortoise twice, two weeks apart, and when I took in a poop sample a week after that second dose, she was clear of parasites. So--I'm a fan of Panacure!

 

[CGKeith]

I am no Vet but I have looked up the dosage tables.

Of course they are in mg/kg, but doing the conversions it seems that the dosage is extremely high.

Everything I can find is consistent with the others posts of 1 dosage (not per day) and then again 2 weeks later.

I would call your Vet and make sure they have it right just to be sure.