Torty Mom said:
Ditto! ditto!! ditto!!!
Sid has an abscess!
- Thread starter Robert
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Ditto! ditto!! ditto!!!
Aw, Double ((HUGS)) for Sid 
Thinking good thoughts for Sid's recovery!
Little night time prayers coming Sid's way tonight.
Thanks so much everyone.
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PRAYERS SENT SIDS WAY...
Robert, I don't see a bad side....he is all around gorgeous...
May I further offer my opinionP)
Taking into account that your guy is use to being outside, he has likely been outside and has been eating/sunning/exercising/soaking he should be all charged up, so to speak. I believe that if he were to miss a couple of weeks of 24/7 outside time in exchange for a clean healed wound, free of dirt, maggots and infection that would be a small trade off....
We know that an abscess is infection, when it is cut open and cleared out, it is best to leave that wound open for at least a week accompanied with gentle squeezing to make sure that any residual build up is forced out then the flush done in and around the wound, to keep it from becoming infected again, then about a week of doing this would then allow you to continue to clean area of the wound and if all is going well then the wound can generally be allowed to start to close up and seal into a nice heal....
Here is what I imagine happening if the abscess is cut open, cleared and then immediately stitched close: the infection returns and now not only will you have an infection but you will have a wound in addition, and if it is stitched closed there is no way to clean/flush out any fluid building up....and there will be fluid building up with in the pocket where the abscess was....also, this is the time of year that the flies are out....even if the wound is stitched closed, all a fly needs is a break in the skin layer to get their eggs imbedded ..... gross. I don't know if you have ever seen a living creature with a sore full of maggots, the maggots make a squishy, wet , creepy sound...it is a sight I could have done without in my life, but one you never forget...
Okay, so I would not try to tell you, nor anyone else, what to do...but I felt compelled to share my opinion and concerns with you...
My old man Humphry is out in his yard all tortoise season, and he did absolutely fine with missing the outdoors for a couple of weeks (I did take him and the fly swatter out for about 30 minutes of sunshine each day for the 14 days) also, you will want to make sure to soak him every day that you administer the antibiotics..as antibiotics can be trying on their kidneys....
I will say a prayer for a safe and quick recovery for Sid
oh yeah as mentioned, you will want to make sure that you can keep his temps at all times no lower than 85-90ish, you don't want him to have temps below the 85 spot....it is going to help in a healthy heal ( I learned that one from Yvonne, she is such a smart cookie )
May I further offer my opinion
P)Taking into account that your guy is use to being outside, he has likely been outside and has been eating/sunning/exercising/soaking he should be all charged up, so to speak. I believe that if he were to miss a couple of weeks of 24/7 outside time in exchange for a clean healed wound, free of dirt, maggots and infection that would be a small trade off....
We know that an abscess is infection, when it is cut open and cleared out, it is best to leave that wound open for at least a week accompanied with gentle squeezing to make sure that any residual build up is forced out then the flush done in and around the wound, to keep it from becoming infected again, then about a week of doing this would then allow you to continue to clean area of the wound and if all is going well then the wound can generally be allowed to start to close up and seal into a nice heal....
Here is what I imagine happening if the abscess is cut open, cleared and then immediately stitched close: the infection returns and now not only will you have an infection but you will have a wound in addition, and if it is stitched closed there is no way to clean/flush out any fluid building up....and there will be fluid building up with in the pocket where the abscess was....also, this is the time of year that the flies are out....even if the wound is stitched closed, all a fly needs is a break in the skin layer to get their eggs imbedded ..... gross. I don't know if you have ever seen a living creature with a sore full of maggots, the maggots make a squishy, wet , creepy sound...it is a sight I could have done without in my life, but one you never forget...
Okay, so I would not try to tell you, nor anyone else, what to do...but I felt compelled to share my opinion and concerns with you...
My old man Humphry is out in his yard all tortoise season, and he did absolutely fine with missing the outdoors for a couple of weeks (I did take him and the fly swatter out for about 30 minutes of sunshine each day for the 14 days) also, you will want to make sure to soak him every day that you administer the antibiotics..as antibiotics can be trying on their kidneys....
I will say a prayer for a safe and quick recovery for Sid
oh yeah
as mentioned, you will want to make sure that you can keep his temps at all times no lower than 85-90ish, you don't want him to have temps below the 85 spot....it is going to help in a healthy heal ( I learned that one from Yvonne, she is such a smart cookie )
ascott said:
I know what you mean. I have seen, and been tasked with cleaning out way too many of these. (Unfortunately they have all been on humans.). On the flip side, I've also taken part in the application, changing and cleaning of "biological bandaids" also known as maggot dressings. Way off topic, but the use of maggots in cleaning diabetic ulcers is absolutely amazing and quite effective when done properly. Sorry for going off topic, I know maggots in Sids wound would be a much different story.
Thanks for the good advice. I spoke to the vet and she had already decided that stitching the wound closed would be a bad idea. I'll be keeping his temps up and hopefully he will be non the road to recovery ASAP. He is a sweet boy and hopefully will be compliant with his wash outs.
Thanks for all of the good advice and all of the well wishes.
Erin just spoke to the vet. Sounds like it was in fact a ruptured salivary glad causing the problem. The vet said it appeared to be a chronic issue due to the fact that there was a lot of granulated scar tissue within the mass. She debrided the area all the way to the duct. She left it open for us to wash out TID for the next two weeks.
I also built Sid a temporary "hospital suite" inside. It appears that we will be getting some fall out from the hurricane marching up the coast, so we wanted to keep him extra warm and dry. He has room to march around as well a a heated hide that is an exact duplicate of the box he has outdoors. From the inside you can't tell the difference. The hide is on a thermostat set at 90, so hopefully he will stay nice and cozy as he recovers. (I will independently be monitoing his temps, not just relying on the thermostat.)
Hopefully he will be coming home later today. I will post more updates.
Thanks to everyone for your support and kind words.
I also built Sid a temporary "hospital suite" inside. It appears that we will be getting some fall out from the hurricane marching up the coast, so we wanted to keep him extra warm and dry. He has room to march around as well a a heated hide that is an exact duplicate of the box he has outdoors. From the inside you can't tell the difference. The hide is on a thermostat set at 90, so hopefully he will stay nice and cozy as he recovers. (I will independently be monitoing his temps, not just relying on the thermostat.)
Hopefully he will be coming home later today. I will post more updates.
Thanks to everyone for your support and kind words.
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Glad to hear Sid is going to be fine?? What is the long term prognosis on the ruptured salivary glad??
And, did the vet have any ideas on why it happened?
Yvonne. I had hoped that you would chime in. Your advice based on your years of experience nursing torts back to good health is invaluable.
A sialocele can be caused by multiple different issues, the root cause of which can sometimes be difficult to nail down. Some causes can include:
- a blockage in the salivary gland (sometimes caused by calcium buildups cause sialoliths)
- trauma
- a blockage caused by a foreign body entering through the salivary gland opening in the mouth
Our vet is not sure of the exact cause in this situation, as is often the cause with sialoceles. The build up of scar tissue leads her to believe that the issue has been going on for some time now and that the stress of a big move and a new home could have exacerbated the problem.
We will probably not ever know the exact cause of the problem, but hopefully Sid is now on his way to recovery.
Maybe Doc Westin can add some insight to the cause of sialoceles?
A sialocele can be caused by multiple different issues, the root cause of which can sometimes be difficult to nail down. Some causes can include:
- a blockage in the salivary gland (sometimes caused by calcium buildups cause sialoliths)
- trauma
- a blockage caused by a foreign body entering through the salivary gland opening in the mouth
Our vet is not sure of the exact cause in this situation, as is often the cause with sialoceles. The build up of scar tissue leads her to believe that the issue has been going on for some time now and that the stress of a big move and a new home could have exacerbated the problem.
We will probably not ever know the exact cause of the problem, but hopefully Sid is now on his way to recovery.
Maybe Doc Westin can add some insight to the cause of sialoceles?
Okay so no nailing down on the why of it, but does he think it will continue to happen? Does he even really need this gland?
Glad the operation has gone well!
Glad the operation has gone well!
She said that the gland looked great once it was irrigated and completely cleaned out. She said that keeping it open and flushing it with watered down betadine and something else that she is giving us when we pick him up should assist him in having a full recovery. I am a little nervous because the wound is going to be wide open. I might have a weak stomach at first but I will adjust. She is running a culture on all of the debri that was removed so maybe she will know more by the time we pick him up.
Thank's again for everyone's kind words. Sid really is the sweetest boy. He didn't even fuss when I woke him up and Rob took him out of his heated box at 7 this morning!!
Thank's again for everyone's kind words
. Sid really is the sweetest boy. He didn't even fuss when I woke him up and Rob took him out of his heated box at 7 this morning!!
Rob...when my Humphry had his abscess cleared not only was there the cottage cheese junk but alot of clear fluid ...my vet took the time to explain that tortoise have multiple salivary glands and that if one has to be removed they get along fine...however, that locating the individual gland isolating it safely enough as not to damage other important stuff snugged in and around it is the risky part... so he explained he would feel better to treat it as a abscess....cut, clear abscess, 14 days of antibiotic shots, 2 times daily cleaning-squeezing-flushing out the cavity until closed up and healed.
He speculated that perhaps he initially had some type of trauma to that spot..which eventually caused an abscess and because of where it was at it could have caused pressure on the gland...and in my guys case he had that abscess for years before I became his host and because of the proximity to his eye and constant pressure it caused his eyesight to be affected in his one eye....but he has one good one
Sid will come out all good....the potential salivary gland thing you can deal with if it should become an issue....
He speculated that perhaps he initially had some type of trauma to that spot..which eventually caused an abscess and because of where it was at it could have caused pressure on the gland...and in my guys case he had that abscess for years before I became his host and because of the proximity to his eye and constant pressure it caused his eyesight to be affected in his one eye....but he has one good one
Sid will come out all good....the potential salivary gland thing you can deal with if it should become an issue....
Sid is home now and resting comfortably. I will try and take some photos tomorrow.
Yay Sid.
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