The vet called: bad news

[Isa]

Hello all
Hermy's vet just called me and now I am totally panicking. I am at work I am super busy but I just can't work! The vet called me with the result of urine sample, apparently, Hermy has Kidney cells in his urine and he is sure there is something wrong with her. He put him on antibiotic for 21 days and that it cant wait, we have to start today!!! The name if the antibiotic is apo sulfratine, does any one of you have ever heard of it?? I checked on the internet but I cant find it. He told me it is a TMS. He told me he will make a blood test to Hermy in 21 days. He thinks it is maybe his kidney. He thinks Hermy is suffering I asked him if Hermy is going to be ok and he did not really answered me, he just told me he really does not like the kidney cell in her urine. He is super active and he eats like a pig, this week end he was in a super good tortoise mood. I JUST DONT UNDERSTAND What if he is not ok?? What if something happens to him??? Sorry I am really sensitive right now, Hermy is very important to me, he is my little baby. Should I raise his temps? even at night? His temps at night are 71-72F?
Thanks

 

[Maggie Cummings]

Take a deep breath and mellow out. Did the Vet say what that meant? Kidney cells in his urine? Did he say to keep the turtle better hydrated or something?

 

[Isa]

Take a deep breath and mellow out. Did the Vet say what that meant? Kidney cells in his urine? Did he say to keep the turtle better hydrated or something?

Hello Maggie
No he did not say anything about that. He just told me he did not like it at all and that it is not normal and that it means there is something wrong with him but he is not sure if it's her bladder or her kidney. I asked him if he wanted to make a blood test before starting the antibiotic, he told me " no we already have our answer, there is something wrong with him and we have to start the antibiotic now, we will do a blood test in 21 days to see what's wrong with him, maybe it is a start of renal failure" I think I will give Hermy a bath everyday, just to be sure.

 

[Yvonne G]

My first thought is to soak Hermy more frequently. I'm going through the treatment for kidney stones myself, and the first thing they tell you is to drink much, much more fluids than you normally do. If Hermy has a kidney stone, the stones are microscopically very rough, with many sharp edges. This might be why there are kidney cells in the urine (however, my stones caused blood in the urine, not cells). Try to stay calm. Write down your questions so next time you see the vet you have a list. Ask him if it might be kidney stones and would an x-ray be of help.

(I find it hard to believe the vet can recognize a "kidney cell" as opposed to any other kind of cell that might be floating around in there.)

Yvonne

 

[Isa]

My first thought is to soak Hermy more frequently. I'm going through the treatment for kidney stones myself, and the first thing they tell you is to drink much, much more fluids than you normally do. If Hermy has a kidney stone, the stones are microscopically very rough, with many sharp edges. This might be why there are kidney cells in the urine (however, my stones caused blood in the urine, not cells). Try to stay calm. Write down your questions so next time you see the vet you have a list. Ask him if it might be kidney stones and would an x-ray be of help.

(I find it hard to believe the vet can recognize a "kidney cell" as opposed to any other kind of cell that might be floating around in there.)

Yvonne

Hello Yvonne,
Hermy does not have a kidney stone, the vet made a X-ray last week. I called back to know the exact name of the antibiotic and it is Apo Sulfatrim. The tecnician told me there was cylindre (I am sorry I dont know the word in english) in his urine. that is why we should treat it right away. The problem with this vet is he told me dandelions does not cause brownish urine when it does and he told me to feed Hermy frozen vegetable. I just hope Hermy wont get more sick with the antibiotic because like I said, he is super active (in a tortoise way) and he eats a lot.

 

[Crazy1]

Isa here is a link that describes the antibiotics you are to give Hermy.
http://www.healthopedia.com/drugs/detailed/sulfonamides-and-trimethoprim/
I agree with Yvonne, write down your questions so you do not forget to ask the vet anything you want to know. Panicing will not help anyone, although it is hard try and stay focused. That is the best way you can help Hermy. Good luck. Prayers for you both.

 

[Isa]

Isa here is a link that describes the antibiotics you are to give Hermy.
http://www.healthopedia.com/drugs/detailed/sulfonamides-and-trimethoprim/
I agree with Yvonne, write down your questions so you do not forget to ask the vet anything you want to know. Panicing will not help anyone, although it is hard try and stay focused. That is the best way you can help Hermy. Good luck. Prayers for you both.

Thanks Robyn
Write down my questions is what I will do for Hermy's appointment in 21 days (for the blood test). I do not know if I should keep the same vet. He is really good with reptiles, 10-15 years ago he had a show on TV, but I see in what he tells me that he is not an expert in tortoise. But where I live, there are not a lot of tortoise owners so that is probably why the vets dont know much about tortoise. a couple of months ago, he gave Hermy antibiotics without doing a throat culture, after that, Hermy still had bubbles comming out of his nose, since his vet was not there, I went to see a normal vet at the same clinic and she did a culture and it was negative, I am sure that if he would have been there, He would have put Hermy on antibiotic again.
What I will do for Hermy is giving him a bath everyday and raise the temps at night to 78-79F.

Is there a type of greens that I should avoid (like dandelions or kale)?
Thanks

 

[egyptiandan]

From what I'm reading this drug is most often used in the treatment of coccidiosis.
The special precautions are to use with care in animals with hepatic (liver) or renal compromise.
You definately need to ensure adequate hydration to avoid crystal preciptation in the upper urinary tract.

Danny

 

[Isa]

From what I'm reading this drug is most often used in the treatment of coccidiosis.
The special precautions are to use with care in animals with hepatic (liver) or renal compromise.
You definately need to ensure adequate hydration to avoid crystal preciptation in the upper urinary tract.

Danny

Thanks Danny
I really hope this antibiotic wont give her more renal problems...

 

[Macheteslaststep]

Sorry to hear about Hermy's condition. Make sure she is very very hydrated. The animals that come into our hospital with renal failure end up coming back at least once a week for fluids. Every cell looks different and it's not the veternarian that decides what cell is which. It's a blood machine, the same one that deciphers you CBC (complete blood count) and Chem II. The urine is also put into a machine that reads the PH, spec. gravity, RBC, WBC, epithileal cells, etc. I haven't heard of the medication that Hermy was put on, but most veternarian's will treat renal failure with antbiotics first to make sure there isn't an underlying infection. I hope everything works out. I have seen renal cases survive for more than 10 years with it, but those were cats. So maybe a tortoise can go a lot longer?

Sara

 

[Isa]

Sorry to hear about Hermy's condition. Make sure she is very very hydrated. The animals that come into our hospital with renal failure end up coming back at least once a week for fluids. Every cell looks different and it's not the veternarian that decides what cell is which. It's a blood machine, the same one that deciphers you CBC (complete blood count) and Chem II. The urine is also put into a machine that reads the PH, spec. gravity, RBC, WBC, epithileal cells, etc. I haven't heard of the medication that Hermy was put on, but most veternarian's will treat renal failure with antbiotics first to make sure there isn't an underlying infection. I hope everything works out. I have seen renal cases survive for more than 10 years with it, but those were cats. So maybe a tortoise can go a lot longer?

Sara

Thanks Sara

Should I put something in her bath (I gave her one once a day) or only water will be ok?

 

[Macheteslaststep]

As long as she drinks while she's in there it should be fine. The fluids we use at work is lactated ringers. It has electrolytes added to it, so maybe you could add some pedyalite to her soak? Anything to keep her hydrated and flushed. That's the main thing with renal failure, it affects how the kidneys can process fluids and urine so in keeping her hydrated, it forces them to do their job better. Hopefully the bloodtest will show just an infection in a few weeks. A bad UTI (urinary tract infection) can also make cells show up in her urine, good luck.

Sara

 

[Isa]

As long as she drinks while she's in there it should be fine. The fluids we use at work is lactated ringers. It has electrolytes added to it, so maybe you could add some pedyalite to her soak? Anything to keep her hydrated and flushed. That's the main thing with renal failure, it affects how the kidneys can process fluids and urine so in keeping her hydrated, it forces them to do their job better. Hopefully the bloodtest will show just an infection in a few weeks. A bad UTI (urinary tract infection) can also make cells show up in her urine, good luck.

Sara

Thank you for your help Sara