vet bill went from $83, to $289

[james]

i took my Desert Tortoise, Captain to the vet this morning. i had a check up, and a fecal scheduled. i got there and the receptionist was really nice. we got in the room quickly, and the receptionist weighed Captain, and told us to wait for the doc. when he got there, he looked at him, wrote some things down, and picked him really quickly, and looked at his belly. Captain squirmed back in his shell, i felt so bad for him. after the examination he said he has a few symptoms of the upper respitpory infection. he also noted that his nose seemed clogged, and he could hardly make out his nostrals. he gave me an estimate, and i was shocked. on top of the 83, he wanted to do antibiotics, eye drops, and a nostral cleaning, which he has to be put under to do so right now he's probably in lala land. or might be waking up. i feel bad for him, i wish i could of stayed to be there when he wakes up. the vet didn't seem too nice. he was quickly handling Captain, (at one point he peed on him, hehehehehe) and was really short with me. my questions were answered, but he acted like he was in a big hurry. this is my first experience with a vet for any animal.

a couple questions...
the vet only asked about his diet. he never asked about his habitat, uvb bulb, heat source, substrate, water, soaking, all the things i would expect him to ask. is this normal?
putting him under for an hour is $105, and the nasal cleaning is $60. is this average?
is the nose being clogged normal? anything i can do at home to help him?

 

[purpod]

Ouch! Good luck with the vet ~ I would've continued asking my questions until I was satisfied, regardless of whether the vet was in a hurry or not! How did you choose this vet? Are there others in your area that are reptile vets? If I could not question my vet and have her take the time to answer all of my questions, I would not go to her.

Others may know better about the procedural and financial questions you have ~ again, good luck for Captain!!

Purpod

 

[james]

i kept asking the questions until i either understood, or was satisfied with the answers. he jst didn't seem happy to answer them. gave me the short answer, and then i would make him explain it. i get the results back tomorrow from the fecal, i'm hoping i don't get slapped with another huge bill. this whole thing goes against my own beliefs too. i never take medicine, i believe that there's enough natural ways about things. i just can't speak "totoise talk" so i don't know whats going on. i hope this vet isn't ripping me off. i found him on a her website. and he was the only one in my area that was reptile owner reccommended. he has tortoised of his own at home.

 

[agiletorts]

I had a bad experience with a vet too since she didn't know much about reptiles and I ended with $200 bill and a dead tortoise. I'd ask other people in this forum if they could give you some recommendation of vet with good knowledge of reptiles/herp within your area. Is it San Diego?

 

[james]

ya it's san diego. know anyone? i'm in north county, Escondido to be exact. i asked someone and they gave me a list of reccommended vets. i went to the one with a special star because he was highly reccommended. i better come back to my happy Captain, or it's hitting the fan in there. i should be home with him in the next 2 hours. i'll let you know how it went.

 

[agiletorts]

Unfortunately I don't live close to San Diego so I cannot give any recommendation. But I'm sure there are other people in TFO who live in Southern Cal who can give you some referral. Wish all the best to Captain though.

 

[james]

i just got home with Captain. he seems a little sluggish at the vet, but got active on the drive home. they gave me baytril i think, in syrenges to give him for the next 21 days. they showed me how to inject him with it, and said to give it once a day. i also got nose drops. is this a safe way for the baytril? using the needles? is there another as effective way? the girl up front was really nice again, and even gave me 10% off for having to wat 20 minutes for the vet. i'm still not sure how happy i am with the actual vet.

he just got done soaking, so i'm gonna let him chill on my lap and watch some tv with me.

 

[Yvonne G]

If I remember correctly, Captain is a desert tortoise, right? Desert tortoises have pretty small nares. Sometimes its very hard to find them. Do his nostrils look any bigger or "cleaner" now that he has been cleaned? I really doubt it. The Baytril is very expensive, that's what has raised your bill so high. If you were to buy a whole bottle of Baytril (One small bottle is 21 ml), it would cost you $40. So by them giving you individual doses in individual syringes, its pretty expensive! Were you just going to the vet for a checkup? No actual worries or symptons? Was he eating well and acting normal? I wonder why the vet thought Captain needed a round of antibiotic injections. Did he do any kind of swab or smear or test to know whether or not there was an upper respiratory infection? This really burns me up. This guy might be a perfectly wonderful reptile vet, but because you haven't been given ALL the info, it has left you with a bad taste in your mouth, and now you will be less eager to take the tortoise to the vet in the future. It has been my experience that SOME vets just automatically assume upper respiratory infection, better give Baytril! Even with no symptoms. Sorry...I'm venting!

Yvonne

 

[james]

your venting is appreciated yvonne. i didn't get the baytril in individual doses, sorry for the confusion. i got a 3ml bottle of the baytril 2.27% soltion per ml-$22.45 21 syringes-$13.65, neo/poly/dex suspension(nasal drops)-$18.90, exam-%60, fecal-$23.60, injectable general anesthesia-%105.70, and a nasal flush-$58.35.

i took him in for a first time check up. this morning his nose bubbled a little bit, i haven't seen this in about 6-8 months. my girlfriend mentioned it and that's when he started talking about the infection. his eyes were a little swolen. these are the only known symptons for him to decide he has a RI. his nose does actually look better. we'll see how he does over the next few days. i'm still very open to vet's, just maybe not this one. i'll search around for a reccommended vet in the area. i got a little break, i found a $25 off coupon on their site for first timers, and the girl up front gave me 10% off because we waited so long for the vet.

 

[Jacqui]

I am a bit concerned that no questions other then diet seemed to have been asked of you. With only having just a little bubbling that morning and even the slightly swollen eyes could have been caused by other things. Me I would have said let's wait a day or two and see if it naturally clears.

Remember you do have the right to question a vet just as you do any Dr. Most of us feel intimidated by them and don't voice our own concerns. I learned to question the needs for tests and meds. Sometimes they just play the odds and go with the quick fix. Problem is, that fix isn't always needed.

However, you also are saying his nose does look better, maybe this time he might have been correct? I wouldn't loose his number yet, but would keep looking around for somebody else.

 

[james]

i am ok with him doing the nasal flush. it does look much better. i am just a little weirded out that he only asked me about his diet, and once he heard a sympton he kept talking about getting me a quote. don't sell me the price man, sell me the solution!!! he also noted that his shell is a little soft for his age. (just about a year old) and he said it's probably a calcium defficienty. i agreed because Captain is a very picky eater, and only like's the vitamin dust, not the calcium! he's getting better with it tho. i asked him if the eyes could of been from that. he told me no, it's the RI. his nose bubbling doens't bother me right now. he did that bubble once in the last 6 months. here i am, wondering if i made the right choice by getting the antibiotics, but i'm not sure if he really needs them??? what kind of damage can the baytril cause? he's very active today. he's only had one shot of baytril yesterday. supposed to give him the next one later tonight.

i got a call back from the vet for the fecal, it came back negative! that's some relief. they can only test the fecal for parasites right?

 

[Yvonne G]

Baytril is very painful. By the end of the treatment, your tortoise usually hates you and keeps closed up tightly. Also, any round of antibiotic treatment is hard on the kidneys, and you should soak the baby every day.

I rescue lots of desert tortoises every year. Most of them have the dreaded URTD (upper respiratory distress syndrome) caused by mycoplasma and fatal to wild tortoises. But it doesn't necessarily have to be a death sentence to a captive tortoise. Here's what I do:

If a tortoise has a bubbly nose I keep a close watch on him to see if he's eating and otherwise acting normal. If he's eating, I just let him be a tortoise and don't handle him or intervene in any way. If the bubbles become thick or change color, then I start the tortoise on the Baytril injections. In fact I've recently discovered Naxcel. It doesn't hurt as bad as Baytril, and works almost as good. I hardly ever get to the point of the injections. I've found that if a tortoise is eating and acting normal if you just leave them alone and don't handle them, chances are pretty good that the bubbly nose goes away by itself.

In the case of swollen eyes, I soak the tortoise (or box turtle) in a mixture of Gerber strained baby food yellow squash or carrots half to half with water, or bird vitamins in the water. Leave the tortoise in this shallow dish of water for a half hour or more, keeping a close eye to be sure he's not getting into trouble. This usually clears up swollen eyes after only three treatments.

One thing a lot of folks don't realize is that the other end of the nostrils doesn't end up down the throat like in mammals. It goes to the roof of the mouth. Consequently, stuff in the mouth, like an excess of saliva, sometimes comes out the nose. This is absolutely NOTHING to worry about, but a lot of inexperienced keepers take the animal to the vet right away and the vet starts it on Baytril without any testing.

Yvonne

 

[james]

so what i'm gethering from this, is i should not give him the baytril. maybe i can hold on to it until i really need it? it is in a small bottle, with a rubber top, and the vet already poked through it once, will the baytril lose it's effectiveness?

Captain's eating is normal, his activity is normal, his eyes are just the tiniest swollen. they have been like that for months. could that be from not enough calcium?

 

[Yvonne G]

Since the vet has given you the Baytril and showed you how to dose the tortoise, I would go ahead with the treatment. We here on this list, haven't seen your tortoise, and your vet has. It wouldn't be prudent for us to contradict a vet treatment. But for such a small animal, you are not going to be using up a whole bottle of Baytril. The rubber top on the bottle seals back after the needle is removed. The bottle has an expiration date on it and the medicine should last past that expiration date. So after you are finished with this round of injections, you can put the bottle on a shelf someplace and save it in case you need it again in the future.

Keep us posted on Captain and his recovery. I'd love to see a pic of him.

Yvonne

 

[james]

they gave me 21 syringes, so i'll use the up and see how he does. maybe i'll leave my room, and come back in with a mask on so he doesn't know it's me giving him the shot. hahha. i will soak him daily while he's getting the treatments. i'll take some better pictures of Captian and post them up. thanks again!

 

[Jentortmom]

I hope your little guy gets better real soon!!!

 

[purpod]

Here's hoping Captain is showing great improvements by now ~ still got him in our prayers!!

Purpod

 

[egyptiandan]

However much your giving your tortoise for Baytril, make sure you have that much air in the needle before you insert the needle in the bottle. Than push all the air into the bottle, tip the bottle upside down, than fill the needle with what you need. This will keep the bottle form getting air locked.

Danny

 

[james]

thanks everyone. Captain is doing great. i decided not to give him the baytril. he's not showing enough signs of an RI for me to put him through that. his only symptons were the slightly swolen eyes. i am giving him more of a variety in his diet. i am going to see how his eyes do with the new diet. he's really active, always has been. i'll post an update in a month or so. if he his eyes haven't changed by then, i'll try the baytril.