Vomiting Tortoise

[Gemzyfish]

Hi Everyone,

Henry had an operation a week ago to remove 7 stones (that he himself had eaten from the garden) from his intestine, which had become totally blocked as a result. He had his intestine completely cleaned. He had a feeding tube fitted as he would not eat afterwards and has been prescribed Baytril to be taken once a day for a week. The vet has given baby food powder to be mixed with warm water and to be syringed down the tube.

The problem i am having, is that everytime i syringe food into the tube, about 5 minutes later and also overnight, he brings up everything through his mouth and nose and its really quite distressing to see. I have tried lowering the amounts and it has even reached the stage where i cannot get him to keep down 1 mL of baby food. I have also tried propping him up so that i have gravity on my side!

Is my tort vomiting or regurgitating? He is passing urates and also green coloured, sloppy faeces (ew - but i guess this is the baby food), but i am worried he is getting absolutely no nutrition and is wasting away.

Any help or advice would be really appreciated. Anybody had such issues with feeding tubes?

Thanks,
Gem xxx

 

[cemmons12]

Hi Everyone,

Henry had an operation a week ago to remove 7 stones (that he himself had eaten from the garden) from his intestine, which had become totally blocked as a result. He had his intestine completely cleaned. He had a feeding tube fitted as he would not eat afterwards and has been prescribed Baytril to be taken once a day for a week. The vet has given baby food powder to be mixed with warm water and to be syringed down the tube.

The problem i am having, is that everytime i syringe food into the tube, about 5 minutes later and also overnight, he brings up everything through his mouth and nose and its really quite distressing to see. I have tried lowering the amounts and it has even reached the stage where i cannot get him to keep down 1 mL of baby food. I have also tried propping him up so that i have gravity on my side!

Is my tort vomiting or regurgitating? He is passing urates and also green coloured, sloppy faeces (ew - but i guess this is the baby food), but i am worried he is getting absolutely no nutrition and is wasting away.

Any help or advice would be really appreciated. Anybody had such issues with feeding tubes?

Thanks,
Gem xxx

have u called the vet? That would be the first thing I would do for sure. Good luck to u both!!!

 

[Gemzyfish]

Heyy, yeah he is booked in in the morning, so fingers crossed. :-\

 

[dmmj]

Did the vet give you any advice over the vomiting/regurgitation?
Tortoises as a rule don't usually vomit, I would imagine the medicine may have something to do with it.
I would call the vet and tell them about the vomiting and see what they have to say.

 

[Gemzyfish]

They seemed to think he needs a rest after his operation. I am taking him tomorrow and hopefully they will be able to shed more light on his problems.

 

[Laura]

can he eat on his own? is he active?

 

[Utah Lynn]

From TortoiseTrust:

Note by Andy Highfield

It is worth noting that other species have displayed similar problems following Baytril (Enrofloxacin) given both by injection and orally.
These include members of the Indotestudo group (I. elongata and I. travencorica), in Angulate tortoises (Chersina angulata), in Gapalagos giant tortoises (Geochelone elephantopus) and also Indian Star tortoises (Geochelone elegans). We do not therefore recommend Baytril should be used with any of these tortoises. Generally, other drugs such as Marbocyl (Marbofloxacin) can be substituted. No adverse reactions to this have been observed, even in tortoises that previously reacted badly to Baytril

 

[cemmons12]

Let us know who things go if you dont mind.

 

[ascott]

How is Henry today?

 

[Yvonne G]

It might just be that everything is swollen down there...all the tubes, etc. that the food has to pass through, and the food can't make its way through. Maybe you should feed a little less, and make it a bit more runny. Also, in my experience with tube feeding, the tortoise doesn't process the food very quickly, so I only tube feed once every three or four days.