# Two Antibiotics At Once?



## Pokeymeg (Jan 9, 2016)

[Short Version] Dante has a recurring infection and a culture just determined he has two bacteria - Pseudomonas aeuriginosa and aeromonas hydrophila. He's currently on Amikacin (again), and the vet wants to add Enrofloxacin (Baytril?). Does anyone have any experience with giving 2 antibiotics at once?? I know Enrofloxation is a heavy-hitter, so I'm hesitant...

[Long Version] Dante showed signs of a respiratory infection and swollen leg in October. We treated with Amikacin. He seemed to perk up for a week and then declined. Then both legs were swollen, so assuming there was a secondary infection that took over after the RI cleared up, we treated with Ceftiofur in November. Dante was off antibiotics for December, but got bumps in his legs from the ceftiofur. He was slowly getting better, but last week had bubbles out of his nose. We started Amikacin again Jan 02 and started a lab culture. Dante was holding steady (eating and alert) until Jan 08, when he started some mouth breathing and seemed uncomfortable (not eating and tucked in his shell). 

His discomfort and lack of appetite continued today, and we just got the lab results. The vet advised Amikacin, Ceftiofur and Enrofloxacin should be effective against these bacteria, but obviously we don't want to use Ceftiofur again...and I'm not convinced Amikacin is working. 

I'm tempted stop the Amikacin and just go with the Enrofloxacin because I'm nervous about using both at once, but I'm wondering if maybe Dante really does need two antibiotics to knock this s%$ out of his poor little body once and for all...Would love thoughts or experiences!


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## Yvonne G (Jan 9, 2016)

You're right in that Baytril (enrofloxacin) is a heavy hitter. I don't want to second guess your vet, but if it were my tortoise, I would give the Baytril dosage injected into a bite of food and not give the other antibiotic. You can also mix Baytril 9 parts sterile saline to 1 part Baytril and squirt it sharply into each nostril. This is the same thing as giving it in food because the other end of the nostrils is in the roof of the mouth.

A Baytril injection is quite painful and sometimes causes problems at the injection site.


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## Pokeymeg (Jan 9, 2016)

Yvonne G said:


> You're right in that Baytril (enrofloxacin) is a heavy hitter. I don't want to second guess your vet, but if it were my tortoise, I would give the Baytril dosage injected into a bite of food and not give the other antibiotic. You can also mix Baytril 9 parts sterile saline to 1 part Baytril and squirt it sharply into each nostril. This is the same thing as giving it in food because the other end of the nostrils is in the roof of the mouth.
> 
> A Baytril injection is quite painful and sometimes causes problems at the injection site.



Thanks for the advice, Yvonne! I'm very interested in this idea of squirting it into his nostrils. Since he's not eating ATM, this could be a great solution. He's been poked so much lately, I'm sure it'll cause problems with his legs if we inject it...


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## dmmj (Jan 9, 2016)

I had a Russian rescue several years ago who had a bad pneumonia case and the vet prescribed 2 antibiotics to use @ the same time one syringe in the mouth and one nostril


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## DutchieAmanda (Jan 10, 2016)

Please ask your vet why he wants to combine those two antibiotics and whether you can indeed apply via the nose. 

Some antibiotics strengthen each other and work even better given together. I'm not sure if this is also the case here. 

If you inject an antibiotic it gets right into his system. If you apply it with food or via his nose, it gets into his stomach first. This could influence how well it works and also what side effects you could expect. 

I'm no reptile vet, so cannot advise you on this, except to follow expert advice. Maybe a forum vet (@deadheadvet?) could help you.

Something else: did you know what made Dante sick? Were you able to remove the cause?

Good luck with all this, hope he gets well soon!


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## ZEROPILOT (Jan 10, 2016)

I know in my own experience, the antibiotic given to my tortoise (fotaz?) was effective, but killed any appetite at all


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## Pokeymeg (Jan 10, 2016)

DutchieAmanda said:


> Please ask your vet why he wants to combine those two antibiotics and whether you can indeed apply via the nose.
> 
> Some antibiotics strengthen each other and work even better given together. I'm not sure if this is also the case here.
> 
> ...



Yeah, I realized changing the application method on my own might not be wise....I'm going to talk to my vet today about it when I pick up the meds.

I'm not sure what made him sick, but I've been trying to brainstorm. Everything will be getting boiled and sanitized.


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## Pokeymeg (Jan 10, 2016)

dmmj said:


> I had a Russian rescue several years ago who had a bad pneumonia case and the vet prescribed 2 antibiotics to use @ the same time one syringe in the mouth and one nostril


Good to know, thank you!


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## deadheadvet (Jan 10, 2016)

Ask for the culture results. There should be sensitivity associated with the culture. It may be that the 2 organisms grown will not respond to just one antibiotic. Just so you know, Amikacin is a big gun antibiotic already and likely would be effective against both organisms, however the report is very important. Enrofloxacin given orally is a good alternative but will affect the appetite. Tough situation, They may not check on the culture for Ceftazidine which is a good alternative if you can get it, Hard to come by right now, We don't even have it unfortunately.


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## Pokeymeg (Jan 10, 2016)

deadheadvet said:


> Ask for the culture results. There should be sensitivity associated with the culture. It may be that the 2 organisms grown will not respond to just one antibiotic. Just so you know, Amikacin is a big gun antibiotic already and likely would be effective against both organisms, however the report is very important. Enrofloxacin given orally is a good alternative but will affect the appetite. Tough situation, They may not check on the culture for Ceftazidine which is a good alternative if you can get it, Hard to come by right now, We don't even have it unfortunately.



Thank you for your input!! I'll ask my vet about it.


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## Pokeymeg (Jan 14, 2016)

So we opted to go with both antibiotics via injection as originally prescribed. Dante was doing very poorly and needed something asap. We got Baytril into him on Sunday. Monday and Tuesday were really rough, as he was mouth breathing and seemed to be very uncomfortable. His breathing is improved now, his nostrils are not visibly clogged anymore. Currently his eyes are a bit swollen and mostly closed (I think that's our fault for leaving him too close to the UVB light when he obviously wasn't going to move himself away if it bothered him). Since he's been scratching at his eyes, I've put terramycin on them to protect them a bit, and they seem to slowly be improving. 

It's been a week now since he's eaten, but he's getting a soak 2x a day, one with carrot purée... Hopefully the Baytril continues to work with the Amikacin and knocks these nasty bacteria out of him :-/ Not sure what else we can do but wait...I think he drank a bit during his soak yesterday, which is encouraging.

It's unfortunate that the Amikacin had seemed to work throughout the week last week (he still ate and was alert) until Friday when he suddenly declined... I think maybe the Amikacin just wasn't enough on its own.


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## Pokeymeg (Jan 17, 2016)

Alright, now I'm just posting so I have a record of Dante's treatment and recovery (and for anyone who may search on this topic in the future)...He only has one more dose of Amikacin, but 3 more weeks with the Baytril. The two antibiotics won't be overlapping for the entire length of treatment. 

Since his breathing is better, the vet told us Friday to go ahead and try force feeding some baby food. So for the last three days Dante has received 0.4cc of carrot puree. Within 24 hours we started to see improvement to Dante's eyes. Today he opened his eyes fully. He's putting up much more of a fight now when syringe feeding him, which is great to see! He has zero interest in eating on his own as of yet, so we'll continue with syringe feeding as he'll 'let' us.


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## Lyn W (Jan 17, 2016)

All good wishes to you and Dante for a speedy recovery.
Thanks for the update.


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## Pokeymeg (Jan 27, 2016)

So I took Dante back to the vet today. The vet was concerned that Dante is still not eating (we're closing in on 3 weeks since he's eaten without being force fed) and wanted to make sure there wasn't anything else going on that we missed. (I got a pic of his lab results from earlier this month, for anyone who is interested in seeing them. )



We took an X-ray and blood sample today. The X-ray showed a little gunk still in one of his lungs and the blood sample showed antibodies still present in his blood. So basically, he's still sick. But getting better. Sloooowly. Ugh.

The vet was also concerned about Dante developing fatty liver disease from lack of eating for so long. The best thing to do is what we've been doing and continue to force feed until he starts to eat on his own.

I'm reassured that there was nothing new and surprising found during today's tests, but Dante's still not out of the woods...We still have a couple more weeks of antibiotics to go. Go Dante go!


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## Pokeymeg (Feb 13, 2016)

So we finished the Baytril on Tuesday Feb 9th (finally!!!!) and Dante is still hanging in there. 

Since finishing his treatment, we've seen a couple half-hearted attempts at tail-wiggling, which we haven't seen in weeks. Hopefully he's cooking up some sort of bowel movement so we know his parts are all in working order!

He also showed interest in chewing the formula we made him, so we made some Mazuri into a thick paste to syringe feed and he has successfully been chewing and swallowing, which is the most beautiful thing I've seen in 6 weeks! Progress is painfully slow, and Dante is not out of the woods by far. We don't even know if we've successfully knocked the infection out for good this time (praying that we have!), but we need to get his strength up before another vet visit.


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## Pearly (Feb 13, 2016)

Pokeymeg said:


> So we finished the Baytril on Tuesday Feb 9th (finally!!!!) and Dante is still hanging in there.
> 
> Since finishing his treatment, we've seen a couple half-hearted attempts at tail-wiggling, which we haven't seen in weeks. Hopefully he's cooking up some sort of bowel movement so we know his parts are all in working order!
> 
> He also showed interest in chewing the formula we made him, so we made some Mazuri into a thick paste to syringe feed and he has successfully been chewing and swallowing, which is the most beautiful thing I've seen in 6 weeks! Progress is painfully slow, and Dante is not out of the woods by far. We don't even know if we've successfully knocked the infection out for good this time (praying that we have!), but we need to get his strength up before another vet visit.


Good joojoo going your way to strengthen you in your efforts of caring for your tort and healing thoughts going to Dante


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## Pokeymeg (Feb 13, 2016)

Pearly said:


> Good joojoo going your way to strengthen you in your efforts of caring for your tort and healing thoughts going to Dante


Thank you!


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## Lyn W (Feb 14, 2016)

Small steps but all in the right direction! Hoping Dante goes from strength to strength and continues to improve.
Best wishes to you both.


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## Pearly (Feb 16, 2016)

How's Dante doing? How are you-his caregiver?


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## Pokeymeg (Feb 16, 2016)

Pearly said:


> How's Dante doing? How are you-his caregiver?


Thanks for asking!

It's been a rough day, actually. We're just on our way back from the vet now. I noticed his back leg was swollen this morning, and I automatically assumed the worst -liver or kidney failure...I kind of thought we were making our final trip to the vet :-(

But the vet was still optimistic. The swelling could be unrelated to organ failure... The fact that he hasn't moved at all in 1 1/2 months could be reason enough, I guess. So he got some fluids and we're to just keep doing what we're doing... Hopefully he continues with little steps forward because today nearly have me a heart attack!


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## Pearly (Feb 16, 2016)

Pokeymeg said:


> Thanks for asking!
> 
> It's been a rough day, actually. We're just on our way back from the vet now. I noticed his back leg was swollen this morning, and I automatically assumed the worst -liver or kidney failure...I kind of thought we were making our final trip to the vet :-(
> 
> But the vet was still optimistic. The swelling could be unrelated to organ failure... The fact that he hasn't moved at all in 1 1/2 months could be reason enough, I guess. So he got some fluids and we're to just keep doing what we're doing... Hopefully he continues with little steps forward because today nearly have me a heart attack!


So sorry to hear you had a rough day. I don't know if you followed Zeropilot's thread on Big Bertha (his redfoot) who was sick for a looooong time and at one point she even looked dead. Well, Bertha has made a great recovery, but Ed was persistent like you in his efforts to care for her and save her. Hang in there. Be prepared for the worst but hope for the best outcome. Hope is beautiful and much needed. I hear all the time how resilient torts are. Hugs


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## Pokeymeg (Feb 17, 2016)

Pearly said:


> So sorry to hear you had a rough day. I don't know if you followed Zeropilot's thread on Big Bertha (his redfoot) who was sick for a looooong time and at one point she even looked dead. Well, Bertha has made a great recovery, but Ed was persistent like you in his efforts to care for her and save her. Hang in there. Be prepared for the worst but hope for the best outcome. Hope is beautiful and much needed. I hear all the time how resilient torts are. Hugs


That means so much, thank you!!


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## Pokeymeg (Feb 17, 2016)

HE ATE!! HE ATE! HE ATE!!!!!!

During our terrible trip to the vet yesterday, he got a shot if vitamin B to get his appetite going... Well, I guess it worked!

A picture can't express months of worry and sleepless nights, but it's still the most beautiful picture I've ever taken <3


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## Pearly (Feb 18, 2016)

Pokeymeg said:


> HE ATE!! HE ATE! HE ATE!!!!!!
> 
> During our terrible trip to the vet yesterday, he got a shot if vitamin B to get his appetite going... Well, I guess it worked!
> 
> ...


Awwww! So happy for you! I know the relief in your heart! Let's pray we keep the momentum going


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## Pokeymeg (Feb 20, 2016)

Dante has continued to eat every day and today he pooped!! Gloriously stinky poop!

Now that we have a fully functioning tortoise, we can focus on getting him back up and moving around, since he's been stationary for 2 months, and hope that the infection doesn't rebound!

So crazy... Tuesday I thought we would have to put him down and today, 4 days later, we are so far from that!


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## Pearly (Feb 20, 2016)

Pokeymeg said:


> Dante has continued to eat every day and today he pooped!! Gloriously stinky poop!
> 
> Now that we have a fully functioning tortoise, we can focus on getting him back up and moving around, since he's been stationary for 2 months, and hope that the infection doesn't rebound!
> 
> So crazy... Tuesday I thought we would have to put him down and today, 4 days later, we are so far from that!


Yeay!!!! Poopoo!!!! So happy!!!!


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## Pokeymeg (Feb 25, 2016)

Today Dante opened his eyes all on his own when his light came on (lately, if he opened them, it was only when we poked him with needles etc). I haven't seen this handsome face in a couple months! 

View attachment 166053


Dante is holding steady so far. His little appetite dropped off a bit 2 days after the vit. B shot, but he still nibbles here and there and eats a little more everyday. We decided to continue feeding his formula to keep his energy up and progress moving forward. He's been moving his legs around more but is definitely not ready to stand up and walk around yet. Hopefully soon! Gotta get his strength back up.


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## Pearly (Feb 25, 2016)

Pokeymeg said:


> Today Dante opened his eyes all on his own when his light came on (lately, if he opened them, it was only when we poked him with needles etc). I haven't seen this handsome face in a couple months!
> 
> View attachment 166053
> 
> ...


I've been waiting for you to post something like that! Awesome!!!


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## Pokeymeg (Mar 11, 2016)

Well we quietly and successfully passed by the one month mark of being off antibiotics!!! So far Dante's appetite is holding steady! 

Until yesterday, he hadn't pooped since Feb. 20th, which was basically diarrhea and just leftovers from what he ate in January before he stopped eating. Yesterday, he finally had the biggest poo of his life. Now his eyes are open and he's showing signs of wanting to move around on his poor, neglected legs. I was so happy to see his beautiful, clear eyes greet me this morning!!



Happy Friday


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## Kori5 (Mar 11, 2016)

Lots of love to your beautiful family.


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## Pokeymeg (Mar 19, 2016)

Well, we had a bit of a set back this week. Thursday morning Dante had fluid in his nose and his breathing sounded wet, so we got him into the vet this morning.

The really good news is that A) he's put on weight and B) his blood sample showed no extra white blood cells or background viral infection.... Which also left us with a mystery. An X-ray was a bit inconclusive as his lungs are fairly scarred from this pneumonia and it's hard to tell scarring from infection. The theory is that he is once again relapsing (the last relapse also took place around 5 weeks after treatment ended), but I caught it early enough that his body hasn't worked up extra white blood cells yet.

So this time around the vet has ceftazidime (fortaz?), which he didn't have last time because it's backlogged and hard to get. On the culture we did back in January, the bacteria were sensitive to this antibiotic, so hopefully this antibiotic #4 will do the trick.... Dante's had 5 1/2 weeks off from being poked, but here we go again :-/

Here's a picture of the vet doing the blood test. This vet operates in conjunction with a wild life hospital and is very kid-oriented, so he makes everything a learning experience. I love being able to see the blood work and x-rays and everything that goes on.



Despite his traumatizing day, Dante still has a great appetite tonight  Watching him eat never gets old.


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## Kori5 (Apr 24, 2016)

How is he doing? .


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## Pokeymeg (Apr 24, 2016)

He's still sick :-/ 

We got through one month of Fortaz and then last weekend his breathing started sounding really wet again and he stopped eating. All the little progressive steps forward we made just disappeared. It was absolutely heartbreaking because I thought we were finally making progress...

Yesterday we added Baytril via nebulizer to his regime. So currently he's getting Fortaz injections and nebulized Baytril. 

I'm getting pretty worried... We just can't seem to kick these pseudomona bacteria out of him, and there's only so many antibiotic treatments we can try and only so much his body can handle.

But...Dante hasn't given up yet so we won't either. We've gotten him through Winter, and now that it's Spring we can finally get him outside into real sunshine and fresh air, and that's the best medicine of all!


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## Kori5 (Apr 24, 2016)

I'm so sorry to hear that. But you know what they say. It takes a long time for them to heal as their system is so slow. Don't give up on him. It may not seem that way, but they are really taugh . Maybe try some baby carrot soaks for his appetite? I think sunshine will help. Just keep him warm.


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## Pokeymeg (Apr 24, 2016)

Kori5 said:


> I'm so sorry to hear that. But you know what they say. It takes a long time for them to heal as their system is so slow. Don't give up on him. It may not seem that way, but they are really taugh . Maybe try some baby carrot soaks for his appetite? I think sunshine will help. Just keep him warm.



Thank you!  Yes, it's very hard and time-consuming, but we're not giving up!


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## Pearly (Apr 24, 2016)

Omg! I had lost sight of your thread and feeling bitter-sweet now, bcs I found it again and Dante is hanging on but hate to hear you've had such a rough ride. I think I should have a word with St. Francis (patron Saint of animals) and ask him for intercession here... Ahhh... My heart just aches for you so, and that poor baby Dante!!! Sending you good joojoo and healing thoughts along with warmest hugs


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## Pokeymeg (Apr 25, 2016)

Pearly said:


> Omg! I had lost sight of your thread and feeling bitter-sweet now, bcs I found it again and Dante is hanging on but hate to hear you've had such a rough ride. I think I should have a word with St. Francis (patron Saint of animals) and ask him for intercession here... Ahhh... My heart just aches for you so, and that poor baby Dante!!! Sending you good joojoo and healing thoughts along with warmest hugs



Oh thank you, Pearly!  I've been so busy taking care of and worried about Dante, I just haven't had the time or inclination to sit down and write an update. Maybe I should have a word with St. Francis as well!


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## Kori5 (Apr 25, 2016)

I would ask for another opinion if you have someone as he has been sick for a long time.


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## Pokeymeg (Apr 25, 2016)

Kori5 said:


> I would ask for another opinion if you have someone as he has been sick for a long time.


We've had a pow wow with all the exotic vets at the practice, but that was some time ago. Perhaps it's time for another one.


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## Kori5 (Apr 25, 2016)

Maybe you should contact deadheadvet here through message and see what he has to say. Has he eaten any in a while?


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## Pearly (Apr 25, 2016)

Pokeymeg said:


> Oh thank you, Pearly!  I've been so busy taking care of and worried about Dante, I just haven't had the time or inclination to sit down and write an update. Maybe I should have a word with St. Francis as well!


Sure! I happen to be Roman Catholic and we love our patron Saints, Blessed Mother and the Angels (I know some other churches get lots of hiccups over that). I think prayer is one of the best powers of this Universe, to me it's a great form of meditation and induction of positive energy. I choose to believe that there is a Supreme Being whom I just happen to call God and who loves ALL of His creation, humans, animals and world around them. He was pleased with His creation according to the Old Testament. I think there are also other not-so-loving forces at work around, that cause suffering, sickness and distruction. Little Dante needs little Divine Intervention, and Dante's Mom definitely needs some relief. Hang in there Darling.


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## Kori5 (May 8, 2016)

How is he doing? Is he better?


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## Pokeymeg (May 8, 2016)

Kori5 said:


> How is he doing? Is he better?



He's hanging in there! But unfortunately he was continuing to get worse, so we've decided to board Dante at the vet.

Since my husband and I work 9-5, it's been hard (and extremely stressful) to give Dante all the care he needs. I brought him in to the vet last weekend, but he was too dehydrated to get enough blood for lab work, so that's why we finally decided to board him. Now he's getting much more TLC, and they'll be running a full blood workup to check organ function, etc, and hopefully see what we're missing. 

We just visited him earlier today and he seems more comfortable. He took a couple nibbles of food and was wiggling around a bit, which makes me feel better about our decision to board him (it was not easy for me to hand him over to sometimes else's care :-/ )


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## Kori5 (May 8, 2016)

I think you made the right decision. It's always better to be under vets supervision, maybe they find out what's wrong. He's been sick a really long time :/. Hopefully, blod work will give you more information. Is he being tube fed? I know you miss him but hang in there . He'll get all the care he needs!


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## Pokeymeg (May 8, 2016)

Kori5 said:


> I think you made the right decision. It's always better to be under vets supervision, maybe they find out what's wrong. He's been sick a really long time :/. Hopefully, blod work will give you more information. Is he being tube fed? I know you miss him but hang in there . He'll get all the care he needs!



Thank you, I think so too now! I feel better knowing that trained eyes are watching him now. 

He's getting food and fluids via syringe orally (no stomach tube). As far as torts go, he's pretty easy to handle so a stomach tube hasn't been necessary thus far, thank goodness!


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## Kori5 (May 9, 2016)

Pokeymeg said:


> Thank you, I think so too now! I feel better knowing that trained eyes are watching him now.
> 
> He's getting food and fluids via syringe orally (no stomach tube). As far as torts go, he's pretty easy to handle so a stomach tube hasn't been necessary thus far, thank goodness!


Well that is much better than a stomach tube. Keep us updated and I hope your little boy goes home soon .


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## Kori5 (May 27, 2016)

How is Dante?


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## Pokeymeg (May 27, 2016)

Kori5 said:


> How is Dante?



Dante's hanging in there!

He was showing some improvement when we visited him last Sunday (5/22)! The vet noted that during the week leading up to our visit, Dante started opening his eyes on his own (without being prodded), and was holding his head up better.
During our visit, the weather was finally nice so we took him outside. At first Dante did nothing but the usual blowing bubbles out of his nose, but after about 20 minutes he decided that he was STARVING! and ate several massive dandelions  He ate unaided (I didn't have to hold the food right in front of his mouth), which he hasn't done in weeks. It did wonders for my mental state to see him enjoy some sunshine and eat on his own!

I'm going to see Dante again tomorrow, so fingers crossed this week has seen some more improvements!


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## Kori5 (May 28, 2016)

What a beautiful picture! He looks much better and sounds even better . Did he put on some weight? Because his legs look thicker to me. He sure is enjoying his dandelions. Kori loves them too, but prefers the stems which I don't like him eating because of the oxalates. When is he coming home? I think the sun and being outside, if you manage it for a few hours a day, is going to do wonders to him. Everything will be ok, fingers crossed for improvement. Keep us updated .


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## Pokeymeg (May 28, 2016)

Kori5 said:


> What a beautiful picture! He looks much better and sounds even better . Did he put on some weight? Because his legs look thicker to me. He sure is enjoying his dandelions. Kori loves them too, but prefers the stems which I don't like him eating because of the oxalates. When is he coming home? I think the sun and being outside, if you manage it for a few hours a day, is going to do wonders to him. Everything will be ok, fingers crossed for improvement. Keep us updated .



I think that's just the angle of the photo! His legs are still fairly scrawny, due to no muscle mass right now. But that will change once he's moving again 

I'm actually sitting with him right now and he's doing great! He's had another week of teeny tiny baby steps forward. Today he's willing to eat non-dandelion things, like clover and plantain, and his eyes are wide and bright!

Dante will be here for quite some time yet, probably another month. He's still on medication and getting supportive care (forced feeding/fluids) and not eating on his own constistantly. It's believed he's in some stage of fatty liver disease, with all his non-eating over the last few months, so we need to get him eating right and stronger before taking him home.... And breathing better, of course!


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## Kori5 (May 30, 2016)

He looks great to me!  How old is Dante? I don't know if you've mentioned it somewhere. Oh I thought he's gonna be home sooner. But at least there is some improvement, you can wait a little while .


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## Pokeymeg (May 30, 2016)

Kori5 said:


> He looks great to me!  How old is Dante? I don't know if you've mentioned it somewhere. Oh I thought he's gonna be home sooner. But at least there is some improvement, you can wait a little while .



He's about 13, still a young'n!


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## Pokeymeg (Jun 11, 2016)

We visited Dante today - he's finally starting to make a comeback!

I've been informed that all the interns take turns taking Dante outside for sunshine when they have downtime, and that he has actually started nibbling the grass and weeds on his own!!

And, most importantly, today he pooped!! As we walked in, the intern said, "he just pooped more than any tortoise ever should. I thought a second tortoise might come out!" It's been 2 months since he pooped, so I'm super excited!

His breathing is still not recovered fully, but it's possible that may take longer to clear up, if it clears up...He has a lot of scar tissue in his lungs from pneumonia. But as long as he is eating and getting stronger and starts moving around, we'll be taking him home in a couple weeks. Can't wait!!!!


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## Kori5 (Jun 17, 2016)

I'm so sorry I just saw this. I am so happy for you and Dante . How is he now? You are lucky the vet staff is so considerable so he can spend some time outside.


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## Pokeymeg (Jun 17, 2016)

Josh said:


> Make 'em here


Yes, very lucky that they not only take the time, but also that they recognize how important real sunshine is and consider it part of his treatment! 

I'll be visiting tomorrow and can't wait to see if he's had any further progress this week.


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## Pokeymeg (Jun 22, 2016)

Unfortunately all of my worst doubts and fears have come true... Dante has passed.

He was a wonderful tortoise who should've had many years left to live and the thought of never seeing him romp around again is sickening.

Here's the last picture I took of him, napping in the sun a few days before he passed.



RIP Dante. 

I will be taking a break from TFO for a little while.


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## DutchieAmanda (Jun 22, 2016)

Ooo I'm so sorry... And he seemed to be getting better lately. :'( 
Wish you all the best..


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## Kori5 (Jun 22, 2016)

I'm so sorry . This is heartbreaking. I thought he is getting better. Meg you did everything that was possible and it makes me so sad. Please hold on there. Condolecens from us. If you need to talk or anything, contact me.


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## Yvonne G (Jun 22, 2016)

Aw, dang. That's pretty darned sad.


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## Nicole M (Jun 23, 2016)

So sorry for your loss... Dante was beautiful, and while I didn't know him, his personality seems to shine through in photos. What a wonderful creature.


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## Momof4 (Jun 23, 2016)

Oh sweetie, I'm so sorry. (((Hugs)))


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## Pokeymeg (Jun 24, 2016)

Thank you everyone for your kind words and support - I appreciate them.


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