help, tortoise stopped eating , vomiting and diarrhea

[TeamZissou]

So how long did it take for the worms to start showing up the the poop? Interesting that the vet didn't find any signs in the stool sample after what, about 8 weeks since the tortoise likely got infected? Did the second tortoise (original worm carrier) that you introduced have any eating problems?

Sorry for all the questions. This is just good stuff to know for the future.

 

[Jan A]

vomiting is gone. whatever that was, Panacur probably took care of it

Good for you!! Good for your torts!!

 

[enchilada]

So how long did it take for the worms to start showing up the the poop? Interesting that the vet didn't find any signs in the stool sample after what, about 8 weeks since the tortoise likely got infected? Did the second tortoise (original worm carrier) that you introduced have any eating problems?

Sorry for all the questions. This is just good stuff to know for the future.

vet tested the sick one's stool sample in Aug 2020. found nothing. they also did couple x rays and blood sample (blood sample cost $270 !!) . so they found NO blockage, No parasites, white blood cells were bit high so vet prescribed antibiotics injection on arms every 3 days.
basically nothing the vet did helps and he is weaken every day.
then in November , I found live round worms pooped out by the other tortoise (that tortoise shows no sign of illness, eats like a pig).
I emailed the pictures of the live worms to the vet asking for panacur , but they insist me to bring stool sample of both tortoises for a test before they can prescribe me panacur (of course with $45 testing fee for each ).
i say **** it, im done with your scams ???.
so i bought goat Panacur called Safe-guard (Fenbendazole) Dewormer Liquid 125ml , hand fed them every 7 days.
the "healthy" tortoise pooped out so much worms , it looks like a bowl of noodles every time i soak .???

around Christmas time, no more worms were observed and the sick one started eating .
now his appetite is fully recovered, poop looks normal and i can see new growth lines.

 

[TeamZissou]

vet tested the sick one's stool sample in Aug 2020. found nothing. they also did couple x rays and blood sample (blood sample cost $270 !!) . so they found NO blockage, No parasites, white blood cells were bit high so vet prescribed antibiotics injection on arms every 3 days.
basically nothing the vet did helps and he is weaken every day.
then in November , I found live round worms pooped out by the other tortoise (that tortoise shows no sign of illness, eats like a pig).
I emailed the pictures of the live worms to the vet asking for panacur , but they insist me to bring stool sample of both tortoises for a test before they can prescribe me panacur (of course with $45 testing fee for each ).
i say **** it, im done with your scams ???.
so i bought goat Panacur called Safe-guard (Fenbendazole) Dewormer Liquid 125ml , hand fed them every 7 days.
the "healthy" tortoise pooped out so much worms , it looks like a bowl of noodles every time i soak .???

around Christmas time, no more worms were observed and the sick one started eating .
now his appetite is fully recovered, poop looks normal and i can see new growth lines.



View attachment 316880

Thanks for the great info. The x-ray of the Radiated on a can is great, but it is a bummer that it cost so much.

@zovick, would it have been a bad idea to administer a de-wormer like Panacur/Fenbendazole as a first step in this situation? Or, is it generally better or safer to go the same route with the vet, stool samples, x-rays etc?

 

[zovick]

Thanks for the great info. The x-ray of the Radiated on a can is great, but it is a bummer that it cost so much.

@zovick, would it have been a bad idea to administer a de-wormer like Panacur/Fenbendazole as a first step in this situation? Or, is it generally better or safer to go the same route with the vet, stool samples, x-rays etc?

Normally, I would not worm one of my tortoises unless I observed worms in the stools myself (or happened to have a vet look at a stool sample for some reason and worm eggs were noted). In this case, I would have wormed both tortoises in November after seeing the worms in the new one's feces (assuming they had been exposed to each other).

It does seem in retrospect as though this vet was driving up the cost of treatment a bit unnecessarily, but it wasn't known either tortoise had worms till November and the owner was concerned months before then, so that has to be taken into account.

 

[Maggie3fan]

I have another visit tomorrow for blood test and maybe feeding tube .
I did manage to get him eating again with the help of probiotic water (I guess ) . Although the amount he consumes is quite small .

I’ll try Dr Laila If my current vet can’t handle it . They do have experience with tortoises

You said you saw him eating a snail. Is it possible that he might have tried to bite a toad?