Amikacin

clarardavis

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Hi,

I am probably just overly worries about nothing but I wanted to double check that the medicine the vet prescribed Razie will help and won't hurt her. I took her to the vet who when I took her there before, did a culture by swabbing her mouth, but this time she did not swab her mouth and instead said that tortoises usually get infected with the same thing and prescribed her Amikacin. Im worried this vet only usually works with birds not tortoises and I waned to double check with you guys about this medication. What is it for? Pneumonia? Just a respiratory infection? Will the injection hurt? I had her not give her the first one yet as I wanted to be sure about what I am giving her.

Thank you
 

mark1

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i've used it a couple times when ceftazime didn't work ......... it can be tough on their kidneys....... it's not something i'd think you'd start with ...... make sure your tortoise is well hydrated ......... vet had me give subq fluids following every injection ..... one time i used it successfully on a very tiny turtle .......
 

wellington

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I don't know anything about it. But what is it being used for with your tort? If the vet didn't do any tests how does s/he know what's wrong?
Post pics of your enclosure, give us all your temps and type of heat and lighting you are using. What are the symptoms that you are seeing that made you go to a vet?
What species and how old/large?
 

clarardavis

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I am from Washington State so the vets I have tried so far I have not been very satisfied with. Her symptoms: she noisly breathes and it sounds like there is mucus that she clears to breathe sometimes. I recognize the sound from when I am congested and I don't have any mucus coming out of my nose but I am stuffed up way up in my sinuses and still have to clear the mucus way back in there to breathe, it's like a wet mucusy click sound. I've also noticed her mouth is swollen, the two fleshy sides to her jaw underneath her tongue are very swollen. And lately when she kinda prepares her mouth to swallow (might be a nervous habit or something) she kinda smacks her tongue a few times before swallowing ... And when she does this a squeak sound happens each time she smacks her tongue. It sounds like the sound could be because she's really inflamed up there? She's been eating a lot less and that's been worrying me. Our living situation has changed and we are now living in my car and it's been stressful on her no doubt. In the beginning she did a lot better than I thought she was going to cause usually whenever she's away from her normal shed she would just sit in the corner all day and not eat a thing. But she ate and moved around despite that and it wasnt until a week or two ago where her appetite really dropped off. She is often pretty dry and I would like her to be getting more water than she probably is so that kinda concerns me with the medicine. I told her I was living in my car and that I wanted to do more research on the medicine before having someone give her the shots so she gave me a medicine that didn't have to be refrigerated. Im worried that she didn't address the swollen mouth part because I told her (the doc) about it and she checked it out and said it really wasnt that swollen but it definitely is and is now more swollen than when I went to the doc. The time before Last the cultures came back with 3 things and the doc said the one she's most worried about was the club-C-ella (written wrong but that's the pronunciation) and I think that's what the medication is for.
 

mark1

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i'm guessing "club-C-ella" is klebsiella , possibly if you look into information on this bacteria in reptiles you may get some of your questions answered ... amikacin i don't believe needs refrigerated ....... my opinion is your tortoise needs kept in optimal conditions and run through a course of antibiotics ......... amikacin is an antibiotic used in reptiles ...... how was the sample for the cultures collected ?
 

wellington

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What species do you have?
Sorry you are having to live in your car. But with living in your car, how are you keeping her warm? Any species needs a basking spot of 95-100, needs uvb and most need day temps of 75-80 and night temps in 80's or some can go into the 60's.
All the medication in the world is not going to help her if she does not have proper enclosure, heat and uvb.
 

Yvonne G

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I'm wondering if the swelling inside the mouth could be the very start of stomatitis. If so, it needs immediate treatment to keep it from getting worse
 
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