I am brand new as of tonight! This is a wonderful forum and it has been an indispensable resource for me with my new Russian tort rescue adoptee, Morla.
She's est at about 10 yrs old and I've had her for 1.5 months now. I took her to a general check up and fecal test when I first got her, and she received a seemingly fine bill of health, albeit looser stools and not super active (slept a lot/did not move around much unless outside). She loves being held and having her neck and head rubbed. I fell in love immediately!!!
After some struggles to get her to eat what she should (greens, hay, Zoo Med pellets now; I am told her former care was poor), her stools have been consistently solid and her urine/urates were always normal.....until this past Sun night (11/17).
Sun night, she had dark brown urine in her bath (I bathe her every day bf feeding bc she has issues w/ dehydration) accompanied by a little bit of normal, white urate.
I took her to the vet this AM (11/19), and after X-rays and blood tests, they think she may have chronic kidney disease (CKD), due to her raised calcium, phosphorus, and protein blood levels. Plus, they found a signif calcium deposit under her rt shoulder scute on the X-ray, also a sign of CKD. CKD would also explain her relative lethargy, which escalated a bit this past week or so.
She is currently hospitalized, getting IV fluids to see if there is a response. I've been crying on and off all day.
I am wondering if anyone knows any good resources about kidney injury and disease in Russian torts, and/or have experience w/ it.
Also, do you know if very hard tap water can cause elevated Phosphorus/Calcium/ protein levels? I was told bathing was ok in tap water (she gets bottled in her cage), and that water treatment wasn't necessary/effective. I'm so worried though that my using the tap water daily for her baths hurt her!!! The vet said this wouldn't have happened in just 1 month, but I am terrified! Please let me know if you happen to also know any good, reliable resources about use of tap water w/ torts (not just, "I do it so I think it's ok," or, "If I can use it, they can," because obviously they have different bodies and physiology!).
THANK YOU!!!
She's est at about 10 yrs old and I've had her for 1.5 months now. I took her to a general check up and fecal test when I first got her, and she received a seemingly fine bill of health, albeit looser stools and not super active (slept a lot/did not move around much unless outside). She loves being held and having her neck and head rubbed. I fell in love immediately!!!
After some struggles to get her to eat what she should (greens, hay, Zoo Med pellets now; I am told her former care was poor), her stools have been consistently solid and her urine/urates were always normal.....until this past Sun night (11/17).
Sun night, she had dark brown urine in her bath (I bathe her every day bf feeding bc she has issues w/ dehydration) accompanied by a little bit of normal, white urate.
I took her to the vet this AM (11/19), and after X-rays and blood tests, they think she may have chronic kidney disease (CKD), due to her raised calcium, phosphorus, and protein blood levels. Plus, they found a signif calcium deposit under her rt shoulder scute on the X-ray, also a sign of CKD. CKD would also explain her relative lethargy, which escalated a bit this past week or so.
She is currently hospitalized, getting IV fluids to see if there is a response. I've been crying on and off all day.
I am wondering if anyone knows any good resources about kidney injury and disease in Russian torts, and/or have experience w/ it.
Also, do you know if very hard tap water can cause elevated Phosphorus/Calcium/ protein levels? I was told bathing was ok in tap water (she gets bottled in her cage), and that water treatment wasn't necessary/effective. I'm so worried though that my using the tap water daily for her baths hurt her!!! The vet said this wouldn't have happened in just 1 month, but I am terrified! Please let me know if you happen to also know any good, reliable resources about use of tap water w/ torts (not just, "I do it so I think it's ok," or, "If I can use it, they can," because obviously they have different bodies and physiology!).
THANK YOU!!!