Foot Swelling

[Altah]

Hello friends! I hope you're all doing well. I was hoping for some advice on a subject I've not encountered before. I just noticed about 10 minutes ago that my poor Gaia one top of her other health issues appears to have developed an acute swelling of her back right foot. I did not see this yesterday and I do try to keep an eye out for things. Anything I've read online suggests gout however that is typical led associated with poor diet/ vitamin deficiency. Her diet prior to me having her was very poor mainly consisting of whatever she could find in the previous owners backyard however that was six months ago. Now she is fed a mixture of Mazuri LS and Zoomed Grassland diet. Herbal, dandelion, Timothy, orchard and Bermuda hay. As well as a mix of herb and zen mix greens, wheat grass, alfalfa sprouts and watercress. We are currently constructing and outdoor enclosure for her for the summer but do now she lives fairly happily in a rubber maid container with a 100w Powersun. She is also on a continued dose of antifungal and a rotated dose of antibiotics for her previous abscess. If you have any suggestions as to the cause of this or any husbandry changes for that matter Id love to hear them. She's going to work with me tomorrow for radiographs and bloodwork but my anxiety until then if going to torment me. I included a picture of the swelling when I first noticed it when she was having a soak. Many thanks!

 

[Heather H]

I don't know but I just wanted to say hi and hope she gets better soon

 

[dmmj]

That foot is swollen all right. Now wghat is it blood work is a good idea, as always kidney failure is a possibility. but since it is only one foot not as likely, it could also simply be an injury your tortoise sustained. An allergic reaction to an insect bite, or simply hitting it against a hard surface

 

[Yvonne G]

Take the tortoise under a very bright light and extend the leg. Give a real close inspection to be sure there isn't a hair or very fine string wrapped around the leg. Be sure to spread any crevice and give it a real good inspection.

 

[mini_max]

If she has been on a lot of meds, it may be possible something renal could be happening as medication can get hard on the kidneys. But I hope Yvonne is right!

 

[Altah]

So we took rads today and sent those off for evaluation by a radiology specialist but really none of the doctors in the hospital could really see anything that would be the cause. The swelling is very uniform in opacity unlike her abscess which appears very mottled. It's very similar to edema seen in dogs and cats. No joint swelling or reduced opacity in the bone was seen so I'm really at a loss. We did draw blood and send that off we should have results in 48 hours. Thank you all for your kind words and support!

 

[Yvonne G]

Gout? Has the tortoise been eating a lot of veggies in the brassica family - cabbage, broccoli, etc.?

 

[Altah]

Not that I know of. The Herb Blend is: Red and Green Romain, chard, mizuna, spinach, arugula, frisée, radicchio, parsley, dill, and cilantro. The Zen mix is: Spinach, Pak-choi, mizuna, komatsuna, kale, chard, tattoo, mustard and collard greens. Then she also gets wheat grass, alfalfa sprouts and watercress. Would any of that cause it?

 

[Altah]

Bloodwork is back in guys. Nothing too exciting. Kidney levels were within normal limits. White blood cells were a little high but not surprising considering she is still dealing with her abscess. Unfortunately however her liver has taken a pretty big hit being on the anti fungals for so long. So really we don't have an explanation still for the swollen leg. So the plan now is to put her on a short course of antibiotics and discontinue the anti fungals for now. We're going to try something pretty radical and put her on a medication called Denamarin. This is a medication that we put dogs with liver issues on. It has never been tested on chelonians before but at this point her liver is only going to get worse and possibly go into failure. We're going to try this for 8 weeks then recheck bloodwork at that time. Thanks again for all your help and suggestions I'll keep you updated on any new changes.

 

[Altah]

Oh and here's a pic of her results with reference ranges and some notes from her DVM

 

[bouaboua]

This is LOVE! ! !Best wishes! !

 

[dmmj]

Good and bad news I guess. Did they say if liver failure could be causing the swelling?
I am not trying to sound mean, but this is interesting, but lets hope the tortoise pulls through.

 

[Altah]

No they don't think that's the cause especially since it's only the one leg. We're leaning more towards muscle injury and swelling at this point. She was so malnourished at one point that she had almost total atrophy of her limbs she rebuilding everything form scratch. It's just the theory but it's the only one that we can explain since bloodwork and rads look ok.

 

[Robertchrisroph]

Could the little leg have atraphe and the big leg could be normal. Have you looked at the little leg? Just a guess. Good luck with him