HELP!!!!!! my leopard is acting weird

[superjet86]

my baby leopard is extending his neck and acting like he is chocking and making a wet squish sound.... i dont know whats wrong with him. he is not chocking because i can see down his mouth when he stretches it out... what should i do?

 

[superjet86]

he is also scratching at his face and eyes.... hes making a motion like he is gasping and making the wet squeak noise

 

[Yvonne G]

he is also scratching at his face and eyes.... hes making a motion like he is gasping and making the wet squeak noise

It sure sounds to me as if there were something in his throat and he's choking. If not choking, could be pnuemonia, Sounds like a trip to the vet is in order.

Yvonne

 

[superjet86]

well i went to the vet and they think it is in fact pnuemonia... they gave him a .2mg injection of baytrill. they said i need to get him an injection every 24 hours.... but i cant afford $120 every 24hrs. is it necessary to get the injections or will the one boost him? they also said since he looks like he hasent been eating to get some critical care powder and inject that into his mouth twice a day. any other suggestions.... i cant lose the little guy... hes my buddy

 

[Yvonne G]

well i went to the vet and they think it is in fact pnuemonia... they gave him a .2mg injection of baytrill. they said i need to get him an injection every 24 hours.... but i cant afford $120 every 24hrs. is it necessary to get the injections or will the one boost him? they also said since he looks like he hasent been eating to get some critical care powder and inject that into his mouth twice a day. any other suggestions.... i cant lose the little guy... hes my buddy

In order for Baytril to do its work, it has to be used once every day for the prescribed 14 days. I'm sure it won't cost you $120 each visit. It would only be the cost of the medication. Why don't you ask your vet to give you the 14 day supply of medication in syringes, have him show you how, and do the injections yourself? A bottle of Baytril only costs $35. So if he gives you the injections it probably wouldn't cost more than $100.

Critical Care is a powdered grass/hay supplement that you mix with water or baby food and tube feed. Tortoises can go for quite a while without eating, so you can try the Baytril for a while first and wait on the tube feeding. I think your little guy is trying to "wipe" his nostrils. Get a magnifying glass and take a look at the nostrils and see if they are plugged up. You can take the small end of a toothpick and clean out the nostrils, then take a squirt bottle full of sterile saline solution and squirt it up each nostril trying to clear them out. Don't worry about the saline going down into the lungs. The other end of the nostrils ends up in the roof of the mouth, not down the throat. When a tortoise can't smell, he won't eat. If you can clear up the nose, and he can smell once again, he'll start eating on his own. In the meantime, try to look at your tortoise-keeping and see why he got pnuemonia in the first place.

Here's hoping the best for your little leopard.

Yvonne

 

[Crazy1]

well i went to the vet and they think it is in fact pnuemonia... they gave him a .2mg injection of baytrill. they said i need to get him an injection every 24 hours.... but i cant afford $120 every 24hrs. is it necessary to get the injections or will the one boost him? they also said since he looks like he hasent been eating to get some critical care powder and inject that into his mouth twice a day. any other suggestions.... i cant lose the little guy... hes my buddy

Superjet86, like most antibiotics it is important to finish all injections one will not do it, in fact it could make it worse. Have you talked with the vet regarding the cost? A lot of vets will work with you. My vet gave me the meds and syringes (one vet pre-filled the syringes the other vet gave it to me and I filled the syringes myself) and I gave the injections myself. Perhaps you can work this out with them, they can instruct you how to give the injections, and it is cheaper. I am not familiar with critical care powder so I can not comment on this.

 

[superjet86]

well i went back to the er vet and they orig. dident want to give me the baytril to take home but i went there in my paramedic work uniform and they changed their mind they diluted the baytril and im instructed to give one unit everyday. does that sound right? they also gave me some squash baby food and a syringe and blunt needle to force feed him. we did force feed him tonight so hopefully he can get some nutrition back in his system because he was showing sod signs he was malnourished. his tale had turned a dark color.

 

[Crazy1]

Sounds like your on the right tract with him. Good luck and keep us posted.

 

[superjet86]

ok i need some advise on the injections.... i dont feel i did it right. i poked him under his scale very very shallow and pushed the plunger and it dident bubble or leak out.... to make sure he got some i was going to give a little more and i poked him again and it started to bleed so i think i went too far....

any advise would be helpful... im used to doing this on humans.

 

[superjet86]

he hasent been hissing or doing the neck thing or mouth breathing but i still cant get him to eat anything... he goes to his food takes a taste and then leaves... i have been trying different things for him to eat and i dont know what to do.... its way to hard for me to force feed him cause he goes into his shell and the vet made it look so easy... but i guess i feel better that she was able to get a good amount of the squash baby food in his tummy so... im just a concerned daddy

 

[Yvonne G]

he hasent been hissing or doing the neck thing or mouth breathing but i still cant get him to eat anything... he goes to his food takes a taste and then leaves... i have been trying different things for him to eat and i dont know what to do.... its way to hard for me to force feed him cause he goes into his shell and the vet made it look so easy... but i guess i feel better that she was able to get a good amount of the squash baby food in his tummy so... im just a concerned daddy

You can inject Baytril either IM or sub-cu. Pull a front leg forward and inject into the soft area behind the leg. I still say you can wait a few days for the eating. You run the risk of aspirating when you try to force liquid food into the mouth or down the throat. I don't understand what a black tail has to do with not eating. Don't use the same injection site every time. Watch for necrotic tissue. Baytril is very hard on tortoises and it stings bad.

With baby leopards I have success getting them to eat endive, escarole, turnip greens. If your baby won't eat at all, you can try some romaine or ice burg lettuce, then when you've got him eating slowly introduce more of the good greens and slowly remove the ice burg. Try chopping it up real small for a while. My hatchlings don't have any trouble biting off bites, but maybe your little guy doesn't have a good "cutting" edge on his beak.

Yvonne

 

[superjet86]

well im happy to report hank is doing better. he was up and around today.... went to his food dish and had a bit to eat and then off to the water dish and had a BIG drink

thanks for all your help

 

[Crazy1]

I am so glad to hear he is on the road to recovery. Keep up the good work. congrats.