Internal Mass Surgery

[alyssa lobello]

Hi all,

My tortoise has some unknown masses internally. She had a feeding tube put in about a month ago and has a recheck in a week. She is not very active but will eat regular food every few days. The other days she is getting fluids and/or critical care through her feeding tube. She is also getting liquid baytril and a milk thistle supplement.
I will be discussing next options with the vet, but he is pretty convinced she will not survive surgery (he is working to become reptile board certified vet). I work at an aquarium and the vet here thinks she has a chance. I’m interested if anyone has any experience or knowledge about internal mass surgery for their tortoise and how did it go?
Thanks in advance

 

[The_Four_Toed_Edward]

Maybe @zovick @Yvonne G or @Markw84 can comment on this.

Did the vet expand on why the operation is risky? There is some salad in her mouth in the photo. Is she still eating on her own? What have her symptoms been like?

 

[alyssa lobello]

Yes, she is eating off and on on her own. Maybe every 2 or 3 days. She is given 6.6 mL of fluids daily. Every other day the fluid is combined with critical care powder.
She was slowing down like she usually does around the fall, maybe a little more than usual. Not coming out as often, eating less or less often. She was checked at the vet and had high liver enzymes, calcium, and her electrolytes were off. She also had semi high white blood cells. I can’t remember the exact details, but she was started on ceftaz.
Her next appointment she had improved some but not enough so she had a CT scan, then another with contrast.
Behavior wise I never would have thought she was in such bad shape.
She has had some normal days coming out on her own but often I have to taken her out. Once she is out, she will bask for different amounts of time and eat on her own every few days.
The vet would have to go through her plastron, he thinks the masses might be inside the liver itself or cancer or an aneurysm. He thinks she is in liver failure so that would also make it difficult for her to go through surgery.

 

[mark1]

i'm certainly not adept at reading turtle/tortoise x-rays, but i've seen x-rays of tortoises with similar looking x-rays that the masses were said to have been egg's/egg follicles....... i believe a few folks on this forum have experienced a problem called follicular stasis

 

[The_Four_Toed_Edward]

i'm certainly not adept at reading turtle/tortoise x-rays, but i've seen x-rays of tortoises with similar looking x-rays that the masses were said to have been egg's/egg follicles....... i believe a few folks on this forum have experienced a problem called follicular stasis

Yeah, as the tortoise is female any reproductive issues should be ruled out. Let's see what others think.

Has she ever laid eggs?

 

[alyssa lobello]

Actually she had her ovaries taken out 2 years ago. She had one large egg that could not be passed normally. It was removed from the area in front of her back legs. I need to check if it was just ovaries or not. I really thought it sounded like follicular stasis as her lipid levels and calcium levels were high too. The vet didn’t think they looked like follicles though and that the location didn’t seem correct. Her liver is also enlarged, I’m not sure if that is normal with fs or not. She has not tried to dig as she would when she has laid eggs in the past. I’m not sure if she would still have that instinct though.

 

[Yvonne G]

i'm certainly not adept at reading turtle/tortoise x-rays, but i've seen x-rays of tortoises with similar looking x-rays that the masses were said to have been egg's/egg follicles....... i believe a few folks on this forum have experienced a problem called follicular stasis

Yes, I would have said that larger 'mass' is a retained egg that's blocking the passage