Need help with URI!

[baker27]

My 7 month old Greek tortoise Cleo has a upper respiratory infection. She went to the vet 3 weeks ago. He prescribed Fortaz to be injected daily for 2 weeks. At that time he gave her the minimum dose because she is 38 grams. After 2 weeks she didn't seem to get any better and he upped the dose a bit to the max we could give her for her size. She still doesn't seem to be getting any better after 3 weeks. Still has runny nose and occasional open mouth breathing. She is still eating but not as much as she was. I've kept the temp in her enclosure at 83 constantly day/night. Basking site is 97. Enclosure floor is at 80 degrees. She is on coconut coir and Cyprus mulch mixed. Humidity is around 50%. I'm soaking her twice a day. Does it usually take this long to see any improvement or maybe her antibiotics need to be switched?

 

[Yvonne G]

I would make it a bit warmer in the habitat. 85F all over the whole thing is good. And maybe cut back on the humidity for a bit.

 

[baker27]

Thank you Yvonne. I will raise temp a bit. I lowered humidity to about 30%. Does it usually take this long to see any improvement with antibiotics?

 

[Yvonne G]

Fortaz is a good antibiotic. Give it a chance. It's not as hard on the animal as Baytril. As long as the tortoise is eating, you've got it licked.

 

[baker27]

Thank you so much!

 

[Jodie]

Tortoises take a long time to get sick and a long time to get better. Best wishes for you and Cleo.

 

[baker27]

Thank you Jodie!

 

[dmmj]

Sadly it will take awhile weeks min. prob. longer.
Up the temps, she is still eating always a good sign, now the hard part, you wait and hope.


I am a little suprised the vet did not go with nose drops, that gets the meds where it needs to go, fast.

 

[baker27]

Update on Cleo. She went back to vet on Saturday. My Vet felt that she was not responding as he would like to the Fortaz so he switched antibiotic so Chloramphenicol Succinate to be injected daily for 2 weeks. She is not doing well on this med. She stopped eating for past 3 days. I started doing baby food soaks. I just feel she was stable on the Fortaz and at least kept eating. She still had a bit of a runny nose and some open mouth breathing but it wasn't constant anymore and now runny nose is gone but she is having more open mouth breathing than before. Hope she can pull through. I put a call into the vet this morning just waiting now. Ugh!