Urgent Care :: Bitten turtle

[momo]

Hi everyone,
We have two japanese turtles, both two years old. Two days ago, they were bitten by a cat. One of them, Momo, was seriously injuried. The cat almos eaten the two front limbs.We have already taken Momo to the vet, who cleaned the wounds and gave her intramuscular antibiotics and prescribed a 1/10 of a enrofloxacina pill daily for five days and vitashell applied in the wounds three times a day.

Looking for information in the web, we realize that vitashell is not the best option for Momo, we are looking for a medicine to reduce pain to Momo, because she hardly moves and does not want to eat.

When feeding them, we put them in water with blue metilen and anti-cloro, but only for feeding, we keep them most of the time dry.

Our vet says that VitaShell contains an analgesic and antiinflammatory, but we read the opposity, we wanna avoid our turtle to have pain.


Any suggestions are welcome, we are living in Mexico City, so, an specialised vet is almost impossible.

thanks

Carolina Lopez Llano
Guillermo Barrios del Valle

[SpotsMama]

I've never heard of using Vitashell on an injury to skin or shell. The topical antiseptics (applied to skin and/or shell) I've seen mentioned are Nolvasan, Betadine, and Neosporin. Hibiclense, a hand wash for people, is very good, however it's a soap and must be rinsed off thoroughly after application. I've also seen mention of Acriflavin and a water conditioner called Stress Coat.

Here's what this site has to say on trauma (scroll down towards the bottom of the page):

http://www.redearslider.com/major_illne ... uries.html

An excellent topical treatment for fungus is Silver Sulfadiazine but I don't think it would be applicable in your case.

I'm not aware that any of the above is analgesic or anti inflammatory.

Here's a description of Vitashell from a pet supply site and it doesn't say anything about it being antiseptic, analgesic or anti inflammatory:

"A deep-penetrating, concentrated, skin and shell conditioning cream for turtles. Non-greasy formula combines moisturizers, conditioners, and proteins in a unique, deep-penetrating cream that helps revitalize dry, brittle shells and skin."

As you've picked up on, we recommend not using Vitashell for routine maintenance because over the long run it can do serious damage to a shell.

Good luck. It must be very frightening to see your turtle injured like that. Please keep us posted on how he's doind.

[steve]

Vitashell is marketed as a moisturizer and conditioner, not some sort of antibiotic or pain reliever. I would especially not use it on any open wound since they should be dry and allowed to "breath". Vitashell would do just the opposite. I'm not telling you to go against any vet's orders, but I would question the decision.

Enrofloxacina looks to be Baytril, which is recognized to be a good antibiotic. I'm not sure what you can do to reduce the pain but allowing a quiet, stress-free environment is a priority.

[momo]

Thank you for the advices.

I have found a specialist in reptiles and my turtles are already under his care. Still not know what type of treatment is going to prescribe them, but when i know i'll tell you. It can help if you suffer some similar accident.

Regards

[SpotsMama]

Yes, it would be very helpful to know what a good vet prescribes for injuries like your turtles suffered. I hope they're doing ok. They're tough little guys.

[marisa]

You do need a new vet if the one you went to prescribed Vitashell for wounds...Ask the second vet about Nolvasan.

[soopermum62]

A topical cream that would be good is Silvadine ointment (prescription only) It is used on burns in humans and I was advised to use it on B.C. when she had shell rot. Nolavasan solution is an antiseptic wash. It needs to be rinsed off after washing the turtle. Cat bites can be very bad. They can cause serious infections.

[momo]

I have Momo now in my house! The vet let me take her from the hospital.

He told me that the wounds was done by a RAT, not by a cat.

And he had to amputate her right hand for the gravity of the wound.

An antibiotic prescribed oral route and an analgesic. Also an ointment called "Furacin", which is antibiotic to apply in the wounds and to anticipate infections.

She is OK, is awake, moves and I believe that she has possibility of recovering great.

Thank you all!