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My 8 year old res has respiratory infection I believe was caused by neighbors weed blowing over into our yard. In any event I brought him to the vet last Thursday as he was tilted to the right side and not swimming as normal in his outdoor stock tank. He also had not eaten for about a week - even earthworms or chicken which he normally loves. They gave him an injection of ceftazidime280mg and he is supposed to have shots every 3 days for 3 weeks. Now he is getting worse and has lots of bubbles when underwater and still not eating,

My question - is it normal for him to get worse before better? Is this a good antiobiotic? I asked about Baytril as I saw a lot of people on the board used Baytril but she said she wanted to try this first as baytril injections can cause muscle damage? What do others think?

Antibiotics can also inhibit appetite. According to Anapsid.org, it is a good drug. I'm a bit surprised at the sudden decrease in appetite. Before you saw the vet, was it immediate or gradual? If it was immediate, then I still suspect that it is some sort of impaction.

I'm sorry to hear you going through with this...

I see alot of people here including me using baytril with good results and have not seen any posts with side effects. My vet only gave my slider 1 shot and then I had to give him the baytril orally for 21 days. What part of california are you in? If you are in the L.A. are call all creatures care cottage in costa mesa. I went there and they were a great help. It may not be a bad idea to get a second vets opinion also.
All Creatures Care Cottage
1912 Harbor Blvd.
Costa Mesa, CA 92627
Tel: (949) 642-7151
Fax: (949) 642-1024

I am near Sacramento - northern CA. She was a vet recommended by my dog vet. She talked about Baytril orally when I asked about Baytril but I don't know how I could possibly get him to take it orally. How did you do it?

There are several forms of Baytril. My turtle would take it orally, but that obviously wouldn't work in this situation. I've also heard that oral Baytril is less effective than as an injection.

If you do want a second opinion, there are more vets listed here: http://www.tortoise.org/general/vetlist.html

Steve,

If it was impaction would he have the bubbling underwater? He has been pooping pretty regularly even though he has not been eating. The antibiotic shot seemed to give him a bit of diarrhea at first but now it is more regular. Would this happen if he were impacted? When he quit eating is when I first noticed him tilted to the right and it does seem like it happened all at once. I thought at first it might be change of weather (getting a bit cooler) so he wasn't as hungry as usual - but became quite concerned when he wouldn't eat his favorite foods.

Probably not directly but it's possible to have led to something else. It is good to hear about the poop! I'm not sure of the complete side effects of Ceftazidime but hopefully you caught this in the early stages.

Maybe I just have to give it time to work. I will let you know how he does after his second shot tomorrow. Thank you!

Ceftazidime is a good drug, and is supposed to be less harsh than Baytril. It will not surpress the appetite as Baytril can. I'm hoping it works for him.

I'm also wondering---(call this far-fetched)---do the neighbors use pesticides?

I am glad to hear this is a good antibiotic. He got his 2nd shot today and goes back again on Thursday. They said to dry dock him and raise basking temp to 85 just putting him in water 20 minutes 2 times a day. Since the weather is changing here now I have set him upstairs in a 50 gallon rubbermaid stock tank with basking lamp. I will hydrate him 2 times a day as suggested. Hopefully he will start to shows signs of improvement. Today he was even having open mouth breathing and bubbles coming out of his mouth. I bought some dried crickets at the pet store today to encourage him to eat. He snapped at one but didn't get it and did not tray again. I will keep trying. Thaks Marisa for letting me know it is a better antibiotic for appetite also.

Glad to hear you're dry-tanking him as well. What you're going through is making me a little more cautious about putting mine outside (although the temp is supposed to it 80F at the end of the week).

He's Eating! I am so happy! He ate a a few pellets of reptomin earlier today and a couple of crickets. Tonight he is eating lots more! He is very hungry. I hope that is a good sign. He did have foam coming out of his mouth a bit this afternoon though. He stays under the basking lamp pretty much - doesn't really travel to the other side of his area. I am trying to be more careful with my others also - not leaving them out as much unless it is warmer. I would hate to see the others get this too. Thanks for everyone's help and advise!

I think hunger is a very positive sign. Glad to hear he's improving.