General Care Discussion :: Darth Vader noises

[littlecakes]

So Ichigo finished her antibiotics and her runny/stuffy nose is all cleared up, no more white or clear snot, but today and maybe yesterday she started to make her "Darth Vader" noises alot. What I mean by that is sort of a long hoarse, wet, throaty sound with open mouth. This is the same noise she would make when we were still giving her her shots everyday, right when we picked her up out of the water, it's the first and only thing she would do.
Also making "shooting water" noises which I have only heard but not seen her do so I'm not sure if she is actually shooting water out her nose/mouth or just the sound.
I can only think that it just means she is annoyed since she is very strong and more active than when she obviously had pneumonia but not sure. Before calling the vet in the morning I thought to put it out there for any opinions.
Thanks!
Hanna

[steve]

Is Ichigo heavy? my female RES is a bit hefty and I can hear breathing noises... even what sounds like whimpering sometimes. They've also made a croaking/clicking noise... I can only guess that they were basking outside too long.

[littlecakes]

Hi Steve
So if they are out of the water too long they will make heavy breathing noises? Does that mean it is hard for them to breathe because of the weight? She is big and heavy and tonight was out of the water while I changed her water and cleaned/scrubbed... I wonder if that is what it was......

[littlecakes]

We are going to the vet tomorrow evening because now she is basking a lot and not wanting to eat and although her nose is not runny or snotty like it was before, the vet said it could all be in the back of her mouth/throat as when we first took her there was a big ball of snot back there..... I thought we were on our upswing! Please keep us in your thoughts.
Hanna & Ichigo

[littlecakes]

Oh my God, she is foaming at the mouth! I can't believe she's gotten worse all of a sudden when she was starting to get better! I feel so awful. I couldn't get an earlier appointment with the herp vet till tomorrow at 6pm. Please pray for Ichigo!!

[SpotsMama]

Oh my! how scary! I will certainly keep you and Ichigo in my thoughts. You're a very good turtle mom - if anyone can get her through this, it's you.

[littlecakes]

I'm so nervous, I'm not going to be able to sleep well tonight. In the past few years we have fostered or rehabbed many animals and lost a few for one reason or another. Every time we take on a new one that is sick, I am always praying they don't die in my hands. I tried to rehab a young pigeon with a back injury and the vet gave her only a 10% chance to recover, she didn't make it and we had to put her to sleep. I always think about that when something isn't going right with a foster and try to will it to get better and get overly sensitive to all their behavioral changes and symptoms. I'm kicking myself for not just making an appointment with the vet a few days ago when I thought something was not right. I thought it was "depression"...... I hate not being perfect for these little critters. (Not that being perfect can save some of them) I hope another round of antibiotics can be given and will finally clear this out.

[SpotsMama]

I hope the antibiotics do it too. Please don't kick yourself over this. It's very hard to know what to do, especially with a turtle which tends to hide his/her symptoms very well until he/she is quite ill. You're do the best you can, and then it's out of your hands.

We will all be pulling for you and Ichigo.

[steve]

I'm sorry to hear it! I suspect being heavy contributes to "heavy breathing", though an illness can certainly as well. Please keep up us to date, we know you're doing your best.

[littlecakes]

Mystery is solved...probably.
We were at the vet's office tonight for two hours, doctor first tried to look into her mouth but she was too strong and wouldn't allow it so we had x-rays taken and the foaming coming from her mouth isn't from a RI. Her lungs were clear and nothing has been coming out of her nose for some time now. But what the doctor explained to us showing the x-ray was that her intestines are backed up and she's very bloated so she thinks that because she's a rescue and didn't eat for sometime, then ate a bunch, that her intestines are not pushing everything out properly and she is very backed up and either she is sort of throwing up or just letting out lots of gas from her mouth. She only had one day since we've gotten her that she actually pooped proper poop and that was only a few days ago so she said there could still be lots of whatever she was eating a month ago before we even got her, still inside.

So... we came home with two prescriptions, Reglan, which is supposed to increase muscle contractions in the upper intestine, and Lactulose which is for constipation. We are also supposed to buy Simethicone infant gas relief drops.

I'm not looking forward to having to give her oral meds as she is already very pissed about her whole situation.

I'm happy though that she wasn't falling back into her pneumonia..... now I have to do a little fund raising to pay of this new vet bill!

[steve]

Lets hope this ordeal is almost over for you and Ichigo. The one time I had X-rays for my turtle, the vet said he can't see much because of intestinal gases. (NOTE: he told me after he took them.)

**edit** Which vet are you using? I've been to a few in the NY area.

[littlecakes]

Steve,
We are going to St Mark's Vet on East 9th Street between 1st and 2nd.
Dr. Kurowski is the vet there that is a member of the ARAV (Association of Reptilian and Amphibian Veterinarians) but we are seeing Dr. Luk there with occasional help from Dr. Kurowski.
I am very happy with our experience so far there, they always have more than just cats and dogs waiting in the waiting room, lots of birds, and we've been in the waiting room with other turtles before too. They are great with giving advice on the phone and always call back within an hour or two if they are busy. They even do fish medicine!!!
It was interesting to see the x-rays. For the intestines, we could see darker areas that were definitely wider and more bulbous than the other parts so I assume that is where there is fecal matter stuck and gas is everywhere else? Very expensive but we didn't really have a choice. I just hope we will be able to administer the oral meds properly everyday as she isn't eating so we will have to squirt it in her mouth instead of hiding it in food.

[imderanged]

heh,I've taken Reglan! I'm so glad Ichigo is on her way to getting better. By the way, in my experience with Xrays the solid matter shows up white or grey and the pockets of gas show up dark (blank space). Think of it this way...the Xrays passing through the animal and landing on the plate behind them are what make the Xray. The more Xrays that hit an area on the plate, the darker that area will be, so the denser the material the whiter that area turns out on the Xray.

[mat012]

We have a cat that takes those medicines. His bowels are so slow to move that he frequently gets blocked up - pretty dangerous for cats. Unfortunately its chronic. We also administer the meds orally. Not fun but worth it. Cats though can be manually "unplugged" if necessary. I assume this is hardly an option for turtles.

Hope things get better. She must be so uncomfortable.