General Care Discussion :: Took my turtle to a vet, now he is worse than ever.

[liza]

I had my yellow Bellied Slider for over 5 years. Nothing has ever been wrong with him. About 4 days ago or so I noticed he stopped eating. I assumed he was going through some weird hibernation stage. Then today in the morning I noticed that he has some clear mucky stuff (thats the best way I can describe it) in the corners of his eyes. I took him to the vet and they told me that its because he isn't getting enough vitamin A and told me to change his diet (I've been feeding him ReptoMin food sticks and mealworms pretty much all his life). The vet gave him a vitamin A shot and did a de-worming procedure, just in case he had internal parasites. He seemed fine until about 3 hours after, when I noticed him floatinf around with his eyes closed, I took him out and placed him under his basking light. His eyes were all swollen, one could barely open and the other couldn't open at all. Then he started twitching, looked like he was having a seizure. I turned the light off and he stopped. He hasn't moved for the past 2 hours. He is alive though, his arms move when i touch him. I'm worried he won't make it through the night. Could this be a weird reaction to the shot and the de-worming? Or is he just getting worse?
PLEASE HELP, I don't want to lose the little guy.

-Liza

[ScrewZoo]

Looks like an allergic reaction to the shots. Was it a herp vet or a vet specially trained in reptiles?

[liza]

Not specifically a reptile vet, they also deal with other pets, such as birds and such. What can I do about the allergic reaction?

[ScrewZoo]

I don't want to guide you the wrong way, I wish someone that had knowledge to help you was on, but it doesn't look like their is.. Um maybe he'll sleep it off? Not sure.. Good luck.. I'd dust a piece of lettuce with benadryl but don't do that, don't want to be the cause of you're turtles death.

[mat012]

I have tried to look for the threads concerning vitamin a reactions and cant find them. But there have been many folks whose turtles have had adverse reactions to Vitamin A shots. They are frequently given unnecessarily. Spotsmama and some of the other moderators are very knowledgeable about this. If they dont see the post and respond I would PM them for advise. In the mean time I would raise the temp a bit, make sure everything is very clean (water dock etc.) and hold tight. The runny discharge from the eyes could be signs of either an eye infection or a respiratory infection. If that is the case you vet didnt treat either. Also start looking for a herp vet is one if available.

[kikicool]

Did you post this in urgent care? I would look for a vet that specializes in herps. Eye [-----] is usually the sign of an infection, not parasites.

Here is a site I found. According to THIS, your turtle probably has an eye infection. Recs upping the temp, washing the eyes and bringing to a (better) vet.

http://reslider.free.fr/backup/sickness.html

I HATE when I find a vet who doesn't know as much as he/she pretends to. GRRR. It's irresponsible. Good luck and keep us posted!

[SpotsMama]

I just saw this post. How is your turtle doing now? I don't know what to do in case of vitamin A poisoning except keep him warm, avoid stress (don't pick him up unless you have to), and keep him clean. if he's very lethargic or having trouble swimming, keep him out of the water except for several 30 minute streaches a day for hydration. Vitamin a is good in the right amounts but too much is toxic. It's hard to judge the dosage for a turtle.

Of course, it could be that something else is going on with your turtle since he was haveing some problems to begin with. Eye problems can be caused by lots of things - infection, too much UVB light, respiratory infection, injury, irritation due to chlorine or other chemicals, and vitamin A deficiency. Loss of appetite sometimes means a turtle doesn't feel well, and sometimes it means he's too cold, and sometimes it doesn't seem to indicate anything more than a passing mood.

I sure hope he's pulled through it ok. When he gets to feeling better, read through the section on nuitrition on here. It does sound like he needs more variety in his diet, and for sure he needs things from the plant kingdom (veggies and fruit).

Good luck. I'll be thinking of you both.

[megcornell]

I'm so sorry to hear what happened to your turtle.
In large doses vit A can be toxic, especially to a turtle whose system is already weakened by illness, that's why I'm never a fan of the shot. If your turtle is deficient in vit A it won't kill him, and the deficiency can be made up in the diet. But, enough about that. As for your poor guy, from what I understand, you have to wait for the liver to process the vit A. Since he's so weak, keep him warm and safe, I wouldn't allow him in the tank, just periodically mist him for now. If he looks a little stronger, allow him a few trips into the tank. A day or two of dry docking won't harm him.

I think it's also important to find a good herp vet. Call them and tell then what your turtle is experiencing and maybe they can help augment the overdose. At the very least, when he does pull through from the shot reaction you can have a qualified person look at him.

[liza]

Thank you everyone for the advice. yesterday he was barely moving still, tried feeding him but he spat it all up. Thought of taking my little guy to the emergency room, but after calling them, they advised me to wait till morning and make an appointment. In the morning I called and they didn't have any open time to see him.

Increased his temp to 85 degrees, put him in a little container of warm water, and noticed that one of his eyes opened a bit, still looks infected but it's somewhat opened.

Going to see the vet again tomorrow.

Turtle is now responding to noises, for example if i lift the lid of the aqaurium to take a look at him he moves him head.

Thank you all again

Do you think I should use the turtle eyedrops? not antibiotics but pet store purchased ones?

[LeslieMW]

ya i would try the turtle eye drops. and throw a good piece of lettuce in there and see he will take a few nibbles.

good luck with your turtle!

[marisa]

I'm not sure I'd add anything more to the mix (i.e., eye drops) at this point, especially if you're taking him to the vet (the same one?)...

If Reptomin and mealworms are pretty much all he's eating, you really need to vary his diet more (and feed the mealworms only on occasion and not many when you do).

85F water is a little too warm, even if he is ill. What kind of a set-up is he kept in?