Sicky Boy Munch

I adopted out Munch awhile ago (vague timeline since I can't actually remember when! ;) ) and have been in touch with his owners since then. Today I met them at my vet with a very sick Munch.

This was him on Sunday:

This was him today: 

I had a blood draw done on Munch and a fecal test. He has a massive infestation of pinworms and an incredibly high white blood cell count that is turning toxic. He is throwing up fluids that he was given yesterday which tells me his stomach is not currently working properly. It's possible he has some sort of block or build up of pinworm eggs.

Munch is very sick. :(

I brought him home with me so I can do his supportive care and shots, etc.. He'll be in a sick tank for now. Hopefully the antibiotics and dewormer will start taking effect quickly and we can pull him back from the edge of death. I gave him his first dose of antibiotics before I put him in his soft, warm sick tank. If I can get him to keep fluids down tomorrow, I'll give him his first dose of dewormer.

And then we wait and see if his body has enough strength to keep fighting the infection.

Poor Munch. I hope he pulls through.

Sickly Tortoise, rescue number 85

I have a hard enough time saying "No" to taking in sickly reptiles, but when my favorite tech at my vet's office calls to ask if I'd help with a half-dead Russian tortoise, I canNOT say "No." At all. 

This is why I have a super sickly, nameless tortoise in a sick tank in my bedroom. 

I actually saw this guy posted on our local reptiles classified last week but was feeling to overwhelmed with Turbo & Newt to take him. When the vet tech said "Russian tortoise," I knew that it was the same one. I felt terrible for the guy who bought him. 

His new owner bought the tortoise to get him out of a bad environment but didn't know how severe its illness was. He took the tort to the vet but didn't have the money to save him.

That's why the vet called me. 

I have the skills & supplies to do almost everything the vet wanted to do (minus the blood tests). I gave it a saline injection today and will give it another one tomorrow. Then I will start tube-feeding herbivore Critical Care formula. I have everything to do it so why not? 

The tortoise is severely dehydrated, severely malnourished, and has severe Metabolic Bone Disease. I can treat all three of those. 

Now we just wait and see if it's strong enough to pull through. 

And I go back to poking a sick reptile to see if it's still alive.