An ending and a new beginning

This evening, Mattie took a turn for the worse and we ran her down to see Dr. Atlas under emergency conditions. She was struggling and her plastron was turning reddish. During her emergency treatment, she quit breathing and her heart stopped. Dr. Atlas, one of the most competent exotic veterinarians I've ever met, did all he could to resuscitate her. After 10 minutes of work, we finally decided that she could not be brought back.

Greg and I mourn the loss of our little girl and will miss her very much.

When we got home we found that Mama Turtle had laid 4 eggs. They were dug up and I will incubate them inside. Mama proves again to be a great mother and we have four baby turtles to look forward to this fall.

Mattie see Dr. Atlas

Mattie went to see her veterinarian, Dr Atlas, on Friday. He is a very competent veterinarian, still she and her symptoms had him puzzled. On Thursday night, she started to drip red fluid from her nose. That was the first time she showed outward signs of a respiratory illness although the redness was very frightful. Dr Atlas took x-rays of her lungs and they were all clear. More mystery. She would push her head out high and twitch. More mystery. No swelling of the vent as was present last time she was sick a few months ago. So, she is on 4 weeks(!!) of antibiotic shots, once a day. When she got home, she drank a great quantity of water.

This morning she was restless, but at least has moved more today than in the last two weeks. She seems quite exhausted an in need of sleep.

It rained last night, nearly a whole inch, so box turtles and I were able to find lots of snails for their breakfast (I had cereal). Frankie delighted in eating damp grass (which he loves). He found a new toy - an upside down wagon that he can climb over. This is horribly noisy as the wagon is light steel.

If you read this blog, have good thoughts for Mattie as she fights for wellness.

Worried

With Blogs down for a few days, the possibility that they may never come back or disappear all together was a bit depressing. I had come to enjoy recording all that was going on with the turtles. I am still apprehensive about the final outcome of the blogs.

Mattie has quit eating. I have weighted her so I see if she is loosing weight. I soak her in water with vitamin A. I have also given her vitamin A drops a couple of times. I don't want to overdo the A but I keep thinking it is needed. I got her a vitamin B complex and have given her that once too. She gets soaked daily. Her last bowl movement was about ten days ago (that I know of). I am going to give her a few more days and if I don't see a turn around, back to the vet she goes.

Frankie and all the other turtles are doing great. Coping with the heat.