Last month, Tilly began acting as if she might be preparing to lay eggs. She was uncomfortable and not tromping about her enclosure; she had started refusing food. We took her back to the vet, concerned that she was egg-bound. The vet looked at her records, gently felt her insides by pressing a finger around her back legs, then took her for radiographs. There were two views... both showed a mysterious mass... outside of her GI tract. A month later we took her back to the vet because she had not laid eggs and her appetite was decreasing. We took blood for a CBC and found her calcium slightly elevated and white cells on the higher end of average. This pointed toward egg folicles, yet lent no indication as to what was creating the mass. We began weekly tube feeding and hydration in preparation for an endoscopy, which should give a better peek at what was causing the mass. When picking her up from her procedure, the vet said he couldn't get a look at the mass because all her organs were shoved to that side. When he tried to go in through the other leg, he was surprised to see so many egg follicles of varying degree of development. (See above.)
At this point, we are more concerned about getting her to lay the eggs - freeing up enough room to stimulate appetite - then trying to readdress the mass. The vet thinks Tilly's mystery mass has been with her a long time. It hasn't grown in the past year, so likely it is something which occurred prior to obtaining her. We'll keep you posted with developing news! Update: July 2017 - Tilly still hasn't laid eggs. The radiograph shows no sign of follicles; likely they have been absorbed into her system. She is eating, active, and back to a healthy weight.
0 Comments
Your comment will be posted after it is approved.
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorThe Tort Resort is a Whidbey Island based project dedicated to rescue and rehab of smaller tortoise species. Archives
June 2021
Categories
All
|