Comeback Kid!

My blood test results show no more anemia, yay! Dr. Johnson was delighted when he called, saying, "The great thing about Grandma is she always responds positively to treatment." Yep, that's me!!

The tests show that I do need daily feedings of Mazuri to prevent anemia. Most tortoises don't need that much protein, but I do, so now we know I've been malnourished without it. And that leads to dehydration and anemia and scale loss (hence my unsightly "turtle neck"). And that means one sick and skinny tortoise.

I also need monthly steroid injections to manage the muscle wasting disease Myocitis. Steroids manage this autoimmune disease by reducing immune response, so that means I need to stay very warm to keep mine as revved up as possible to prevent infections. A drop in temperature means a drop in immune function. Hibernation means no immune function at all. Yikes!

I also got lots of help from Dr. Reed, veterinary opthamologist at Eye Care for Animals. She prescribes the eye drops to reduce inflammation in my eyes and prevent infections. She even suggested Omega-3s for my autoimmune disease so I just started on Booster twice a week. It's a gooey orange supplement that I consider a real treat. Mmmm, it tastes THAT good! But I can't take too much of it as it's very rich and oily, like fish oil for people. But Booster is made from red palm oil, who knew? Find it here.

Well now we know what I need to feel better. We are all so grateful that when I get the right treatment, I always make a comeback. I'm feeling better already!

Ready for my close ups

I'm all set to go to Eye Care for Animals tomorrow morning to show Dr. Church how much I've improved after three weeks of anti-inflammatory eye drops. Oh it's been an adventure, starting with getting the medication. The Target pharmacist said he'd never dispensed for a tortoise before, and the Bashas' pharmacist couldn't imagine how my Tortoise Mom would install the drops by herself, "afterall, it's not like she can't pull in her head." There was much hilarity, but I got my eye drops and my Tortoise Mom and Dad worked out a system to get them in my eyes with no muss, no fuss. One, two, THREE--blink. One, two, THREE--blink. It happens so fast I usually don't have a chance to get upset, and now I'm such a veteran that I don't bother to struggle.

The good news is I can see out of my left eye again. In fact, I peek over my left "shoulder" to see if I'm in the clear to escape back into the old burrow. Sometimes I'm more wily than others, but I always get caught. I'm pretty resigned to it. I know the drill by now.

After seeing Dr. Church, we're going straight over to get my pre-hibernation check-up with Dr. Johnson. Hopefully the anemia is gone and I'll be good to go. The only thing worse than staying in the winter burrow is having to stay indoors. Trust me, no one wants to go through that again. Anyway I'm hoping I'll be cleared for hibernation, which means I'm well enough to survive the big drop in immune function that happens when the metabolism slows down so much.

Well I know I'm in good hands, and that helps a lot. I wish I could go where I please, but I did get a treat from my Tortoise Dad this week. He let me "go for a walk" around the yard to get some exercise and maybe perk up a little as I have just resigned myself to sitting in the winter burrow so I don't sit out in the sun at all.

Tortellini got her pre-hibernation check up last week. She's quite a handfull and not as charming as I am, so there aren't any photos to show. But she's in great shape. The funny thing is Dr. Johnson thinks she's 5-10 years older than we thought. We really don't know her age so just guessed it back in 1987. Now it seems she could be a lot closer to my age. We are two tortoises of a "certain age." Except she's so healthy and active that she runs circles around me. And my Tortoise Mom. And she is not happy about not getting fed any more treats this year. But we can't hibernate with any undigested food. Besides treats are treats, not a substitute for grazing in the yard, which she is still free to do. But she'd rather nag at the back door. Give it up, Tortellini. They always do what helps us instead of what we want. (Sigh). But still, we are TWO very lucky tortoises. Your friend, Grandma

Blogging from the winter burrow

The eyes have it

At my last visit in July, Dr. Johnson said to watch my left eye. Well, it suddenly swelled up last week, so this morning my Tortoise Mom and Dad took me to Eye Care for Animals where I got a thorough exam by Dr. Church.



I got the full treatment, including Tonometry, just like people get from their opthomologists. Who knew?



Dr. Church found that my right eye has problems too: red spots on the iris (should be green) caused by bleeding and minor inflammation.



She diagnosed the left eye, the worst one, with a small cataract (but not the usual variety) that releases protein to cause inflammation. As a result that eye has "discoria" which means an abnormally shaped pupil. Plus I can't see out of it.

 

She said the underlying cause is systemic or metabolic health problems, or even anemia (why I'm eating Mazuri Tortoise Diet now).So she'll talk to Dr. Johnson about that, and she prescribed anti-inflammatory eye drops.



Eye drops? Yikes! Having eye drops twice a day means I have to stay in the winter burrow and can't hunker down in the old burrow. You know how I feel about that. But I also know how lucky I am to have such good care from my Tortoise Mom and Dad, and from Dr. Johnson and Dr. Church. I am one lucky tortoise!