the whimsy turtle

As if Mom didn’t ruin this weekend enough already, today was my annual checkup with Dr. B.!  I like Dr. B. a lot, but I do not like her table!  The examining tables at Dr. B.’s vet center continue to be the most horrifying tables I have ever seen!  I was once again so upset by the table that Mom let me hang out on her shoulder while we waited.  When the nurse came in, she found a gloriously soft and snuggly pink towel for me to sit on instead.  Much better!

Dr. B. looked me all over and weighed me on the scale.  I am now almost 170 grams!  Dr. B. is a little worried about a video Mom showed her of me rubbing my face and fussing as I fall asleep.  I look great when I am wide awake, but my eyes look puffy when I am sleepy.  So Dr. B. gave me a vitamin A, D, and E shot to make sure I am okay.  Then, Dr. B. also took some of my blood to run tests so she can know my baseline levels.  I hate needles!!

The blue Table of Horrors and two different needles---I was so upset that I grumped all the way home!

Today was my annual check-up with Dr. B.!  Dr. B. was absolutely thrilled to see how much I have grown since she last saw me!  Mommy was thrilled, too:  I have put on almost another 10 grams since last month!

Dr. B. looked me all over, declared me healthy and the cutest, and gave me another nail trim.  Nice nurse Kim even gave me head rubs during my nail trim.  It was like going to the spa!

Dr. B. is at a different vet center from where she used to be.  Her new place has the most horrifying examining tables:  They are covered in squishy, dark blue, nonslip material that I absolutely abhor!  When Mommy first put me on the table, I was paralyzed with horror at the awful blue stuff I was sitting on.  So nurse Kim gave me a paper towel to sit on.  I spent the rest of my visit going round and round my paper towel peering at the awful blue stuff surrounding me.  I tried putting one or two feet on it, but had to back up every time.  I was so upset that Mommy felt bad and gave me cuddles while we waited!

Dr. B. said something about doing some blood tests next year when I am even bigger so that she can know my baseline levels.  I don’t know what that means, but I hope she has a new table next year!

With temperatures falling and winter starting to loom (!), Mommy decided now is a good time for a check-up to make sure I'm healthy and ready for the colder months. So off we went to the vet's yesterday!

Dr. B. was absolutely thrilled to finally see me with my eyes open! (The last time she saw me, I was still sick and sleepy.) I am almost 10 whole grams heavier, too! (And almost 5 whole grams heavier than a month ago, which means either I put on lots of weight in August, or our new scale isn't quite right.) I am also still pinworm-free!

I ran around the examining table on a soft fluffy towel and tried my best to dig through Dr. B.'s hand. Dr. B. was pleased by how nice and hard my carapace is, but she says my plastron is still a little softer than it should be. She told Mommy to start giving me calcium powder on my breakfast again. Ugh, I hate calcium powder!

Last but not least, the nice nurses gave me my first ever nail trim! Mommy is too afraid to trim my nails herself because she is worried she would hurt my tiny feeties. Now my nails are no longer pointy, which means fewer scratches for Mommy!

On the way home, we met a little girl who was so excited to meet me that she said she was going to write a whole essay on why she should be allowed to get a tortoise. We hope her mom agrees!

Hello, friends! We have more good news to share today! Mommy took me back to the vet's yesterday for another check-up. Dr. B. was absolutely thrilled with the poop we brought in this time--big and poopy with zero pinworms! Hooray! I got another dose of Panacur deworming just in case there are any stray worms left in my gut, but I should be done with deworming now! Dr. B. was sad that I was passed out again when she saw me, but she was happy to hear that I am continuing to eat and poop like a champ every day. In fact, I am even eating my calcium powder now! Friend Jovski suggested putting my calcium powder in the fridge, which helps it last longer and, even better, takes away a lot of its nasty taste. I have gained another two grams in the last two weeks! Everyone is so happy with how steadily I am gaining weight. Unfortunately, I am still puffy, if not even more so. We think my puffiness is partly because I have been getting long daily soaks (I told Mommy baths are awful!!). But I am puffy enough that Dr. B. is worried that I may not be getting enough protein, which can cause fluids to leak out of my tissues. So Dr. B. sent me home with a big bag of carnivore critical care food. Mommy will put a tiny little bit of the carnivore food on my food to help me get a little extra protein (but not too much because too much protein is bad for an herbivore like me!). In the meantime, Dr. B. told Mommy to keep propping me up so that fluids don't accumulate in my front end and pressure my lungs. I got to nap on the softest towel while Dr. B. demonstrated! Dr. B. told Mommy that she thinks I would have been long gone if it weren't for all the personal attention I've been getting for the last month. I do love getting lots of attention! To finish off my visit at the vet's, I yawned the biggest yawn after nice nurse Katie gave me my (last?) deworming treatment, and I opened both my eyes for nurse Katie to see how pretty my eyes are! Now I just have to show Dr. B. my eyes next time.

Hello, friends! I went back to Dr. B. today for a check-up. I had fun investigating the pretty Christmas lights in the waiting room. Then I took a nice nap on Mommy's shoulder inside her coat. Mommy's shoulder is so comfy that I didn't wake up when it was my turn to see Dr. B., so I looked the same to Dr. B. as I did last week. But, Mommy told Dr. B. about how I have been eating and pooping this week, and Dr. B. was very happy. Dr. B. was even happier when she weighed me: I have gained 2.6 g since I first saw Dr. B. two weeks ago! I am still too light, and a lot of my weight gain is probably just water. But at least now I don't weigh less than when I first met Mommy exactly 16 months ago today! Dr. B. also gave me another x-ray. She says my bones are looking better, which means I have been absorbing all those calcium injections. Dr. B. also said that the big lumps blocking my gut are starting to break up, which means my gut is working better now! Since I am starting to eat more now, Dr. B. says I can stop getting calcium injections after my last one today. I have three more doses of antibiotics left, but that means a needle in my leg only once every three days now, instead of every day! I hate needles! We are so happy at what Dr. B. wrote on our take-home instructions: "Keep up the good nursing work! I am very happy with his weight gain - we are moving in the right direction!! We are not completely out of the woods but I am more optimistic about his prognosis at this time." Happy first day of winter, everyone! :}

Hello, friends! We have good news for you today--and a little bad news. We'll start with the bad news because it is negated by the good news: I am staying at a vet center that has three different vets who are in on different days, so I have had three different vets take care of me this week. Dr. B. and Dr. P. are nice. Dr. W. makes Mommy furious. Thursday night, Dr. W. told Mommy she recommended euthanasia. (Mommy freaked out.) Last night, Mommy visited me again, and I am actually getting better! Dr. W. clearly has no interest in taking care of me. Fortunately, I saw Dr. B. when Mommy brought me last Sunday, so Dr. B. is the one technically in charge of my case. Now for the good news: Mommy and Katie (the nice nurse who has been giving me most of my care) both think I am getting better! When Mommy visited last night, I ran around in her hand super fast--and I cracked open my left eye just the tiniest little slit when Mommy first picked me up!! Considering how late it was for me, Mommy thinks that is definitely progress. Mommy is pretty sure the swelling on my eyes is better, too. Katie told Mommy that I am also starting to fight back when she tube feeds me. Yesterday, I actually wriggled my head out from between her fingers when she held me for tube feeding! My shell is also getting better: My plastron is harder, and my shell as a whole looks kind of "shrunken"--it looks bad, but it actually means I am absorbing the calcium I am getting and my shell is hardening! I have not pooped again, so the vets are tube feeding me less frequently now to make sure my gut does not get too blocked up. Mommy asked to see my x-ray from last Sunday, and I do have some sort of blockage in my gut. My poop last Sunday was a good sign, so hopefully I will poop again soon. I am also getting a little puffy because I have not peed either, so the vets have stopped the fluids for now (but I am still getting lots of soaks). I have also lost more skin on the top of my head, but Mommy has gotten confirmation from multiple sources that there is nothing to worry about there. Mommy is coming to see me again this afternoon and to talk to Dr. B. (the vet we saw when Mommy first brought me in last Sunday). Mommy had originally wanted to bring me home ASAP after that awful call with Dr. W., but now we will wait to see what Dr. B. says. We will keep you posted!

Hello, friends! Mommy was planning to visit me last night, but she ended up not being able to make it. She is very upset that she didn’t get to see me, especially because she definitely can't visit me today. But, Mommy took a tip from Waffles's mom and asked for some pictures of me, and the nice nurse who gave Mommy my daily update sent over several! The nurse told Mommy that everyone at the vet's loves me and thinks I am the cutest patient they have ever had. Who could resist my adorableness? :) The nice nurse told Mommy I am pretty much the same. I am still trying to climb out of my daily soaks and not spitting up the Emeraid Herbivore Critical Care I am being tube fed. Yesterday, I got my deworming in case I have any parasites. Unfortunately, my eyes are still swollen. The nurse is hopeful because I haven't gotten any worse and am still quite lively when I'm awake. Mommy is worried that I am still not opening my eyes, but the nurse says that everything happens slowly with tortles. Hopefully I'll open my eyes soon though!

Hello, friends! Mommy just barely managed to make it to the vet's last night before they closed, so she got to visit me! I was so excited to see Mommy that I ran around like crazy in her hand and lifted my head up high towards her voice. Then I stretched out in Mommy's hand and fell asleep while she gave me her best head rubs. Mommy asked to see the enclosure where I am staying. She is not happy at all. I am in a glass tank that looks very dry. Glass tanks are not a good idea for tortoises! They have poor air circulation, and the clear glass is stressful for us tortoises who don't understand the concept of that weird thing humans call glass. On the plus side, the nurse told Mommy that she has been misting my enclosure throughout the day to make sure I am not too dry. Hopefully the glass tank does not stress me out too much, since it is just for a week. Mommy also called several times during the day to ask how I was doing. The vet and the nurse both confirmed that they have not and will not give me any vitamin A shots, much to Mommy's relief! The vet did give me an x-ray and came back with bad news: My bone density is low, and I have sand in my gut. Mommy is very upset because she has been doing everything she has read about to make sure I get enough UV and calcium for strong bones: a Powersun 100W bulb for UV, and a good healthy diet for calcium. The only thing the vet thinks Mommy should have been doing is putting calcium and vitamin powder on my food. (Mommy tried once. I refused to eat any of my food with the weird powder on it. Or the cuttlebone she keeps giving me.) I have also never been a big eater, as much as I like to nom everything I see. The vet thinks that could also be a reason I am low in calcium. In the meantime, the vet has been giving me fluids and vitamin B through soaks and a little under my skin. She is also giving me food and calcium through a tube. Much to the vet's surprise, I did not spit any of it up! I am getting antibiotics on my eyes to help with the swelling, and general antibiotics to prevent any secondary infections since I am not in tip top shape. Finally, I am getting deworming medication. The poop I made on the way to the vet yesterday was too small and dry for the vet to do much testing, but she thinks she saw something bad in my poop. So as a precaution, I am getting deworming medication, and the vet will test my next poop to confirm. Everyone thinks I am already starting to do better! The nurse told Mommy that I ran around a lot today. She said it was so funny watching me splash in and out of my water dish (for my not-baths, of course). Mommy was thrilled that I even ran around when she visited, which was way past my bedtime and when I am usually unresponsive. Mommy is a little worried that I have lost big chunks of skin on the top of my head behind each eye. It's hard to see in the pictures, but it doesn't look like my normal sheds. The skin on the top of my head has been ready to shed for awhile though, so maybe it really is just my normal shed. Mommy is unlikely to be able to visit me today, but hopefully she will get to visit me again tomorrow! In the meantime, the nurse has promised to give Mommy daily updates on how I am doing. We will be sure to let you know how I do!