Saturday, April 26, 2008

I Took a Turtle to the Vet

This morning I did something I said I would never do ... I took a turtle to the vet.

Our biggest Red Eared Slider, Winnie Hall, has a raw neck. She was a rescue turtle that had a damaged shell. As she has grown, her neck scrapes on the shell as she moves her head in and out. We thought she has an abscess, but the Dr. did not think so. He wants us to give her sulfa baths, and he gave her a shot of antibiotic in her rear. She has to have 2 more shots this week. She also has to be quarantined for a few days.

Sitting in the vet's office was harrowing because they have office cats. Two of the office cats seemed to think Winnie Hall would make a really nice meal. It was funny at first, but it got very annoying trying to keep the cats from jumping in our tank.

Now that I am home, I am miserable. My eyes are swollen, my throat is scratchy. Way too much cat and dog hair for my allergies.

Winnie Hall is unhappy because she is not in her giant tank. I feel bad because she is going to have a problem until she can build up a callous on her neck.

There was another side issue that came up from the trip to the vet. We are picking up two more turtles tomorrow. There was a woman there that said she had been raising two turtles for the last three years. She got them as babies. She said she can no longer care for the turtles and that if she did not find someone to take them she would put them in the lake. Well, even though my youngest said I was crazy, I said we would take them. I could not stand the idea of turtles that have been babied dumped into the lake. So tomorrow morning, we go pick up two more turtles. She has named them Chompers and Little Foot so she obviously has seen one or two "Land Before Time" movies.

I took a turtle to the vet, and came away with two more.

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