Being a veterinarian carries a heavy responsibility. Not only do you have to help your patients at the clinic, but also you\u2019re on call 24 hours a day, when it comes to your friends and relatives. Is it a burden? Not really. After all, helping loved ones can be quite rewarding. <\/p>\n
It was no different when my wife\u2019s cousin called me one day concerning his pet Drano. <\/p>\n
\u201cHey, John, this is Lester. Do you know someone who can help us with our turtle?\u201d <\/p>\n
\u201cSure, I do,\u201d I replied. \u201cMe. I actually have a special interest in turtles. Tell me what\u2019s going on.\u201d <\/p>\n
\u201cWell, my nephew gave me a turtle a while back and we have grown attached to him. His name is Drano. Anyway, the other day we found him floating on his back in our pond. We thought he was dead.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lester continued: \u201cWhen we picked him up, his legs and head just hung limp. We were pretty sad and also surprised because he seemed fine the day before.\u201d <\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s difficult to tell when a turtle is sick,\u201d I explained. \u201cMany times, owners don\u2019t even know that their turtle is under the weather until it\u2019s too late.\u201d <\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re telling me,\u201d Lester harrumphed. \u201cAnyway, we dug a hole in our yard, said a prayer and our mournful goodbyes. Crazy thing is that just before I covered him with dirt, I saw his leg twitch.\u201d <\/p>\n
\u201cHe wasn\u2019t dead after all,\u201d I chimed in. \u201cTurtles can be tricky like that.\u201d <\/p>\n
\u201cAfter the initial shock, we took him into the house and put him in a smaller enclosure. At first, there wasn\u2019t any movement, but as the hours went by, Drano started to move a bit more. That was two days ago and now he\u2019s even more active. We\u2019re still worried, though, because he hasn\u2019t been eating and there are bubbles coming out of his mouth.\u201d <\/p>\n
\u201cIt sounds like Drano is still very ill. The bubbles, lethargy and poor appetite might mean he has an infection. Stop by my house and I\u2019ll give him some medication.\u201d <\/p>\n
Lester swung by the next day and I gave Drano an injection. I explained that turtles have a very slow metabolism. The injection that I had given usually lasts only 12 hours in a dog, but it will be in Drano\u2019s system for three days. <\/p>\n
For the next two weeks, Lester or his wife Cora drove to our house every three days so that I could give Drano his injection. Soon, there were no more bubbles and Drano became more active. Eating, however, was still a problem. I convinced Lester to leave Drano with me so that I could work on his dietary intake. <\/p>\n
Trying various food items and feeding techniques, I spent the next two days bent on the arduous task and finally succeeded on day three. Thank goodness. I\u2019m happy to say that as of the writing of this article, Drano is making a slow and steady recovery. He averted a very close call. Hopefully, he won\u2019t be seeing the bottom of a grave again for years to come.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Being a veterinarian carries a heavy responsibility. Not only do you have to help your patients at the clinic, but..<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":17,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[63],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-53205","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-the-wild-side"],"yoast_head":"\n