Quote Originally Posted by hagarthefish View Post
One of the times when I put her in the bath I think she urinated as I thought she was going to poo. She looks and feels kind of spongy.
I see. Water edema syndrome is common and especially so as they age. Typically their kidneys begin to not function as well and there is really only a couple things you can do yourself.

1. You can make her environment slightly dryer and limit her access to water.

2.You can try to get her to expell the fluid through urinating and use a hypertonic soak which may cause the fluid to diffuse out if her body.

The third option is to find and consult a vet. There are meds to treat edema such as Furosemide, but it is administered by subcutaneous injection.

You can also provide her with an electrolyte bath to see if it perks her up a bit. Discoloration can be linked to many things, even stress which is possible given how much fluid she is retaining. Other ailments such as bacterial infections can lead to edema and dermatosepticemia. Parasites can also cause edema if they cause enough damage. I'm not suggesting she has an infection. It's just a possible cause.

I see nothing wrong with your husbandry and you've obviously cared for her very well. I hope that this is something that can be helped and she lives a few more years with you. You must realise that with old age and having edema nothing may work and be ready for what may be inevitable. Just try to keep her comfortable.

Let me know which you decide to go with.