Whit's Tree Frog with Swollen leg and possible bloat, PLEASE HELP

[Kisa]

Kisa, Good luck at the vet. I hope Bruce will be ok.

Thank you for the good wishes Ebony, I really appreciate it. <3

I will keep this page updated with news from the vet (though I may not be able to go this evening as I have planned).

[Leefrogs]

wanted to say hi, and ask how he's doing. After the second day, u said it looked better. So I hope that's a trend. Kermit gets kind of clumsy after a big meal. I've seen him fall off bamboo once. Saw a super skinney whites at petstore today. She was big, 5". But all bones. So atleast I know how trim they can get. Ive seen it before, but just her head, that was 3 months ago. So mine are going on a diet. Just scared of my frog falling again. I hope that's what happened to Bruce. And a fall will heal, I hope. And if sumthing does go wrong with mine all I have is this forum. The nearest exotics vet it 3 hours across state line. I think the ride would kill a sick frog. Hopefully u came home and leg looked smaller again. That would make u smile.

[rach]

Hi Kisa,
I will keep my fingers crossed for Bruce and yourself and hope everything clears up ok. It sucks to feel so helpless.

[Kisa]

If only it was just a twist or a bump, Lee.

Took Bruce to a nice little vet today that actually isn't too far from my house. The woman who saw him seemed knowledgeable and was very friendly. She even said White's were her favorite frog.

She noticed the swelling but said it didn't look as bad as before and saw that earlier picture of him and said that he looked bloated then but he didn't know. One scary thing is that she noticed that his right eye was cloudy, which I know is an indication of a more serious illness. She said he probably had an infection and that we couldn't rule out red leg, but she told me that if it IS in fact red leg, then we caught it early and it may still be treatable.

She prescribed Baytril as an oral antibiotic (which is hard as all hell to administer, so hope you never have to do that :/, oh and Bruce hated it and tried to throw it right up, which was very concerning and crazy to watch), and an eye drop for the cloudiness in his eye, something called Gentocin Ophthalmic Solution. I have a recheck in 7 days if we see no improvement in his condition, but hopefully that won't be necessary.

Something else that was very interesting: The doctor told me that whatever he has, be it red leg or another type of infection, he probably had it before I bought him since I haven't had him that long and she was very confident that I was taking the best care of him that I possibly could, which is very reassuring.

Right now all I can do is do what the doctor told me and hope for the best.

Thank all of you for your support and optimistic attitudes, please keep your fingers crossed for my Brucey, if I loose him I don't know what I'll do. D:

[Kisa]

Hi Kisa,
I will keep my fingers crossed for Bruce and yourself and hope everything clears up ok. It sucks to feel so helpless.

Hi, rach, thank you for your well wishes. It feels good to know that I have support and that people are rooting for Bruce and I. I will keep this thread updated with his condition and post any changes he goes through.

[Kisa]

wanted to say hi, and ask how he's doing. After the second day, u said it looked better. So I hope that's a trend. Kermit gets kind of clumsy after a big meal. I've seen him fall off bamboo once. Saw a super skinney whites at petstore today. She was big, 5". But all bones. So atleast I know how trim they can get. Ive seen it before, but just her head, that was 3 months ago. So mine are going on a diet. Just scared of my frog falling again. I hope that's what happened to Bruce. And a fall will heal, I hope. And if sumthing does go wrong with mine all I have is this forum. The nearest exotics vet it 3 hours across state line. I think the ride would kill a sick frog. Hopefully u came home and leg looked smaller again. That would make u smile.

That would make me smile, but unfortunately he seemed no better than before this morning. The fact that the swelling went down and we was eating was very reassuring but because he didn't visit his water dish and seemed more reluctant to hunt I caved and brought him to the vet, I couldn't help it.

Oh my goodness the poor poor thing! It was the exact opposite with Bruce, if it was anything they were overfeeding him. 5-8 crickets a day is WAY too much. :/

I'm sure kermit will be alright, as long as the little guy didn't fall too far he'll be a-okay. You're very observant and seem to be doing great taking care of them, I have high hopes that they will be healthy and happy.

Did you get them at a chain pet store? If so which one?

I'm sorry to hear you're so far from a vet, I was very lucky to find the one that I did, and actually I was referred there by the manager at my petsmart, so at least they did one good thing for me. That's not going to stop me from going down there and giving them a piece of my mind. They're going to get an earful for selling me a sick frog. D<

[Leefrogs]

so what the vet say. Has he started u on reginine of some kind. Thanks fir ur concern, but I wana know bout yours.

[Kisa]

Possible good news.

I gave bruce his medication last night and noticed that he hasn't gone cloudy in only one eye, but now both, so I just began putting one eye drop in each eye. I'm not going to let this scare me too much. I'm staying on the antibiotics and keeping my fingers crossed that he won't even need that check up in seven days. Also, I put a cricket in with him last night after his medicine, sort of as a treat and "sorry for shoving that syringe down your throat and make you puke" gift, but he didn't seem interested in it at all. Yesterday he ate a cricket and his belly could still be full from the medicine and his own fattness, so I'm not letting this get to me either just yet. Plus he hasn't pooped since his last real feed that weekend so he may still be full of nasty waste as well.

But on to the good news!

I got up this morning and found Bruce sitting in his water bowl! Sleeping of course, but I think this is a good sign. He hasn't been to his bowl in a few days since he was sick, so I'm taking this as a good sign that he's on the road to recovery. Looking into his water dish now I'm seeing that there's some type of waste floating in there with him. Once he gets out freely (he's pretty dry since he's been sick and I want him to get hydrated), I'll remove it and check it out. Hopefully it's that poop I've been waiting for, which would be an ever better sign!

I'll keep everyone posted.

[Kisa]

Still not sure what the cloudiness in Bruce's bowl could've been, but I'm definitely going to update the vet when we go back.

Since I've taken him there last wednesday, Bruce has developed small lesions on his back leg (the one that was swollen). Since noticing these I have kept it extra dry in his viv (I left his water bowl in there but made it shallower and have restricted misting to once a day. I replaced his substrate with paper towels so I can monitor him more closely and have taken out most of the accessories I bought him. I left his water bowl, his log hide and a rock just in case he gets too cold. I sterilized these in boiling filtered water and placed them back in his viv after wiping it down with water to clean the bottom and sides. I've raised temps to 82-86 in the day time and 75 at night, the vet told me to keep it warm and dry while he heals.

Although it seems Bruce has lost his appetite since I started him on the antibiotics, he hasn't lost any significant weight yet and still has the strength to climb the walls of his viv and try to wrestle his way out of my hands when I take him out to give him his medicine.

I bought latex gloves since I've noticed the lesions on his leg and Neosporin to treat them with. I will apply it twice daily in small quantities with a Q-tip (and no I did not buy Neosporin + with pain relief, I read that it will kill him). I have been putting one drop in each eye and the proper amount of antibiotics orally each day.

With a little time and some luck, I think we'll get through this.

[Leefrogs]

Glad to hear he has streingth and is still chunky. Thanks for keeping us posted.