Sick Dumpy | Red veins, bloated, won't eat

[Mystictrust]

Not sure if there is anything else we can do with our dumpy at this point, but we're extremely worried. I've attached two photos to this post. We've taken our frog, Tubbs, to the vet and were given a medication - Baytryl - to drip on him once a day. We were also told to force feed him since he's not eating and hasn't really eaten in a few days. After giving him a chance to eat a cricket, we have to force open his mouth and inject a certain amount and kind of food (it's some kind of cat food for cats who won't eat or something, but the vet said it's fine for frogs).

He seems to have gotten a bit worse, and I don't think the vet is open until Monday. He's got dark colored spots on the edges of every part of his body, very dark discoloration under his throat, red all over his belly with dark red veins everywhere, puffy legs - and I believe random puffiness filled with some sort of liquid. When you tilt the poor guy to the left or right, his belly fills up on the opposite side - like it's filled with liquid as well (we didn't observe this yesterday)

Has anybody encountered this or have any idea if there's anything else we can do? Does he still have a chance at pulling through? We have no idea what he has yet, the vet is waiting lab results so we're in the dark. Just hoping you experienced frog lovers/handlers out there would have some advice.

[Tony]

I would skip the force feeding, it appears to have decent body weight so the stress of force feeding is likely to be more harmful than missing a few meals. I would definitely keep up with the baytril, it is a powerful broad spectrum antibiotic that is your best bet at clearing up bacterial infections. I have used baytril twice daily with good results in the past, but without knowing the dilution your vet prepared I am hesitant to recommend any change there.

Reducing stress is very important during illness, in addition to cessation of force feeding I would also keep the tank lights off, cover at least three sides with dark paper, and avoid unnecessary interactions with the frog.

[Mystictrust]

I think that all seems to make perfect sense, and thank you I will give this all a try, but I must actually question the turning off of his tank light. It seems like that very act would be stressful in itself, as he's used to his normal day and night schedule. Thrusting him into a world of total darkness sounds very stressful. Is there a reason why it wouldn't be stressful at all?

We "hospitalized" his entire terrarium, washed it with disinfectant we bought at the pet store (Called Wipe Out 1 by Zoo Med), and the only thing we have in there are a few paper towels, his washed water dish, and a washed fake plant - so he can feel somewhat protected or shaded from the light.

[Tony]

I was assuming the room he is in has a window, the natural light coming in would be sufficient to create a proper photoperiod. If there is no window then some sort of indirect lighting like a lamp in the corner would also work, but bright, direct light over a sparsely furnished quarantine tank can be stressful since he can't hide away from the light like in a fully planted vivarium.