a while back i posted about my nearly-5-year-old redfoot, junior, having weakness walking, especially in the hind legs. someone suggested protein deficiencies, but since i provide occasional meat snacks, i was unsure about that. visits to two different vets gave little insight -- it wasn't calcium-related, and xrays looked normal.



i finally was referred to dr divers at the university of georgia, and the mystery seems to be solved.



my junior is a girl, for one thing! (calling "her" a "she" has been an effort...)



she has a problem called ovarian stasis. upon hitting reproductive maturity, her body decided to start prepping to lay eggs, and her ovaries are enlarged (visible via ultrasound) and at the point where she should be making eggshells (and her blood calcium is elevated accordingly). but she's kind of hung up at this point. her reproductive cycle isn't completing, and this has apparently been going on for months, such that her liver function is starting to suffer (as per blood tests, which is apparently typical in this situation). because of the stress on her body, she's weakened, and this general weakness is what's slowing her down and affecting her gait.



the solution is to spay her, and dr divers is going to attempt to do so endoscopically. this will free up her body's resources so she'll feel better, and to prevent any possible future problems with egg binging.



mainly i wanted to post this in case anyone else had a tortoise that might fall into the category of what junior has been going through.



has anyone here had a tortoise spayed before? junior is set to go in early june...

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