About Our Tortoises, Part II
In 2007, Sabby had a health scare. We noticed that her usually white urates were pink. Fearing that something was wrong, we took her to our local veterinarian.
Our vet suspected that Sabby had a bladder stone. The vet x-rayed Sabby and identified a stone in her bladder.
We were told to observe Sabby for a month and if the stone did not pass surgery was our only option. Over the next month Sabby continued to have pink urates,
but her appetite and activity appeared to be normal. Since surgery would have involved removing a section of her plastron to access the bladder stone, we decided to get a second opinion.
On September 25, 2007, we took Sabby to the UC Davis Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital Small Animal Clinic.
We brought the x-ray from our local vet and a sample of Sabby's pink urates. The vet looked at the x-ray we brought and said that it was impossible to
tell if the mass on the x-ray was a stone or if it was even in the bladder. She also said that 99% of the time pink urates were caused by pigments in food.
The vet took a blood sample from Sabby's neck
and had the urate sample analyzed. The blood sample showed that Sabby was not anemic (which might have been the case if her urates contained blood).
The urate analysis showed plant vacuoles (not blood cells). The pink urates were caused by pigments in Sabby's food!
Sabby was given a clean bill of health!
Always seek a second opinion if your vet suspects a bladder stone and suggests surgery!!!!
At UC Davis we were given this handy Healthy Shopping Guide for Herbivorous Reptiles.