Illness/Sickness: Is red leg survival possible?

misssquiddy

misssquiddy

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Squiddy
Hello everyone -



I noticed one of my axies, Grett, had developed red leg on his forelegs and had fluid retention in his back legs on Sunday so he went straight in the fridge. He's getting tea baths and Furan 2, has pooped, seems relatively active and very calm and relaxed about it all. I know the prognosis is not good but if anything I thing he is using his forelegs more normally then he was before (I was initially worried about a few toes, which seemed a bit floppy, but he's got control of them back).



Just wondering if anyone has experienced recovery from this point before?
 
It’s definitely possible, but usually the odds are very very small. It’s a pretty nasty septicemia infection. Keep up the treatment for as long as you can, hopefully Grett can make a full recovery. I’ve also read that injections of antibiotics from vets can sometimes have a higher success rate than just treating the water with Kanamycin or Furan. Keep us updated!!
 
Thanks! I was hoping I could get him a shot of gentamycin, but I had to spell 'axolotl' out to the receptionist at the closest vet which treats exotics (!). They could offer me a consultation with no guarantee of treatment at the end of a long drive which I don't want to do if it turns out to be all for nothing. There's a zoo much closer by with an amphibian breeding programme so I'm going to try giving them a call and see if they will take pity and help out.



Although he's still eating whilst in the fridge, I have noticed a pinkness in Grett's tail this evening which is not a good sign at all. :( No signs of stress though; he's a champion.
 
Yes, it was a well established set up: Grett's been in residence for almost 2 years. However, the recent weather has given us about 2 weeks of browns outs and that's played merry hell with my filters. I've got an issue in another set up due to this which I don't think I can save now; but fortunately all residents still seem to be OK.


Here's Grett in quarantine 9 days since symptoms first appeared: still fat, back legs still swollen, forelegs still red, tail slightly pink (this appeared a few days later but has not got any worse since). We've had 3 poops since fridging but no eating (which frankly is a miracle as Grett is a food hoover). (Grett's leucistic and several siblings also have always had black toes so this is not overly worrying.)


Where do I go from here?
 

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Can you get a pic of the throat, the axolotl appears swollen (not bloated), it may be septecimia.
 
I can confirm swollen, not bloated. Septicemia was my diagnosis too.
 
How is Grett doing? He must have a hell of an immune system to have fought the infection this long. Usually the infection will kill them in less than a week. At this point, I imagine his immune system will start to fight the infection better from the prolonged exposure, so he will hopefully get better soon! Is his condition getting better or worse?
 
Additionally, if you can confirm it is Aeromonas hydrophila, I’ve heard 100% Holtfreter’s solution can help, but it can be nearly impossible to eradicate the bacteria from the axolotl body as it integrates into the digestive tract. One of the highest success rate treatments is injection of antibiotics.
 
Grett is amazingly still with us! Hardly any shedding, still using all toes and still looking remarkably calm, but getting increasingly annoyed about the tea baths!
I came home to discover more swelling of the throat last night and was worried that we wouldn't get through the night, but I've just been slapped in the hand by a big wet tail so still fighting and we are back to the vet today (hopefully, just trying to get a slot).

I was very hopeful after we made it to the weekend but I'm back to 50/50 on it right now.
 
Also, I am still not sure about the cause. It is either that the filter failure messed with the balance of the tank - or that someone sniffed out some old food I hadn't noticed and ate it.
 
Well sadly Grett didn't make it. We were doing so well and over the course of a couple of hours on Friday there was a lot of swelling, which came on very suddenly. Gutted. :(
 
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