Not Sure What To Do, Please Help

[EasternRomioi3]

Hello, so I changed my axolotl's water yesterday, because my mom's stupid cat fell in the water on Friday when I was trying to feed her. She looks fine, she's been acting fine, till this morning at 8am. I got up to put some ice packs in to get her tank below 70 degrees, and after like 20 minutes, I heard her smack against the glass, real hard. She was swimming around, like something was in there after her, she smacked her nose and it bled a little but then she hid. I cried for an hour or so, but I left her alone, and came down stairs, she seemed fine, she swam up to meet me, I decided to give her a worm. I just tossed it into the tank, she missed a few times but she got him. Then she went to her favorite napping spot, slept. I was rotating her ice packs, she came out to greet me, and I noticed the tip of her tail is curving towards what would be her left side. Very hard to notice. I hear people saying this is a sign of a problem but how curved is too curved?

Sometimes she just idles in the water on 3 of her legs, while the one just kinda does whatever, she isn't exactly coordinated. Her water is spotless, pH is at 7, it's at like 68 degrees right now but I'm afraid to put any more of my reserve packs in because I'm afraid all this interaction is stressing her. She has no discoloration, no visible injuries other than the scrape on her face from this morning. I do not know if my mom's cat was messing with her and perhaps that freaked her out. I've been keeping a closer eye on her, I have her in the one room in my house that gets the least sunlight, our coolest room, so I can't really move her. We don't have AC so my room right now is well above 80 degrees.

I am very worried, I've been sobbing since the dumb cat fell in on Friday night. Please help. I need some reassurance before I have a stroke. Or before she dies.

 

[Calgarycoppers]

You have posted about ammonia, white slime, alkalinity, pH, the cat etc in the last week.

How is all the rest of it now - your lotl needs a week to just recover and get resettled with all the changes.

Keep on top of testing and keeping things in parameters and doing water changes and within temperature.

 

[faebugz]

Is there a way you can keep your mom's cat out of the room somehow? It seems like that is adding a lot of stress

 

[EasternRomioi3]

You have posted about ammonia, white slime, alkalinity, pH, the cat etc in the last week.

How is all the rest of it now - your lotl needs a week to just recover and get resettled with all the changes.

Keep on top of testing and keeping things in parameters and doing water changes and within temperature.

Her ammonia levels were fine. No more slime. Her water is perfect now, had it tested, I just need to dechlorinate some more, she only has like 16 gallons in her 20 gallon tank. Temperature is good now. I talked to my friend, the previous owner, she says our axolotl has done that before, getting spooked and hit stuff. I got everyone out of the house today, cat went to the vet, so she was 100% alone for a few hours. Came home, she's fine now, swam out to meet me. I'm cooling her tank now and I have some water that will be ready for her in an hour or so, it's too hot to put in.

As for the cat, no, the real problem is my mom's puppy. She bites the cat, and in a panic, he tried to get away, and that's how all this started. She bit him one night and he climbed on top, while the lid was on and my mom thought it was funny. She didn't seem to notice the severity of that, and was very alarmed when her cat fell in and I tried to help my axolotl first by getting the cat out, not drying him immediately, and leaving him to get bit by the dog. My mom has a history of not caring about things that aren't hers. Like, "if she dies, she dies, oh well" is how my mom feels about my axolotl. She's the only pet I have, my mom has her 2 cats, both were fine and never messed with the tank till the puppy.

I think I'm just overreacting and I'm thinking that's beginning to take a toll. Thanks for the advice.

 

[Calgarycoppers]

I'm going with over thinking

For piece of mind I'd buy your own API freshwater master test kit and you can buy the GH KH kit as well to what your alkalinity.

I tested alot in the beginning and kept a chart to see where things were at and get help.

 

[EasternRomioi3]

I actually just got that exact thing today! We tested everything, we got the alkalinity buffers, and her water is perfect. The temp in the area is being a major issue. I can get it down to like 65 degrees for a bit, but the heatwave in my area is supposed to break soon. When it was just like 84 outside, I had no problem cooling her tank. She came from a house that didn't have AC, and a 10 gallon tank. She's now in a 20 gallon, and also in a house without AC, so I am assuming she's more durable than I think. My friend told me to just be vigilant but also remember that she can just like, grow back limbs and whatnot, so she should be fine.

Thank you for the suggestions on what I needed to keep an eye on her. I don't have any real plants, just some fake ones, but she really likes her drift wood and rocks, scuttles in the sand. I've only ever seen her curl her gills forward in a defensive posture when I transferred her from her 10 gallon to her 20, she was in a tub for like an hour or more, she was very unhappy to be held.

 

[Calgarycoppers]

They do not always regenerate - there is a limit to how much and how often especially based on bloodlines

 

[EasternRomioi3]

Well, lucky for me, she's got no injured toes or anything. It's only supposed to be 85 in my area tomorrow, instead of 100, so hopefully her water will chill easier. Do you cover them at all at night or anything like that? I put a white sheet over her after she gets upset so nothing else freaks her out. Oh God, I just remembered, we're supposed to have our stairs redone this week. We had our windows replaced in mid-June and she handled it really well, didn't freak out, ate fine. I covered her with a sheet so nothing could get in. She handled the previous construction fine. I just hope it isn't super hot when they come.

 

[Binditheaxolotl]

You’ve talked about a bunch of problems all this week. How are all these problems? Your lotl will need a while to recover.

 

[EasternRomioi3]

You’ve talked about a bunch of problems all this week. How are all these problems? Your lotl will need a while to recover.

She is actually doing much better. The "biofilm" or whatever, it wasn't fungus or anything, I actually reached in, and nudged it from her gills, it was a glob of sand, no doubt from when the cat decided to fall in. Her tank is cooler now, it wasn't 100 today. We also bought her an air stone. Her water states are good, pH is like 7ish, not enough to be 7.5 though, definitely at least 7. No ammonia, no bad nitrates or nitrites, and alkalinity it good. I haven't changed her water a second time, just testing it and she seems to be doing much better.

I must have been overacting with regards to how she's been. She's very BAR, which is a medical term my mom's vet clinic uses, "bright, alert, and attentive." However, she hasn't been too interested in her pellets lately. She eats her worms no problem, which tells me I've been giving her them too often. She ate her pellets today because she didn't have anything else.

 

[Binditheaxolotl]

Great! I’m so glad she’s doing better! I’ve also invested in a couple of things during this summer to keep my scores tank cool

 

[EasternRomioi3]

Thank you, it's been a very rough few days here at home.