Six turtles underwent surgery yesterday at The Turtle Hospital. The raucous menagerie included four juvenile Green sea turtles, an adult Kemp’s Ridley sea turtle, and a sub-adult Loggerhead sea turtle. Green turtles Coraline, Dre, and Logan were examined for internal fibropapilloma tumors and had external tumors removed; another Green, Diana, underwent a risky procedure to remove fishing line from her intestine; a Kemp’s Ridley named Snoop had a partial flipper amputation; and Loggerhead Goulet had his lungs inspected for pneumonia. Dr. Doug Mader began the marathon surgery session early in the morning and it lasted late into the afternoon. Unfortunately, Coraline was found to have internal tumors, but the other turtles did great and are currently recovering in the rehab enclosure.
Above: Administrator Ryan Butts and Dr. Doug Mader perform an endoscopy on Dre, a Green sea turtle with fibropapilloma. When an endoscopy is preformed, a small video camera is inserted into the hip area from which the body cavity can be inspected. If no internal tumors are found, Dr. Mader will begin removing external tumors.
Above: Dr. Mader inspects Goulet’s lungs for signs of pneumonia. Goulet was found with fishing line around his neck which was tethered to a lobster trap buoy line underwater. This apparently caused Goulet to inhale water and thereby contract pneumonia.
Above: Diana, a small Green sea turtle, underwent a procedure of last resort to remove fishing line from her intestines. Once ingested, fishing line is almost impossible to pass, and is almost always fatal. After several weeks of laxatives and gentle encouragement, the fishing line showed no sign of passing. In order to save this little turtle’s life, Dr. Mader made a small incision at the hip and actually brought the intestines out of the body cavity in order to then remove the line from five different points. It is a very risky procedure, but Diana is recovering and is alert and active.
Snoop Ridley, a sub adult Kemp’s Ridley Sea Turtle, had surgery to remove fibropapilloma tumors from the front flipper. This turtle has had external tumors removed previously and endoscope inspection has not found any internal tumors. Dr Doug Mader and staff from the Marathon Veterinarian Hospital assisted by Turtle Hospital staff performed the laser surgery.
Lisa, a juvinile Green Sea Turtle, had a second surgery to remove fibropapilloma tumors from her flippers. Due to the number of tumors, she will need at least one more operation to remove the remaining tumors. Dr Doug used a radio scalpel to remove the growths.
June 8, 2008
Dr Doug Mader, staff from the Marathon Veterinary Hospital, accompanied by Dr Kevin Fitzgerald (Animal Planet Emergency Vet) and Turtle Hospital staff performed several procedures today.
Snoop Riley, an adult Kemp’s Ridley Sea Turtle had an endoscope process to inspect for internal fibropapilloma tumors. This turtle has had external tumors removed twice before and recently another re-growth was found on the front flipper. A biopsy was performed on a suspicious area of the liver and the external tumor removed.
The endoscope entry points are closed by stitches
Hale, a juvenile Green Sea Turtle had already undergone a front flipper amputation, endoscope and removal of several large external tumors. Today’s surgery was to remove the remaining external tumors. The turtle was required to be anesthetized during the procedure and is connected an anesthesia machine that provides an adjustable mixture of “gas”, oxygen and air, as required.
Both turtles were kept out of water overnight and are doing well after being placed back in the pool.