Little Pawley - the final hours

I posted about Pawley's death on the medical case log but did not post a new blog - I apologize for that. Many of you are still asking. Below are the words of our Veterinarian, Dr. Shane Boylan, when we lost Little Pawley. Details of the days leading up to the death are posted on the medical case log. This log has been moved to the released section because I was unsure where else to put it. This little turtle had a tremendous impact in the few weeks during his rescue and rehabilitation. We are all saddened by his death.

Kelly Thorvalson
10/16/09 Pawley suddenly, but not unexpectedly, “died” in his tank this morning. After a long 10-15 minutes of CPR, we were able to resuscitate him to biting and minor flipper movement. It wasn’t a full recovery, but it was significant. I decided to conduct a coelomotomy surgery to attempt to remove the impaction. Intestinal inflammation was severe but we were unable to locate and remove the impaction. After surgery and some recovery time at the Aquarium, I brought the turtle home with me until his heart finally passed at 6:30 PM.

10/17/09 Necropsy answered our questions. Among other finds, the inflammation in the gut was the most severe I have seen in a living reptile. The complete intestinal obstruction was inaccessible by surgery and showed evidence of being weeks old. The short story is that 50% of the small intestine was damaged beyond repair. The little guy never had a chance.

Big thank you to everyone involved (SCUTE), especially the surgery crew who hung with me for 3 hours on Tuesday afternoon and DNR for putting up with my long necropsy last Wednesday.

Dr. Shane Boylan