Turtle upon arrival

3/9  Turtle found on a barrier net in the morning at Port St Lucie power plant.  Lethargic and covered in papillomas and leech cocoons.  Transfered  to Mote Marine Laboratory later that day.  3/10  Started on antibiotic and offered small amounts of food. Ate small amount.  3/13 Turtle stopped eating, will monitor closely. 3/18  Turtle still not interested in food. 3/21 Tried offering mackeral to the turtle, ate a few pieces. 4/20 Turtle still not eating well and his condition remains critical. 5/11 Turtle has begun to eat seagrass and is offered moon jellyfish weekly, which he eats readily. 6/7 Turtle has begun to eat squid and continues to eat all the seagrass that is offered. 7/5 Turtle had surgery this morning to remove all remaining papillomas. 7/6 Turtle started eating this morning.  7/10 Turtle continues to recover well after surgery and is being monitored closely. 7/19 Turtle is eating everything that it is offered. 8/7 Small re-growths of tumors on both eyes.  Turtle will undergo surgery to remove the paps later in the month. 9/4  Turtle had laser surgery to remove the papillomas and is healing.  Appetite is good.  10/20  Animal is eating well.  Monitoring right eye closely for possible regrowth of fibropapilloma. 11/30 Turtle underwent another surgery to remove more papillomas that had regrown.  Will try to get an MRI for this turtle over the next few weeks to look for any internal tumors. 12/10 Took Dundee for an MRI because of pap re-growth in both his eyes. MRI turned up an area on one of the turtle's lungs that should be monitored closely. 12/12 Dundee underwent his sixth surgery to remove papillomas. 12/21 Dundee is back on his feed and swimming around. We're planning on another MRI in early 2010. 3/14/2010 This turtle continues to experience regrowth of papilloma tumors, including on both eyes. Another surgery was performed at the end of January, and the tumors have returned yet again. Dundee was treated with a course of antiviral medication, as fibropapillomatosis is believed to be associated with a herpes virus. Appetite remains good, but the continued regrowth of tumors suggests this turtle's immune system is not responding appropriately. A second MRI was performed a few days ago, which revealed no significant change in the previous area of concern in the lung, but there is now a second concerning area in the other lung — both possibly internal papillomas. Turtle is still eating well, but is less active and appears to be struggling with buoyancy at times. We are currently trying to determine the best course of action for this turtle; prognosis is guarded. Many thanks to Dr. Anne Chauvet and the staff of Veterinary Neuro Services in Sarasota for donating their MRI services and expertise.
3/16 Turtle's condition deteriorated over the past few days. Dundee is still eating, but is swimming very little and spends most of his time floating on the surface. The difficult decision was made to euthanize this turtle. A necropsy was performed this afternoon, and preliminary findings showed many small masses throughout the lungs and other organs, most likely internal fibropapillomas. Histopathology results are pending.