SENIOR TORTOISE NEEDS SURGERY.Byline: BETTIE RENCORET Senior columnist QUARTZ HILL - Molly is a senior citizen whose age is indeterminate but somewhere close to 60. She has a good home and a constant companion, Casey, at least 67, as her significant other. On the surface, it would appear that Molly, a desert tortoise desert tortoise see gopherus agassizii. , has theworld by the tail, but alas, she needs a costly operation. Her saga began a few months ago when her owner died and Molly wasleft to those taking care of his possessions and pets. Teresa LaMarr-Currie, owner for 20 years of The Hairitage Styling Salonin Lancaster, with her husband, Bob Currie and their 12-year-old daughter,Taylor, took Molly and her companion into their household that already held a dog, Beau, a 17-year-old cat, Fred, and a beta fish named Jack. ``This friend of mine had a friend who died and left him with this turtle, Molly. What to do with her was a problem he couldn't handle so he asked me to take her,'' said LaMarr-Currie. ``She had lived with this older man, in his backyard, for 27 years. I didn't know it at the time but her diet had consisted of nothing but grass and mulberry leaves.'' The Curries already had their own male tortoise, Casey. ``I didn't want her to be just turned loose in the desert,'' she said.``Anything could happen to her out there, so I brought her home and they did OK except that Casey is pretty bossy bossy 1. in dog conformation, used to describe overdevelopment of the shoulder muscles. 2. vernacular pet name for a cow. with her. Then one day, Inoticed that her nose was running. I thought, 'Oh no! She's catching acold or has a virus or something.''' LaMarr-Currie didn't want it to develop into an upper respiratory infection Noun 1. upper respiratory infection - infection of the upper respiratory tract respiratory infection, respiratory tract infection - any infection of the respiratory tract , which has killed many desert tortoises in the wild. Neither did she want to chance having it passed on to Casey. ``I decided to take her to a reptile veterinarian veterinarian /vet·er·i·nar·i·an/ (vet?er-i-nar´e-an) a person trained and authorized to practice veterinary medicine and surgery; a doctor of veterinary medicine. vet·er·i·nar·i·an n. and he said, `I thinksomething else is wrong with her.' He reached up into her back leg hole and pressed around in there. Then he said, 'She has a stone,''' LaMarr-Currie said. She didn't understand what he was talking about. Was it a gall stone? Did she swallow a stone, or what? The vet said he'd have to take some X-rays. When he brought out the X-rays and put them on the light panel, it was plain to see. ``There, over to the right, was a stone about four inches in diameter and three more were about ping pong (1) A half-duplex communications method in which data are transmitted in one direction and acknowledgment is returned at the same speed in the other. The line is alternately switched from transmit to receive in each direction. Contrast with asymmetric modem. ball size. He said he'd never seen a turtle with that many stones before,'' said LaMarr-Currie. She asked what could cause such a thing and he said improper diet would do it. She needed more than grass and leaves. He also said that the pressure of the stones had caused the runny nose runny nose Vox populi → medtalk Rhinorrhea . ``What do you do about those stones?'' she asked. ``Surgery,'' he said. ``On a turtle? How do you do that?'' she said. ``Have you ever had a Corvette corvette, small warship, classed between a frigate and a sloop-of-war. Corvettes usually were flush-decked and carried fewer than 28 guns. They were widely employed in escorting convoys and attacking merchant ships during the great naval wars of the late 18th and ?'' asked the vet. ``You cut the shell open and you fiberglass and epoxy it back together.'' Her father and brother offered to help pay for the surgery, which will cost $1,000. Some of her patrons also wanted to contribute toMolly's cause. Molly and Casey will hibernate See hibernation mode. during the winter months in a special,burrowed-out cave her husband constructed. He made it look like part of the family property with an arch of fieldstones for an entrance. It's just up the hill behind the Currie residence. Since the vet wanted to put the operation off until after hibernation,sometime in May, LaMarr-Currie said there is still time if other people want to help. Anyone who wants to be a part of this effort to save Molly can senddonations to The Hairitage, 45143 Yucca Ave., Lancaster, CA 93534. Menus for the week at the senior life nutrition sites in Lancaster andPalmdale have been announced. All meals include bread, margarine andcoffee, tea or milk, for a suggested donation of $2. Monday: Cheeseburger or fish fillet fillet /fil·let/ (fil´et) 1. a loop, as of cord or tape, for making traction on the fetus. 2. in the nervous system, a long band of nerve fibers. fil·let n. 1. , macaroni macaroni: see pasta. salad, pork and beans Noun 1. pork and beans - dried beans cooked with pork and tomato sauce dish - a particular item of prepared food; "she prepared a special dish for dinner" ,tossed salad, juice, tapioca pudding. Tuesday: Chicken casserole Noun 1. chicken casserole - chicken cooked and served in a casserole casserole - food cooked and served in a casserole chicken cacciatora, chicken cacciatore, hunter's chicken - chicken casserole prepared with tomatoes and mushrooms and herbs in the Italian , wild rice, Normandy vegetables, minestronesoup, Caesar salad, orange. Wednesday: Roast turkey, mashed potatoes, Normandy vegetables, cranberry and orange salad, pumpkin pie. Thursday: Thanksgiving holiday. Friday: Thanksgiving holiday. CAPTION(S): photo Photo: Teresa LaMarr-Currie tends to tortoise Molly, who is scheduled to undergo surgery in May to remove several large stones. |
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