Illness/Sickness: Should I euthanize?

[etansel]

Three days ago, I tried to feed my smaller lotl and found that she could barely open her mouth. She was slow to react to stimuli. I was well overdue on a water change, so I pulled her out of her tank and put her in a tub, and have been doing water changes daily. I tried to feed her bloodworms, since they're small. With effort, she has ingested maybe five worms total in the last two days. When I put her in the tub, she moves to a corner and sits there.

She has always been in bad shape, having had her gills eaten by cichlids early in her life. I got mixed messages from the internet as to whether they might grow back, but given that it's been a good four years now since I've had her, I think it's safe to say this is it. I don't know her exact age, but I think it might be around 9-10 years.

I have no idea how to gauge if she's suffering. With the lack of gills, I have to imagine that even breathing has been a struggle for her for a long time. Yet prior to this, she had been fairly active, always interested in food, would inspect me whenever I approached the tank. I thought that she must not be in that much pain. Now I'm wondering if she was secretly suffering all along and now it's catching up. If she has a chance to recover, then I will keep trying to get bloodworms in her and fix her tank and whatever else I need to do, but I think my next step might be force-feeding and I don't want to cause her that much stress unnecessarily.

Pictures attached. Sorry for the terrible side view through thick plastic, but I hope it adequately shows the swelling under her mouth. I think that's preventing her from opening it all the way.

 

[wolfen]

what are your water parameters ie.. temperature, ph, kh, gh (with her being tubbed only ammonia will be an issue, ensure daily water changes)
axolotls can absorb some oxygen through the skin as well as gills and with rudimentary lungs, ensure that there is an air-stone in the water.
under normal conditions the gills should have grown back although it has been known for some bacterial infections to interfere with regrowth of body parts, it should also be noted that there does seem to be a limit to how many times a part regrows and repeated attacks to the gills could have surpassed this limit.
because of her age it could be that she is at the end of her life although there may be a couple of things to try which may help her recover.
using 100% holtfreters + 0.2g/l magnesium sulphate, this is at the medicative level and will help with swellings, infection etc.. as well as making the water more comfortable (use 3.5g/l non iodised salt in the water until all ingredients can be sourced).
black tea (1 bag per 10 litre) the caffeine may act as a stimulant.
if possible try feeding her krill, mysis, shrimp etc.. as a lack of vitamin A can cause a failure to thrive.
if these methods don't work and her health continues to plummet then euthanasia may need to be considered to prevent further suffering.

 

[etansel]

I promise I'm not ignoring your advice, I've unfortunately had More Shit come up so I haven't been able to try everything.

Last night before bed, she responded to me when I approached her tub, and so I tried to feed her part of an axolotl pellet, which she succeeded in eating. I have not been able to replicate this. I will try the krill/mysis/shrimp tomorrow when I get a chance to hit a pet store.

I did the tea bath today, and she seemed energized during it. I am going to get a test kit for KH/GH (I only have the Freshwater Master Kit which has PH) and put together the ingredients for Holtfreter's.

Thank you so much for your help.

 

[aiden.b]

It's a tough spot to be in, deciding about your little buddy's future. Stay strong!

 

[etansel]

Unfortunately I came home from work to find that she had passed. I think she ultimately wound up with an infection I couldn't fight. Thank you all for your help.

 

[wolfen]

sorry for your loss.