IM [censored] OUT! so my gliders had parasites and had to be separated for way too long. it started as 10 days but when they went to get rechecked my girl still had them so it turned into over 20 days. everyone is parasite free and they are back together now- but my boy has been REALLY depressed. he has seen the vet and he says hes fine, but hes acting so strange-hes wobbling and looks yellowish. and he is acting like he cant see- he only responds to sound, he doesnt follow my hand like he normally would- when he does see me he seems startled.
is there something that can be making him go blind?? he has lost a bit of weight, but the vet said despite that he seems to be fine- its just b/c hes depressed
Re: help! might be going blind
[Re: ]
#405107 10/26/0702:27 AM10/26/0702:27 AM
Is the yellow on the skin on his ears/nose/hands? That is jaundice and an indication of possible liver failure. Your guy needs to go back to the vet, have urinalysis done probably followed by a blood panel for bilirubin and liver enzyme counts-white blood cell counts, etc.
There are many causes, from old age to aflatoxins, other things can damage the liver but he is VERY sick. Check him for dehydration-pull the skin up at the back of the neck over the shoulders-if it goes down slowly or not at all he needs sub-q fluids.
Normally both cagemates are treated when there are parasites-what kind were they? Usually if one has it they both do. Usually they aren't separated-they're treated together-is your vet at all familiar with gliders?
He sounds critically ill. Keep him warm and get fluids in him, and get him back to the vet asap. Let me see if I can find Chronos' pics when he was jaundiced. Or get him into A vet, since he is anything but 'fine'.
Last edited by Xfilefan; 10/26/0702:41 AM.
Jen/Colin Commander Riker 12 16 02-10 04 12 you will be FOREVER missed Sinbad, Gabby, Baby, and Alley
Re: help! might be going blind
[Re: Xfilefan]
#405108 10/26/0702:39 AM10/26/0702:39 AM
they were both treated they were separated so they didnt pass it back and forth-i personally hate my vet but he has a good reputation and has experience with gliders. its gotten alot worse in the last hour, we are on or way to the vet now- i think he has neurological damage- he is swaying back and forth and he has a strange stevie wonder head movement- we have to go to an emergency vet ive never been to so i guess we will see... ill keep u updated =( thank you for your input
Re: help! might be going blind
[Re: ]
#405123 10/26/0704:08 AM10/26/0704:08 AM
You're probably on your way already, but please have them do urine and fecals when you get there-fecals could be hard but they can remove urine via syringe directly from the bladder if needed...ANY vet should be capable, of that and sub-q fluids and don't let them overlook the yellow. Prayers for your baby, and I'll check back in a little bit for an update.
Jen/Colin Commander Riker 12 16 02-10 04 12 you will be FOREVER missed Sinbad, Gabby, Baby, and Alley
Re: help! might be going blind
[Re: Xfilefan]
#405134 10/26/0706:48 AM10/26/0706:48 AM
I hope you got good results at the vet's office this time through. A few of the symptoms you are describing remind me of my Pika & Cricky from when they first started getting neurological damage. I had to set up their cage in a special way in order to keep it safe for them. You can read more about them by going to my thread about Neurological Damage. Please post an update about the vet visit and your glider's prognosis when you get a chance. I'll be keeping both of you in my prayers
I'm praying for a good outcome for your little one!
Suz, I also was thinking of your babies post reading this
Cindy Mom to Jae, Ashton, Briannah, Nevaeh & Addy & all my fuzzies! Breeder of Leu's, Mosaics, wfb, and standard grey's. Owner of www.MySugarAddiction.com
Re: help! might be going blind
[Re: GliderLove]
#405678 10/27/0701:45 AM10/27/0701:45 AM
so heres the situation- i was out of town and gave my babies to my sister to watch (she was their former owner) my boy scruff got sick and she didnt tell me or take him the the vet... i could kill her
so i took him to the vet in the middle of the night two nights ago. he was really skinny, dehydrated, having trouble seeing and he looked yellowish. he also had this strange freak out where he started swaying back and forth and then all of a sudden he freaked and started jumping at nothing.
the emergency vet gave him fluids, a shot of calcium and a shot of antibiotics. they wanted to keep him overnight but they said they couldnt do anything else but watch him til the morning so i took him home and brought him to our normal vet when they opened yesterday.
they did a cbc, an xray and gave him two rounds of fluid and antibiotic- they said that it lookes like he has fluid in his abdomen, his white blood cells were elevated and they think he is having neurological problems.
here is where i need help- for one does anyone know what can cause this- how does a glider get neurological damage, or fluid in the abdomen. the second thing is- i dont like or trust my vet... i feel like he cares more about money than saving an animal. they are saying that he needs to be hospitalized 24 hours a day... and the fee for that is $650-850 A DAY!!!! i love my babies and i will do anything for them but that seems insane to me (plus i dont have it unless i dont pay rent this month) i asked what exactly they do in this time and they said give injections and monitor them and they are there if something happens- well i can monitor him and bring him back if something happens so i asked if i could just bring him back for the injections when he needs them. they said that was a bad idea i need some advice they wont tell me if he can even recover from this so what do i do...
Neurological Damage can be caused by a variety of factors, including Strokes -or- toxic Exposure. Abdominal fluid build up is usually caused by some type of blockage. Did the X-rays reveal any blockages? I can't help with the abdominal fluid, as I've never had to deal with that (knock on wood), but the Neurological Damage I have dealt with. You can read all about my experience with that by going to my Special Needs thread titled Neurological Damage. You can try to contact Jen (Xfilefan) in regards to the abdominal fluids - her home number is 435-783-6097 and her cell # is 435-640-9438. If you get her voice mail, leave a message and she'll call you back when she gets it. I hope your glider will be okay
I'm so sorry I wished there was someting that we could do to help.... other than what Suz suggested, sometimes fluid can enter into the abdominal cavity due to perferation of the colon. Do you know if he was injured? A hard fall against something could cause some of what your describing. Do you know if he was exposed to another animal, or could he have possibly gotten into something?
I would highly suggest that you take him to another vet for a second opinion. I agree, someting just doesn't feel right with their approach.
If you can I would request his medical reports along with his x-rays. I would not wait to have him rechecked, especially if there is fluid build up.
Keeping you and your baby in my prayers. Hopefully you will have spoken with Jen (Xfilefan)
Re: been to the vet and NEED HELP
[Re: LSardou]
#405965 10/27/0703:58 PM10/27/0703:58 PM
sorry i posted everywhere i think im going crazy- as far as i know he was not injured but at the same time i just picked him up from my sister thursday night when all this started so i dont know. the vet didnt say anything about blockage
i read the threads about neuro damage yesterday and i am naively going to ask- can they recover from this or once they have it, its there forever?
Re: been to the vet and NEED HELP
[Re: ]
#405969 10/27/0704:06 PM10/27/0704:06 PM
I'm happy to hear that you do have his reports and x-rays. This will save you a great expense. I would basically explain to them what is going on and tell them that your not comfortable with your first vets diagnosis and that you are in need of a second opinion.
As for the Neurological problem, if there is one, at this point it is hard to determine without a clinical exam or report. Sugarglidersuz gave you a link earlier that discusses her one gliders Neurological Problems
Did you find out from your sister is there was a problem? or if there were other animals that could have gotten to him? If he was doing well and was showing no signs of illness prior this would help narrow down the problem to a certain degree.
Have you located another vet yet? Here is a link to our Vet Database
If I may ask where are you located. If we knew where you are we might be able to help with locating a vet for you. There are some members here who have vets that would be willing to do phone consultation if necessary.
Sending you lots of
Re: been to the vet and NEED HELP
[Re: LSardou]
#406104 10/27/0707:49 PM10/27/0707:49 PM
I have dealt with fluid in the abdomen. In my glider it turned out to be ascites, caused by liver damage, which was caused by aflotoxin poisoning. General fluid build up like that, in the abdomen, is generally going to be caused by liver damage of sort, or is an infection. I would consider this an emergency, and find another vet. Did your vet try and drain any fluid? If so, what did it look like? Was it watery or pus like? How is he doing now? Is he acting any better? Please keep us updated on your little guy, and feel free to contact me if you have any questions.
Shawna Who are you networked with? Networking could save your gliders life. Create one now.
Re: been to the vet and NEED HELP
[Re: LSardou]
#406109 10/27/0708:07 PM10/27/0708:07 PM
im in chicago on the northwest side- i have been going to the animal house of chicago, and for emergency hours-midwest animal emergency hospital
i have been playing with scruff for the last half hour and i know hes not cured or anything, but he does look alot better. he is still skinny but much better than 2 days ago, his eyes are bright and his ears are up, he is eating like a little chub, and he is walking and climbing normally. his energy level is still a little low but much better.
as for the neurological problems, im not sure but his vision seems alot better, and hes not as twitchy as he was
i think that as long as he is improving im going to hold off on taking him to get a recheckup until monday- i know that it should never be about money but the difference between taking him in today and on monday is huge- so as long as he doesnt go downhill im gunna keep him here
if anyone has any suggestions or anything i should watch out for i would really appreciate it
Re: been to the vet and NEED HELP
[Re: USMom]
#406114 10/27/0708:15 PM10/27/0708:15 PM
I have dealt with fluid in the abdomen. In my glider it turned out to be ascites, caused by liver damage, which was caused by aflotoxin poisoning. General fluid build up like that, in the abdomen, is generally going to be caused by liver damage of sort, or is an infection. I would consider this an emergency, and find another vet. Did your vet try and drain any fluid? If so, what did it look like? Was it watery or pus like? How is he doing now? Is he acting any better? Please keep us updated on your little guy, and feel free to contact me if you have any questions.
they didnt try to drain anything- they said that there MIGHT be fluid in the abdomen based on the xray. that is partly why im frustrated with them because if they suspected that was the problem, they didnt do anything to find out for sure. how did they find out that there was fluid and that it was a liver problem
Re: been to the vet and NEED HELP
[Re: ]
#406125 10/27/0708:55 PM10/27/0708:55 PM
im in chicago on the northwest side- i have been going to the animal house of chicago, and for emergency hours-midwest animal emergency hospital
I'm from Elmhurst and those are the two places I went to before I moved to Minnesota 4 yrs ago. Also there is Animal 911 I forgot what town it's in but it's good too.
There is another vet, Dr. Byron (his first name) I'll have to see what clinic he is in, but he is one of the best in Illinois! He does my friends Kinkajou's and her Fennec's too. He seen her gliders for over 10 years. I'll get his info and PM it to you. Just in case you want a second opinion.
I wish you the best, and keep us posted on his progress, if you should notice ANY changes at all I certainly would not wait.
Cindy Mom to Jae, Ashton, Briannah, Nevaeh & Addy & all my fuzzies! Breeder of Leu's, Mosaics, wfb, and standard grey's. Owner of www.MySugarAddiction.com
Re: been to the vet and NEED HELP
[Re: ]
#406127 10/27/0708:59 PM10/27/0708:59 PM
I don't know anything about gliders with fluid in the abdomen but we have recently had to put our 1 1/2 yr old Jack Russell down for fluid in the abdomen. The vet said it was caused my probably congestive heart failure??????? Best wishes for you and your little one.
Re: been to the vet and NEED HELP
[Re: GliderLove]
#406128 10/27/0709:00 PM10/27/0709:00 PM
dr. byron works at animal house of chicago- he is my primary vet, and i do like him but he is not there on fridays or weekends and the vet i saw yesterday i was not happy with.
Re: been to the vet and NEED HELP
[Re: ]
#406131 10/27/0709:17 PM10/27/0709:17 PM
It depends on the cause of the neurological damage as to whether it's permanent or not. Sometimes, those same symptoms can be caused by an inner ear infection... Please continue to keep us posted.
last night he still had symptoms suggesting neurological problems. he couldnt see well and he was very twitchy and would have strange spurts where he would start jumping to nothing. he also wouldnt let his sister groom him- she was trying to help him and its like he was afraid of her and he kept clawing at her. i put him in the smaller spare cage we have for the night and all day today he has not had any of those symptoms. im just hoping they dont come back
Re: been to the vet and NEED HELP
[Re: ]
#406139 10/27/0709:30 PM10/27/0709:30 PM
Hopefully they won't come back. If all of this was caused by some type of toxin, then it's very possible that as it works out of his system that he'll go back to normal in time...
Maybe ask your sister if she fed them anything different or that possibly had mold on it, or if she used any cleaning products near their cage. If this is indeed some type of toxin maybe you can locate a possible source before you go to the vet on Monday. I hope he continues to improve.
Tucker had an incident in January, where he got really sick, dehydrated, very, very lethargic, I had to have him sub q-ed but the vet didn't find anything at that time. He bounced right back, with-in a few hours. Later in the month, his tummy started to look strange. Like he was getting fat, but no man boobs. Took him to the vet, and they found the fluid in his abdomen, not with x-rays though, by feel. They drained 2 1/2 ccs of fluid. 2 days later 4 cc's of fluid. 2 days later almost 6 cc's of fluid. It was watery, not quite clear, but they couldn't find any infection in it. So, we did surgery, a liver biopsy. They discovered that his gallbladder was ruined, falling apart, and removed it. The biopsy was sent off to be tested. In the meantime, Tuck died. The results came back that he had aflotoxin poisoning. Ascites is excess fluid in the space between the tissues lining the abdomen and abdominal organs (the peritoneal cavity). Ascites is typically caused by liver disease. Both of those statements were taken from this site http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/000286.htm
I am not saying this is definately what your guy has, but I would have him checked ASAP. It could be anything, and finding the cause is very important. I am so glad that you are working toward this and not ignoring it.
Shawna Who are you networked with? Networking could save your gliders life. Create one now.
Re: been to the vet and NEED HELP
[Re: USMom]
#406317 10/28/0704:07 AM10/28/0704:07 AM
Twiggy, Chronos, the glider's whose thread I linked you to, was also yellow, and had fluid in his abdomen-his gall bladder was blocked and his liver diseased. At his death, he had no healthy liver tissue left, and his gall bladder was the size of a 10 pound cat's and close to bursting. We don't know what did it-he was a rescue, but there are a number of possibilities. Here are the things that helped us pinpoint his problem the most:
blood panel-liver enzymes & bilirubin (what causes the yellowing). Depending on which numbers are elevated, and how much, can help narrow down the problem.
Ultrasound-gave us a clearer picture of exactly what was going on in there, and showed the gall bladder involvement, loose fluid around his liver/gall bladder, and the fact it wasn't just the liver.
Neurologic problems would fit if there was a toxin exposure that A-damaged the liver and/or gallbladder-causing the jaundice, and affected the brain. Is there any chance of aflatoxin exposure somewhere along the line? (crickets, dry corn or grain products?) that's one possibility.
There are meds that can be used to improve liver function and help make him feel better, but a diagnosis is needed to make sure you're treating the right thing. Chronos' ultrasound was about $200-the most expensive procedure I've had done other than the surgery to try and save him. Not sure what those normally run, since I've only had one done the one time.
I didn't get (I think it's you) your message until I got to work tonight, so I haven't had a chance to listen to it yet-but I can call you in the morning when I get off. This is the only toxin I can think of you may not have known he got-but there are other possibilities. It's also possible if toxins are building in his system due to the liver not filtering properly that that could be affecting him.
Chronos was on a Milk Thistle suspension-very syrupy and sticky-for his liver. I'll have to look up the names of the other one the vet suggested...it's on the board somewhere.
A urinalysis would also be valuable if you can get one. Fecals would possibly show elevated bilirubin but not much else.
Last edited by Xfilefan; 10/28/0704:13 AM.
Jen/Colin Commander Riker 12 16 02-10 04 12 you will be FOREVER missed Sinbad, Gabby, Baby, and Alley
Re: been to the vet and NEED HELP
[Re: Xfilefan]
#406318 10/28/0704:10 AM10/28/0704:10 AM
Jen, you mentioned something I forgot to mention with Tuck, he was yellow. It wasn't much and if you weren't looking for it you wouldn't pay attention. But the nose and paws and skin that you could see all were yellow. I have a pic of Tuck I can post that should show it. This is the last picture I took of Tuck, and he looks terrible, it was right after he came home from the vet from surgery. But if you look at his nose and hands you can see the yellow.
Shawna Who are you networked with? Networking could save your gliders life. Create one now.