He is still intact and he has a pea sized lump just above his chest scent gland, is that normal? Since I don't have any other intact males, I don't know for sure. He is acting fine, but now I am worried! HELP! I will call the vet, but wanted to know if this is normal or not first. Thanks!

My vet isn't in yet, but I thought I would come here first. It is soft, has no fur but it is right on top of where the chest gland ends. He is not reactive when I touch it, it is not red or hot. Can gliders get fatty tumors? I know alot of other animals can and do. God, I hope this is nothing bad. He is alert, playing and eating well, acting normal. I wonder if it could be an inpacted chest gland (I know it can happen in the anal scent gland, so something like that?) I don't know. I hope someone else pops in. Thanks guys.

Mary, It sounds like it could be an impacted scent gland. Did you try and gently massage it to see if there is any fluid that can be expressed thru the gland.
Your doing right to get him into see the vet. If it is infected he will need antibiotics asap.
Sending you lots of hugs and prayers for Timmy.

Mary, my Bobbie Girl developed a lump on her chest quite a few years ago. The thing seemed to develop overnight & was large enough to be very alarming. I took her in & had it removed. It turned out that it was just fatty tissue. Admittedly she was a girl without the scent gland issue, but she did just fine afterwards and suffered no ill effects from it.

Thanks. I was thinking that, since he is a marking fool some days! lol I didn't, I figured I wouldn't mess with it (having experience with lumps and cancer, the more you mess with them, the more 'upset' they get. Not saying it is cancer, but lumps always make me worry!) I hope she calls soon. She is due in at 9 am. I will keep you posted.

It does 'feel' like a fatty tumor (I have had a few myself, had one removed, my dogs have all had them). So they CAN get them. This one is small, as I said, no larger than a pea. But it is new....thanks Chris.

glad to help. I remember how much I spazed out when it happened to Bobbie & how on edge I was until the biopsy results came back. I'll keep my fingers crossed for Timmy.

It will be two years on June 15th that Timmy came into my life (and changed it forever for the better!) I love all my babies, but he is the only one that rubs his face on mine, chatters to me when I say 'I love you Timmerman' and the reason I have the gliders I have. I didn't even know what a glider was when I saw the ad 'sugar glider and cage 115.00' (and literally that is what it was. He had one old, ratty pouch, and was in a cockatiel, galvanized steel cage, covered in chicken wire. He had a water bowl and the water in it was green and slimy and stunk. And the cage was so greasy, I had to carry it from the bottom as it would slide through my hands if I tried to carry it from the sides!)

HE HAS TO BE OK!!!!!

Ok, bringing him in first thing Friday morning (I can't leave now as I have no one who can be here when my kids come home and tomorrow, I am having an MRI and the timing of what they had open wouldn't work.) She said although not normal, she wouldn't be overly concerned (meaning he should be fine until Friday). She will do a needle biopsy and if it is a lipoma will schedule a surgery to remove it next week. She said it could also be an infected scent gland, being where it is. So that is the latest. She said if he starts acting different, to call and just come in, but she doesn't think that will be the case.

Thank you, Shawna. I am very 'bump/lump' aware, check everyone all the time. Been like that ever since my rottie, Jake, had bone cancer. Not to mention my husband (they found his because he developed a lump in his neck.) He has not lost weight, is acting normal for him and otherwise has nothing out of the ordinary. She did say if it is a limpoma (fatty tumor) because of it being so close to his airway, it would need to be removed as quickly as possible, as they can grow very quickly (I know, as I had one that was pressing on my brain stem removed two years ago. Been having bad head pains and have a swollen lymph node on the right side where it was removed, so going in for an MRI tomorrow!)

I know he is a good boy and at least he is easy to examine! lol

People tell me he is a lucky glider (but they have it wrong, I am the lucky one!)

Here are some pics of him. You can see how stained his chest is and you can kind of see the lump (although it looks red in the pic, it isn't really). His bald spot is HUGE from Gidget grooming it (and him rubbing on everything! lol) There are 6 in total.

last one.....

GGGGGGRRRRRR.........my vets office just called. They needed to reschedule Timmy's appt., the vet had a family emergency! I now have an appt. for next Wednesday. The lump has not changed, nor has he or how is acting.

Mary, my Cricky had a lump on his chest scent gland a few years ago. The vet thought it was an abscess at first, but when she put him under to lance it, she discovered it was actually a tumor. She removed it and the entire scent gland. Biopsy showed that it was benign (non-cancerous). Cricky healed up just fine and never realized he didn't have his gland anymore. It always cracked me up to watch him rub his chest against Pika, me, and everything else, trying to "place his mark" to no avail Hopefully your little guy will just have an abscess that can be easily treated, but if not, try not to worry

Thank you. It is growing fast, doubled since I found it. I will be surprised if he doesn't need surgery. Still hoping it is just an impacted or infected scent gland that meds will clear up, but the way it is growing......<sigh> Keep the prayers coming!!

Thanks guys. Well, Timmy will be having surgery on Tuesday morning. They did a needle biopsy, no signs of cancer, not a fatty tumor. They said it looks like a sebaceous cyst, but it has grown quickly and that is not good. He was very good (only crabbed once and I laughed as it has been so long his I have heard him do it!! lol) He weighs 160 grams and she thinks he will do just fine. So keep the prayers coming it is an easy surgery and recovery.

This means I will not be able to make it to the get together next weekend, unfortunately. I won't leave him and he won't be ready to travel.

I also brought Roo and Petey, as Roo has been 'huffing' sometimes when she potties. She peed all over me, so they couldn't get a sample, but when she checked her down there, she squeezed and blood came out. She put her on Baytril for 14 days (gave her an injection of it today) and we will go back after treatment (unless she seems to be not getting better or is worse). There is also the chance it could be stones, but we decided to try to meds first (instead of sedating her today and doing a scan). Hopefully it is just a UTI, but if not, she will need surgery, too! She also expressed her anal glands, as they both felt pretty big to her. Lots of stuff came out (the vet said 'oh Roo, I get to smell like you all day...') but it was all normal. I'm sure that helped her to feel a little better.

They were able to get a poo sample on Petey, but not Roo, but she said if his is clear, she feels pretty confident hers will be too. We can try again when we go back in two weeks. Petey crabbed once and even gave her a little nip on her finger but not hard. Roo was sweet as pie. Petey has gained weight (she said the worming probably helped him with that.) Roo lost 15 grams! She is down to 170, so she is getting there! She said they all looked great, nice and bright eyed and healthy all things considered.

So if you could please keep my Timmy in your thoughts (and Roo too), I'd appreciate it.

Brenda, I will mail the cage set to you, can you pm me your addy? Thanks!

I am sad I won't be able to make it, but I have to take care of my little man.

Again, thank you to everyone for thinking of us!

Thank you. The biggest concern will be where it is. Do they put an ecollar on him? The collar will pretty much 'sit' at the top of the incision. But he may be able to reach it. Does anyone have any experience with this? What do I do? I am terrified he will get at it but don't know how they will be able to put the collar on.

Ahhhh, I remembered that, but couldn't remember who it was! I was just going to post asking about that!!!
Thank you! Me, too. They will still send the whole thing out for biopsy to make sure they didn't miss anything. They were all loving on him. He was such a good boy. I just want him to be ok. I love him so much, it hurts my heart he is going through this.

I was just on the phone with my sister trying to remember how she got her cat into some sort of cat-proof baody bandage. It involved ace bandages and those little metal-clinging-grippy-things.....but gliders are so much more dextrous than your average cat. I bet he could get out of it pronto.

I do hope you can find a wrap that works. I'm sitting here all worried about it.

I know a sort of 'shirt' was made from vet wrap. I just emailed sugarblossoms, so hopefully I will hear from her and she can help me!

Thanks!

He will be having a subaceous cyst removed from his chest surgically. Problem is, he will be able to reach it, but an ecollar is not an option, as it will rest right where the incision will be! I know someone on here had made a 'shirt' from vet wrap when their glider could not use an ecollar. Does anyone know who it is or how to do one? I need to come up with something. I am afraid he will chew himself up. Can anyone help? Does anyone know? I pm'd sugarblossoms, as I think it may be her, but trying to cover all my bases here, as my time is limited. Thank you!!

Thank you. I will try to pm her. I am also thinking, and please feel free to post your opinions on this, of trying to make a 'shirt' using lanyard cloth, covered in vet wrap, with velcro down the 'back' to hold it on, but so I could take it off as needed. Do you think that would work? I am just thinking the lanyard cloth would help it keep its shape, yet could still 'move'. I may try it today and see how he does in it......(I know he is not going to be happy, but I have to figure this out before his surgery!)

Ok, heard back from suggieluver. This is not what I was talking about. Does anyone remember who had a glider with a wound and they made a sort of 'shirt' out of vet wrap (I am pretty sure it was pink if that helps). I need to try to find this person. Thanks for any help!

Hi, Mary! I just tuned into this thread (for a reason that I couldn't tell you other than something told me to read this) (bless my little glider guardian angel whoever it is)

I was reading that you need something to cover a chest incision (like where the scent gland is on his chest), right? My suggestion would be to take something like vet Wrap (they have it for humans in the First Aid aisle....it's called something like No-Stick Tape? It comes in 2" wide or 3" wide & stretches, but is breatheable) and do a criss-cross over left shoulder, under right arm--then around the mid-chest once--then over right shoulder and under left arm. Finish the wrapping so the end is between his shoulders in back & secure it with duct tape or Gorilla tape. You'll need to make it a LITTLE snug but not so tight that he can't breathe.

The other thing that I've been working with off & on is to take a sheet of Avery Opaque Index Tabs (which I use for e-collars) and make a "jacket" type thing that'd be solid in front (chest area) with holes for a glider's arms (padded with moleskin) that'd overlap on the back. Either velcro or (my new best friend) Gorilla tape could hold it closed. Maybe you could use that concept & put a couple squares of gauze secured with double-sided sticky tape for the chest area? I don't know how well Timmy would like it....but that's SOOOO not an issue here!

I'd also suggest contacting Mary Holcombe....if there's any way to jerry rig anything, betcha Mary would know how to do it!

Wish I could be the answer to your situation. Maybe you can take my ideas and go from there. I wish you LOTS AND LOTS of faith & hope & healing.

Minkasmom said to have your vet make a jacket out of nich bandage.

Thats what the blue stuff is in the picture of Herc. He may tolerate that better than anything hard.

Ok, this is what I was thinking, but minus the ecollar part. I thought if I made a shirt out of the landyard cloth (it is bendable and moves but would help to keep its 'shape') with the vet wrap over it. What do you think????

Gliders wearing pants
I know what you need is for the chest but mabey this will give you some ideas.

He is grooming, but not chewing, so going down today to get the sutures out instead of tomorrow. He is SO HAPPY to be able to groom himself. I gently washed him a little and dried him. He looks good, all things considered. I took pics, have to download them. I will do that when we get home. Please keep the good thoughts he doesn't go after himself. Watching very closely and so far, he just it licking and grooming (all over, not just his two surgery sites). I was shocked to find after all this time the collar was off, but at least he is healed up. And I KNOW he is happier with it off (he got to hold his own mealies! lol) I let him and Gidget have a little time, but not ready to let them stay together. She didn't try to groom or bite him at all so that is good! I will post when we get home........thanks!