I had Patches my ring tail mo from sterile lines (out of Judie's Rebbecca and Cameron) in to have his retained testicles removed today. I was criticized for having this $500.00 procedure done when Patches was doing just fine. The risk was to great. Why would I ever do that to the poor guy? I talked to 3 different vets about Patches and they all said the same thing. His testicles are in his body and this can cause cancer. Today my vet found there was NOTHING. There were no sperm tubes or testicles. This is a flaw. The breeding of these lines should be stopped. We NOW KNOW THIS and there is absolutely no reason to continue to breed sterile lines when there are good lines out there. I knew the risk when I got Patches and it was one I was willing to take on. He is every bit the love of my life. (He is also one of my 11 favorites out of 11 gliders lol) He is in his hosp cage now. Good pain meds and the lil booger got in the Jr stealth already. He does have take home pain meds and it is strong stuff. He can only have 1 drop a day. The surgery was the easy part..........
I was told by my vet Patches has the worst liver of any living animal he has ever seen. I will lose my baby. This confirms 3 liver damaged gliders and I suspect a 4th in my home. WE DID THIS TO THESE GUYS. Now we have to find out how and fix it! It hurts way to much to watch them die. We have to work together to figure out how and why this is showing up.
I have removed Patches from his cage mates so I can insure he will get his meds for his liver. This breaks my heart. I feel the other 2 have been mean to him for awhile. They have not hurt him just squabbling. I also knew the vet was going to find something today. This was part of the reason I did the surgery. I thought he was going to find tumors. I told him to put patches down if he did see anything like that. He said Patches is healthy for now and to love him till he shows signs his liver is hurting him. I will not let him get in to the shape Sprite was in. Knowing is half the battle.
I am so sorry for what you are going through. I am very glad though that you have shared your story. I have mentioned several times that cryptorchidism(retained testicles) will cause cancer and it seems that I am ignored.
Not only is this a problem in the sterile lines but also the poor (PPP) Perfect Pocket Pets babies that are "neutered" too young. If they cut the sac and nothing has dropped yet, the testicles remain in the abdomen.
TRUST ME! You did the right thing! Don't let anyone tell you what is best for your animals when they are YOUR ANIMALS! You know what needs to be done and trust me, you did right! Another thing people don't realize is that the longer you wait to neuter most animals, if they are allowed even ONE time to mate, it increases their chances of cancer drastically if you neuter them later! Every time they are allowed to mate, their chances increase if you plan to neuter them! That's why it is best to get those things outta there when it's right, if you're gonna do it!
I support your choice and wish you the best of luck from here on out!
I also wonder if some of my rescues that didn't make it had this problem unknowingly?????
Cyndie, I am so very sorry What an incredibly rough day you've had. Thank you for sharing the information so we can learn from this and move forward. I know that had to be hard to do. I've had to do it with my own gliders a few times, but I always figure that if I can save one other glider from the pain mine have gone through, then it's worth sharing. Know that I am here for you
I am sorry the prognosis wasn't good. But at least you now have the knowledge to prolong his life with meds and proper diet.
Thankfully the liver is a very resiliant organ.
Hang in there.
Kimberley Feathers-Sweetie, Mister Peanut & Big Mack Fur-Guinan, Mr. Spock, T'Mir, Cho, Toothless, Maverick & Maharet T'Pol, Elizabeth & Curzon TY, TJ, Light Fury, Madison & T'Pring Forever in my heart, Gizmo, Tucker, Khayman and the rest of my babies over the
Ok now that I am back with the living I am updating for last night. AND remember THIS WAS MY FAULT I KNOW BETTER.
At 11 Pm I hard a noise. Yup I know that sounds I was in Patches' pouch trying to look at him in an instant. He opened himself up. Not just the skin but all 3 layers the vet had closed. Muscle stitching, internal skin stitching, and exterior skin glue. I spent 30 to 45 minutes calling all my vets local and Nashville, calling ER vets, local and Nashville before I found an ER clinic that would even see Patches. The clinics my glider vets refer me to after hours or for when they are away refused to see patches. I did finally find a sister clinic to the ER vet the works with the Doctor who did Patches' procedure willing to see him BUT this was not something she was comfortable with. Seems there are many vets that are afraid of putting under small critters. Well that last offer was good enough for me I drove 2 hours with Patches wrapped up like a burrito in my left hand. I had to pre pay $350.00 just to be seen. They looked and confirmed what I thought he was open all the way to the inside. I was asked if I wanted to try to repair or put down (mind you the liver issue and seeing his insides hanging out I almost went with the later) I said save him BUT he is do not revive. If he would have stopped breathing under the gas that was it. He didn't deserve for me to be selfish. In the end he took of a chunk of fat and she had to clean and debur the wound and re close. I gave her an ecollar and they put it on him. He was out of it in a flash. They had put it on back wards. I ONLY use the shot glass kind Jen Xfilefan makes. The mole foam goes on the inside to make a collar they can't slip out of. Well we put said ecollar on 3 times. Patches was mad as fire cause he destroyed that ecollar. They tried the x ray film, one look at it and I knew it was not going to work. So after 2 hours at the vet I drive 2 more hours home with Patches wrapped up like a burrito in my left hand. I should have got a room in Nashville but no ecollar no sleep! I almost put my van in the ditch 3 times once at the foot of my own drive. I got in and got the ecollar on first try. I used paper tape and Patches was getting out of it so I got clear packing tape and I WON! Patches has been in the ecollar since 5 am when I got back in. I slept with him in his travel rubber maid shoe box next to my pillow. I checked on him at 6 when I had to get kid up for bus. My mom sent me back to bed she took care of said kid. Thank god for mommas. At 8:30 my vet called said he was sorry he should have listened to me and put on the ecollar. (I should have I KNOW BETTER) He said he has never had a glider get out of his stitches. He doesn't know my gliders very well Asked how Patches was doing so I take the top off the container and Patches tells us off. So vet said he sounds good. I laugh and said that is how I knew the ecollar was not on to tight. 3 more calls before noon (hubby solicitor and my mom) but interrupted sleep is better than no sleep and with each call I checked on Patches.
Patches will be in this ecollar at least a week. I just gave him pain meds and tried to feed him. He will not eat for me right now so I will try again in a little. I have him in a laundry basket next to me now so he cam move some but he is sleeping. He needs rest too. SO from here it is get over the surgery and THEN worry about the liver. Don't worry I am putting his liver meds in the syringe too
A few things I want to point out about my ordeal.
1 have ecollars. AND know how to use them. As I told the ER vet. when the ecollar comes out the glider grows 6 extra legs and 5 sets of teeth. I have the bloody fingers to prove it. They are fast. The hardest part of getting the ecollar on was getting Patches to let go of it with his teeth.
2 The original surgery was planed and saved for. The Er vet was not. I have an emergency fund. In this struggling economy if that was not there Patches would have been put down because of cost. We owe our kids more than that. Put something aside it is one less worry when you have an issue.
3 even with my vet contacts I played heck finding someone to see Patches. I made the 2 hour drive one way. If this had been a different kind of emergency I could have lost a glider. Get good numbers with vets that WILL see them and is comfortable putting them under if needed.
4 THANK THE LORD FOR YOUR GLIDER FRIENDS> TeriK TY TY TY. Just being at the other end of the line did help. I now have your vets info and I will stop in and make her one of mine too.
Oh no! Poor Patches! I have been using an ecollar on Simba, and it took me a few tries to get it right.
Bourbon gave me a great idea of prepping him by having him in the collar the night BEFORE surgery, so that he would be used to it and not fight it post surgery.
It helps alot if you pull up the skin into the collar. He never escapes when I do it this way. Try to do it while putting him in it, or pull some up once he is in it.
Aghhh! As soon as I got to the part where the dr. ask to repair or put down I'm bawling. But you tell a great story so the rest of the time I'm laughing through tears. What a trooper you are to keep your humor through all of this! You must be exhausted though. And thank you for pointing out the lessons to be learned.
Hoping the best for you both! (Maybe he won't be so mad at you anymore when you have to hand feed him for the next week!)
I have had a self mutilator before I can do an ecollar with one hand by myself lol. Once I didn't have "help" I got it on no problem well once I got his foot out anyway lol
Last edited by cyndiekb; 03/31/0905:32 PM. Reason: add pic
I am so sorry that little scamp is putting you through this. I am glad that he is a strong little guy he made it through the second procedure.
Hang in there.
Kimberley Feathers-Sweetie, Mister Peanut & Big Mack Fur-Guinan, Mr. Spock, T'Mir, Cho, Toothless, Maverick & Maharet T'Pol, Elizabeth & Curzon TY, TJ, Light Fury, Madison & T'Pring Forever in my heart, Gizmo, Tucker, Khayman and the rest of my babies over the
Wow! I just read this...poor boy! I'm happy to hear that you were able to get him into the e-collar and had the money to save him rather then having to put him to sleep/ *hugs*
This is really scary to read about! After reading about this(in the other thread) yesterday and talking with 2 other breeders about it, I've decided to retire both my pairs with girls from sterile lines. One of the girls is from a producing sterile line(Stacie's Goliath and Haseena), but I'm neutering her mate too. I'm kinda sad because I JUST put Gollum with Skylar(the female from Goliath and Haseena) a couple weeks ago because I was hoping he would help to calm her down. He's my little angel and he is the sweetest glider I own(well, Precious could probably fight him for thta title, lol) and I was looking forward to having babies from him. However, even though he's only been with Skylar a couple weeks, they're a perfect match and so I'd never dream of esparating them. I WILL probably shed a tear when I get him neutered though, lol.
I've now got 5 boys I need to get neutered and your story isn't boosting my confidence about it, lol, but after reading your story I can't, in good conscience, allow my 2 girls to breed.
Thank you for posting and all my well-wished are headed your way for you and your beautiful little Patches.
BTW, Patches looks JUST like Skylar! He's gorgeous!
~Nicole~
Proudly enslaved by lots of silly suggies, 3 crazy kitties, a huffy hedgie, and a pretty puppy!
OMG how awful for you to see that!! I would have had an ecollar on him before he woke up and for a long time after. We like to hope our gliders wont mutilate but I think Cyndie is teaching us a good lesson here................................surgery, esp. radical surgery warrants an ecollar for as long as it takes! (((((HUGS))))) HUN!!!
Ohh Nicole neuters are not normally a problem for me. Patches was not a neuter per say. I have personally done over 25 for gliders I owned or re homed and the SRR did over 160 with the glider communities help. We only had 1 death and he was inbreed and other than there I do not think anyone else had any problems. I knew when the vet said GLUE I need that ecollar so depending on how you do your neuter pom off or on and what your vet does to close just have the ecollars ready. Only 1 of mine need an ecollar and that was Zeus. His was the first glider neuter the had ever done. Even still I was ready and there was no injury just 2 days with a collar on . I am 100% pro neuter and spay for all animals. (i have horses steers cats n dog every one is fixed)
Our thoughts are with you for a speedy recovery. Would you mind pming me about what the liver meds are? I had a cat in liver failure and had to make up my own mixture for her, but we got 3 months more together. Alot more than the 3 days that the vets gave her.
1 have ecollars. AND know how to use them. As I told the ER vet. when the ecollar comes out the glider grows 6 extra legs and 5 sets of teeth. I have the bloody fingers to prove it. They are fast. The hardest part of getting the ecollar on was getting Patches to let go of it with his teeth.
2 The original surgery was planed and saved for. The Er vet was not. I have an emergency fund. In this struggling economy if that was not there Patches would have been put down because of cost. We owe our kids more than that. Put something aside it is one less worry when you have an issue.
3 even with my vet contacts I played heck finding someone to see Patches. I made the 2 hour drive one way. If this had been a different kind of emergency I could have lost a glider. Get good numbers with vets that WILL see them and is comfortable putting them under if needed.
4 THANK THE LORD FOR YOUR GLIDER FRIENDS> TeriK TY TY TY. Just being at the other end of the line did help. I now have your vets info and I will stop in and make her one of mine too.
Cyndie- what kind of liver damage does Patches have & what is being done to reverse/correct it? I just lost another glider and he had a fatty liver. We don't know if that's his cause of death yet, still awaiting pathology reports.
I also have males from the sterile line of Rebecca/Cammeron. One has testicles and the other doesn't. To me personally losing him later to a cancer is a better risk then having exploratory surgery on him looking for the testicles. The surgery is just too risky and the recovery as well, as your Patches just confirmed for me.
Ñancy ~Always on my mind & in my Jack, Sally & Serenity~
I love my vet i really do but i think I need to slap him up side the head. We went in for a recheck since said vet is out all next week. He said Patches is healing nice and I need to take ecollar off now so he can clean his scab. I know I gave him the best ever KB eat poo and die look but I didn't mean to. That of course was after my heart started to beat again. I said you do realize these guys will tear off the smallest scab. He said that may not be a bad thing. There may be a little puss under the scab and it needs to come out. Well Patches got a shot of antibiotics and came home. I called terrik about ready to throw up. Told her what the vet said and said I don't think this is a good idea. She concurs. I did take off the ecollar to clean off his ring around the collar AKA HPW AROUND THE COLLAR. I gave him some grapes and 3 mealies. He attacked both then groomed his ears. Then he went after the belly and A NICE NEW CLEAN ECOLLAR was his reward. All is good for me (insert evil laugh here) I should feel sorry for Patches but I have to believe I am doing what is best for him. He is now trying to get the ecollar back off but he can't still it is fun to watch (I should be ashamed!)
I also asked the vet what he saw on the liver because I have been asked a few times and I realized I failed to inquire. I was still in denial. He said it amounts to a old drunks liver with ([censored] I forgot the word starts with an S this is why I left it on Peggy's voice mail I knew I was going to forget it!) Basically he has a lot of scar tissue. He has no idea how or why though.