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Mom took the gliders to the vet

Posted By: Anonymous

Mom took the gliders to the vet - 04/14/06 05:24 PM

The gliders went to the vet to get a culture done to prove to the "crazy Dr" the gliders were not the cause of moms staph infection. While there Honey had a runny poo mom asked the vet to check it and she has giardia. So now mom is stressed all the gliders are on meds and we just need to know if there is any thing else we should be looking at or doing. The vet said not to use tap water only bottled so we are doing that now too. Turns out this may be what sent mom to the ER in the first place before the staph infection. All the cages are cleaned with bleach from top to bottom every week. Is there something else we need to be doing?
Posted By: CritterHill

Re: Mom took the gliders to the vet - 04/14/06 05:41 PM

Oh gosh James, your poor Mom must be worn out with all that's been going on. Send her my best wishes. You/she might want to read through this thread on giardia Kristen has just been going through the same thing.

Take Care

Catherine
Posted By: Sheila

Re: Mom took the gliders to the vet - 04/14/06 07:05 PM

James, also fruit and veggies must be washed thoroughly. When given an orange slice, the outside skin must be washed and scrubbed. The fruits like that are washed down sometimes in grocery stores with a sprayer. The G can come from anywhere, from the fields they are grown to your own tap. I have never used Bottled water and never had G but I know large breeders do in cities and areas where no one else has it and I would like to think it is because they buy large quantities for food at local farmers market and don't clean them properly. They basically take a canteloupe and cut it into pieces and lay on the cage floor. Because they have such large outbreaks of it, it is possible it does come from the fruits that are coming from Mexico, ca, and Florida, but most of the Tx. large breeder's fruits are from Mexico.
I am so sorry for your Mom. It is very sad, but with all the glider owners and no one gets this, it is doubtful of what the dr's diagnosis. She could get one scratch from a dirty nail and it cause it. The fact that your mom is red hair and fair skin tends to make her more suseptible to rashes or outbreaks of anything because of sensitivity to skin. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/littleglider.gif" alt="" />
Posted By: Anonymous

Re: Mom took the gliders to the vet - 04/14/06 07:15 PM

sorry to hear this. I have not delt with Giardia so I am not sure what else to do...
Posted By: KattyM

Re: Mom took the gliders to the vet - 04/14/06 08:06 PM

Wow, sorry to hear this is happening over there. I, too, have not had personal experience with giardia.

I've also read that it's quite contagious, so if you can quarantine whoever is infected, do so. If not, have everyone checked out. Here's a fact sheet from the CDC on giardiasis.

And yes, clean, scrub, clean again, scrub some more! Good luck!
Posted By: Xfilefan

Re: Mom took the gliders to the vet - 04/14/06 08:09 PM

This is the fourth outbreak I know of in the last two weeks...looks like this is going to be a bad year for it. So I'll go down the list for you.

1) Water and produce are your likely sources. A large percentage of our produce is now coming out of Mexico and South America (even here)...grapes, avocados, melons, papaya, mango, bananas..you name it. The ONLY US fruit I've seen here in the last year are oranges (from CA or Florida), and Apples (washington state). This means...the likelihood that the produce has been contaminated with raw sewage tainted water goes up dramatically, it can happen in the fields, or when rinsed after harvest, and before shipping. Here are the precautions to minimize the risk:

1A) Wash ALL produce, even melons, before cutting to eliminate as much as possible that may be on the outside of the produce, and minimize the chance the knife will carry something to the inside.

Be especially careful with grapes...which are one of the biggest culprits. After washing, cut off the entire end where the stem attached first, and throw it away. Because the attachment point is porous, and frequently cracks there, it can hold things like giardia that cannot be rinsed away. Do not buy ANY fruit when the skin is damaged, allowing a bug access to the inside.

Any fruit that may have a food grade wax used on it...get rid of the skin as well as trimming off where the stem or branch attached. If the food was tainted with contaminated water, that would be BEFORE the wax was applied. It is then trapped underneath, and you cannot wash the wax off to adequately clean the skin, so it stays trapped until it is eaten.

With a large fruit such as a canteloupe...cut pieces off the larger fruit as you use them...and trim away all exposed surfaces of the fruit, and discard along with the rind. This way if something is trying to grow on the surface after being cut, that surface is now in the trash, and not the gliders. If you can avoid it, don't buy pre cut fruit...as handling could be questionable, and it can't be trimmed well enough.

Use bottled water, and clean the container and give fresh water every day. This way nothing has a chance to grow in it.

2) When you have an active case of Giardia...you will need to wipe the cages down with bleach solution and rinse daily until treatment is complete. This is also passed thru feces, and if they get recontaminated from the cage, you get to start all over again. Change out their pouches daily for a clean one, as well as cleaning toys. Toys and pouches should be cleaned in HOT water with bleach.

3) Wash your hands both immediately before and immediately after handling the gliders and/or their things ALWAYS. This will prevent not only spreading the parasite between gliders and cages of gliders, but to you and your family as well. Use warm soapy water every time.

4) Be aware that a successful treatment usually includes 2 or 3 courses of Metro...so many days on, so many days off...I think it's 5 days, someone correct me if I'm in error.

That's all I can think of, so if I missed anything, please feel free to add to this. Tried to get it all in one spot for you. Hope it helps.
Posted By: Xfilefan

Re: Mom took the gliders to the vet - 04/14/06 08:14 PM

OH...ALSO clean the tent in bleach water, if you use one, and ANY surfaces the gliders or their things have come in contact with already, or will in the future if there's a possibility of contamination.
Posted By: mattysmom

Re: Mom took the gliders to the vet - 04/14/06 08:30 PM

When we talk about washing fruits and vegetables, I just rinse well with water (uh, from the tap) - is that supposed to be sufficient to clean the surface? I do try to use the insides of fruits/veggies as much as possible and bottled water.
Posted By: Xfilefan

Re: Mom took the gliders to the vet - 04/14/06 08:40 PM

Rinsing is fine...I just call it washing, same thing, lol. Any fruit that's been stored in a bag or container in the fridge, trim ANY exposed surfaces before serving to minimize anything that may have gotten on the surface, and be wanting to multiply once it is at room temp in the dish.
Posted By: SugarBlossoms

Re: Mom took the gliders to the vet - 04/14/06 08:58 PM

I've always scrubbed fruits and veggies (outside of them) with antibacterial Dawn or other dish liquid before cutting them. My mother did this the whole time I was growing up except she washed all the stuff in a light bleach water in the sink. Now I know why after all these years of thinking she was nuts. LOL
Posted By: Anonymous

Re: Mom took the gliders to the vet - 04/14/06 09:49 PM

James, I replied to your mom's post over at the Alley, but just wanted to pass on my support to you here as well. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/hug2.gif" alt="" />

Giardi is NOT fun for the gliders or you...and trust me, after about a week you'll be crazy stressed with cleaning, meds, and the smell of Clorox <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif" alt="" /> We've been doing it here for the past three weeks and I swear I'll be the happiest woman in the world if I just never have to smell Clorox again.

My vet gave me a little different meds that is normally prescribed -- but I would definately do as Jen suggested and use the metrodinazole for the five day treatments. Judie said to use five days, five days off, five days on, etc. for three total treatments.

Right now I do a big cleaning on the cages twice a week with bleach and hot soapy water and then a quick wipe down of a bleach/soapy water mix everyday. Pouches, toys, bedding, etc. are changed everyday.

I am also looking for a really good fruit/veggie wash as I can't figure out how my gliders got giradia. We only use bottled water and all fruits are washed, cut, washed again, and then frozen. But somehow my guys still got it. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/nixweiss.gif" alt="" />

Tell you mom to let me know if she needs anything and be sure to keep us updated on how they're all doing! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/heartpump.gif" alt="" />
Posted By: Anmaw

Re: Mom took the gliders to the vet - 04/15/06 12:54 AM

I've been keeping up on all the recent post about the giardia(sp) and have been wondering why I have been seeing so much of it just recently. The last post by Kristin looking for a better way to wash fruits and veggies reminded me of a post made by Charlie H sometime ago about cleaning fresh fruit and veggies. Took forever, but I finally found it. Anyway, you might want to check it out by clicking thread below (I still haven't learned how to do the shortcut). Just go to the top of that thread for Charlie's original post - when I clicked it showed a post after his.

http://sugarglider.net/ubbthreads/showfl...true#Post490861
Posted By: Anonymous

Re: Mom took the gliders to the vet - 04/15/06 02:02 AM

wow looks like i will be moms slave the next few weeks with all that cage cleaning to do. She just about killed herself today bleaching cages and that was before she knew the gliders were sick!
Posted By: Anonymous

Re: Mom took the gliders to the vet - 04/15/06 12:27 PM

<img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/offtopic.gif" alt="" /> Anwam, I totally forgot about that post, thank you for pointing that out!
Posted By: Xfilefan

Re: Mom took the gliders to the vet - 04/16/06 09:09 AM

How are they doing?
Posted By: Anonymous

Re: Mom took the gliders to the vet - 04/22/06 08:09 PM

well so far so good unless you count having to clean cages every day that part stinks. The gliders were pushing each other away and trying to get the syringe all for them self. they seem to like the meds. We have 1 set we have to referee so each one gets what they are supposed too. We will start the second round of meds on Tuesday.
Posted By: Xfilefan

Re: Mom took the gliders to the vet - 04/26/06 07:35 PM

You're doing a great job, and thanks for the update. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> It's great when they actually like their meds, rare when that happens, lol. Keep letting us know how they are.
Posted By: Anonymous

Re: Mom took the gliders to the vet - 04/29/06 03:19 AM

We are almost done with the second round. Sat is the last day and our the regular cage cleaning day. 2 of the gliders have decided they don't like the meds so mom got bit pretty bad this week. She has a new way of giving that one meds grab her head, stuff it in her mouth, and let go fast! Really it looks worse than it is but I think the faster mom does it the less stress on Ivy and Zeus all so 1 of the joeys has started fighting but they are so small even I could win that battle <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />.
Posted By: Anonymous

Re: Mom took the gliders to the vet - 04/29/06 04:21 AM

You might check out too a fruit and veggie wash available on vitalityplus1.com they offer a wash that is not dangerous to the environment but also gets pesticides and whatnot off of the fruits and veggies.
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