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Lethargy and Sleeping on Bottom of Cage

Posted By: Anonymous

Lethargy and Sleeping on Bottom of Cage - 08/07/05 09:51 PM

Hello Everyone,

We got our little babies, Luna (F) and Sol (M) about 4 months ago. Last night, we noticed that little Luna has been a bit Lethargic. She has been moving more slowly, and drinking a lot. She is still bright eyed and alert, but she is not her usual, energetic, jumpy self. She has also been sleeping on the bottom of the cage, instead of up top with her brother. Even when she goes into the top pouch, we find that she will leave the pouch after a few minutes, and sleep on the bottom of the cage.

We recently moved from the BML plan to the Sun Coast diet (they would not eat their BML). I thought perhaps it was vitamin OD or something, but Sol has not had any problems. We looked at her tummy today (as well as her genitals), and nothing appears out of the ordinary. We plan to take her to the vet, but we wanted to know; has anyone seen this behavior? Could it be due to the change in her diet? She was just fine on Friday, but now she seems to have no energy. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/worried2.gif" alt="" />
Posted By: Lucy

Re: Lethargy and Sleeping on Bottom of Cage - 08/07/05 10:14 PM

I wouldn't wait to take her to the vet. The most commonly noticed sign of illness, most people report, is lethargy. Most likely, the changes aren't related to diet, but it's possible she hasn't been eating?

If it were me, and I noticed these changes, I'd take her to the vet tonight. But if not tonight, you really should by tomorrow. These symptoms mean something's not right.
Posted By: the gliders angel

Re: Lethargy and Sleeping on Bottom of Cage - 08/07/05 11:18 PM

get to a vet asap have them do a direct fecal float with cytology and a urinalysis culture and sensitivity to rule out bacteria. dont wait
Posted By: Anonymous

Re: Lethargy and Sleeping on Bottom of Cage - 08/08/05 12:06 AM

Last night, after I first noticed her lethargy, I did see her eating a cherry, and licking up some of her yogurt. She is also drinking normally.

We contacted a Vet, and they said to keep an eye on her. If the symptoms persist, they recommended we take her in early tomorrow. If she is still lethargic tomorrow, we will take her into East Alameda Animal Hospital. They have a specialist there who works with Sugar Gliders.

East Alameda is the animal hospital that they air on Animal Planet, for a bit-o-trivia, BTW. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />
Posted By: Anonymous

Re: Lethargy and Sleeping on Bottom of Cage - 08/08/05 03:52 AM

We just found Luna up on the second shelf in the cage. She was just sitting there, staring down at the bottom of the cage. We offered her some Glider Nectar, and she ignored it. She took a Yogurt Drop from us, but just held it.

We are taking her into East Alameda right now. I would certainly say this is an emergency. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" />
Posted By: USMom

Re: Lethargy and Sleeping on Bottom of Cage - 08/08/05 04:02 AM

Oh, I hope all goes well! Keeping her in my prayers, let us know how it goes! (((((HUGS)))))
Posted By: Anonymous

Re: Lethargy and Sleeping on Bottom of Cage - 08/08/05 07:25 AM

Sadly, Luna is not doing well. We took her to Alameda East, and she would not come out of her bonding pouch. We eventually got her out, but she reacted with a bit of aggression (grabbed Samantha's finger with her teeth). After we got her out, she kept trying to run about, and leap off of Samantha. We think she was just really stressed. Unfortunatley, after the doctor came in, during the course of her prognosis, Luna's heart stopped. The vet grabbed her and rushed her into ICU.

They were able to revive her, but her prognosis is not too great. The one ray of hope that we do have is that she has stabalized slightly since we left the vet (the veteranerian let us know there was nothing we could do for her tonight, and that we should go).

All we can do is wait now. The vet informed us that she will contact us if anything changes with Luna. We are hoping for the best. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" />
Posted By: BMXgirl

Re: Lethargy and Sleeping on Bottom of Cage - 08/08/05 07:34 AM

Im so sorry about little Luna. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" />
Prayers and good thoughts being sent out. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/heartpump.gif" alt="" />
Posted By: Anonymous

Re: Lethargy and Sleeping on Bottom of Cage - 08/08/05 01:44 PM

Luna passed away this morning at 2:14 AM. The veteranarians tried to bring her back, but said that she was really having troubles just before the end. We will miss her dearly. She was only 6 months old.
Posted By: Anonymous

Re: Lethargy and Sleeping on Bottom of Cage - 08/08/05 01:49 PM

<img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/crying.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/crying.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/crying.gif" alt="" />
I am so sorry!
<img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/hug2.gif" alt="" />
Angie
Posted By: USMom

Re: Lethargy and Sleeping on Bottom of Cage - 08/08/05 01:54 PM

I am so very sorry! She was given the best, and you tried so hard. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/hug2.gif" alt="" />
Posted By: Xglider

Re: Lethargy and Sleeping on Bottom of Cage - 08/08/05 02:51 PM

I am so sorry for you and you family...
Posted By: Karin

Re: Lethargy and Sleeping on Bottom of Cage - 08/08/05 04:16 PM

I am so very sorry for your loss <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" />. I am going to move this thread to Real Stories now, so that others may possibly learn from her passing.

Karin
Posted By: Anonymous

Re: Lethargy and Sleeping on Bottom of Cage - 08/08/05 04:51 PM

Thanks everyone for your kind words and prayers. It has been extremely tough for both Samantha and I. Both Luna and Sol are our babies, but Luna was the quickest to bond, and we had just started to get to know her. She had been so incredibly cute lately (she loved falling asleep holding Smantha's fingers).

We knew what had happened the instant the vet called us at 2 AM. They had tried everything they could for our little girl.

We are going to send our little darling up to CU for a Necropsy, to see if we can find out what happened. The Vets early diagnosis was that the problem may have been congenital (genetic).
Posted By: Anonymous

Re: Lethargy and Sleeping on Bottom of Cage - 08/08/05 05:24 PM

That's so sad <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" />

Sorry for your loss.
Posted By: glidrz5

Re: Lethargy and Sleeping on Bottom of Cage - 08/09/05 01:01 AM

I'm so very sorry for your loss.
Posted By: Sheila

Re: Lethargy and Sleeping on Bottom of Cage - 08/09/05 02:33 AM

I am so sorry. I know there is a great hole in your heart. There is an absence in your home and you feel numb from the pain. My prayers are with you that you will be comforted at this time. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/hug2.gif" alt="" />
Posted By: Lucy

Re: Lethargy and Sleeping on Bottom of Cage - 08/09/05 04:50 AM

Please let us know about the necropsy and any other labs they conduct. It's very hard to lose a glider, as many of us here know. But the more we can learn about what causes gliders to die early, the more we can do to prevent it.

I would also encourage you to fill out the Death Database, located here:

http://www.sugargliders.org/quask/deathdatabase/deathdatabase.htm

so that what you learn about the loss of your glider can help others.

I'm so sorry for your loss.
Posted By: Anonymous

Re: Lethargy and Sleeping on Bottom of Cage - 08/09/05 02:41 PM

The initial Necropsy points to a Metabolic problem with Luna. It appears that she was not metabolising her food and vitamins properly. This caused damage to her Kidneys and Liver.

I asked if this was due to the vitamin supplements I was using, or possibly due to the change from BML to Sun Coast. The doctor stated that this was not the problem; the problem was probably genetic, and something that we could not have forseen. Our little Luna was, more then likely, "born sick".
Posted By: Anonymous

Re: Lethargy and Sleeping on Bottom of Cage - 08/11/05 06:25 PM

I just spent 25 minutes filling out the Death Database items, and got an "Access Denied" error. That is a bit frustrating . . . . .
Posted By: USMom

Re: Lethargy and Sleeping on Bottom of Cage - 08/12/05 09:18 PM

Woodrax, that is probably due to the site construction going on. Not Lucy's site, but GC is doing some server work.
Once again, I am so sorry about your little girl!
Posted By: Anonymous

Re: Lethargy and Sleeping on Bottom of Cage - 08/13/05 01:15 AM

I am incredibly sorry that you lost your little one. Make sure to give extra love to your little Sol man...he really needs it now...and so do you. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/heartpump.gif" alt="" />
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