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Jen...Question about Riker... #101762
05/10/06 11:20 AM
05/10/06 11:20 AM
Joined: Sep 2004
Posts: 22,749
80 acres of paradise in KS
Dancing Offline OP
Glideritis Anonymous
Dancing  Offline OP
Glideritis Anonymous

Joined: Sep 2004
Posts: 22,749
80 acres of paradise in KS
I have a question about his over grooming...

My understanding is he does this on the onset of yet another head infection? Do you think that as the infection is taking hold it causes his head to itch? Perhaps the swelling of the skin (from the build up of the icky stuff) itches and that is why he starts the over grooming again?

Or, do you think it is just his way of letting you know there is a problem again?

Because of Reep, the subject of over grooming is of interest to me.

Reeps hair loss isn't from over grooming, his just falls out when ever he gets stressed.

Riker's doesn't seem to be habit.

Dozer, while not grooming bald spots, is a constant groomer and his seems to be habit or a neurological thing (Charlie and the vets are going to explore that).

I know that stress, boredom, illness, diet, habitate, environment are all things that can cause them to over groom. There just seems to be a lot of gliders over grooming lately.

Trying to find a pattern here with them. Perhaps it is something that we can lesson the chances of if we can find a similar pattern or common element with all of them.


620-704-9109
Judge not until you have walked in their shoes and lived their lives. What you see online is only part of the story.

I could have missed the pain
But I'd of had to miss the dance


The soul would have no rainbow if the eyes had no tears.
Re: Jen...Question about Riker... [Re: ] #101763
05/10/06 11:26 AM
05/10/06 11:26 AM
Joined: Jun 2001
Posts: 7,297
Quincy, IL
glidrz5 Offline
Serious Glideritis
glidrz5  Offline
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Joined: Jun 2001
Posts: 7,297
Quincy, IL
I don't know if this coresponds or not, but whenever Sassy's teeth would start to hurt him he'd start sucking on the end of his tail......well actually just pulling it through his mouth. I guess it was soothing on his aching gums. So him starting to overgrooming his tail was always an indicator that a vet visit was needed.


Chris
Illusion, Malcom, Isabell, Annabelle, Zach, Isis, Aly & Indy
AND Miss Emmy & Miss Chloe kitties

:rbridge: My Angels: You are always in my heart.

You've flown to the rainbow
and wait there for me
Someday I will join you
together to be


Re: Jen...Question about Riker... [Re: ] #101764
05/10/06 11:53 AM
05/10/06 11:53 AM
Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 8,899
Jacksonville, FL
Xfilefan Offline
Serious Glideritis
Xfilefan  Offline
Serious Glideritis

Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 8,899
Jacksonville, FL
It could be an itching or other sensation...but after the Xrays taken, the vets opinion is that there had to be so much pressure in there-basically what it boiled down to was an unending headache-which can go on for awhile prior to any other symptoms. The first time he was overgrooming, it took months and repeated tests where nothing was found before we decided to try Xray...and that's when we figured it out. First reinfection was confirmed by Xray also where it showed up in the films. Both times, as Xrays confirmed the infection leaving/gone, the overgrooming stopped.

Also, Riker is an SM, and his response to pain/discomfort is to go after the area (thank goodness he can't get his teeth on his head! Well, hopefully you know what I mean...)-so I really think with him this is similar to when he was mutilating. I don't know if this helps with Reep any.

I will say that some humans, when under incredible stress, lose their hair. I wouldn't think it beyond possiblility a glider could have a similar physiologic reaction to stress as well. Or something else could be underlying that is hard/impossible to pin down, with Reep-it would be so much easier if they could tell us when something wasn't right. I mean, something might be going on that won't show up on fecals, urine, or Xray, and he can't say "Hey, this hurts, or doesn't feel right"...and we're left playing a guessing game. I have wished for a long time I could help more with whatever it is Reep is going thru.


Jen/Colin :bb: Commander Riker 12 16 02-10 04 12 you will be FOREVER missed :wfb: Sinbad, :wfb: Gabby, :grey: Baby, and :grey: Alley
Re: Jen...Question about Riker... [Re: ] #101765
05/10/06 12:32 PM
05/10/06 12:32 PM
Joined: Apr 1999
Posts: 5,336
Bee-Bopping round SnakePit USA
B
Bourbon Offline
Serious Glideritis
Bourbon  Offline
Serious Glideritis
B

Joined: Apr 1999
Posts: 5,336
Bee-Bopping round SnakePit USA
also keep in mind, that over grooming can also be caused by skin parasites, mites and allergies. In fact several years ago, Mary and charlie dealt with a glider who was found to have mites that was difficult to diagnose. also several years ago some people had mites that literally ate through the skin, gliders was losing their ears and fur was just falling out.

Re: Jen...Question about Riker... [Re: ] #101766
05/10/06 12:51 PM
05/10/06 12:51 PM
Joined: Sep 2004
Posts: 22,749
80 acres of paradise in KS
Dancing Offline OP
Glideritis Anonymous
Dancing  Offline OP
Glideritis Anonymous

Joined: Sep 2004
Posts: 22,749
80 acres of paradise in KS
Thanks for your replies.

I had actually catagorized the parasites,mites and allergies into the "illness" catagory but guess I should have been more specific for those that didn't know.

From those cases that I have read about in the past few months, the common causes seems to be stress (loosing a mate, rehoming, etc...), diet, and illness related (such as Riker and Sassy). Reep seems to be a combo of stress and diet as everything else was ruled out though he was not tested for allergies. His hair is coming in nicely but I'm not sure he will ever be back to his former glory so I'm still on my quest for answers.

Bourbon, (or anyone) how would a vet go about testing for allergies? Is it an invasive thing or something fairly simple? I certainly try to avoid stress with Reep when ever possible. Sometimes the cure can be worse then the ailment type thing.


620-704-9109
Judge not until you have walked in their shoes and lived their lives. What you see online is only part of the story.

I could have missed the pain
But I'd of had to miss the dance


The soul would have no rainbow if the eyes had no tears.
Re: Jen...Question about Riker... [Re: ] #101767
05/10/06 12:54 PM
05/10/06 12:54 PM
Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 8,899
Jacksonville, FL
Xfilefan Offline
Serious Glideritis
Xfilefan  Offline
Serious Glideritis

Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 8,899
Jacksonville, FL
That's true-both Reep and Riker (Riker about 3 times) were tested and cleared for external/internal parasites, mites and fungus-allergies are a possibility also (that was brought up in Reep's thread several months ago, I think), and much harder to eliminate or pinpoint. We are actually considering that as part of Riker's problem-that allergies are triggering the infections.


Jen/Colin :bb: Commander Riker 12 16 02-10 04 12 you will be FOREVER missed :wfb: Sinbad, :wfb: Gabby, :grey: Baby, and :grey: Alley
Re: Jen...Question about Riker... [Re: ] #101768
05/10/06 12:58 PM
05/10/06 12:58 PM
Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 8,899
Jacksonville, FL
Xfilefan Offline
Serious Glideritis
Xfilefan  Offline
Serious Glideritis

Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 8,899
Jacksonville, FL
Teresa, lol, we were posting at the same time. Skin [censored] tests, to see what a glider reacts to-would be difficult in the extreme if not impossible on a glider. Other thing would be process of elimination for foods (taking time), but for environmental allergens (dust, dust mites, pollutants, pollens, etc.)...my vet said trying an anti allergy med to see if it helps the problem would be the most reasonable course. With Riker, until we clear the infection, it wouldn't help to try-once he is well again, we will see if treating for allergies with an antihistamine will keep the infection from coming back-if not, a maintenance antibiotic might be necessary.


Jen/Colin :bb: Commander Riker 12 16 02-10 04 12 you will be FOREVER missed :wfb: Sinbad, :wfb: Gabby, :grey: Baby, and :grey: Alley
Re: Jen...Question about Riker... [Re: ] #101769
05/10/06 01:00 PM
05/10/06 01:00 PM
Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 8,899
Jacksonville, FL
Xfilefan Offline
Serious Glideritis
Xfilefan  Offline
Serious Glideritis

Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 8,899
Jacksonville, FL
Okay, I mean the tests where they pierce the skin with a potential allergen to see if a reaction develops (my, I didn't even consider that would be censored, lol-not a bad usage, but I can see where it could be misused)


Jen/Colin :bb: Commander Riker 12 16 02-10 04 12 you will be FOREVER missed :wfb: Sinbad, :wfb: Gabby, :grey: Baby, and :grey: Alley
Re: Jen...Question about Riker... [Re: ] #101770
05/10/06 02:53 PM
05/10/06 02:53 PM

A
Anonymous
Unregistered
Anonymous
Unregistered
A



Regarding allergies -

Both of the times that Flip has gotten a sinus infection I believe it's been due to her inhailing dry Glideraide that's been sprinkled onto her food (I know the directions say to mix it with water, but she doens't really like it that way, so I wanted to see if she'd take it in the dry format.)

Both times I noticed that, while she did really enjoy the Glideraide dry, she kept sneezing almost continually while she ate it, and that after a few days of ingesting the glideraide up her nose she started to overgroom the space on her head where her eyebrows might be.

At first I thought she might be lonely, or maybe bored or something, but once I took her to the vet I found out it was an infection - because as soon as she started on the medication she stopped the over-grooming all together, both times.

It did take me a little while to realize that the dry Glideraide was the problem, but after looking at all the pieces logically I'm sure that that's the culpret - needless to say I'm really paranoid about making sure there isn't any dry powder around for her to sniff (I'd rather not take the chance, and it seems that even one dose of the Glideraide can cause her to react, so it's a better-safe-than-sorry sort of thing.)

I don't know if it's just the dry powder itself thats the problem, or if she's allergic to something in the powder that's causing the reaction, but it is a health concer that I've not seen anyone else on this board run into so far, so.

Re: Jen...Question about Riker... [Re: ] #101771
05/10/06 03:33 PM
05/10/06 03:33 PM
Joined: Nov 2005
Posts: 3,089
Central Connecticut
BCChins Offline
Glider Addict
BCChins  Offline
Glider Addict

Joined: Nov 2005
Posts: 3,089
Central Connecticut
Wonder if they can do a blood test for allergies like they do in dogs??
I beleive it tests for food, pollen, grasses and other things.
I am sorry your poor babies have to go though this.


Have a Good Day
Brenda &
Mr. Magoo

Friendly Reminder please have an e-collar ready before you need it......

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