So my lovely little Fevy has been having issues. :\ I'm about at wit's end. I've been researching all over the internet and I can't find anything that seems likely.

Let me preface with he has been seeing a vet for this and it's been going on for at least a year. The problem is Fevy sometimes gags like a cat would and spits up clear liquid (on rare occasions food... which he then re-eats...) He retches and makes a salivating kind of noise, coughs up some spit, then acts normal. I will post the video I took to send to my vet once it's done uploading. He does not have any other symptoms. He's always the exact same weight down to the gram, he has no breathing problems, his poop is normal, heart/lungs are seemingly fine, coat is fine, he has energy, eats/drinks, and is generally normal Fevy behavior. The vet checked his mouth out thoroughly, no abscesses, his teeth look fine, nothing weird going on. vet is pretty sure there is no blockage or anything like that in his tummy region. At this point, the vet suggested I could either do an x-ray to be definitive or we could proceed with weighing him more regularly and going to the vet monthly to try some alternative things (i.e. digestive meds).

She said she could send his x-rays to a specialist and consult. The thing is, I'm very worried about sedating Fevy and putting him through that kind of stress. I'd rather this be a last resort. He does not do well at the vet and I just worry that the stress would be counter-productive.

I have a couple ideas as to what might be wrong;

1.) Fevy had a really awful accident when he was around 3. Some idiot vet stepped on him and I ended up rushing him to a different vet. He was coughing up blood and having trouble breathing, on his back gasping for air. They put him in an oxygen tank overnight, gave him steroids. By morning he was fine. He had a slight cough for a day after. The vet thinks he bit his tongue, the blood went down into his throat, and he was choking on it, not actually coughing blood. He was rechecked after and again, perfectly fine. I know at the time the vet staff all thought he was a goner and made me sign papers saying they could euthanize him if he crashed overnight. It was a horrible experience and I still don't know if he had damage leftover from it. The plan was to X-ray him after, but again... he was breathing fine, no broken bones, and after the stress of it we agreed to just take him home and monitor him. Fevy is 8 now, 9 in February. He has regular vet checks and nothing relating to this accident ever came up, but I have this awful suspicion that he has scar tissue or something on his lungs that is starting to affect him as he gets older. If this were the case, what if anything could be done? :\ Is this a reasonable guess?

2.) Hairballs. vet says she has never seen hairballs in suggies, but the gagging is accompanied by his grooming sounds often. I'd like it to be #2 over #1 obviously. Fevy does sometimes grab lint and cat hair off the floor. I vacuum regularly and my cat doesn't shed much, but Fevy and the cat like to snuggle in this fleece blanket that's a hair magnet. I washed it yesterday. Might be a long shot, but maybe it'll make a difference.

3.) Some kind of food issue. I feed him those toddler yogurt treats and I'm wondering if they went bad. Around when this started, Fevy also got into my cat's food. She eats Blue cat food so nothing that could really harm him (he'd take a kibble or two out). I did stop him and I have since moved the cat food so he can't get it, but I wasn't always that strict about stopping him since I didn't think a kibble of cat food could really hurt him. I'm wondering if the crunchy texture did something? But then I would think the vet would have seen something in his mouth/teeth.

Anyways, I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions or info. He eats HPW and is 8-years-old, neutered. I've been losing sleep worrying about him. :\ I really just wanna find out what's wrong.

PM me for the video.

ETA: vet also suggested that Fevy might be gulping his food down too fast. She thought it might be a good idea to try placing foraging cups around his cage so he can't sit at his food bowl and snarf. He has always been kinda food aggressive. His previous owners starved him so when I got him he was very excited about food.

Aww poor baby You know I have to mention (now this probably is not what is happening with your little guy) my girl Lucy use to spit up a little bit any time I would take her out of her cage. It really worried me for awhile and I told my vet and he asked me if I would often give her a treat or some kind of food whenever I took her out. And I do. He told me that it could be simply that she is salivating - you know sort of like Pavlov's dogs. She has stopped doing it since. Although based on the video it looks a little different than what she used to do. Typically she would just carry on normally and a little bit of drool would come out of her mouth, not really make any gagging type motions. Thought I would mention it anyway just to share my experience in case it might be of help. I hope Fevy starts to feel better!

Suggiegirl, that's interesting. I do usually give Fevy a treat when I take him out and I have noticed he does this typically right before dinner time. Strange... I'll mention that to my vet. At this point, I'm willing to try anything. :\ It's just so confusing and odd. I sent the video off to the vet and will see what she thinks.

Eta; not sure if this is at all relevant, but Fevy is a super licky glider. Usually when he's sitting on me, he'll lick me for a good twenty minutes, stop, then start doing it again. He's kind of a spazz. My friend who had gliders said hers never did that. He goes to the point of trying to lick attack peoples' faces. So I wonder if it's simply spit getting caught in his throat.

Wow that's interesting. I guess he must really love grooming people haha. Perhaps that could be it. Maybe he is just producing a bit more spit in order to groom? Huh. I'll tell ya these guys never cease to surprise (and scare) me! They are quite complex little creatures. I just hope that Fevy isn't in any pain or discomfort from the spitting up/gagging.

Quick question: Do you by chance feed him dairy often? I have heard that lactose can sometimes cause phlegm in other animals that are lactose intolerant. Just another idea.

Yeah, Fevy is a weirdo. He's notorious for making strange sounds, me running off to the vet, and the vet finally concluding that he's just an odd duck. He seems perfectly happy and goes on to make his little happy clucking sounds after gagging. It's very odd. He doesn't act upset at all.

I do give him dairy and I was wondering about that too. I give him yogurt often as a snack as well as yogurt treats (those natural kind they make for toddlers). I wonder if I should lay off the dairy and see what happens. His main diet doesn't contain dairy.

Maybe give it a try for a little while just to see if it changes anything (as long as he won't be too upset about it). Or, like you said, maybe it's just his own little idiosyncrasy lol!

There are still noises and behaviors that my two furballs make that scare the heck out of me. All kinds of hisses and chirps and barks that make me think something is wrong and it turns out to be nothing. Just gliders being gliders!

Hopefully the vet will be able to give you some insight after watching the video. I would have never thought of the whole Pavlov's dogs classical conditioning thing with my little girl had the vet not brought it up. So crazy!

I think your vet may have a point, he is eating to fast and then throwing up.

I think spreading his food around the cage and making him forage for it will slow him down.

I have seen this in cats and dogs before.

I'm hoping that's all it is, but it's been stressing me out. :\ I'm going to get a bunch of foraging cups at Petsmart tomorrow and give that try.

Thanks for the input, everyone. I went to Petsmart and Walmart today and found some good foraging toys. I don't think Fevy was that thrilled about me "hiding" his food, but hopefully this will keep him from wolfing it down. I did observe him last night and he seems to run around and play like crazy, snarf down almost all of his dinner, then go play with his rings again. So I can see where that wouldn't be good for him.

Hoping this works! I'd be very relieved if this fixed the gagging issue.

Didn't want the cat to feel left out... got her a new kitty dress...

That poor cat! ROFLMAO

Just a little update; I've been doing the foraging cups for a little over a week now and it seems to be working great! I don't wanna jinx it, but Fevy hasn't gagged/thrown up once since I started. He was rather annoyed that I was hiding his food the first night I did it, but now I think he likes it. Makes a good game for him to scuttle around and collect all his food, plus the obvious not sitting on his bowl, snarfing it down too quickly. Hoping this was all it was!

Been several weeks on the slow feeder plan, and Fevy has not thrown up/gagged once. He went from doing it almost daily to not at all. So glad! It really scared me! Using a bunch of little foraging cups is definitely worth a try if anyone has a foodster glider that likes to gag a lot. I'd only heard of this with cats and dogs until now, but good to know gliders can be food snarfers too.