I walked in the glider room for the last check last night Spencer was making this horrific noise and going after his penis. There was bright red blood on his lower abdomen, his clocha, his lips............ I flipped and panicked............you see I did not have an e-collar on hand. This is where my HUGE Thank Yous go in effect to MyBonnie for driving 30 + miles to bring and help apply the e-collar and for staying longer than she had to. If you dont have an e-collar and you have a glider please get one from xfilefan or someone ASAP.........................you may not have someone as close as I did........I got Lucky! Another HUGE thank you to Bourbon for calming MyBonnie down before she got here as well as myself both last night and this morning. So many of us give of our time to help these furkids!! The e-collar is still in place where it must remain for 30 days. Spencer will be neutered ASAP. He is mad but will survive As long as this e-collar stays on!!!
he is about the same really. he is ticked off. i have a smaller cage today..............................Bourbon says I need to cut the apron strings and let him get self sufficient with that e-collar. Easier said then done cause I know if he gets that e-collar off he is going to go after himself!!! So I am going to put my sleeping bag in the glider room tonight Right next to his cage so I can hear him. Sorry the update took so long but I have been busy! I will let yall know tomorrow when I get home from the vet. Keep those prayers coming.......................and thank you all so much!
I did sleep by Spen last night til 5 oclock this morning. When I was satisfied that he wasnt getting out of that ecollar he was wearing I went to my bed for a few hours. I called the vets office this morning, Spencer is scheduled for surgery(pom removal) tomorrow. Since I had an ecollar on him the vet was not overly in a hurry to see him. gonna collect spens urine tonight and put it in the fridge.........it has a bad smell and could have been what started this whole thing............but who knows with these little fuzzbutts!!!! He is not fighting the ecollar as much today and is acting more like himself.
now I need to know what kind of enrichment we can do together....................he obviously cant play with feather teasers and stuff like we used to. I bought some bird feeders with troughs for his water and 1 for his HPW/water mixture. Do I still feed him 1 and half teaspoons since he is not eating fruits or veggies like he was other than what I hand feed him or do I give him more than that???? He weighed 117 grams yesterday with the ecollar on. I will be weighing him everyday cause I know if he loses any weight the collar will have to be readjusted. Is there anything else I need to watch for???? I tried to call Jen, Bourbon and PMd Suz to try to get answers to the above questions.
Thank You all so much for your prayers and well wishes for Spencer...........It means so much to us both!
With the urine odor it sounds like a UTI could be the trigger. Make SURE they put him on an antibiotic and pain meds.
Keep in mind that SM is a pain response-until he gets some relief in the form of treatment, the collar will keep him from going after himself, but it's still going to hurt/be uncomfortable. I wish vets would recognize that when they put off appointments.
You can feed babyfood fruits/veggies (lickable) in the birdfeeders also, or by hand with a spoon, and yogurt.
One of Riker's favorite toys when he was in a collar was the soft fabric ferret balls with the bells inside. And being allowed to run around on the couch. Use hammocks, so if he falls, he lands on something soft, and remove any hard toys he could fall on from the cage. Because of the collar, he won't be as agile, and also won't be able to catch himself as easily if he does-hence the precautions. A hard fall in a collar could result in serious injury.
Other than that I can't think of anything offhand, but I'm short on sleep, too. Hope all goes well at the vet!
Jen/Colin Commander Riker 12 16 02-10 04 12 you will be FOREVER missed Sinbad, Gabby, Baby, and Alley
Re: Spencer needs your prayers/good thoughts
[Re: Xfilefan]
#452740 01/15/0810:21 AM01/15/0810:21 AM
Thanks Jen!!!! He is at the vet. He will be ready to be picked up this afternoon. I told him I wanted Baytril, Flagyl, and pain meds upon discharge. How many weeks should the Baytril and Flagyl be given???? I was going to ask for a 30 day supply?????
I would like to share some pics of Spencer. Like ya havnt seen em right??? well just pretend for Spencer My hubby bought Spencer for me for my B-day last June. Here is what he looked like when I brought him home:
I have him home now. He was pretty tough on his ecollar it is cracked/busted in a couple of places. But its still on!!!!! I have baytril, flagyl and torb to give him. He is currently sleeping in his bonding pouch on me.........dont think the poor thing got much sleep today!!! The vet told me not to put anything on his pom removal site................................does that sound right to y'all if your experience says Not then just let me know.
OK.......................at about 11 am Spencer was in his zippered pouch...................................I was waiting on the vet to call me back about going to get some more torb when Spencer kicked that collar and started going after his neuter site..........he was cleaner so he must have kicked it a few min or so before he found the scab there during grooming..................I did not even feel him kick the collar. because I caught him so quickly there was just scant blood at the site. Laura was coming over to change it today anyway she just had to come a little earlier than planned.......................he has lost a little weight from his liquid HPW diet. He drinks massive amounts of water everyday. Got the collar back on after 2+ hours of holding him restrained in a sweater. but loosely most of the time cause I was giving him body massages and he was laid back (pics to follow later when I upload) so I told Laura not to rush cause we were fine and we were. meanwhile hubby left to go get pain meds from the vet in Longview. He got here before Laura so he was a little calmer than normal!!! Laura got it back on when we got him to stretch his neck by holding a mealie above his head.........................she is getting too good at this ecollar thing............Thank Goodness.
Now everything is lovely and he is asleep (and drugged) in his zippered pouch around my neck
I do not recommend restaing your glider with a sweater. Spencer no longer has any claws cause he has wittled them down clawing at his ecollar at intervals (he goes through phases of frantically trying to remove his collar). Thanks again Laura!!!!!!
Had to go get some bene bac today for the diarrhea he began having last night. The oldfashioned quaker oats just wasnt doing it by themselves. I think I would really like to talk with someone who has been through this with their glider. Sometimes his penis is all the way in and sometimes it just falls out so to speak. His urine is smelling better. I had to walk through hoops just to get the vet to give me another 3 weeks of Baytril and Flagyl. I did not klnow the why I just knew it had to be done...........I offered him vet numbers he could consult with but he declined and sold me the meds. Anyway if anyone is interested in talking with a tired glider caregiver PM me...............I would like to chat about your experiences and you handled certain things. I havnt talked to anyone since the beginning when all this started.
Sunday he weighed 111 grams today he weighs 107 grams..he started out at 117 grams the day after the ecollar went on........ all he does is burn energy trying to get his collar off (unless hes asleep). I feel like I have failed him weight wise..............I give him as much as he will take.....................I know they lose weight in an ecollar. I just didnt know know how much or if I am doing something wrong.........................The diarrhea is some better today. so far tonight he has eaten.........6 mealies, 2 crickets a tsp of watermelon and he will eat most of his 6 tsp of HPW. I also handfeed as many mealies as he will eat after his morning meds
Spencer says hi!!!!! He is being weighed daily now. He weighed 108 grams last night and between 108 and 109 grams night before!!!! YAY. Thank You so much Karen for being the voice on the other end of the phone who has been through this with 2 gliders at the same time...............You Rock!!!!! He is such a dirty little boy............I wash him with a damp cloth everyday but he does so much better cleaning himself than I ever could..................be glad when he can!!!! I would like to think I am almost halfway through this but I am not getting my hopes up!!!!
Last edited by Cora; 01/26/0811:46 AM. Reason: spelling
Well it continues to be a day by day thing. stools look better. Weight is stable. collar is on. pom removal site is healing..........................I still have not gotten a definitive answer on this...................why pom had to be removed..................I am thinking now I made a terrible mistake by getting his pom removed.............should have taken him to Dallas for nonpom removal nueter method.........................This has just added more pain and stress to him. I will never again listen to one person.........I know better but you would think..................awww nevermind!!! I am just tired and cranky...LOL
Can you tighten it without choking him so it won't turn easy unless the skin turns with it? That, and daily neckrubs, are (I think) what saved Riker's fur. Let me go find the pic of when I had his collar off....
Jen/Colin Commander Riker 12 16 02-10 04 12 you will be FOREVER missed Sinbad, Gabby, Baby, and Alley
Here's some pics. You couldn't turn Riker's collar without the skin coming, so no friction between neck and collar....
Most of these were during one grooming session, about a month or 6 weeks before he came out of the collar. As soon as he stopped trying to go after himself, I tried him without it, stayed up for 48 hours-he wouldn't leave it alone before all scab was gone and new hair growing in-it took only a few minutes before he'd go after himself, and back on the collar went. I let him groom, but distracted him by holding tissue over his site-and wouldn't let him get at it. When he started to fight me, he went back in the collar. I still got up every hour or two for over 2 weeks, and kept him on me days, scared to death he'd go after himself again! But once they stop, unless a new prolem comes up, usually that's the end of it if you pass the 48 hour mark. (I was still newer then, and learning).
Jen/Colin Commander Riker 12 16 02-10 04 12 you will be FOREVER missed Sinbad, Gabby, Baby, and Alley
I also had surgery June 6 that year (2003) through the abdomen to replace a disk in my low back-my Mom watched him the 18 hours I was in the hospital, 3 days after he came out of the collar. After that he was on me most of the time until I was SURE we weren't going back to the SM. It's a scary thing.
Jen/Colin Commander Riker 12 16 02-10 04 12 you will be FOREVER missed Sinbad, Gabby, Baby, and Alley
Please remember...................everyone reading this please know................every glider has the potential to self mutilate if pain/disc. is involved....................its natures way. They try to "pull" the pain out. Get those ecollars made or ordered and keep them handy. I had relatively no warning that my little cute, fuzzy cuddlebug was about to attack himself and you wont either in most cases!!!!
Most of those hadn't been posted before-I think 2 of them.
Here is a quote from PM (since I'm going to reply to it here, with permission):
Quote:
I was using the shot glass style up until 2 days ago. it had skin and foam so does this collar. I put it on there. I can get this collar on and off by myself. I was leaving the prev. collar on for a week at a time............I was too scared he would go after himself
No matter which collar, if it turns, it will wear at the fur. If you can, make it so it won't (but don't choke him). If he's 'spinning' it in an attempt to get out, it may be contributing to the neck problem, and could potentially end up causing a wound. It should be snug.
If the moleskin/foam at the neck gets wet or too much food caked-change collars. That will make the skin/fur easier to abrade. Hold him between your knees in a burrito wrap (towel)-that's what I did with Riker) to take the old collar off and put the new one on, or have someone hold him for you like that. You can clean off and dry the old collar (if still in good shape otherwise) and rotate.
I know it's not easy.
Jen/Colin Commander Riker 12 16 02-10 04 12 you will be FOREVER missed Sinbad, Gabby, Baby, and Alley
You can also take it off a little every day or two and give him a neck rub and chance to groom (hold something over the SM site)-collar goes back on if he gets insistent about getting to his site until you're sure his teeth wont' be involved.
Jen/Colin Commander Riker 12 16 02-10 04 12 you will be FOREVER missed Sinbad, Gabby, Baby, and Alley
OK...............I have now heard both sides of the fence on pom removal nueter versus non pom removal nueter. In Spencers case keep in mind he SM'd prior to nueter.............went after his privates. I understand both sides.
Spencer finished 3 weeks worth of antibiotics 1 week ago. The vet did not (after all that pleading I did) give me a whole 30 days supply. instead He wanted Spencers stool and urine which I provided this morning and he called me back and said the float and smear is neg and the urinalysis is negative so no need to do a culture and sensitivity. The vet tech looked at Spencers abdomen upon my request and said his pom removal site is healing well. He still has a collar on until the scab is gone cause I dont trust it. Spencer is doing well over all. I take his collar off 1-2 times daily so he can groom a bit and I give him body massages so its prob off about 1-2 hours per day under constant supervision of course. The vet is going to order some of the satellite collars like I am using for Spencer.
Now I dont know what in the world is wrong. Spencer was on his back curled up making that noise again earlier. I could not clearly see what was up but I think with that satelite collar he could either reach his privates or was rubbing his privates with the edge of the collar. gave him some Torb.................no blood or anything.......................nothing appears evident but something is wrong. Hubby got up and we put the shot glass ecollar back on him. We will be off to the vet in the morning.............................I was so hoping this was almost over,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,but noooooooooooooo
Commander Riker 12 16 02-10 04 12 you will be FOREVER missed 
Sinbad, 
Baby, and 
I let him groom, but distracted him by holding tissue over his site-and wouldn't let him get at it. When he started to fight me, he went back in the collar. I still got up every hour or two for over 2 weeks, and kept him on me days, scared to death he'd go after himself again! But once they stop, unless a new prolem comes up, usually that's the end of it if you pass the 48 hour mark. (I was still newer then, and learning).
