My little Sammy is 2 years old. This past December I noticed a small hole in his fur and, with the advice of members from GC, I got him to the vet. It took 3 visits before he would stop ripping out the stitches & staples. He finally healed up. I had just moved my dog's kennel into the same room as Sammy & Emma. The dog was only in the kennel at night but didn't like it and barked all night long. We figured Sammy was chewing away at himself because of that. We moved the dog into another room.
This past month he has started doing it again. He not only ripped a hole in his neck, it went 1/2 way down his back. Back to the vet where he had to pull Sammy's skin so tight his arm was pulled up toward his head and his eye bulged out (no joke). The vet put in stitches and stapled the skin on top of that. But Sammy would not be detered and pulled everything out agin. The vet is frustrated and doesn't know what to do for him. He has left the hole open and I'm applying an ointment 2 times a day.
In my heart I feel I am not giving him SOMETHING that he needs. There has to be a reason for him doing this but it is beyond me. Other than the dog barking we have changed nothing in his life, and we have corrected the barking dog. At his last appointment we got him altered in the hopes that might calm him down. At least the neck thing got his mind off the altering site and he left that alone, knock on wood!
It will devistate my family but I'm asking if there is someone in MN that has a better glider knowledge that could help him. The piece of mind knowing that I gave my baby to someone that will make his life better would be such a relief. I can't sit here and watch him eat himself to death.
Thank you Kelly
Re: Self Mutilating in MN
[Re: ]
#575904 06/24/0809:40 AM06/24/0809:40 AM
Kudos to you for putting your little one's needs above your own wants. I can't imagine how difficult this must be for you.
I hope that you find a perfect place for him. If not, he is more than welcome to come stay with me. I'm quite a ways from MN, but we could work out getting the little one here if need be.
~~ Val B ~~ 806-803-0318 Daily giving the abused, unloved, unwanted and neglected SOMETHING TO BELIEVE IN
PLEASE COMPLETE YOUR SUGAR GROUP SURVEYS!!!!!!!!!!!!
Are you sure he's chewing himself & it's not Emma over grooming him? A couple years ago Nippy had an abcess on his neck, Naoshi opened it up and kept going at it (she wasn't trying to hurt him, just trying to eat away the infection). Two surgeries, just under a total of $600.00 and 27 stitches I realized I needed to separate them so Nippy could heal. Perhaps you could do the same?
peace~carolyn
"Your mind is the birthplace of ingenuity and then you need your heart as the Mediator..." ~Lil C
I would say maybe look into a different vet. As mentioned before have them look for abcess, tumor, anything at all in that area. You may have to seperate him and his female while he is healing as she will likely groom him and his site and continue to make things worse as mentioned above as well. Which vet are you using right now? Usha77 has some experience with SMing. Her male had his tail amputated so she might have some advice to pass on to you. Maybe we can get you pushed in the right direction to getting him onto the road to recovery so he can stay home with you and his girl.
I'm not sure why this got moved to greys/black beauties. I'm not trying to sell him and I'm really looking for someone who has A LOT of glider knowledge. Oh well, who am I to question?
The vet we are going to is Dr. Hedges at the Brighton vet Hospital in New Brighton, MN. That was based on advice from GC people when he first started this.
I have tried to seperate them but they are very resourceful! I only have one cage but it's pretty large. I put a solid sheet of plexi-glass in the middle of the cage and they managed to push it aside to get over to the other. I was afraid of him hurting himself more. I have never seen her do anything but the vet saw him pull his skin over and start chewing on his staples (little booger).
I have tried the e-collar but, again, he always managed to wiggle his way out of it. I'm truely at my wits end and not sure what more I can do for him .
Let me know if you need anything at all! I don't know if I could afford to take him in, even on a temporary basis - but Lan was in an e-collar for almost a month after his neuter (SM'd then, too - tail had been amputated due to SMing 4.5 months before that.) Let me know if you need some help with the e-collar or anything like that - I don't think you're too far from me & my work is really understanding when it comes to my love for these little ones - I could come and help you out and even bring a temp/hospital cage if you want. Yup, just mapquested it - Ham Lake is less than an hour from me. If you want or need my help - feel free to call me! Cell# 612-220-6235. I am always up late and do not mind being awoken for suggie emergencies. I am so sorry you and your boy are going through this.
Brenda 970-616-2872 Gliders: Eugene, Sandy, Seri; Bobbi, Spice; Star, Squiddi; Pearl, Pip; Petrie; Jimny, Pinocchio; Anna & Elsa Dogs: Nacho & Dory RIP my glider angels: Nynaeve, Poppy, Lan, Toffee, Zoey, Tika & Tas
I am in the middle of an 'sm' with my glider, Timmy and my heart goes out to you. He was one day shy of getting his sutures out and he chewed a hole through his chest, so bad, there is not enough skin left to even try to resuture, all in a matter of seconds. I am sick and terrified for him. I don't know if we can get him healed before he finds a way to get to himself again. I will be up all night so he doesn't but I can't stay up 24/7. Sending prayers out someone can help you with this nightmare. Know you are in my prayers.
Dr Hedges is a great guy but I think in this time crisis you may want to go with another vet with more experience with gliders SMing. The vet Brenda used may be a good place to start. I am always free to sit if need be when I am not at work or accompany on vet visits. Please look into another vet though. I use Hedges, but if I was in your situation I would be looking for someone with more experience with this sort of thing.
The vet I have used for Lan's SMing (they did the tail amputation and stitched him up after he opened up his lower belly post-neuter) is the Animal Emergency Clinic in St. Paul - they're open nights and weekends & the number is: 651-293-1800. Just an FYI.
Brenda 970-616-2872 Gliders: Eugene, Sandy, Seri; Bobbi, Spice; Star, Squiddi; Pearl, Pip; Petrie; Jimny, Pinocchio; Anna & Elsa Dogs: Nacho & Dory RIP my glider angels: Nynaeve, Poppy, Lan, Toffee, Zoey, Tika & Tas
Sounds like you've gotten some great advice from people near you. Please do take Brenda up on her offer and call her - she really does know what she's doing because of her experience with Lan's SMing...
Originally Posted By: Usha77
The vet I have used for Lan's SMing (they did the tail amputation and stitched him up after he opened up his lower belly post-neuter) is the Animal Emergency Clinic in St. Paul - they're open nights and weekends & the number is: 651-293-1800. Just an FYI.
Brenda, do you know if they are listed in the GC vet Database? If not, could you please submit the information? If so, could you please post a review listing them as having SM experience? That would be very helpful information to have in the database
ETA: I just checked the database and they are listed If you could place a "review" though, that would be great! Animal Emergency Clinic Listing
Thanks everyone for the advice and updates. I will give the vet in St. Paul a call. Unfortunately Sammy's last vet visit cost over $500 which is really frustrating since he is "worse" than he was before we went - with debriding the area.
Brenda- maybe i could meet you somewhere and borrow your hospital cage? I'm pretty sure he's doing it to himself but Emmy can be kinda sneeky too, so I wouldn't put it past her. I could bring Sammy along so you could see him and give advice.
At least one good thing was he was so uncomfortable by having his arm pulled up to his ear from the stitches that he didn't mess with his neutering site!
Re: Self Mutilating in MN
[Re: ]
#576560 06/25/0810:57 AM06/25/0810:57 AM
I would be more than happy to meet you some place. I would need to clean up the hospital cage (I also use it for travelling short distances and when I clean their cage.) and gather up the things I used in it. It shouldn't take me too long to do. Do you have an e-collar already - maybe I could help you get it on him so it'll stay or something?
Just let me know where & when & I'll be there!
Edited to add: Suz, I just submitted a review for that vet.
Last edited by Usha77; 06/25/0811:09 AM.
Brenda 970-616-2872 Gliders: Eugene, Sandy, Seri; Bobbi, Spice; Star, Squiddi; Pearl, Pip; Petrie; Jimny, Pinocchio; Anna & Elsa Dogs: Nacho & Dory RIP my glider angels: Nynaeve, Poppy, Lan, Toffee, Zoey, Tika & Tas
Yeah, I was wondering about that, too, Shawna. I would like to see the wound before putting an e-collar on. I haven't heard from Kelly yet - but I have Lan's old "hospital" cage washed and drying and getting ready to go if and when I hear anything. I would think, at the very least, separating him from his mate may help the wound heal faster? She could very easily be "helping" him by grooming the owie.
Brenda 970-616-2872 Gliders: Eugene, Sandy, Seri; Bobbi, Spice; Star, Squiddi; Pearl, Pip; Petrie; Jimny, Pinocchio; Anna & Elsa Dogs: Nacho & Dory RIP my glider angels: Nynaeve, Poppy, Lan, Toffee, Zoey, Tika & Tas
Depending on the site he may need a different sort of collar. People on here have come up with collars and jackets of sorts, I am sure if we saw what it looked like someone would be able to reccomend what would be the best for him.
Timmy is in one. I will try to get pics later. There is no way he can wear a collar now with the damage he has done (plus with a bigger neck then head, he gets out of them anyway.)
Yes, his owie is across his neck and down his left front leg. I'm not sure a collar is the best idea since about half of the collar would be sitting on raw tissue.
After some stressful and "heated" discussions with my non-animal loving hubby, it was decided that we can't afford to take Sammy to another vet and start the process all over again (we were transfered out of state and can't sell our house in another state still). If anyone with glider experience is willing to take him, with or without his mate, I would greatly appreciate it. It is killing me watching him eat himself to death. My cage is a loaner but I will give you everything else that I have for them. I just want to see him go to someone that will try to help him instead of him staying here and slowly drift away.
Jackie Chans Mom offered to take him if I could arrange transport to the SGGA. When is it and is anyone attending that would mind taking him?
Also, if someone can give me directions on how to post pictures, I will get one or two up for you all to see. They are heart breaking to look at.
Thank you all for such kind advice. It's wonderful to know that so many people are concerned for my little Sammy.
I hope someone can afford to take your glider and before the SGGA which is still 4 weeks away.........................sounds like he needs intervention WAY before that!! Praying for your little one!
To post pictures, hit the button that says switch to full reply screen, once there, directly below the text box is a file manager button. This is where you will upload your pictures.
How far can you drive him? We can railroad him, or them. Val is awesome with babies (Jackie Chans Mom). Who do we have and where that can meet?
Shawna Who are you networked with? Networking could save your gliders life. Create one now.
OK, I think I added pictures. There should be one of a close up of Sammy and then one of Sammy and Emma. Next to File Manager it says I have a total of 2 files so I think it worked .
Yeah, an e-collar won't work. Lets see what we can do. Click on my name and send me a private message with your phone number. I am going to get on the phone and see what can be done to get your boy some help.
Shawna Who are you networked with? Networking could save your gliders life. Create one now.
Wow ......................never seen a wound that big.............................hes doing that to himself???? I dont understand. Is he getting pain medicine???? You have the right network of people helping you.................
Yeah, I can drive a ways...not sure how far - probably as far as I need to...but hopefully not all the way...Shawna's supposed to call me back and let me know what's going on.
Brenda 970-616-2872 Gliders: Eugene, Sandy, Seri; Bobbi, Spice; Star, Squiddi; Pearl, Pip; Petrie; Jimny, Pinocchio; Anna & Elsa Dogs: Nacho & Dory RIP my glider angels: Nynaeve, Poppy, Lan, Toffee, Zoey, Tika & Tas
We're still working on it. Give me some time. Denise is kind of overwhelmed with the ones she has now. She had to take a baby to the vet this morning. So, more along the lines of a railroad to TX.
Shawna Who are you networked with? Networking could save your gliders life. Create one now.