so lilly has been to the vet twice now, and they said she has a pouch infection and well her pouch is swollen and the medicine works but when you take her off it it comes back so the doctor wants to do surgery to remove it...are gliders good with surgery cuz i dont want her to like die if she gets it...has anyone else had this happen?

I think that you should have your veterinarian consult with Dr. Tristan before he does surgery on her pouch.

Has he done a culture to make sure that he is using the right treatment for the infection that she has?

Here is Dr. Tristan's information:

Dr.Tim Tristan
OSO Creek Animal Hospital
361-994-1145

Please keep us updated on your little girls progress.

He just said that like he knows its an infections because the medicine works, it just wont go away on its own i guess? But thank you before i do anything i will have him give that guy a call..im just worried like i just dont want her to die.

Is Lilly being seen by a glider-knowledgeable vet? What kind of surgery are they talking about? I know that surgery on the female's urteri is quite complicated (there are two). Here are some sites describing their anatomy:

• BMXgirl’s anatomy page
• Your Joey's Appearance & Characteristics
• Sexual Development

Maybe a different med, or a combination of meds, or a longer course of treatment should be considered first?

Hopefully someone with first-hand experience will be along.

What type of infection is it?

Also, surgery? What exactly is he planning on doing in surgery to help? Something about that doesnt sound right?

I agree, have him get in contact with Dr.Tristan. He should be back in town come Monday.

My Sydney had a contunal pouch infection for several years....after multiple cultures, pouch cleanings and rounds of medicine we finally determined that it was due to her cycles. Poor baby, it seems the hormones in her system caused her pouch to become inflamed and irritated. We started her on preventative meds....a few days before her cycle she would start on them and the medication combined with frequent cleaning would help her pouch from becoming as irritated as it had been in the past. As she has gotten older, her pouch has become less inflamed and we have been able to stop the preventative meds, tho it does still flare up on occassion. During those times helping her keep her pouch clean has kept it from becoming irritated.
During all of Sydney's issues I talked with several people on the board and removing her pouch was considered, however it was concluded that the the risk to her life was too great for me to go to that extreme unless her pouch infection was life threatening. Only then would this last ditch effort even be proposed to the vet. I would recommend getting the bacteria in her pouch cultured, it may be that the medication you are using is not the best one for the infection. Also the lower blood circulation in her pouch means that an oral medication would have to be administered for a longer period of time for it to be effective. In addition, a topical medication when used in conjuction with the oral may prove more effective. With Syddie, we used a topical baytril at one time and have used triple antibiotic ointments (without pain reliever) to help keep her pouch moist and free from bacteria.
Cleaning her pouch is a must, and I have to tell you it is not easy or fun. With Syd it took 2 of us to clean her and she fought us every minute.

Please do not rush into surgery. This type of surgery on a glider can be VERY SERIOUS.

Glidrz5 (Chris) has a glider that has reoccurant pouch infections that are triggered by her heat cycles. Please talk to her before you make the decission to have surgery done on your glider.

yea, its a huge hospital and they treat everything and shes seeing there exotic doctor shes on two medicines. one is anti inflammatory and the other is like an anti infection type thing. and he is going in remove it... right on the outline of her pouch its infected and its sticking out, he just wants to get it off her i guess...he explained it i just dont understand...but i have to call tomorrow to schedual it...but do gliders do well through surgeries?

ohh okay well im glad i know this,...i mean i wouldnt mind giving her medicine for a long time shes worth it i just didnt know if surgery worked..

how do you clean her pouch?

No, gliders do not do well with surgeries like this. Gliders are very prone to self mutilation especially when dealing with the abdomen. This is not something I would have done unless the condition was life threatening. It does not sound to me like other methods have been tried yet.

Like Chris's glider, there are other options to try first and surgery should be the very very last resort.

With Syddie, we held her on her back and inserted a q-tip moistened with warm water or dipped in her ointment into her pouch and brushed all the pouch surfaces that we could reach. (Many times we used both methods and washed with the water first and then added the ointment/medication) when her pouch was irritated, it often took several cleanings with water, before we added the ointment. Note, gliders DO NOT LIKE THIS (imagine daily pap smears) and will struggle and will clench their pouch muscles making it difficult to insert the q-tip. Also note that depending on the medication used, it can make your gliders fur and the fur of all gliders housed with her look greasy and unkempt.

thats the infection!! its not bad but still...jst so you guys know what it looks like

That is no where near as bad as Sydies got. Meds are the way to go for this little one as this is not at life threatening status (in my opinion) where as the risk of post surgery complications, post surgery infection, post surgery self mutilation (where she could tear her own belly open) is just to high.

I just want to add on here. I'm so glad you posted on here asking for opinions and advice. That shows what a caring glider owner you are. vets are wonderful and we need them to help our gliders but sadly, many are not very experienced with gliders and can make bad choices as far as their care. Many of us have seen the results of vets being too quick to make decisions without consulting with other vets that have experience with the different situations.

yeah im glad i know that surgery wasnt the best option because i was ready to schedual it. Im going to call lillys vet tomorrow and ask him about other ways, and if that doesnt work im going to call this place called all creatures animal hospital its kinda far but they specialize in exotics so i guess i could take her there and i know theyll know what to do. and im glad there is a site like this available. everyones always so helpful.

Glad to hear that you are looking into other options than surgery. Good luck and keep us posted.

I'm glad you are going with the meds to treat your baby. It may take a bit, but I'm sure she'll respond once you get her on the right medications. Be sure that your vet cultures the infection in her pouch and have them check for yeast/fungal infections as well as bacterial. Keep us posted on how she is doing.

i got her into a different vet, but they wont take her until weds.

What meds is she currently on? I saw one antibiotic but also an anti inflamitory. What is the name of the anti inflamitory?

well the 7 days is up so now im not giving her any because of the instructions on the medicine. But she was givin Metacam and Baytril(it was citrus flavored and givin by mouth)

is there other meds out there besides metacam and baytril that are used for pouch infections
?

Metacam should not be used for more than 3 days or there is a risk of organ damage.

Torb is a pain reliever that is safely used with gliders.

And there are many different antibiotics. Baytril is a broad spectrum antibiotic but if it does not work, then a culture needs to be done to see what other antibiotic will work as some bacterias are more resistant than others.

well im glad i know that cuz the vets had her on metacam for like 5 days for 2 weeks...i cant wait to get her to the vet to get something done..im kinda mad that they didnt do a culture on her in the first place.

Talk to your vet about using Convenia. It is a 14 day antibiotic that is administered at the vet. It has been very effective in treating gram positive and gram negative infections in gliders.

A 14 day one time antibiotic sounds interesting, however you need to make sure that it will treat her specific infection/bacteria before using it, and the only way to find that is to do a culture & sensitivity (C&S). That way you know that what she is on will specifically target the problem.

Dolce had similar [& seldom re-occuring] pouch infections as the one in the pic above...one time it got really bad and really swollen, so the vet prescribed metacam and the swelling went down after 2 wks. so as others in this thread said, it's not so bad and should be fine after the proper medication(s) your vet prescribes her. just keep an eye on her and make sure she's in a clean environment.
Hope she's healing =)