I was looking up what causes UTI in sugar gliders and I got a lot of conflicting information. I read that high protein diets can cause that. I feed the HPW diet and I am a little concerned. Is there a right answer?

I'm not sure how anyone would get increased protein causing an infection. Too much protein could cause kidney failure and maybe they're mistaking that for an infection?

See my point, so many things out there and I can tell what is true. Thats why I asked.

Simple answer: no. UTIs are caused by three factors: bacteria entering the cloaca, waiting to urinate (don't think suggies practice this hehe), and diabetes. Now for the kidneys. Kidney stones are composed of four things: calcuim, uric acid, struvite (magnesium/phosphate), and cystine. With kidney disease or failure it is recommended to limit or eliminate the intake of phosphates and potassium this includes: beat greens, eggs, banana, fish, meat, spinach, ect. All this forces the kidneys to work harder. There is a point to all this I promise! And here it is, all diets such as HPW, BML, ect. require that the ratio is followed exactly to maintain a 2:1 ratio. But as you can see, if they are not, too much calcium/phosphate can cause kidney stones and too much phosphate and potassium can cause kidney issues, because the kidneys work harder to filter the vitamins in meats and high protein foods. My suggestion would be; any diet you choose, if followed accordingly, should not have any ill effects. For a high protein diet like HPW, I would recommend steering away from high protein treats, make sure the ratio is 2:1, and make sure your suggies drinks plenty of water.

Hehe. No problem.

Thanks you. I am feeding the HPW and I buy frozen veggies and add some fresh to make a veggie smoothy. And Ive been experimenting with different mixtures of fruits for a fruit smoothy. I think I finally found a fruit mixture they love. I have three cages each with two gliders. And I notice that one will start having trouble using the bathroom in one way or another. I go to the vet, have him/her get better, clean all the cages and a few weeks or so later, another glider in a different cage has the same experience. I have no idea whats going on. Its stressing me out!

No problem. And trust me, I know how it feels. Once you have one infection with these little guys it seems to start a trend. Sometimes though, they reoccur not because of a new infection, but because the old infection wasn't completely killed off by the antibiotics. Antibiotics are great, but the more infections they get the stronger the infection becomes and can even grow an immunity to certain antibiotics. Not to mention UTIs can be a pain to get rid of. So what I do is always get a follow up after antibiotics to make sure there is an all clear. And since you make smoothies you can try adding a little cranberry in there once in a while. Cranberries are an excellent natural prevention of kidney and ut infections. They keep the urinary tract clear of bacteria by preventing it from sticking to the UT walls. Good luck! And I hope your suggies get better soon and stay healthy!