Pouch Problems Persist...

SO, as I had said earlier, my Tephra has been getting a dirty pouch, and part of it keeps sticking out.
She would regularly get a very dirty pouch while pregnant but she is not now, and her mate is fixed, and we have checked for babies, yet it is dirty again, and part of it is sticking out again.
It had been cleaned about a week ago manually by us but now it is looking bad again... Is this possibly normal? It doesn't seem to hurt her, and the vet got in there really good with a detailed swab and couldn't find any problem but it was cleaner then... I will be bringing in a swab but I was wondering if this is possibly normal..

I'd say it's not normal. But I could be wrong.

Someone else will be along I'm sure.

Hmn, I hope it's okay... and I hope someone knows too...

My glider Sydney had persistant pouch issues. We tried everything for over 9 months to attempt to figure out what was going on. Numerous cultures, various oral and topical antibiotics, daily pouch cleanings.....nothing worked. Her pouch looked dirty and stained and often puffy no matter what we tried. My vet consulted with others to no avail. We thought it might have been genetic since her mother had a severe inverted/infected pouch. However Syddie's never became inverted. We also thought it might have been a learned behavior....due to her mother's condition Syddie never truely learned HOW to clean her pouch. It was very frustrating as Suz and Teresa well know (I commiserated .....well WHINED to/with them on a regular basis).

Finally we started tracking her flare up's and discovered that it became worse at a specific time each month....when Syddie would go into season. Based on this we determined that Syddie had an abnormally difficult "period".... basically glider PMS. Therefore we would begin treatment (cleaning/medicating) a few days before her season was due to start and end a few days afterwards. It kept things under control during her most active reproductive years (even tho she never actually reproduced). As she grew older and went into glider menopause, her symptoms have decreased until now more often than not her tummy looks normal.

I'm not saying that your girl has anything similar going on, because it does look like her pouch is slightly inverted. But it could be a contributing factor. As to the protrusion, be sure to keep it moist because if it dries out it will become inflexable and her pouch will not return to it's normal shape (I learned this from Syddies Mom's issues....her pouch continued to remain inverted for as long as I knew her.

It looks a little dry, is it too late if it is dry???
I will get KY soon and put it on... I will mention that to my vet too... I can't tell if there's any flaring up, it is kind of perpetually just.. off.. Hmmm... Could it be from her having twins? I was wondering that.. she had twins that we lost to cannibalization recently... (a month and a half or two months ago no sure the exact date I lose track of months and days..)

Should I get just plain KY jelly? in a small jar?

Should I just keep her pouch clean and the part that sticks out moist? it will sometimes go back in when we clean he pouch so hopefully if I get a good wet swab in there I can get it to normal for a little while... (I always feel bad swabbing her pouch though. )
This sticking out thing is a new thing as far as I know btw..

Yep...just a small amount when it's sticking out..just make sure to keep it moist!

It seems somewhat dry, not bad but def a lil dry. It's not too late is it? I am getting KY and applying it after school tomorrow...

I also applied water right now because that's what I have..

I wish I could help you more here, Tobi...I'm just not super familiar with this issue other than knowing to keep it moist. Why don't you send a PM to suggiemom_1980 - she's familiar with these issues and can help you better than I. You can also find her phone number (for calls and text) in her signature...hopefully she can ease your mind a bit.

SO this should be fine?

Water will evaporate too quickly. The KY you mentioned is just fine. I've used Prep H on penis issues. I'm wondering f you could use that on her to shrink the tissue so that it goes back? The only problem with using Prep tho, is that you must use an ecollar to keep her from licking it and that will stress her.

Has she been on antibiotics? Did the vet check for a pouch infection or yeast infection? Does it seem to hurt her when you swab the inside? That could indicate infection of some kind.

No pain, and she couldn't find anything but she said when it gets dirty again we will do a culture so now that it's dirty again I will take in a sample.
Also no meds to speak of. D:

Put the ky on, the pouch seems to be less inverted since I put the water on, Idk how to et a good inner pouch sample..

Your vet will use a steril swab and run it inside the pouch area. Be glad you don't have to clean the pouch or you would discover just how strong a gliders stomach muscles are....my Syddie HATED having her pouch swabbed out and ointment put in it and would clinch her pouch muscles so tight we could barely get a swab in.

Well she said I can get it myself and bring it in to save money instead of paying for a visit, but Tephra gets all "hey stop that" and jumps away from me, and I don't have the heart to force her to stay still or force her to do much of anything. I am a huge pushover, lol...

Trust me, when I was dealing with Syd's issues it took 2 of us to clean her pouch....one to hold her down and the other to swab. For getting a sample on your own, I'd recommend getting a steril swab from the vet and having someone hold her while you gently run the swab inside her pouch.

It's like sub-q'ing or using an ecollar or giving them nasty tasting medicine. But, it's for their own good and trust me, they are very forgiving.

After Roo had surgery and had to be sub-q'd, he saw the syringe w/needle the first time I did it. The second time he saw it, he KNEW what mommy was going to do and he literally RAN away from me. It was the hardest thing to do, to go ahead and sub-q him after that, but his life depended on it. Even before he was fully healed, he rubbed his head on my chin & clicked and put his mouth on mine & nyitched.

Somehow, they know you're trying to help them and they do forgive you.