GliderCENTRAL

Omega 3 and Omega 6

Posted By: Dancing

Omega 3 and Omega 6 - 12/29/08 07:35 PM

Ok, been wondering and hope for a good discussion here.

We all know that Cholesterol can be a bad thing if the numbers get too high. There are good cholesterols and bad cholesterols and I won't even begin to understand the real differences but...because I've been working to find a way to lower my husband's bad cholesterols it got me to thinking. When the bad cholesterols get too high they can cause blockages and build ups that can effect the circulatory system and cause all sorts of health issues such as stroke, heart attack, muscle ache and can cause deposits in vital organs.

I have never seen any discussions about cholesterol and gliders so thought this might be an area to explore more.

There has been several gliders in the past year where the necropsies have shown "fatty livers" with no explaination as to WHY they are "fatty" and I wonder if this could be a cholesterol issue.

Eggs have had quite a history with humans. First they were good, then bad and then good again. Well, egg WHITES are very healthy but egg yokes are high in the bad cholesterols. Does it balance out? My gliders love eggs and I do give them to them a couple times per month but...what if they aren't balanced and I'm doing more harm than good?

Has anyone had their vet check the cholestoral levels on their gliders? Could this be a factor in the gliders with the "fatty livers" and if so, is it possible that managing the cholestoral levels through Omega 3 and 6 be a benefit to the gliders (like it is with humans)?

Also, what about Triglycerides?

I would LOVE input from others and more so would love input from vets on this.
Posted By: Dancing

Re: Omega 3 and Omega 6 - 12/29/08 07:39 PM

The medical term for “good” cholesterol is high-density lipoprotein (HDL). HDL carries cholesterol away from your arteries and takes it to your liver, where it’s removed from your body.

So what if the glider's livers are not able to process it the way it should?
Posted By: hwh4ev

Re: Omega 3 and Omega 6 - 12/29/08 08:33 PM

organic eggs-white and yolk are a good fat. organic red meat also has the good fat to help build muscle, i believe it is called cla and stands for conjugated linoleic acid, also good for blood and immune system.
i take omega 3-6-9 amongst other vit/min, antioxidants, etc. myself and give one each to my dogs sometime.
i looked on the label of my gliders vitamin/mineral powder, it is called vionate and it does not have any omega, 3-6-9
to bad it would prob. help.
omega 3/6/9 might be in zookeeper's secret because i think there is some kind of fish product in there and fish oil is high in omega 3's, so maybe my gliders are getting it in their food.

regards,
nancy
p.s. i am only talking abt organic, there are no hormones, antibiotics, preservatives,etc that cause alot of our ills.
Posted By: LSardou

Re: Omega 3 and Omega 6 - 12/29/08 08:37 PM

Those are excellent points Teresa. It would be interesting to find out if the 'fatty livers' were indeed a result of high cholesterol.
Considering the mammoth difference in size alone between their livers and ours would cause one to focus on this as a possible cause.
I there is more input given here so that this could possibly solve or at least add another piece to the puzzle.
Posted By: hwh4ev

Re: Omega 3 and Omega 6 - 12/29/08 08:46 PM

i forgot to mention triglycerides are the fat in your blood, it is a part of the cholesterol reading, hdl are your good chol. ldl are bad chol. and high triglycerides are bad they cause the strokes, bad hearts, clogged arteries. my triglycer. were border line so i quit eating bad carbs. and lost 12 pds. and have 20 more to go.
we have to watch how much fat we give our gliders, i was giving my glliders-wax worms almost every day and learned they were high in fat and stopped after reading all the inf. on this board, now they only get one as a treat-once in awhile.

regards,
nancy
Posted By: MatchMakerMagic

Re: Omega 3 and Omega 6 - 12/29/08 09:19 PM

I know the Wombaroo powder has the omega 3 and 6 in it already. Haven't done much research in this area specifically, but I've looked at the ingedients recently and remember seeing them listed (wombaroo).
Posted By: josefine

Re: Omega 3 and Omega 6 - 12/29/08 09:43 PM

what if we bought the flax oil? & maybe put like, an 8th of a tsp in w/their smoothies & relish?
i mix & match my foods all the time, so thatway, the babies are getting the same stuff, only made differently.
i understand that the cold pressed oil is the best to injest.
i think that anything that would help w/keeping their system running better, would be a good idea to try out?
the way people are taking care of themselves these days, many don't look their age, as the old folks once did.
and, i do believe alot of it has to do w/what we eat.
when my gizmo died, the vet said there was NO fat on him in any of his organs,or internal body itself. gizmo was not a shriveled up skinny thing, he was small, but thats cause he was oop last feb., by the time we picked them up @ the end of april, they were really looking good. he continued to look good, even to the day he died. we knew something was wrong, you just couldn't tell it by looking @ him.
anyways, i have thought about maybe experimenting, but, i want my suggies to live the full 15yrs that they can, so, i don't want to go way out there w/stuff.
2 dying was enough for me. i don't want anymore ever to die w/me.
talk @ ya L8R
josefine
Posted By: Dancing

Re: Omega 3 and Omega 6 - 12/29/08 10:12 PM

I want to be REAL CLEAR here. I don't think that these things (omegas and flax oils) should be added to our glider's diets until some research has been done. Too much of a good thing can be very bad for them and I would hate for us to jump the gun and cause harm to our gliders. We, at this point, have no idea what would be safe levels/amounts or if it is even a good idea.

For those of you who are having blood draws done on your gliders, talk to your vet about the colesterol screening as well. I don't even know if anyone has a "base line" on what is "normal" for a glider and that would be the place to start.
Posted By: MatchMakerMagic

Re: Omega 3 and Omega 6 - 12/29/08 11:38 PM

Originally Posted By: Dancing
I want to be REAL CLEAR here. I don't think that these things (omegas and flax oils) should be added to our glider's diets until some research has been done.

I definitely agree with this. I was just mentioning that the omega's are already in the wombaroo. I was researching something last week and noticed they list it as an ingredient in the high protein wombaroo powder. wink
Posted By: glidrz5

Re: Omega 3 and Omega 6 - 12/31/08 01:55 AM

Does anyone else have any imput on this? I don't know alot about colesterol other than the fact that it can do very very bad things to a person if it gets too high (or good colesterol too low). I'm sure that with other animals it would be the same. If some of our little guys do have high colesterol and it is what has been contributing to their deaths then I think it is something that should be looked into.
Posted By: MatchMakerMagic

Re: Omega 3 and Omega 6 - 12/31/08 02:10 AM

Of course I am not a vet or dietician... But I do like to research things. smile

And while looking into a totally different thing (continued high exposure to fructose) I stumbled across some weird things that link back to cholesterol levels, triglycerides, as well as diabetes when lab animals (as well as a condition in humans) studied to see if they were able to reproduce this condition in them. The condition is called metabolic syndrome. Horses have a similar condition as well, though from what I could find they don’t have enough info yet to say if it’s the same or not.

A handful of studies have been done on lab animals (mice, rats) concerning this. The "side effects" of this condition usually present as diabetes type 2, hypertension, central obesity (around the waist), decreased HDL cholesterol, elevated triglycerides, hyperuricemia (elevated uric acid in blood), and fatty liver (especially with obesity).

We feed in most diets honey - which has the highest level of fructose in sweeteners. As well as the treats and yogurt as well. Fruit juices also are high in fructose (or sucrose another that has several studies on it). Eggs are also a main stay it seems in alot of diets as well. I wonder if it could be a combined effect.
Posted By: MatchMakerMagic

Re: Omega 3 and Omega 6 - 12/31/08 02:16 AM

Another possibility I've looked into a bit ago was the "Mighty/Giant" mealies. They are treated with growth hormones and/or an actual pesticide agent that when these chemicals are looked up as far as toxcity they are dangerous to mammals/aquatics and usually damage the liver.

Something to worry about with glider? I dont know. As ALL of the venders I asked who currently sell them either will not disclose what they use or have a clear disclaimer on their sites stating they are not for consumption for your pets. So I cannot further research exactly what we are feeding our gliders.
Posted By: Dancing

Re: Omega 3 and Omega 6 - 12/31/08 05:13 AM

I know of one glider death recently (within the past few months) that upon necropsy, the glider showed to have a "fatty liver". However, histopath was not able to be done so no reason was determined WHY the liver was fatty. This glider was/had been on a honey free diet and did not get mighty mealies.

I've never fed the mighty mealies cause well...they are just GROSS! and the "growth hormone" that they are given has always been a concern to me.
Posted By: Anonymous

Re: Omega 3 and Omega 6 - 12/31/08 05:25 AM

I think something that needs to be taken into consideration is the difference in metabolism between gliders and humans. If humans ate as much honey, fruit and juices and sugars (Yoggies, Gliderade too), even some veggies (corn and green peas are super high in natural sugars!) in proportion to our weights, our livers would never be able to metabolize it all, and we would be diabetic. Not only diabetic, but high sugar (even natural) diets cause all sorts of issues like liver and heart disease. I think it is safe to say that gliders probably metabolize ALL substances differently than we do. Their systems are designed to use more sugars (natural of course) better than we are. Just something to think about...
Posted By: SugarBlossoms

Re: Omega 3 and Omega 6 - 12/31/08 06:27 AM

Peanut had a fatty liver too. (among many other factors) She had multiple problems going on. Her necropsy showed that she had been starved at one time causing serious damage. As far as diet, she originally came from PPP so who knows what she ate and how many joeys she had for them.

She was on a good diet for the last 8 mos. of her life but it was too late. frown We don't know her age but it was thought to be app. 8 plus years.

I started using the Eggland's Best eggs many months ago because it has less cholesterol.
Posted By: MatchMakerMagic

Re: Omega 3 and Omega 6 - 12/31/08 02:17 PM

Originally Posted By: BelladonnasMom
I think something that needs to be taken into consideration is the difference in metabolism between gliders and humans. If humans ate as much honey, fruit and juices and sugars (Yoggies, Gliderade too), even some veggies (corn and green peas are super high in natural sugars!) in proportion to our weights, our livers would never be able to metabolize it all, and we would be diabetic. Not only diabetic, but high sugar (even natural) diets cause all sorts of issues like liver and heart disease. I think it is safe to say that gliders probably metabolize ALL substances differently than we do. Their systems are designed to use more sugars (natural of course) better than we are. Just something to think about...


I absolutely agree. smile Though I know wild gliders and their systems are not consuming honey, gliderade, yogies, yogurt, etc. They forage and eat the items available in their environment and I’m positive their diets have lesser amounts of cholesterol/fructose/etc. They also have lean times in the winter which helps their bodies process the fats/cholesterol differently as the available foods decrease and they eat less.

Pet gliders are much further away from their wild cousins and I know we realistically cant mimic exactly their wild lifestyle. But I can't help but think with the health problems that are becoming more prevalent if its in the diets we are feeding. Or a combination of factors. I wonder how large a part of a wild gliders diet is egg? Or how much is actually nectar? What about pollen? I know these answers aren't out there right now, and we just have basic guidelines. But I sure wish we knew more about these components.
Posted By: hwh4ev

Re: Omega 3 and Omega 6 - 12/31/08 02:42 PM

i wonder what the australian zoo's feed their sugar gliders from the wild and how long they live. their diet is probally alot different than what we feed our babies.

regards,
nancy
Posted By: MatchMakerMagic

Re: Omega 3 and Omega 6 - 12/31/08 02:47 PM

This is the Taronga Zoo Diet (Sydney, Australia), and they feed this to the Squirrel Gliders and their Sugar Gliders.

Posted By: Anonymous

Re: Omega 3 and Omega 6 - 12/31/08 04:40 PM

WOW Kinue! That's really interesting. They use the original Leadbeaters, with 3 eggs instead of the one egg and 2 jars of chicken. I wonder if pinky mice would be comparable to the day old chick? And about that dog kibble... YUCK! I wonder if they use good stuff or just randome donated stuff. Surely its a good brand, not that I would EVER my girls "kibble".

Can someone with a better brain than mine do a nutritional breakdown of the Taronga diet and one of ours? Say BML since they feed Leadbeaters.
Posted By: CSteele

Re: Omega 3 and Omega 6 - 12/31/08 06:02 PM

Very interesting...food for thought!
Posted By: Dancing

Re: Omega 3 and Omega 6 - 12/31/08 06:22 PM

The bio availablitity of foods for wild gliders definately effects wild gliders much more different than our more constant diets for our captive gliders. Even wild gliders that love fruit, well, those fruits are not available year round. And I'm sure that wild gliders don't turn away from honey trees when they can find them. But again, that isn't a daily consumption of honey.

Our captive gliders are having joeys younger and younger and they are having way to many in one year. When I first got gliders, on average, captive gliders had 2-3 "litters" of joeys a year. My Dixie and Dexter averaged one "litter" every 9 months for the 6 years before he was neutered. Now so many are having them back to back to back and having 5-6 "litters" a year. This CAN'T be good on the poor girls. I contribute this change to consistant diets and also consistant temperatures, two things NOT found in the wild.

I know with humans, those that live in the northern states (compared to those in southern/warmer states), their metabolisms change through out the year to accomodate the changes of temperature (atleast those that don't keep themselves house bound or work inside all the time). It takes more energy to keep warm in the winter.

Could us keeping gliders at a consistant temperature and diet be effecting their metabolism and their ability to process the cholesterol and the frutose?
Posted By: Srlb

Re: Omega 3 and Omega 6 - 12/31/08 10:42 PM

How many gliders have actually died and been diagnosed with *Fatty liver* disease?

Or were you just told there was something wrong with the liver?

If any of you out there that have had a necrospy done on your glider and you were told it was fatty liver or liver issues, would you PLEASE fax over or have your vet fax over any vet reports or histopath reports to 361-643-6495

Dr. Tristan JUST left the store after checking out all my critters and of course we discussed this. He said he would like to see as many reports as possible and start doing some research on this, but he can not do it without the communitys help.

He also thinks part of the main problem is the LACK of enrichment. Our gliders know right where the food is when they wake up and just get to sit and eat it. He is also going to look into the fat that is in our diets. He said from the studies he has done in the past, as of right now, he is not too concerned with the fructose or the cholesterol levels, but if he sees enough reports showing him repeat numbers, it will give him more to look at.
Posted By: Dancing

Re: Omega 3 and Omega 6 - 12/31/08 11:05 PM

Chris (glidrz5) and Shelle (shelleriddle) have both had gliders die and necropsy showed "fatty liver". These are two that I know of. I don't know if Chris had a histopath done but I know that Shelle did not. Shelle has very limited (library) internet right now but I'll be seeing her tomorrow and I can ask if she has the vet report or can get it.

I talked to Bourbon about this and she said that with the formulation of BML, very close attention was paid to the fat content, especially the saturated fats, because of concern for how the fats would be processed by the gliders and it is as low as it could possibly be.

Bourbon did once again talk with me about Vit A toxicity. Vit A is stored in the body (the liver) and can build up to toxic levels. These toxic levels can cause cirrosis of the liver. Beta caradine is processed by the body and converted to Vit A as the body needs it but unlike Vit A, the body excretes (the excess beta caradine) what isn't used instead of storing it. This is why she uses the Herptivite in BML because it has beta caradine instead of Vit A.

Wambaroo (which I use in my diet) does have Vit A instead of beta caradine.

Could the Vit A be another puzzle peice?
Posted By: Srlb

Re: Omega 3 and Omega 6 - 12/31/08 11:44 PM

Quote:
Could the Vit A be another puzzle peice?


Something else that will have to be looked into.

He is really wanting to see as many reports as we can gather.

Even if it is not due to liver problems, there may be a common denominator in other areas that may just provide answers that we are looking for.

I am asking everyone to bog down my fax machine with as many reports as we can gather. We have to start somewhere and we have someone who has access to so many more things than we do. And communication with vets in different places, Australia included. So if we really want to find some answers lets start the new year out right.

Lets start by getting as much information together as we can. thumb
Posted By: glidrz5

Re: Omega 3 and Omega 6 - 01/01/09 01:17 AM

I sent my vet an e-mail and asked him to fax you the results of Seamore's necropsy.
Posted By: Srlb

Re: Omega 3 and Omega 6 - 01/01/09 02:02 AM

Thank you Chris. Also Chris what was Seamores weight?
Posted By: glidrz5

Re: Omega 3 and Omega 6 - 01/01/09 01:25 PM

I believe Seamore was in the 180's, or close to that. He was a fluffy boy.
Posted By: BCChins

Re: Omega 3 and Omega 6 - 01/01/09 02:29 PM

Originally Posted By: Srlb
He also thinks part of the main problem is the LACK of enrichment. Our gliders know right where the food is when they wake up and just get to sit and eat it. He is also going to look into the fat that is in our diets. He said from the studies he has done in the past, as of right now, he is not too concerned with the fructose or the cholesterol levels, but if he sees enough reports showing him repeat numbers, it will give him more to look at.


While reading this post one of my first thoughts was lack of exercise. In the wild gliders move about freely and often. How far in one night does a glider go? Maybe some of this is due to our gliders being in cages and not getting enough exercise for what we are feeding them??? I am sure this is not the entire reason but maybe it is contributing to it?
I think also when anyone has a glider sedated for neuters or other purposes they should try to get blood tests run. Add in a cholesterol panel and what ever else you can.
Posted By: MatchMakerMagic

Re: Omega 3 and Omega 6 - 01/01/09 04:26 PM

Originally Posted By: Srlb
I am asking everyone to bog down my fax machine with as many reports as we can gather. We have to start somewhere and we have someone who has access to so many more things than we do. And communication with vets in different places, Australia included. So if we really want to find some answers lets start the new year out right.

Lets start by getting as much information together as we can. thumb


agree I think getting the info into one place and then researched case by case is a great idea.

Peggy, do you plan on posting or putting the infomation found in all the records (parasites, necropsies, etc) in one place that others will be able to access as well? There will be ALOT to learn from this type of data.
Posted By: Srlb

Re: Omega 3 and Omega 6 - 01/01/09 04:34 PM

Kinue, yes. But one thing people need to remember, is you cant really go off of just one or two... And I would need the permission from each person who sent in info to sign a release form saying I can make their information public record. I am sure there will be some who would like to contribute to this, however, do not want their names/gliders to be known to the public, and that is fine too. They will just be anonymous.
Posted By: ValkyrieMome

Re: Omega 3 and Omega 6 - 01/01/09 04:53 PM

Originally Posted By: Srlb
He also thinks part of the main problem is the LACK of enrichment. Our gliders know right where the food is when they wake up and just get to sit and eat it.

My son and I were just talking about this last night! He was disturbed that they just wake up to eat. He asked about foraging ... not just for their treats, but for their entire meal! In his words "You could at least cover the food dish with eucalyptus leaves so they had to dig even a little bit!"

It made me think. And then, this post made me think more.

Don't have a solution... but ... I'm thinking!
Posted By: CandyOtte

Re: Omega 3 and Omega 6 - 01/01/09 09:42 PM

I think in addition to the necropsy reports and any labwork done at that time it would be necessary to have additional information on each of the gliders with respect to the diet(s) that were fed and for how long - if diet changes were made during their lives. Also some history of any illnesses they were treated for and the medications used during their lives.

That would give more complete study data. It would allow correlation of diet to those who developed fatty livers. Just the fact that many gliders show this at the time of necropsy without the other info does not give any real information other than - gliders get liver disease.

A long term study would show if one diet or another is more often related to the liver disease - the the components of the diet could be looked at more closely to see what changes would be needed.

If ALL the major diets are associated with liver disease - then we would need to learn how to modify them and continue to study the the changes that result.

It would also help to know the diets fet do gliders that live long lives and do not have liver disease a the time of death. The two groups could be better compared.
Posted By: MatchMakerMagic

Re: Omega 3 and Omega 6 - 01/01/09 09:48 PM

Good post Candy!
Posted By: MatchMakerMagic

Re: Omega 3 and Omega 6 - 01/09/09 03:17 PM

Bump smile
Posted By: Srlb

Re: Omega 3 and Omega 6 - 01/09/09 06:30 PM

In case folks need it again as I havent received any faxes as of yet...

Fax number is 361-643-6495
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