Fecal testing is important!!! (Johnnas story)

Hey everyone. I was asked to come here and post my 'lil Johnna's story, and share why fecal testing is one of the MOST IMPORTANT things you need to do if your glider is showing signs of an illness, such as not looking or behaving quite right..... i.e. just ADR (ain't doing right).

A little history...

Johnna was given to me by a friend who found her on Craigslist over a year ago. When she picked Johnna up at the house - literally a mobile home on bricks - the home was filthy. Johnna's cage was caked in feces, food, and lord knows what else. Johnna lived in a rusty bird cage with a metal wheel and a cardboard box. She had lived like this her entire life (approx. 7-9 years). My friend took her home and did a little research. But it was not nearly enough research, as she went by the information given to her by the people she got Johnna from. The cage was cleaned, a new box given, and Johnna had the freedom to go in and out of her cage unsupervised in a spare room.

My friend admitted that she had no idea how much care she required, and asked if i wanted her. I said "sure". As a newbie myself, I did some research and got Johnna a new cage, pouches, toys, etc. She was VERY crabby and could not be handled. I went in search of a friend for her, as she had lived alone for 2 years ( her mom had died 8 months before my friend got her). She came to me very small, stained, and would defecate in her pouch. She has done well on Darcy's Diet, gaining weight, but remaining extremely crabby. I took her (and her 2 new friends) to the vet. The vet looked her over, but did NOT order any tests (I was unaware at that time that she should have). She told me that she was old and needed to gain weight, so keep her on Darcy's diet. A month went by and I noticed that Johnna had a foul smell, had feces accumulating on her fur, and she wasn't eating right. I went back to the vet, this time a different one. The vet looked her over and I was told that she was probably at the end of her life and it would not be long before she died. I was DEVASTATED, but knowing her history, I wasn't really surprised. She had lived in such a bad environment for so very long.

That's when I made the phone call to Val Betts.

Val told me to have a fecal test done. We did the fecal test and found that Johnna had a severe bacterial infection. By this time she was no longer eating, drinking or coming out of her pouch. With the vet and Val's help, a plan of action was made and we started on the path to recovery.

Johnna was given a potent antibiotic injection, and then started on a 21 day round of oral antibiotics. I had to use a syringe and glider-aide to get her to take fluids. It was very touch and go. I prayed for Johnna every night, as she was so sick. After a week on this treatment, Johnna started drinking on her own. She started eating mealies like they were going out of style, and stopped being so crabby (she's still a bit crabby, but not nearly as bad as she had been). If I had known about fecal testing, and pushed for it at the very first vet visit, I would have been able to tell if Johnna had the infection when I got her or if she had recently acquired it. If she had come to me with the infection I could have caught it earlier and saved her a lot of suffering...

Luckily this story has a happy ending. Johnna is doing well today. She is eating, playing and rarely crab's unless I'm messing around in the cage. She waits at the door for me at dinner time, and I can now pet her without her biting me. She's in the process of being introduced to my colony and is doing well. I still pay close attention to her weight and her eating habits. She lost a gram and a half throughout this ordeal, and I'm watching her closely.

Again...., fecal testing can save your gliders life. Instead of losing my 'lil Johnna, I have her to love for as long as the good lord lets me.

I'm so glad this story was shared here where it will not be lost (as it will be on FB).

Just to add a bit to the story, what I told her was to go to the vet and have all tests run. When your glider is ill, the basic tests (fecal exams, urinalysis, etc.) become MORE important, not less important. So, I told her not to take "she is old" for an answer and to go get some testing done. Turned out, they didn't have to do much beyond fecals because she was so loaded with bacteria that they knew they had to address that right away. What a difference it made. Little Johnna is here today because TESTING found the cause of her symptoms and an appropriate treatment plan was able to be formulated.

Those tests are just so, so important folks.

I am so glad Johnna is doing well.
I would also like to add to this post if I may.

When we say fecal and urine tests, please have cultures done also. It is expensive but it can also save you some money if something is found right off the bat. You can spend lots of money doing other tests when in the long run you might
have saved by doing a culture first.

This past March, Magoo was not looking nor was he acting right. It pays to know your glider's actions, personality and eating habits as this is how I knew something was wrong. We did an exam found nothing really that stood out. His
regular fecal was negative. After a day or so I felt his feces smelled off so I did a culture on him and low and behold he has a
bacterial infection. He was on meds for a month and recovered. Again, had I not done a culture, he might not be here.

Very good posts! So glad Johnna (& Magoo, too, of course!) is doing well now. So glad you went with the tests.

Fantastic story and such a great reminder for all! Thank you for coming to share!