My "Ozball"

My beautiful and wonderful baby boy is gone. I lost my young Ozzie yesterday evening. It was a long and heartbreaking day for both of us and though we tried to figure out what was going on, we simply didn't have enough time. We spent hours at the vet after I found him barely responsive in the morning. Blood work had to be sent out rather than done in-house because of some issues with his blood but he hung on so I chose to bring him home to give him supportive care in hopes that he'd hang on until we could get some answers. He did hang on, but only until we had been home for about 30 minutes. He passed comfortably and peacefully in my hands and close to my heart.

Though we have a couple of things to go on of what it "could" be from the testing that was done, I'm choosing not to make any guesses or suppositions until a full necropsy & histo are done by The SUGAR Group. We will hopefully have some definitive answers in the next couple of weeks.

My heart is broken, he's taken a piece with him. I can't quite put into words where I am right now and I don't think I've quite wrapped my head around what's happened. I know the pain eases as time goes on but right now, I hurt like mad and want to wake up from the dream. Thank you, Val, for being my support system on such a crazy day for you. I'm so thankful to have you in my life.

My sweet, sweet Oz. I'll miss our meatballs and kisses. Mama loves you - always.

Aimee I am sorry for your loss of Ozzie.
Please feel free to call me if you need anything. I am up all night so if you wake up and need to lean please do not hesitate to call me.

Aimee, I am so sorry for your loss. Nothing we can say will make it better, but I do want to thank you for having the necropsy and histopathology done. I know you are doing it for yourself as well as Ozzie and all gliders and I hope you get some answers and find peace. Again, I am so sorry.

I am so sorry, Aimee. Sending a big hug....

Thanks, everyone. There was no question on the necropsy/histo - for Oz, for me, for all gliders in the future. It's just so important.

I appreciate your thoughts and I'll keep you updated when I get the results. I miss my little boy so much.

Thank you. Ozzie is on his trip to see Val. He will arrive tomorrow.

We did get the bloodwork back today from the vet (was done when I first brought him to the vet) and it showed some pretty significant elevations in liver numbers. Will be anxious (and nervous) to hear the results of the necropsy.

Aimee, just wondering if you got the results back yet on Ozzie?

Yes, we have the results and I will post them in the next day or so. I've had a few things going on here at home that have kept me from the boards the last few days so I apologize for not posting sooner. Will get them up shortly. :)

As promised, here are necropsy findings.

Ozzie had Yellow Fat Disease, which resulted in fat necrosis that ultimately caused his death. His blood work from our vet visit (received the Monday after his death) showed elevated liver values, which led us to believe that we were surely looking at a liver issue and that turned out to not be the case at all. However, because the pancreas and liver work hand in hand, the pancreatic dysfunction likely caused the odd liver numbers.

Because Yellow Fat Disease has thus far not been shown to be an issue in gliders, it's something we'll definitely be looking into and having sent Oz to The SUGAR Group, I'm happy that they now have the data, as well, and can do their own studies.

I am so sorry to hear this Aimee. It is never easy loosing one of our babies.

Is there any tests you can do to see if it is affecting any of your other gliders as well?

Did they suggest you increase your Vitamin E? Do you have any idea what could cause the high fatty acids?

Although it has not been an issue in gliders, have there been any others out there that have been diagnosed with this? Its the first I heard of it in gliders.

ETA:Again, I am so sorry you are going through this, but would like to thank you for sending Oz off. Its never an easy choice to make, but when they have findings like this, it makes their passing not in vain as it gives us something new to learn and look at.

Yes, I suppose there are other tests, but I don't feel testing on them is necessary at this point.

Keep in mind that Steatitis is most commonly found in cats. That said, Vitamin E is included in my glider's diet, along with the rescues in my home, and no other glider has exhibited signs or symptoms like Ozzie. In regards to the fatty acids, it's clear that Ozzie had some sort of dysfunction of his digestive system and wasn't storing fat properly. Again, we just don't know enough about this in gliders to say what, specifically, would cause this. Val, if you have more to add on this, please do.

My understanding is that this diagnosis has not been seen in other necropsies done by The SUGAR Group, but because not everyone sends their gliders to them, we obviously won't hear of other cases if they are out there. There are also those people who have gliders die and they don't have a necropsy done at all. This is why I strongly encourage everyone to have a necropsy AND histopathology done should their glider(s) pass away.

Actually, this WAS an easy choice and one I'd make over and over again. The findings may not help right away, but if there's even a small chance that we can learn more about this and help gliders in the future, it'll make it all worthwhile.

Aimee is correct. Her diet does include sufficient amounts of vitamin E with an option to add more to the occasional batch. Nonetheless, I am looking at it again to ensure that the vitamin sources are all usable (i.e. absorbable). This diagnosis has several possible causes, only one of which is diet. But, because diet IS one possible cause, I am going to give it my full attention (for those who don't know, Aimee feeds my diet plan).

This case is particularly interesting to me, as it would seem that, just like my Cheddar did not synthesize vitamin C for himself as he should, Ozzie was not able to store fat or use vitamin E as he should. I hope we can one day make sense of these cases and understand the whys and hows, but I also hope that we don't see any other cases like them, so it is a double edged sword.

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My understanding is that this diagnosis has not been seen in other necropsies done by The SUGAR Group

This is correct.
As is true in science, the greater your sample base, the greater the number of things you see pop up will be. As we collect more and more data for our research, we are finding that many illnesses/diseases that plague other animals are also found in sugar gliders. It is just so important for the future of all gliders that every single death be studied.

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Actually, this WAS an easy choice and one I'd make over and over again. The findings may not help right away, but if there's even a small chance that we can learn more about this and help gliders in the future, it'll make it all worthwhile.

Something_To_Believe_In wrote:

Quote :

My understanding is that this diagnosis has not been seen in other necropsies done by The SUGAR Group

This is correct.
As is true in science, the greater your sample base, the greater the number of things you see pop up will be. As we collect more and more data for our research, we are finding that many illnesses/diseases that plague other animals are also found in sugar gliders. It is just so important for the future of all gliders that every single death be studied.

Quote :

Actually, this WAS an easy choice and one I'd make over and over again. The findings may not help right away, but if there's even a small chance that we can learn more about this and help gliders in the future, it'll make it all worthwhile.

Couldn't have said it better myself.

Thank you, Aimee & huge hugs & love to you!

Thank you so much, Brenda. It's bittersweet because I hate that Oz had to go so soon, but I love that his information can be kept and possibly used in the future. He was a sweet, giving boy in life, so I'm hoping he can be so where he is now, too. :)

Thank You Aimee

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This case is particularly interesting to me, as it would seem that, just like my Cheddar did not synthesize vitamin C for himself as he should, Ozzie was not able to store fat or use vitamin E as he should. I hope we can one day make sense of these cases and understand the whys and hows, but I also hope that we don't see any other cases like them, so it is a double edged sword.

It is very interesting to me as well. Anything to do with the digestion system of these little guys gets the best of my curiosity every time.

Please do not think I was blaming diet, I am the LAST person that would blame a diet with just one case being out there. I know full well diet is not always the first thing to look at. We need to look at the variety of causes that could be in play, not just what would be the easiest solution.

However, I do know how it does affect cats and other animals as well that is why I asked if there were any kind of testings to show if any of the other animals were showing early symptoms. Like would a bile acid test be able to show 'this' particular thing if it were taking place with other gliders? (I ask because I am not certain, I will ask Tim)

The reason I asked if there were other cases out there is to see if there were any commonalities.

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As is true in science, the greater your sample base, the greater the number of things you see pop up will be. As we collect more and more data for our research, we are finding that many illnesses/diseases that plague other animals are also found in sugar gliders. It is just so important for the future of all gliders that every single death be studied.

Could not agree with this more.

When we were at the vet before Oz passed, x-rays were done and there was nothing remarkable. So, the next thing was blood work. Though my vet runs their blood in-house, they were unable to do so with Oz's because the blood was full of fat. So at first glance, we thought maybe fatty liver. Since this is reversible in some animals, we were hoping that with a temporary change in diet (Critical Care) and another supplement, it might help him to come back from whatever was happening. Of course, he passed that evening but the following week, we got the blood results from the vet. One of the tests done WAS a bile acid test, and Ozzie's numbers were very high. Again, the first thought in this case was liver dysfunction but then you've got the question of WHAT is causing the liver dysfunction because there can be so many causes. So while a bile acid test may give us an indication that there is something going on, it isn't going to get us immediately to the root of the problem so then what? How much testing do you put your glider through until you maybe come up with an answer?

Now...if my glider is going to be neutered, or has to otherwise be put under anesthesia then yes, I suppose I could opt to have my vet do blood work as a simple diagnostic test. But I won't put a seemingly healthy glider under just to do it.