SHARING STORIES

Members are encouraged to share stories of gliders who have experienced an amputation so that others can learn from it. Please share with us anecdotal information that is useful for owners or veterinarians, including:

* Symptoms you first noticed
* Tests vet ran to come to this diagnosis
* The treatment prescribed by vet
* Aftercare provided by yourself (include any help you received from community members if you like)
* Recovery information or notes that might be helpful to others
* The results of treatment.

Photos are encouraged IF they help to teach or provide examples.

I received a glider last night from a woman who lives less than 2 miles from me. I found her through trial and error, discovering along the way that I knew her 5 years or so ago before she had gliders. She got gliders from PPP 2 years ago and the glider she brought to me was the youngest of the PPP gliders' 6 joeys that have been born since 2008.

Tracking her down was no easy task but once I found her and was able to talk to her it was obvious that she had a glider in severe distress that needed help. The woman's name is Sherie and the glider's name is Little One.

Sherie brought little one to me last night fairly late. It was painfully apparent that this was a BAD injury and that this glider needed a vet ASAP. Sherie signed the glider over to me, and I had Little One at my vet's office this morning before the vet as even there himself. This photo shows what I found when Sherie got Little One to me last night:



I wish I had a picture of what the WHOLE tail looked like... but I will describe it as: the last 3rd was black, shriveled and dead with bone protruding. The remainder was swollen, infected,a nd covered with bites and chew marks. The whole thing was hairless except for a tiny patch of short, new-growth fur on the 1/4 inch near the butt where there was still healthy tissue.

The vet did a wellness exam and pronounced that other than the tail and being a bit malnourished from a poor diet (catfood, apples, papaya, and yogurt with the ocassional boiled egg) she is fine. Not ill, not otherwise injured, and no parasites of any kind. She is fairly skittish and obviously has not been handled much, as well. The tail, he said, obviously needed to come off as the bone was infected and the infection was spreading. He said there were no obvious indications of what caused the break that did the original damage to the tail- IE no bite marks or anything int he area where the necrosis had obviously begun. The amputation was completed within tthe hour and she woke up in my hands and then groggily went back into her pouch and back to sleep once I calmed her down.

She came out for a drink when we got home... she then curled up and spent the day sleeping in a wodent wheel I keep on hand for rescues. She looked up every time I checked on her but slept the majority of the day. She is no longer messing with the area at all and her appetite is voracious! This is what the tail looks like tonight:



She is doing much better now and I am hopeful that she will continue to do well. I just wanted to share the story.

Gabby arrived at my home having been newly introduced into a colony of 5. Knowing that the introduction was new, I was watching them closely. I could hear fighting at night, but never could catch them by the time I got into the room.

One morning not long after they arrived at my home, I went to give treats (like I do every morning) and found Gabby with her tail in this condition:




In total, Gabby had 10 bites to her tail - all of which broke the skin. We tried our best to save the tail, but after 4 days, it was necrotic and an amputation of all but about 1 inch of her tail was necessary.

Gabby healed fantastically. No e-collar was necessary, and she never even removed her stitches!!! She is an amazingly sweet baby. Today, you would never know she had ever suffered any injury.

Gabby will not be returned to the cage mates that injured her. She is currently seeking new cage mates.

I'm so glad she's doing well. I really need to get my stories up soon. However, I will say that when Lan had his tail amputated 5 days after I got him - and I was brand new to gliders no matter how much I thought I knew those 3 years and 4 months ago (and I'm still learning every day!) His tail healed wonderfully without e-collar, as well. It was touch and go for a while, but he left it alone (once the stitches and glue had been removed by him) and so did his family. Thank goodness.

Diesel

Diesel was a rescue that came to me pretty beat up (by new cage mates - don't put intact, unrelated males together, folks). He had a broken and necrotic tail, a necrotic foot, a facial abscess and a fractured hip. (yes, that is his foot in the bottom of this pouch, not a twig)


I took him immediately for emergency care and was lucky enough to get to observe the entire surgery.

His facial abscess was lanced, drained and cultured


Tail was cleaned up and leg was amputated


Diesel recovered very well, except that he is still clumsy with that hip. He never messed with any of his surgical sites. He has had a few more facial abscesses to date, moves very "normally" despite amputation, and not lives happily with two cage mates (F & NM).

"Lucky" came to me on August 4, 2012 after he and his two cagemates were surrendered to the Montgomery County Animal Shelter in Maryland. His tail was partially degloved and broken.



After consulting with Dr. Walsh, the vet performed his tail amputation. He came home with me, with both antibiotics and pain meds and was placed in a separate cage, without the use of an e-collar. For the next 2 days, he worked on getting the extra stitches out that the vet had placed at the amputation site without causing damage. On the morning of day 6, I found that he was now working on the inside stitches. I re-started pain meds and left him to tend to the stitches, no e-collar, only ensuring that he wasn't doing more damage to the tail. This continued for approximately 2 days.



We're on day 11 now and he has left the tail alone for 3 days.



He is clearly feeling better and for the first time last night, was out running in his wheel. Just monitoring his progress at this point as he continues to heal.

Took this picture yesterday of Lucky's tail. You can see that it has now scabbed over, he's no longer bothering it and it's healing nicely. :)