In Reply to: necropsy findings posted by Bourbon on June 16, 2000 at 12:30:03:

: We are working on the story about a glider that was very dear to not only our family but also the owners. He was very loved , spoiled, AE, and very bonded. Cost, love, nor anything else was ever an issue with him. He would spend as many as 12 hours with his owner, and when the slightest problem arose he was always at the vet, many times with out cause but always as a just in case. To make a long story short, (the full story will be on the realstories page when finished.) On wednesday he didn't eat much, but that happens sometimes, he played as normal during his play time she had noticed that he had urinated on her (not unusual), but this time it had a very strong odor. at 3 in the morning fri she had noticed he hadn't eaten anything, so she offered him his fav, the mealies. He ate one, but didn't eat the second. she was really puzzled, and watched him throughout playtime to see if he acted strangly, he was less active when he played this time. The owner was experienced with his eating habits and decided that to be safe she would take him in to the vet in the morning cause she was concerned, I was out of town at the time. Friday morn she woke up and noticed he was hanging on to the cage bars in a weak fashion, spending his loose time on the floor of the cage. she knew then something was seriously wrong, he was NOT a floor glider, he didn't have the light in his eyes. She took him to the vet asap, they ran all possible tests on him xrays showed his bone density was fine, no enlagement of any of his organs, the fecals came up good, but getting blood was not possible, although the vet had tried every possible place. A urinalysis wasn't possible cause he didn't urinate while he was there. giving him some Baytril, with instructions on possibly force feeding him. she left the vets, and he died 2 hours later. I ordered up the necropsy, and she signed the release. He was seriously over weight. but that too will be explained later..
: The necropsy report just came back that he had a total system shut down due to inadequet storage of food. basically it was food poisoning.. now as to what happened exactly we are not sure but the owner has been very honest with us regarding his diet (augghh) but that too will be explained.. but also simple things that others may or may not do. this was a painful learning experience for her. things that may have contributed to it..
: 1.the leadbeaters she was using had half thawed one time, she refroze it and continued to feed as usual. some people have left leadbeaters in the cage for a couple of days, because it wasn't all eaten.., that is also dangerous.
: 2.Because she wasn't consistant with the leadbeaters, she sometimes used baby food, but refrigerated it afterwards. she had set a time limit of three days out on the jars.. From what a physician had said, that once they are opened, you only have one additional day, those foods that she had also used as a licky treat was also on the 3 day rule for her, but remember that when you stick your fingers into the jar, that you are already contaminating the food, by allowing that food to remain for a couple of days, you also allow for it to produce the toxins.
: the final summary is .. please be careful as to how often the food is thrown out, and when.
: Each of his organs were affected with the toxins, which caused renal (kidney) failure. Even if she had taken him in wednesday, thursday, or fri morning at 3, the damage was already done. Gliders have very little time to react to the antibodies. Prevention is much better than any of these reports..

im so sorry......thank you boubon for letting us all know these important things....i am guilty of the baby food thing...and also, my casey still eats his leadbeaters the following day...i put it in his cage about ten or eleven at night and leave it there until the next day? is this also a no no?these animals are such delicate creatures, i just hope i never have to face an early death....im cautious now also, but like you say....they can die so quickly....ill be more careful with my baby food now...do you think it could have affected my baby already?ive been misusing it for about three months now? but hes been to the vet twice already and again tomorrow for neutering...should i ask the vet to check him for this?im scared now too!

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