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Kiwi-Fox Glider   126 Posts
On Monday 11/28/11, I came home from my college class at 1:15. My boyfriend was with me, and we came home to eat some left over Thanksgiving food and clear out the fridge.
He walks over to where the glider's sleep, and he sees Bandit out and comments about him. I turn my attention to Bandit also, and see that he is pushing his little nose between the bars, out towards me, and pushing so hard he's squeezing his little eyes shut. I couldn't tell what to make of it, and thought he wanted some of our food, so I let him sniff, but he didn't sniff, he just kept pushing. So I open up the cage, and offer him my hand, and he doesn't change, then I get out the pouch, and offer him the pouch, he climbs around recklessly, and ignores the pouch... So I stopped, and took out all the toys and wheel on the bottom, and I just uttered "Oh God, please get in the pouch.." And I tried and tried, but he ignored it, untill I had to trap him and coax him in. So I turned to my boyfriend and said, "we need to go to the vet, <i>now</i>."
We go... and after the vet examines him... he said that Bandit was blind, and was suffering neuological damage.. He said that his movment was spirratic, and he was engaging in repedative behavior. The first thing he asked me was if I saw him hit his head... and I said no. Then the vet said it could be a possibility, but there was also a <i>rare</i> chance that he could have a brain parasite, pushing on nodes of his brain, causing his blindness and behavior... Bandit couldn't even walk.. his back legs just kick-kicked like a bunny, and his font did nothing, he looked so helpless...
So the vet offered an antibiotic, and he said that if it was an infection in his bloodstream, it should help, and if it was the parasite, this would also kill it... but by the time we left, he had no definite diagnosis...
By night, he only got worse, and he starting having "grand mal seizures" my Mom called them, where his hands would stretch out and tail in an unnatural tense-ness, and he would cry and cry and shake until it was over... We held him in our hands, taking turns to keep him warm, but it was when we moved or shifted, he had seizures, so we tried to remain as still and quite as we could all night long.
Eventually, Mom had to go to bed, and I stayed up with him all night to watch him, in hopes he would be awake to take his next dose, but, by midnight, he was quiet, his breathing was shallow, and he didn't even have the strength to eat, drink, or even hold his head up. I cried all night with him, and prayed to God and even started talking to Bandit that it was "ok if you want to go" and that I was "right here for you, I'm here." It killed me just watching him slowly fade away from me. And by 2:22 am, he had one last final seizure, the worst I'd ever seen, and he cried... he had this weak... helpless cry, and he squeezed my finger... and then just relaxed... and stopped...
I kissed him, and said that it was ok, and then he left...
I still can't stop crying... I can't even go to work, and my little girl Squee looks so lost all alone... I'm fighting so hard not to let this eat away at me, but I just can't. I don't know what caused his death, and why it was so sudden... and I'm losing sleep over it because I don't know what I'd do if I lost my little girl. I hope to God that she can't get sick from him, because I don't know if I could handle it.
Has this happened to anyone else...? Please help me, I'm absolutely devistated...
Something_To_Believe_In Face Hugger 647 Posts This sounds very typical of glider death patterns due to any number of causes of death. You could have a necropsy and histopathology to determine the cause of death. That is the only way you will know for sure what caused this and if it is contagious. Here is more information on necropsies: http://thesweetspot.forumotion.net/t806-some-questions-on-necropsies
And here is more information on the process gliders go through before death (for those that wonder): http://thesweetspot.forumotion.net/t1606-how-will-i-know-the-end-is-near
You are welcome to call me to discuss your options for necropsy testing. I am very sorry for your loss. Please just know that you are not alone. Kiwi-Fox Glider 126 Posts <blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by residualvisuals</i> <br />Found the necropsy link: www.sugargroup.org/Necropsy-Effort.html
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></font id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"> While we were leaving the vet, I told him "I don't want to think for the worst,... but it it comes to it, I want to donate him. When I was first reasearching about gliders, they told me about an organization that does 'autopsys' on gliders, and that they use it for research. And since I know you said that little is known about this parasite, if it is the parasite, I could help by donating him." He said that he would much appreciate it if we decided we wanted to donate him... So on the night he died, shortly after we sall said our goodbyes and Mom gave him a kiss, I wraped him in a little cloth, and closed him in a ziptight baggie, and put him in a small box and let him cool over night. I drove him directly to the vet the next day. It sounded like the vet was going to do the 'necropsy' himself, instead of shipping him. So now I'm just waiting to hear from the vet on his diagnosis...
Some photos from our members Kiwi-Fox Glider 126 Posts <blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by kyro298</i> <br />I'm so sorry this happened. Please consider getting that necropsy so we can learn about what may have caused this. I'm sitting here typing through tears remembering Kiki dying in my hands while holding onto my fingers. I was begging her not to die and to just wait until we got to the vet. I even held her FOREVER after she passed "just in case". Just in case what, I have no idea. I was a wreck. I wish I could tell you anything that will help. I really, really do. I'm just so incredibly sorry. <hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></font id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"> At one point I was begging him to just stay awake so I could give him his medicine, and I even got impatient, and tried giving it to him 3 hours early, but he wouldn't even look up at me or open his mouth... It was so hard for me to wrap him up, because I was thinking, "what if he's still awake, what if a little part of him is still in there?" and then I realized his tail and body were going into rigor... and that was the final wake up call, that he was gone. And... I just called my vet, and the secretary picked up. She said that he said that he didn't even do anything, because I would have to pay for them to send a brain sample. I asked how much that would cost, and she looked it up sand said $110, the same thing as it cost to take Bandit to see the vet... So I'm starting to think I should just pay to have him shipped to the organization, considering how much it would cost, JUST for brain lab work, not the whole examination... They stil have him on ice though... so nothing has decayed. I read they need the body within 72 hrs, but is that because of him not being cooled? It's not too late is it...? petluv15 Fuzzy Wuzzy   1500 Posts <blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by Kiwi-Fox</i> At one point I was begging him to just stay awake so I could give him his medicine, and I even got impatient, and tried giving it to him 3 hours early, but he wouldn't even look up at me or open his mouth... It was so hard for me to wrap him up, because I was thinking, "what if he's still awake, what if a little part of him is still in there?" and then I realized his tail and body were going into rigor... and that was the final wake up call, that he was gone. And... I just called my vet, and the secretary picked up. She said that he said that he didn't even do anything, because I would have to pay for them to send a brain sample. I asked how much that would cost, and she looked it up sand said $110, the same thing as it cost to take Bandit to see the vet... So I'm starting to think I should just pay to have him shipped to the organization, considering how much it would cost, JUST for brain lab work, not the whole examination... They stil have him on ice though... so nothing has decayed. I read they need the body within 72 hrs, but is that because of him not being cooled? It's not too late is it...? <hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></font id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"> The sooner its done, the better the results. If your vet can at least harvest the organs and put them in formalin, you can send them to the sugar group/val to have histopathology done at a lower cost. They are willing to do them up to 7-10 days. The sooner the better - so I'd say if you can have your vet do the harvesting, that would be the best way. Once the organs are in formalin, they can look at them anytime as they're preserved. The brain is taken whenever there has been a history of seizures - my new vet didn't charge extra for that though... Kiwi-Fox Glider 126 Posts I sent SUGAR an email and for them to get back to me. If possible, and if I have the money... which is going to be very hard for me to get, since I haven't been to work and I just spent a lot on going to the vet. I'll be waiting to hear from my vet or SUGAR, whoever contacts me first. Hopefully I can somehow find a way to afford this, because I know it's time sensitive... Something_To_Believe_In Face Hugger 647 Posts Actually, it is best to send the entire glider for testing. Sending just the organs saves some money on shipping, but won't always find answers. The glider needs to be REFRIGERATED (not "on ice" and not frozen) until shipping. Shipping instructions are very specific. You are welcome to contact me any time for instructions. A body begins to break down at the moment of death. This is why time is of the essence. Every minute that passes, more tissues break down. Refrigerating the body slows this process down but does not stop it. So, if the body is properly preserved, then a good pathologist can find answers up to 2 weeks after death. We use only veterinary pathologists for SUGAR group testing. Kiwi-Fox Glider 126 Posts Thank you everyone for your kind words, it really does mean a lot to me that all of you are so kind and understanding. I've never really had to go through something like this before, and my Mom can see it too, she worries for me. This is probably the hardest thing I'll have to face for a very long time, and it's even harder to realize that some day my little Squee will leave too. The only way I'm coping with it is to just not think about it and to hope that she'll pass quietly and not how Bandit did. Some of you know his story, when I first joined GG, and some of you don't. So I'd like everyone to know that Bandit meant a lot to me... He came from an sad home and was neglected. He was purchased through PPP, and he lived in a towel at the bottom of a 2 x 2 x 2ft cage, the first year of his life, alone, in a room that always had the door closed. The only thing he had to look forward to in that first year of his life, was if he would be getting an apple that day to eat, if that ever came. Eventually, he started ripping out his fur in patches, and lost about 40% of the hair on his entire head, due to stress, and he begain pacing every night, and jumped in the same 3 places until he was exausted. One day, I just couldn't take watching him be neglected, and I "offered" (more like forced) to take him home, where I would take care of him. It took nearly a year and a half for him to finally come as far as he has. He stopped mutilating, and biting, and he even began to recognize the human hand as something loving, not hateful. He loved Squee, and Squee was the best thing he'd ever had in his life. She was a present, just for him, and she loved him back. Bandit even got to the point where he would allow me to pet him, without running away, and he even learned to go into the pouch when offered. I'm so proud of my little boy, I'm so proud of his will to fight and live. I'm so proud that I rescued him from that home, and that he got to see more of life than the bottom of a dirty cage. I'm glad he got to experience his first love, mate, and get some "booty" and that he got to try exotic new foods like honey and kiwi, even some yogurt. I'm proud to say that I loved him,... and I miss him. He will always be my little fighter, my little mischievious Bandit. so sorry for your loss, at least he got a good life with you and passed on with a loving mom and mate. My thoughts are with you and your little furry fuzz butt
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