In case anyone did not see my thread earlier, my boy Gizmo was neutered yesterday and over night at the vet he chewed open his sx site. They had to anesthetize him again and put an internal stitch in. When I picked him up from the vet I looked at him but I did not actually -LOOK- at the site to see if he had opened it up again. By the time I got home and set up the big cage for him and actually LOOKED at him he had chewed the site open again only this time much more than he had the first time..I called the Vet and had to rush him back up there for them to anesthetize him again (three times so far) they put more internal sutures in and fitted him with an e-collar.

Once they were finished I sat in my car with him in the cage on the passenger seat watching him and eating my breakfast at 2pm.. a few minutes later the e-collar was off and he went immediately for the incision site. I do mean..immediately! Took him back in (this all happened after the clinic closed) they fixed the e-collar, added some clue to the site (he did not pull out any of the sutures thank goodness) Then with some monitoring we noticed that he was trying to push the e-collar off and in doing so suffocating himself..So we bandaged his front feet so he could not get it off. After about 15 minutes of him struggling to get everything off and in a fit of crabbing I deemed him ready to travel back him..he spent the entire ride trying to get off the ecollar and has been unsuccessful at it. Thankfully..

He is so exhausted right now from fighting that he tries to sleep and then jumps up trying to get the collar and the "boxing gloves" off his feet..

He is on 0.02 of Metacam and some antibiotics to ensure it does not get infected after he opened it..

A warning to everyone who is new to gliders.. Keep a close eye on your babies! If they show any signs of self mutilation get them to a vet ASAP. Do not wait!!! If I had not checked on him once I had gotten him home there is a chance I could have lost him forever! Gizmo also over groomed himself on his hind legs while at the vet which is not something to ignore.. so please..if you learn anything from this learn not to wait and to have a glider savvy vet who you can trust with your babies.

I do not have pictures of what happened, I was too rushed to get him to the vet to take any pictures and I did not even take any while he was under anesthesia..

OH NOOOO!!! I am so sorry that happened! I hope he heals quickly!

He needs to keep the e-collar on until it is healed completely apparently. Did they send any pain meds? Maybe that's why he is SM.

Thanks Skyfire, I am hoping for a swift recovery.

Omis n Kais g-ma I am not taking this e-collar off him. I've even left a message for my boss to see if I can take him to work with me on Monday so I can keep an eye on him. The Metacam is pain meds, it is not what I would like since in large amounts can cause Kidney failure but he is getting such a small amount and only for a couple days. I'm not going to put him back with his brothers yet either.. I think I am going to pull an all nighter so I can feed him and monitor him.

I also believe he was messing with the site because he was feeling the pain. I was lucky with Alvin's neuter...we did pom on, he left it alone, and no e-collar was needed. I also kept him separated from his cagemate for a couple of days to make sure everything was healed up. Yes, it sure does not take them long to open up wounds or mess with stitches. I sure do hope he heals quickly and I hope the pain meds work well for him.

So sorry he's making you worry.

That terrifies me. I specifically attempted to stay away from Males cuz I didn't want to have to do the neuter thing but the little female I'm getting in a month has a twin brother and his sale/new owner fell thru so the lady I'm getting my girl from asked me if I wanted him....even gave me an extremely good deal price wise to entice me because she wants them to stay together. I caved and am now looking at having to neuter. I've been lucky and have never had any medical or emergency issues with any of mine, so willingly taking one to the vet knowing they will be cut open scares me to death!

Please keep us posted and if you have any advice I could use after this ordeal is all over I would greatly appreciate it.

Jazz I will keep everyone updated about him. The vet isn't open tomorrow but he said if I have any questions to call and he will check the messages a couple times tomorrow and call me back if I need anything.

Here are some of the mistakes I made and am regretting it...

The biggest thing is being attentive. Something I should have done when I picked him up from the vet should have been to look at the surgery site right away because sometimes they do not get the chance to look at them if they are busy with other patients. Sometimes a patient can slip through the cracks. In case you don't already, have an e-collar made up in case they need one. (Now that I have one I'll be keeping it on hand always) They definitely hate it. I knew gliders were rebellious and when they go after something..they will do anything they can to get to it.. I was just amazed at how determined he was to get the collar off so he could go directly to the incision site.

I can't say I was nervous yesterday..now I am even more paranoid and this is coming from a Vet Tech as well!

Obviously there are people who have their boys neutered without any problems, I just happened to be one out of many who has a glider that does mutilate. Please feel free to PM me. But I will post and answer any questions anyone has about this.

Before I agreed to take the little male I had called my vet to check on neuter prices. They told me they would schedule a consult beforehand so the vet and I could talk and they could measure him for an e-collar. That made me feel better....they will have an e-collar all set up for him.

And I know neuters are done every day with good results but as I mentioned, I've never had an issue with any of mine and I'm terrified my luck will run out sooner or later.

I'm definately sending very best wishes to you and your baby. I hope the pain meds really kick in so he has no desire to mess with his incision site.

Thank you Jazz, he's finally asleep in a large sleeping pouch on my stomach.

I even asked the tech when I picked up about an e-collar but I think she was new to the facility because she had never heard of gliders needing e-collars. >.<' at least I was able to have pain meds filled even though they thought he didn't need them.

Jazz you are a great mom! I'm sure when he is done you will be watching him every single moment to ensure something does not go wrong! It's good to keep what can go wrong in your mind so you know what happens if something does happen. I've read on here a millions times what can go wrong..it is hard believing that it has actually happened to me. We all wish it doesn't and when it does it is a feeling that can never be forgotten. :'(

If you don't already have them, get a couple bird silos from Walmart(or any Pet Store) so he can eat and drink with the e-collar on. They do hate the ecollars, but that is one of the reasons why it was recommended to me to have it on before the glider even wakes up - that way they focus on the e-collar rather than the incision, but seeing as gliders can fit through 1/2" bar spacing, the collar does have to be pretty tight for it to stay on!

I've never heard of bandaging up their feet, but if its staying on, then whatever works for now!

Set up a square hammock slightly dipped low in the cage for him to sleep in with a few blankies to cuddle up in.

Big hugs to you crazed_girl

And Sara, thanks for mentioning that. I'll definately ask my vet if she puts the e-collar on BEFORE he wakes. That's something I wouldn't have thought to mention.

I didn't have to use an e-collar at all. We did pom-on neuter (which I requested) because I had heard it wasn't as invasive. They used the glue instead of stitches so he wouldn't notice the glue as much as the stitches. She gave him a shot of pain meds before he came home, and I had him in his sleep pouch with me all day long making sure he wasn't going to mess with it. The first night I got no sleep at all, just making sure he wouldn't go chewing on the area. Pain meds are a must I think, because if he isn't in pain from it, then he would more than likely leave it alone. After a few days, I put him back with his cagemate and all was well.

Fazioli, I'd have to agree with you on the fact that he went after his sx site because he was in pain. Which is why I requested pain meds so I could give them to him when I got him home..sadly they did not give him any while he was there or else part of this may have been avoided. That and having an e-collar placed on before waking from his surgery.

I'm so sorry that you had such a rough time with a neuter. To put some minds at ease...I have had hundreds of neuters done with rescues and I have never had an SM. But all it takes is that one.
Always make sure that you have the vet show you the site before you leave. Recently I had a case where a lady who has bought several gliders from me wanted 2 of them neutered and I took them to my vet for her. Later that night she called and was worried that one of them looked "open" (pom off neuter) and was worried. I went over and checked him out. If I had not seen the neuter before I left I wouldn't have known whether or not there was cause for concern. As it was, the cagemate was grooming it and we pulled him and it healed perfectly.
Just knowing what it is supposed to look like will help you when dealing with the healing process.

A couple pictures I just took of him with his e-collar on. On the second one you can see where he over groomed himself on his hind leg. The last picture is the site now after it is stitched up.. There is another spot on the opposite leg where he over groomed as well. T













TheHomermomma you are 100% correct. I should have looked at the site before I left the clinic as I said before and I hope everyone else looks before leaving so they know what it should look like. Luckily I had my tech experience to know what it should not look like. Some people might think a small hole is normal..his hole was the size of a penny..that is not normal! no hole is technically normal but because of the size of it the vet wanted him back ASAP.

Awww...poor little guy! Thanks for posting this thread...it is a topic some aren't familiar with and especially what to expect and what can happen.

Just for anyone that doesn't know, you can purchase pre-made e-collars from TGI:

http://www.thegliderinitiative.org/tgistore.htm

Hopeing for a speedy recovery!

~Erica~

Poor little guy. So he didn't do this to himself and it was open a bit when you left the vets office?

He did do this to himself. He was left at the vets over night where they said he opened it up and they had to sedate him again to place an internal suture to close the small hole he had created. Apparently it was the size of a "small pimple" as the vet told me.. then when I picked him up I did not look at it to see what it looked like after the surgery..when I got him home and set the cage up for him I saw that it was now open to about the size of a penny (not exaggerating). I called the vet immediately and he informed me to bring Gizmo back up there..as soon as I walked in the door they took him and sedated him. I watched as they put new suture in and fitted him with an e-collar. He has yet to reopen the incision site.

I would like to give a BIG THANK YOU to PetLuv and Bourbon for their help throughout all of this! I was one scared glider save but you two have helped me out big time!

As an update, he is currently in his cage with water and his Original HPW mixture..able to get to his water bottle and the food with some extra effort. I'm being good by not helping him...It is taking a lot of resisting on my part but so far with the help of a good friend he's learning his new cage on his own. I'll keep everyone updated with his progress as the night goes on!

Do not be sad for him! He is a little trooper!

Go Gizmo Go! Who knew gliders in e-collars could use wheels!?!?!

I went through this a few years ago, and I know EXACTLY the stress you are going through. My Hercules was an absolute Houdini with his e-collar, so my vet devised this "diaper" that made it impossible for him to get back to his incision site:


That was one of the longest weeks of my life, keeping him in the little hospital cage, and staying up all night with the lights on as my vet recommended, to keep him from messing with the site. We made it through, though! After that, I made the decision that I would go to Timbuctu and pay whatever I had to for laser neuters...we were never going to go through a surgical neuter again in our house.

Hugs to you, go through this stressful time!

gnawww! The Diaper is very cute on his little butt!

He is one determined little man.<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by crazed_girl</i>
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Do not be sad for him! He is a little trooper!
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UPDATE!!

Last night was the longest night I've had in a while..I did not go into the cage and help him as he explored. He is able to climb to the top of the cage but does not hang from the ceiling. He would rather sleep on the bridge at the top than on the bottom however currently he is sleeping at the bottom of the cage because I disturbed him about an hour ago to apply the ointment to his little incision site.

Today the site is bruised, which I expected after all the trauma that it had, there is no major swelling and no discharge coming from it. All of these are good signs!

Teaching time! For some of you who are new to gliders and reading this any time something is swollen, discolored, or has any discharge (especially after a surgery) it is a good idea to get in touch with your vet to make sure these symptoms are normal after the procedure and do not wait to see if they go away. If you wait you could be putting your gliders future in your hands.. There could be some swelling depending on the procedure but normally there shouldn't be and any discharge coming from the surgical site can be a sign of an infection (again unless otherwise specified by your vet) and discoloration could mean an infection as well.

That is all.. :}

Awwww..I'm sooo sorry for all You two have been through..I hope he's better soon!

Wow! That e-collar is huge! But I guess it would be so he can't get to the site. I'm so sorry about all the vet trips but you are a good mom and so diligent! Your baby is in my thoughts!

Thank you both. ^.^

Yes the e-collar is huge! Lol. This one is the 'satellite' e-collar. If he had on the Shot glass e-collar it would not be as wide but more narrow like a shot glass!

I'm sorry to read about this.

I've been very nervous about neutering. They will be away overnight. It's the best thing to do, but this is not reassuring.

Best wishes!
Morgan

can't you put an e-jacket on them if they keep getting out of the e collar to prevent them pulling at the stiches or opening the site?