Sunday morning, as soon as I woke up I checked on the gliders as I do every morning. The right side of Benji's face looked a little swollen but he is a chunky little man, so it was difficult to tell anything by just looking. Afer getting him out of the cage, I started feeling around and felt a small pea sized lump under his chin. My heart sank as I know how serious facial abcesses are.

Of course, it's a Sunday... After calling the two vets I always use and finding out they were BOTH out of town, I called the emergency vet clinic in St Louis and they wouldnt see him. PANIC set in. I kept Benji with me all day making certain he was eating and drinking. He wasnt dehydrated. Watched him all night Sunday night.

Monday morning, the abcess didnt seem any worse but also not any better. I called the Sullivan Vet clinic as soon as I got to work. The one vet that is not glider knowledgeable but will try her best was out of town until Wednesday. PANIC again!!! At lunch time, I went home and checked on Benji again. Still no better but no worse. But I knew something had to be done and soon.

I drove over to the Sullivan vet clinic and asked them if they would give Benji a shot of Convenia - an antibiotic that stays in their system for about 2 weeks. They did a vet consult but didnt tell me who they spoke to. Anyway, they gave me a syringe of convenia and another of torb (pain med). They wouldnt give Benji the shot. I told them I knew how to sub-q and could do it myself. They sold me the shots. I went back home and gave them to Benji. (thank God for an understanding boss)

My vet called me Wednesday morning and said he was back early and could see Benji that afternoon. I was able to arrange getting off of work to drive over an hour to get him the the vet in St Louis. By the time I got there, Benji's abcess had started draining which is good.

My vet and I discussed how to proceed since the abcess had drained and decided to see how things go for the next couple of days. IF I see any indication of the abcess filling again, I will take him back for an x-ray to determine if its a dental problem and will take it from there.

Please check your gliders - hands on - every day so any problems are caught right away. And.... most vets will not just give you meds for your gliders. I was fortunate that I have worked with all these vets for several years and they trusted I knew what to do. My exotic vet said giving the convenia an torb was the right thing in THIS particular situation.

Im sorry this is so long. I just cant stress how important it is to have a relationshp with more than one vet!!!

To add to the above - this morning, Benji's face has a little scab on it so it appears he is on the mend for now. However, he is still not out of danger with this...

Rita-I am going to pray for your little boy, and it is amazing how knowledgeable you were with this situation. You knew right away what meds he needed, and even gave the medicine! Not many of us would have the patience or stomache for that, so you go girl! Is it possible for you to get a picture of it? Are you still keeping him separated?

And yes-I also suggest that everyone has a good vet. Even if you just got your babies-you need to be aware of a vet for situations like this. I also agree that you should give each of your suggies a good once over 'physical' (at least by eye sight) once a day because something like this could have easily been overlooked and caused a lot of suffering for that animal.

Rite - So glad he seems to be getting better already. Give little Benji some extra scritches from everyone on here (and our suggies of course) :)

awww, so sorry to hear that, Rita :( Glad he's on the mend!

Since Benji is a little chubby, it was not as noticible on him as it would have been with most gliders. So, no, I dont have any pictures of it. Right now, he has a small scabby feeling place under his chin so it seems like it is drying up.

Thank you for the compliment. When something like this happens, you have to be aggressive in finding help any way you can.

Like I said before, facial abcesses have a habit of returning so Benji will have to be watched for awhile. Bless his little heart, he would not allow the vet or vet tech to examine him, but he allowed me to hold him, turn him on his back and push his face up so the vet could see under his neck.

I didnt really "know" if what I did was the right thing, but thought it certainly wouldnt hurt either. I am a huge fan of Val's (something to believe in) and religiously read every word she writes. She has worked with many ill and injured gliders and knows her stuff. Got to The The Sweet Spot. I dont have the link at this computer but if you type in " the sweet spot - sugar glider it will come up for you. EXCELLENT place for medical information. (No, Val didnt tell me to do what I did with Benji and its not something everyone should take upon themselves to do)

Sullivan, MO?

totally where I'm from!

So glad everything is going ok. :) I'm glad your vets trusted you enough t sell you the shots!

quote:

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Originally posted by knd2m2

Sullivan, MO?

totally where I'm from!

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You're from Sullivan, MO??? Seriously??? You mean Im not alone with my madness in this little hobunk town!!!

Dr Kimberly Stuart is the only one at Sullivan vet that will attempt to see sugar gliders. She is not an exotic but really wants to learn about gliders. She is not opposed to doing vet consults, thankfully!

joeymum - yes, I was fortunate the Sullivan Vet Clinic sold me the meds Benji needed!

Rita You and Benji are in our Prayers You really made me realize how important it is to check your babies daily. Especially us with (chunky Monkeys) We always look for any behavior changes but didn't think of full body check I know by the time they show behavior changes its probably pretty bad,since its a sign of weakness in wild. I hope your posts helps others as much as it did me. I couldn't imagine somthing happening to Laci or Kailee because we didn't take the time to learn everything we could about them. When we became parents we also took on that responsibility,Just like we did with our human babies, Thanks again, Please keep us posted Tell Benji Kailee and Laci Know he will be ok with such Mom watching out for him.

Forgot to mention WE also got in touch with 2 backup glider vets in our area and our vet was the one that recomended them to us! I think it shows she is truly concernd for there well being.

Thank you, Jaime! I'll be sure to tell Benji well wishes are headed his way.

You have made my day!!! The whole purpose of this forum is to learn from each other and if one glider owner heard, that means there is a glider who will be cared for. We all need to share our experiences, no matter how good or how bad.

With Benji, there was no scratch, no bite - nothing to indicate what has happened to cause infection. Their health can change in an hour or two.

The medical aspect of glider ownership is so important. It's constantly growing and evolving. One of these days, with each others help - we may just get it all right!

You're amazing Rita!
Great post and amazing interventions here.

Reminds us to stay on our toes.

So far, so good with Benji! He still has a scab under his chin. It doesnt appear to be draining anymore. I will have to feel it a couple of times a day to see if it is filling up again.

The other gliders are not bothering Benji's scab, which is anther concern that has to be watched..

Benji's abcess looks really good again today. Just a hint of a scab. I will continue to check on him a couple of times a day.

Rita, I've had such a crazy week, I'm just now reading this. I've still been dealing with Hercules' dental abscess issues myself. It's not looking good here. Probably some oral surgery...seriously, on a glider?!

Glad to read that Benji's on the mend!

Rita, Glade to here Benji is doing better, I have been buisy and didn't get a chance to check forum .Today the first thing I checked was to see how he was doing. Glade to here he is on the mend. Thanks again for the helpful info your right it is SO IMPORTANT for us to all share info so we can be the best parents for our Babies!

Benji is doing very well. So far, no sign of his abcess returning. BUT I do have to continue to watch him as most abcesses do return. He get checked before I go to work each morning and before I go to bed a night,

He has Convenia (sub-q antibiotic) in his system which should last a couple of weeks. Hopefully, it was nipped in the bud in time.

Anyway, so far, so good. Yayyyyy, Benji!!

Mollysmom - how is Hercules? Did he have to have oral surgery?

Great to here YA!!!!!!

Benji thanks you!