I'm posting this in hopes that maybe it will help someone else along the way. This will most likely read like a badly written story so I apologize. Also please keep all opinions on hold until you've read it all. I'm not a newb and IMHO if I wasn't an animal care giver myself I don't know that this would have worked out as well as it did. This starts back in July during the weekend of the forth.

My husband and I were away for a week and has just retrieved our booblers (what we refer to our crazy pair) from their baby sitters house. I'm very fortunate to work at an Aquarium so our vets are versed with exotics. I trust this individual with their lives without hesitation, she cared for colony during a residency at one facility. When we returned home we had the good fortune of our AC unit going out... We did what we could to keep our critters cool, fans, water, at one point they were in the basement since it was the coolest place to be. On July 3rd I noticed Petrie was ravenous for water. He drank and drank and drank. I thought he was dehydrated :/ Later that evening we moved them back into their room upstairs (The AC was fixed that afternoon) and we brought them dinner. Altair, the fat boy, wasted no time hitting the food. Petrie has always been the slower, more pensive, reserved one so it wasn't too alarming that he didn't lunge right for the food. He didn't eat though. He wouldn't take anything. Not even treats. We tried applesauce, yogies, maple syrup, nothing worked. I quickly ran downstairs and whipped up an egg. He took to that eagerly. After scarfing it up he hoped to the top of the cage, and this is where it goes downhill. He stated shaking his head and egg bits came flying out. He vomited. Okay maybe a fluke right? He did it again. Without hesitation we found an exotic vet open at 10:30pm the day before Independence Day an hour away.

We packed Petrie and his brother up and drove an hour to the ER. We took Al just in case it was contagious and to ease the stress. Once we arrived they took him gave him anti biotics and sub Q fluids. and told us to monitor. We kept him in the travel cage in our bedroom to keep his brother from stressing him out while he rested. The on call vet instructed us to call the next morning if he didn't look better and they would do something else for him. At this point we were given oral metro and oral baytril. He didn't look better. His eyes were half closed and his fur was visibly cracked. Overnight he tanked. We rushed him back first thing in the morning. 5 mins before we got to the vet they called us (mind you this is 4th of July) they couldn't actually do anything else for him.... We told them we were almost there and wanted to at least get him another round of sub q fluids. The agreed and gave us 6 more premade needles to take home. We kept Petrie in a travel back pack (it was for our ferret who passed) and watched him all day. Coaxing him to eat small bits of food and pedialite. He just looked so sad. The day drug on with us watching him sleep, and continuing to try to keep him hydrated. Then came the sub Q fluids. I have never been comfortable injecting anything and it's one thing I refuse to do at work. I sucked it up for Petrie, I don't know who it hurt more. :(

We decided to put the brothers together to see if it would help calm petrie and ease Altair's anxiety. It was clear Al missed Petrie because the second they were together he bear hugged him and just held his bro. As the night continued Pete still looked terrible and then his breathing started to get quicker. It was clear he was struggling. He was breathing 3xs faster then he should have been. We called another ER vet (an hour away in the other direction) and talked to the on call nurse there. She gave us an appointment the next morning with the vet on staff and told us to keep him calm and if it got worse to bring him in. Petrie was still spending the night in the travel cage.

The next morning we booked it to the new vet. Petrie was put into an oxygen chamber given another round of antibiotics and Valium to calm him. He spent the rest of the day at the vet and overnight for observations. The next day the results were in..... Petrie was full of fluid in his celomic cavity and his lungs causing his difficulty to breath. Then came the real punch in the gut, he has heart diseases. How could this happen? There were a few possibilities on the table. He could have been born with heart disease and could explain why he was always less rambunctious, or he could have contracted toxoplasmosis. There is very little known about the treatment for toxoplasmosis and recovery in sugar gliders and the vet needed to do some digging. His xrays were terrible his body was distended from all the fluid. After some diliberating Petrie was given liquid Lasix (help remove excess fluid), eniphril (to support his heart), and the antibitic to treat toxo but the name escapes me.

Something interesting to come of this was the main vet of the practice didn't really have a lot of stock in treating the small animals for this type to illness. Seeing Petrie turn around changed his mind and he allowed us to see the caridologist for free because he found Pete's case so interesting. Goes to show how little is really known about the resilience of Sugar Gliders.

The cause of his problems were his heart not pumping properly causing fluid to build up in lungs and celomic cavity given him pneumonia (heavy breathing). He had a valve that was enlarged and not closing all the way with each beat. Petrie was given the lasix to clear the fluid and the enipril to assist his heart.

It's now October and we've weaned Petrie down to EOD lasix (to ease the load in his kidneys) and the enipril for his heart. Petrie is back to normal, happy, and running around crazy. He'll be on meds for the rest of his life but because of our diligence and taking him to vets no matter what he's going to continue having a life. This is an example of the dedication it takes to be a pet owner. It isn't always easy but it's worth it.

I'm sure I might have glossed over some stuff but this is already quite long. If you want more details or anything else please don't hesitate to ask. The practices we used were Bolton Vet in Bolton, CT and Wilton Veterinary Group in Wilton, CT. Wilton is the second vet we used and the one we still take Petrie to for follow up.

Petrie's first night home after initial vet. So thin :(



Recovering after second vet visit.




Getting some of his spunk back. Diver Down!

That is indeed an incredible story. I don't think there are many pet owners out there that could have handled it was well as you did.

I am not a vet, or have any health related degree, but it is very fascinating to learn about these critter, and the diseases that inflict them, and specially how resilient and willful they can be. I am glad you were able to find such competent vets that would care for him like they did.

Thanks for sharing your story, I hope Petrie just continues on improving.

Wish you all the best of lucks!