jfox14 Starting Member 5 Posts
Let me first state that my little four year old guy is doing just fine, and it's been about a month since all this happened.
I frequently browse this forum, and it's always been there in my time of need for Dexter and his various quirks or health concerns. So I wanted to take some time and give some knowledge / experience back.
Here is my first hand account of recognizing, treating, and affording a sugar glider eye abscess.
August 7th.
I have my little nephews visiting my place, and they learn that I have an animal they have never heard of before before. So they just have to see him. It's midday so I gently scoop Dexter out of his cage, and wrap him in a fleece. Like any other day his behavior is normal, coat is looking good, etc. Except in the bottom of his right eye, I notice a small half crescent of white in his eye, covering maybe the very bottom 5% of his eye.
I'm a bit freaked out, but I keep it cool. At this point in time I thought that maybe sugar glider's have white sclera's like humans or some dogs... and that the black iris's or pupil's usually just take up the whole eye socket, and I am just know seeing a rare fluke. (Note: there is no white part of a sugar glider eye ball). Ultimately I just resolved to keep in eye on it and that maybe it was because the little guy was tired.
August 8th.
About 30 hours later, I open the cage doors and Dexter is running around my glider safe room as I talk on the phone. He is full of energy and appetite, his normal endearing/annoying self. A few minutes in he climbs on my shoulder and that's when i notice it.
The white crescent has doubled in size, now taking up about 25% of the bottom of his right eye, and his right cheek is swollen. He looked like he had gotten in a sugar glider bar fight.. or like a hamster with half a mouth full.
Cue the freak out. Some immediate research tells me that this is likely a facial abscess, and I soon learn that the white part of his eye I am seeing is not part of his eye at all, but rather a swelling of his 'third eyelid' or 'nictitating membrane'.
Note: I did some dog and cat research as well on the nictitating membrane and what causes swelling, because of a lack of documentation on sugar glider specific issues.
Anyways, it's about 11pm and I call the only 24 hour vet in town, who warns me that there is a $90 emergency premium tacked on top of any visit. At this point in time my bank account wasn't in the best shape, and I wanted to save all the money I could for medicine and maybe an actual surgery.
The vet tech told me that she usually suggests waiting until morning for a normal vet appointment, unless the animal is seizing or refusing to eat. This was not the case with Dexter, who was bouncing around without a care in the world.
So I decide to wait until morning.
August 9th
I wake up early and call my regular vet immediately, and get an appointment within 2 hours. The vet takes one look at Dexter and immediately knows that we are dealing with an abscess.
The only question in his mind is whether or not the abscess is being caused by a broken tooth or whether it's from a scratch or lesion. His suspicion is a tooth, as there are no cuts or signs of blood on dexter's fur.
He tells me that this is not a situation that is a critical emergency, but is one to actively monitor and work towards resolving. He then writes me a prescription for Clavamox and a pain killer, and the vet tech shows me how to orally administer them.
Clavamox is actually a cat or dog antibiotic that is wide shooting and ideal for situations where a culture has not been taken yet and the exact cause of the infection is unknown. In situations like this and with smaller animals who might not have as much room for error, It is much better prescription than something like Baytril, which has much narrower effective use cases.
Note: Luckily the vet's recommendation was Clavamox, but I was prepared to STRONGLY suggest it had he offered something else.
According to the vet, the plan is to administer the Clavamox every 12 hours for the next 7 days, hoping for signs of improvement. If no signs of improvement, than an exploratory surgery with a abcess drain and possible tooth removal needs to be scheduled.
Costs:
$90 for exotic small pet checkup - no way I was getting a prescription without it.
$17 for seemingly a months worth of Clavamox and the pain killer.
Surgery quote:
$300 for sedation, abscess drain, culture.
$500: for all of the above and if tooth needs removed
August 10th-13th
If you have never given your sugar glider oral medication before, I highly recommend you start giving some practice dry runs with a syringe and maybe apple juice. Something I wish I would have done.
With emotions flying everywhere, and working full time giving Dexter his medicine twice a day was one of the biggest challenges.
Basically what worked for me was to get a swaddled Dexter on his back, and in a firm but gentle finger headlock, prevent him from curling up or hiding his face from me. Next, I would take the syringe and poke it the side of his mouth until he opened wide. I would then use the half a second window to shoot the stuff in. Then, I would try not to feel guilty as the little guy sneezed or tried to wipe the taste out of his mouth. Finally, I would reward him with yogurt or a treat.
Note: Apparently Clavamox is one of the foulest tasting and smelling substances on Earth, and many dogs and cats absolutely refuse to take it as well.
Administering the medicine was much easier in the morning when he was half awake, but 12 hours later when he was in full party mode I got bit. A lot. And hard.
I also supplemented Dexter's diet each night with a scoop of yogurt, to help repopulate some of the good bacteria being killed in his stomach. He enjoyed this part of the recovery.
August 14th
At this point Dexter's cheek the same as they did on Day 1 and his third eye lid was now covering 70% of his eye. I was starting to get the feeling that I needed to take over the pilot seat to his recovery, while still considering and respecting the advice of my vet.
My mother, a nurse and animal empathetic. wanted to take as look at Dexter's abscess because she had frequently cared for people with abscesses and was surprised with the vet did not instruct me to regularly drain the abscess with a warm wash cloth.
I came to the conclusion that draining the abscess was the right thing to do. So that night I took a warm washcloth and pressed it against the right side of his face for about 30 seconds. There was minimal squirming- I'm guessing it felt good for the little guy.
Within about 15 seconds the abscess was completely drained, and the right side of his face was back to normal! His eye lid however, remained swollen.
August 15th - 17th.
Unfortunately the draining didn't last, and the abscess sand swelling would regularly be back within 12 hours. Over the next few days I made it a habit to drain every morning. During this time I never saw any hint of a cut or lesion on his face, and all of the drained grossness must have gone into his mouth, as none of it ever came outside his body.
Bu the eye lid was still very swollen at this point, at which point I started considering the oral exam and surgery.
However, somethings did not quite add up to a tooth being the cause of the problem. Dexter had been eating all his food, and appeared to be in no pain. Additionally, the past week of administering medicine had allowed me to get a decent look at his teeth- all of which seemed fine. Finally, I noticed that dexter had a habit of biting the bars to his vet carrier when he was frustrated by the temporary lack of space - something that would seem odd if there was a tooth ache!
I did some more research, this time focusing on what causes third eye lid swelling in dogs and cats.. I found that commonly it was an infection of the tear duct.
August 18th:
I call the vet and explain my logic, telling him that I want to start Dexter on some antibiotic eye drops.
He says 'sure, sounds reasonable' and I pickup the prescription bottle ready within an hour. At this point I am kind of frustrated by his lack of initiative, but equally satisfied that I am in control.
Note: These eye drops aren't saline solution or fake tears kind of product, they are actually antibiotics - you will not find them over the counter anywhere.
Cost:
Antibiotic eye drops : $12
August 18th - 24th.
I thought administering oral medication to a sugar glider was tough... until I tried giving one eye drops.
Basically the technique was similar to the oral administration or cheek drain, but instead I would drench is eye ball in about 4-6 drops. About 1-2 of these, the recommended prescription, actually made it into his eye because of his lighting fast reflexes and blinking.
I also kept him on his Clavamox drops.
Within about 24 hours there was an noticeable reduction in his third eyelid's swelling, and a more permanent reduction in cheek swelling after every drain.
By the 24th, about a week into the drops, he looked perfectly normal.
Final takeaways / lessons learned
1. Many vets, even the good ones, know less about gliders than a well researched owner.
2. As the owner of your pet, you will always be the person most vested in it's recovery.
3. Take the time to practice giving your glider medicine through an oral syringe.
4. In the event of an abscess, be prepared to spend up to $100 - $200 for a glider diagnosis and prescription, another $30 on medicine, and up to $500 for surgery.
5. When appropriate, don't be afraid to research some cat and dog sicknesses and treatments and use them to help guide your sugar glider's decision. in 2017, there is still somewhat of a shortage of glider specific info out there.
6. Eye antibiotics are not frequently discussed when treating abscesses, but I had excellent and immediate success wen switching to one.
7. Don't be afraid to drain an abscess if it can be with just a little bit of warmth and pressure. I would be much more hesitant of using a lance or any sort of DIY surgical drain.
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Addressing an Eye Abcess- 1st hand account
