My Clare Bear is bleeding from her cloaca again. This is at least the third time since last summer. Last time the vet gave me a stronger med that seemed to work for a while. I don't understand why she keeps getting sick! My heart aches for her, and I'm scared to death again that she may die. And it always becomes obvious on a Sunday or holiday, when her vet isn't open. I'm just sharing with you all because I know you'll understand the intense worry I feel right now. I will call her vet today and leave a message so they can fit her in ASAP this week, hopefully Monday. I've given her some of the benebac I had left (probiotics for marsupials) and I'll get some pumpkin which I hope will help with her straining. I was also given metacam for pain for my glider that died in November, and I may consider giving her one dose if we don't get an appointment Monday or Tuesday. (The glider that died had a tumor)
I suspect that maybe she gets sick because she eats from her poo tray maybe? It's just a guess and the only thing that is different about her from the other gliders in her colony. I will try to clean it every day now just in case.

Thanks for listening/reading. I hate the pit in my stomach worrying over her. My poor Clare Bear!

because it's a reoccurring issue, what are you feeding? diet, snacks, everything???

Critter love complete, critter love salad with mixed veggies, peas and carrots, cucumber, greens depending on what's at the store but usually kale and bok choy, gala apple, cantaloupe, mixed berries. Yogurt and hard boiled egg about once a week. Treats are a cheerio or a yogurt drop.

no seeds or nuts ?

ok, some of those are kinda high in fiber and high in oxalates (i know its part of the diets salads so you don't have much choice) do you always use the same salad ?

Is she straining to pee or poo or both?

More or less, yes. We have to go with what we can get at the grocery store. Sometimes I don't make the whole salad for a couple days.

No nuts or seeds.

Yes, she is straining again.

when she pees or poops or both?

if it's when peeing it's not a constipation issue and possibly related to the high oxalates

Hard to say, but I think both. This morning was the first time since the last time in December. When I see her in the morning, she's straining, hissing, bleeding, and has a prolapsed cloaca. And I cry. There's diarrhea all over the cage and a big smear of blood on one of the wheels.
And my heart breaks and the panic sets in.

Your gonna want to keep her hydrated n if I were you I'd call Bourbon (321-331-1608) and tell her whats going on she may put a team together to at least help you stabilize her until you get to a vet

I'm not sure with it sounding likes she's constipated but has diarrhea usually its one or other not both.

The oxalates I'm curious about because of the blood and they can cause kidney stones which would be painful and potentially cause the prolapse

Symptoms of Oxalate Intolerance:
Inflammation in joints causing muscle stiffness and pain.
Kidney stones.
Urinary tract irritation, pain or urgency to urinate.
Vulvar pain (chronic irritation and pain of the female genitalia)
Abdominal problems such as constipation or diarrhea.

the above is meant for humans but with what you have said so far it could be a possibility.

Could you be more specific about what you meant about her diet being high in oxalates?
She acts normal other than the straining and blood. Eating, drinking, jumping, playing. She's awake for dinner right now, I gave some pumpkin to her and she loves it.
Can I text Bourbon?
I left a message with her vet who is very very good with sugar gliders and I'm very hopeful they'll get her in tomorrow or Tuesday. They're always very helpful and accommodating. I also put some Vaseline on her cloaca this morning, which the vet recommended last time to help her with the prolapse.

Oxalates are chemicals found in plant foods but not in most animal foods (however, a lot of these foods are in glider diets ) .

Some people are more likely to form kidney stones if they eat foods high in oxalates. You may need to follow a low oxalate diet if you have gout, form kidney stones, do not absorb fat very well or have short bowel syndrome.





Beans, baked in tomato sauce or canned
Beans, green, snap, waxed, dried, pod, runner
Beer: Lager draft, Tuborg, Pilsner
Beets: Tops, roots, greens
Bigelow Herbal teas (hot brew time of 4 minutes or longer)
Apple Orchard
Fruit & Almond
I Love lemon
Mint Medley
Orange & C
Orange Spice
Perfect Punch
Red Raspberry
Specially Strawberry
Sweet Dreams
Take-A-Break

Blackberries
Blueberries
Bread, whole wheat
Celery
Cheerios (1 cup)
Chocolate
Chocolate Milk
Cinnamon, ground (1 ½ teaspoon or more)
Cocoa
Cocoa powder
Collards
Currants, red
Dandelion greens
Dewberries
Eggplant
Escarole
Fig Newtons
Figs, dried
Fruit cake (1 slice)
Garbanzo beans, canned
Ginger (1 tablespoon)
Gooseberries
Graham crackers
Graham flour
Grapes, concord
Green Tea
Grits, white corn
Juices containing berries high in oxalates
Kale
Kamut
Kiwi
Leeks
Lemon peel
Lime peel
Marmalade
Oatmeal
Okra
Orange peel
Ovaltine
Parsley
Parsnips
Peanut Butter
Peanuts
Pecans
Pepper (in excess of 1 teaspoon per day)
Peppers, green
Pesticides (?*)
Pokeweed
Popcorn (Oroville Redenbacher, 4 cups)
Potatoes
Potatoes, sweet
Pumpkin (possible irritant)
Raspberries, red and black
Rhubarb
Rutabagas
Sesame Seeds
Sorrel
Soy Products (?)
Soy sauce
Soybean crackers
Soybean curd (tofu)
Spelt
Spinach
Squash, yellow and summer
Stone ground flour
Strawberries
Sunflower seeds
Swiss chard
Tangerines
Tea, black and indian
Tomato sauce, canned
Turnip Greens
Watercress
Wheat bran
Wheat germ
Whole wheat flour
Yams
Yellow dock
Foods marked with * may cause irritation although they are not high in oxalate.

The ones in bold are often fed to gliders and or are in the salads for CL. Now I'm not at all sayin cl is a bad diet, it's one of 2 that i actively promote.

What i am wondering is if she is getting to much of the high oxalate foods and her body is having trouble with it.

Now I realize your not giving her 1 cup of cheerios lol but remember this list is scaled for humans. If one cup of cheerios is high oxalate for human a 1000 times bigger than a glider, then one cherrio is probably high oxalate for a glider compounded by the kale, greens, berries etc in the diet itself on a more consistent basis, thats why i asked if you primarily use one of the salads or change it up with the salads.

Bourbon doesn't text much you'll have better luck if you call her or text her it's medical issue but she'll still want to talk to you on the phone

Thank you that is a lot to think about!
I feel extra guilty now for giving her pumpkin and she had a cheerio earlier :(
Damn.
Alright, I'm going to make a tough decision and not call Bourbon. Clare is acting normal and I'm not sure what Bourbon could do for her at this point, so I would basically be bothering a complete stranger over my own anxieties.
I can definitely mention the oxalate thing when I talk to my vet tomorrow, which I plan on doing at 7:31 since they open at 7:30.
I stopped giving them dried meal worms back in November after Guen got sick.
Anyway, thank you for your advice and information. She's eating and drinking and playing for now, so I won't bother Bourban just yet. While I may be completely panicked, I know that is my problem. I'll check on her throughout the night as best I can and deal with what comes. And pray. And vet as soon as humanly possible.

https://wmjas.wordpress.com/2010/12/11/bladder-stones-in-sugar-gliders/

P.s.
What other diet do you recommend?
What treats?

it wasn't my intention to make you feel guilty, it's not your fault in any way and I certainly am not placing any blame, your following a well known diet as you should.

this may not even be the issue but it's one I think needs to be ruled out by a vet and a xray is all. I just think her body is overloaded and the result of that can be stones.

Listen even if Bourbon can't do anything to help, ( which she may ) she is one of the most compassionate people I've ever met and may offer more things to ask of the vet than I can, she's also an awesome moral support giver. I've worked with her on teams before and much of the time it was moral support and just being there for the person tending to the glider. So please don't hold back from calling her or think you will waste her time. Trust me she has a bluetooth and her time is never wasted

Those symptoms do not describe Clare. (They did kind of describe Guen before she died,but I saw the X-Ray of her tumor, and the vet did try to operate).
She's energetic and hungry.
I just don't know. But I hope for a night that Clare make it through with as little pain and struggle as possible, and a vet appointment tomorrow.

Also don't worry if its really late, that woman never sleeps so even if its 2am if you need her call her.


I usually recomend Bml and Critter Love diets. I'm not a fan of tpg or the other ones. Personally I'm feeding glider gumbo right now. I recommend the others because they are balanced, tested, and have been used for years, affordable and easy for new owners to make, Bourbon and Peggy make themselves available to answer questions about them so I'm confident recommending those diets.

Don't worry you didn't make me feel guilty! I do that all on my own. And I also know I'm doing the best I can by my glider, right or wrong.
Thank you again for your help. I'll keep you updated. If I dont call her tonight, I'll call tomorrow before the vet.

symptoms for issues don't always present themselves the same way in every glider. I didn't think the symptoms sounded the same either however, the cloaca is the same and if she has diarrhea something else besides poop is blocking that passage.

i've been dealing with a yeast infection in 2 cages, the symptoms are not all the same in each glider. So just because the symptoms aren't identical i still wouldn't rule it out as a possibility.

i just came accros that post while i was looking up more info, the important part of it was that an xray is necessary to diagnose stones and what it looks like on the xray. The more info you can give the vet to either prove or disprove the better

I will definitely bring it up! He said last time that if she got sick again he would want to do an X-Ray and blood work.

sorry missed the treats part I'm struggling with treats atm myself lol i'm trying to cut back on giving to much sugar, so i ordered dehydrated fish sticks for treats. I'll post a link in a min. to show you what they are.

right now they get white choc chips or butterscotch chips, yogurt covered cranberries sometimes (they eat the yogurt n throw the cranberry) occasionally a marshmallow That's about it for treats really i've already eliminated anything else they used to get for various reasons

There is a glider vendor that sells these for like 4 bucks for 3 or 4 strands of it cut up in small pieces. A friend of mine was here for a visit n we went to the Asian grocery store so she could see all the weird fruit and try some for her gliders.... she was ecstatic to find the fish sticks 1.00 for big ol bag of em she bought like 4 bags n gave me some for my gliders. Now I can't find them in that store so I found them on ebay

all they are is dehydrated fish. They do have other flavors so you have to be careful and make sure you order original flavor (no added spices or anything) and not the hot n spicey or bbq etc..

but I am thinking of getting the salmon flavored ones next time i order. The shipping is going to take a while most are from Tailand so if the gliders do well i'll see if my local asian store will get them for me again

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Taro-Fish-Snack-ORIGINAL-FLAVORED-Diettary-Food-Snack-Delicious-Thai-Healty-30g/122712870660?hash=item1c9241cf04:g:8XUAAOSwjaRZwBAf

K, I'm sending prayers and well wishes for your little Clare.

Way less blood and diarrhea this morning, which is a small blessing for my heart so I can feel a little less worried. I will still be calling the vet, of course! But maybe last night was slightly less painful for my girl.
Thank you #9829;#65039;

Vet put in for a refill of the same antibiotic as last time,which I pickup tomorrow. Appointment on friday. I will request an xray.

Hopefully the meds do the trick! Hope vet appt goes well, and yes, please get X-ray. Prayers & hugs.

Okay, here's the update.
She got better fast...in fact, no diarrhea or blood since the first incident. Started meds Tuesday night. I took her to the vet anyway, and vet said she looks good, she had a normal poop while there, and frankly she was so feisty she escaped the vet tech twice! Dr. B believes it could be kidney or bladder stones, but Clare was so stressed we didn't feel sedation for an X-ray was a good idea today. Plus, I have a procedure in an hour so unfortunately my timing didn't work out (basal cell on the forehead) either. So, Dr. B said if she has a next time, no matter what day it happens, I bring her in the next morning for X-rays.

good deal !! did the vet suggest cutting back on high oxalate foods?

Not yet... She wants to change only one variable at a time and since we only moved two weeks ago this could be related to stress. I asked her if I should change the diet and she said not yet... Actually, they've complimented me a few times on taking good care of my babies :) I know I could do better but I'm glad they think so.

So I looked up the other diets... Ugh... I'm not good at any kind of "cooking" even if it is just mixing... But I'm leaning towards BML if I have to change.

Fair enough, if you change to much at once it is harder to narrow it down.

I know you take great care of them, that was never a question in my mind.

And honestly, I still don't have any major concerns with CL diet as a whole for other gliders. I don't think it's a bad diet, or a widespread issue, it's actually the first I've seen it IF that is what is causing it.

But I do think it's just her body can't handle the oxalate levels like another gliders body can, that's all. Kind of like lactose intolerance person versus a non lacktoce intolerance person. It's not anything your doing wrong, its how her body handles it differently

If you end up going with bml it's super easy,lol probably easier than making the salads for cl

I'm glad to hear that Clare bear is better.

Wishing you well.