Checking Out the Ladies

M contacted me at work this morning after she had returned the gliders to their cage after their morning time together. She noticed that both Virga and Cirrus, our 8-year old gliders, both seemed to have something wrong with their pouches. The color was not the pink healthy color they should have been, and seemed to have some dried discharge. We were concerned that their pouches might be infected, and called the university small animal clinic for an appointment.

There was nothing else to  indicate that something might be wrong. Virga has had some loose poops at times, but otherwise seemed OK. All four gliders have been really active, and in fact last night as one of their most active nights. However, sugar gliders often try and hide their illnesses or injuries as a matter of self-preservation. In the wild a sick or injured glider is more susceptible to predators. Sometimes by the time you notice a glider is in distress it is too late. So, with all of this in mind, and the fact that the ladies were due for their annual checkup in a month, off to the vet we went.

Cirrus and Virga did very well during the exam, considering they were being handled by a stranger and their normal sleep time was being disrupted. The vet, who we had not been to before, was very thorough with the exam. She swabbed their pouches to check for infection or other problems. They also ran tests to check for parasites or other digestive issues (giardia can be a serious problem in gliders). After about 30 minutes the vet came in to give us the news.  There was no sign of infection in their pouches and the coloration and small secretion was normal. The tests and exam for parasites were negative. We were relieved that there were no problems and both Virga and Cirrus were healthy.

We really liked this vet, and we'll be making an appointment to take Foehn and CB in for their annual exam in the near future.