This is Godae He was struck with an illness on 09/04/99. Within days, he went from this, a very active high strung glider to a very limp pathetic looking baby. To be honest his chances of survival was VERY slim. Carol, his person, found him on the bottom of the cage grabbing the bottom, stuffing his nose through one of the holes. She had him out the night before and was playing with him, he seemed very normal. The next morning when she got him up, he wasn't eating , or drinking anything, He wouldn't even take his favorite foods. Carol immediately tried to locate a vet, that knew anything about a glider, She found one that had seen one before. In her fear of losing him, she rushed him to the vet. The vet knew very little about gliders. He noticed he was dehydrated and gave him a shot of fluids under his skin, and placed him on Baytril. Baytril is a simple anti-biotic that would work if he was ill. there should have been an improvement. but a day later he seemed to be much the same. When I was contacted, I insisted on seeing him immediately. I took him from the pouch, he was lifeless. he had very little mobility, wasn't using his legs at all. He had his legs laying on one side clenching his back feet together holding his own feet with each other, Looking at his hands they were cold to the touch, they too were clenched into a ball. He was so very thin, there didn't seem to be anything left to him at all. The weight loss will be explained later. His nose was very pale almost a white. His eyes looked very strange, they were so tiny and squinted, there was no bulging to see at all, almost a sunken look to them, they were half covered with what looked to be a contact lens from the bottom up. His jaws were clenched shut. When I seen him, fear rushed through me. I really didn't think he was going to make it. At 9:00 I called another vet, who too knew nothing about gliders, however; I had phone numbers of vets that were out of state. I got one to talk to the vet as she was examining him. They gave him more fluids under his skin, as he was seriously dehydrated. They also started him on Calcium treatments, vitamin E supplements, Ensure Plus to help him regain his weight, yogurt and Pedalyte. which Carol had to mix together in order to force feed him. She had been forcing the Baytril down him all that day and the day before. After the last visit he had made very little improvement, but at least it was an improvement, he started to lick the food from the syringe on his own and started taking fluids as well the same way. The next day she took him back to the second vet. She gave him yet another shot under his skin with more fluids for the dehydration. He was the exact same weight 70 grams. which was good, at least he wasn't losing anymore. That after noon his eyes started looking bigger and better. He still doesn't have the mobility in his legs yet, so he is scooting around, he is much more active than before. The process is going to be a slow one, but all hopes are he will pull through. Carol has kept him with her every minute of the day and night. She has to feed him every hour or less, If he looks at her, she gives him something. The fact he has an appetite now is again a good sign.
 
 

Godae was first acquired when he was 13 months OOP, when the second owner got him, he had been raised on peanut brittle and fruits.  She had to change his diet and that in itself wasn't easy, she was told that the mother and father was killed by a family dog, when he tore through the cage. So Godae was very traumatized by that. The second owner kept him for over a year, he was a good glider until others were rescued as well, It seemed that he liked being the only one, the BOSS glider of the home. At that point he turned very mean, a pit bull biting glider, trying many different things, housing arrangements  as well, nothing seemed to work. She had to make a decision, either put him down, or find someone else that he may be happier with. I acquired him then, I worked with him for several months, and there didn't seem to be any more biting tendencies. We maintained his diet. I was home schooling a 16 year old boy at the time, he took great interest in Godae and played with him daily, we made arrangements for him to take him home with him, well after about 6 months the boys father brought him back. Finding out he was not feeding him as he should have, leaving jars of baby food in the cage for him to eat. He still seemed healthy in spite of it. I had found a woman who said she was interested in him, she was required to come over and spend time daily with him, although she lived miles away, she would do it, she loved him so much, she brought him new toys while he was with me, bought him a new pouch, took him with her on daily excursions. the first time she kept him over night, she told me , she was going to tell me he ran off, so she wouldn't have to bring him back.. however she always did. I wrote up a contract for her. being sure she understood his history, and understood the biting tendencies he had. I wanted to be sure  she had contacts, we both signed it, she took him home. She loved him so much, she would let him have anything at all he wanted. his favorite being meal worms, she would go through several containers a week, but there are other things, like when they ate out, she may not have put his regular food in with him, or when she made the leadbeaters, she would change or leave out ingredients. not everyday, but it was enough. he was a fat little thing, so her and I talked and I told her to cut back on the mealies. he could have been eating so many of those , that his desire for the right foods wasn't there. so she cut him back, he started to lose weight, this was a couple of months prior to his illness. so when he was losing , she didn't question it, she attributed it to the cutback on the meal worms. The biggest problem, i believe is that too much love for her glider almost cost him his life, Being that he was raised on peanut brittle, and fruits, his parents may have as well. So he may not metabolize his calcium as he should, he may require more than the average glider, we don't really know for sure, it is so hard to say. The inconsistencies in his diet, his history, his genetic makeup.. any one of these things could be the cause. What we do know, is that she loves him to death, and almost literally did. She sees his diet now as almost like a "pacemaker", something that must be working right to help him live longer. It is easy to take something as simple as a diet for granted, the diets of a glider is so controversial in it's self Ttry not to over treat, replace their staple diet, or leave out necessary things. To have a glider come down with this horrid problem, is not only avoidable, but if it does happen, it happens fast and hard. Gliders hide their illnesses well, In the wild, a weak glider is a dead one, so by the time you see the symptoms, it may be too late. Please, please, protect your glider from this life thieving illness, They can't tell you to feed them right,. they depend on you for all their needs..
 
 

9/07/99

     I went to see Godae today, he was looking much much better, he seemed to be filling out some, his eyes are starting to show some big bulgy definition. They still weren't bright, they Still had what looked like a contact lens covering a portion of them. I took him from the pouch, and placed him on the bed, he was very active,he wanted to run. So i put him in the middle and faced him towards the pillow. It was strange, he ran right into the pillow and continued to move his legs as if he were still running, so I turned him towards me, I placed my hands just below the edge of the bed. He ran right off, as if he were blind, Like he couldn't see where he were going. My gliders would have climbed up the pillow or stopped, but he didn't, he actually was like one of those battery operated cars that would spin their wheels when hitting an obstacle. I placed his pouch beside him and placed him facing sideways from the pouch, not so he could run forward into it, but on the side. He ran again forward ignoring the pouch. The blindness concerns me. Whether it is blindness, or the inability to turn, climb, or bend. But he was so very active, and running, their seemed to be grave improvement in his muscular activity. He still clenches his feet some when weight isn't on them. We are now looking at other possibilities as to what is wrong with him, something that is being given to him is working though.

9/09/99

     I talked with Carol who was estactic. Godae actually opened his mouth on his own and ate a green bean. The joy that spread through this house, was elating. Seems pretty weird though to get excited cause a glider ate a green bean, but it had been days now since he would open his own mouth. Progress is progress, no matter how small. for us this was a great milestone. Carol has never given up on him, and she sure isn't going to start now. We have talked of many possibilities, and changes in their home regarding Godae, He may need a one step diet that never changes so his system can get back on schedule, If this is from when he was young, he may not be able to metabolize calcium as he should, No more junk food for this little guy, till we find out for sure what has happened to him. So many possibilities, which include and not to be discarded. diabetes, heart attack, good/bad bacteria imbalance, vitamin deficiency, calcium or protein deficiency, not to be excluded, is too much of any of the above. At this time we are trying to find others that have had these same symptoms..

09/09/1999 a post made by Carol (updates now by his owner)

last night at approx 2030 Godae opened his mouth for the first time since his illness...He ate a green
bean from out of my hand!!!! This may not seem like a big deal to most, but to all that have been
standing by waiting for a progress report on Godae, you all can understand my excitement!! I will keep
you posted on any new events as they occur...and thanks for the support and concern you all have been
showing Godae thru this, it means so much to us

09/15/99

     Godae is doing fine, he has actually turned towards a mealie when I put on next to him!! I think he has a bit of sight, not totall, could be mistaken, but I think he does at least see shadows, I know he can hear, he cringes when there is a load sound, like one of my daughters screaming at each other...., he can also smell...that was evident when he went for the mealie..he still hasn't eaten one yet, but I do think he will soon. I haven't given him anything but his leadbeaters diluted with his ensure, lots of water, and juice....and that one green bean!!, so I think he will like the taste of a mealie soon!!!
He is still a very active little guy, he runs all over the place, he has no fear tho, and that does alarm
me....I am afraid he will hurt himself in his cage, so I have resorted to watching him on shifts.....he also
has a very strange habit, since the onset of this illness....or whatever it is.....he likes to get in the bottom
of his pouch and put his nose in the corner and he keeps on "digging" to get out....I don't understand
this, maybe it is all due to his sight loss, am not sure. If any of ya's have any comments, suggestions, or
questions...WRITE ME!!!!!! would love to hear from you all!!!!!!

09/16/99 update by Carol

     Godae has been quite active this morning, he has been all over his cage, I woke up and he was on the top sniffing around, Anitra, my middle daughter was keeping a eye on him, so he wouldn't fall. He has adjusted to his loss of sight well, altho I do believe he does have a little sight, I think he can see
shadows, I also do know that he is relying on his sense of smell alot more now than before, he is always
sniffing, and walking around with his head towards the sky. He ate well this morning, I am no longer
having to put the syringe in his mouth to give him his food, I still use it, but I just put it by his nose and
he licks the food off, kinda like the concept of the water bottle. He took another stab at eating a mealie
this morning, he put it in his mouth, but didn't bite him, so we will try agian later...
Godae seems to know the difference between night and day, I am waking him up to feed him and he is
"grumpy" during the day when I do this, now at night when it is feeding time he is way active, just like
before all this...so I do belive that his interal clock works well!!!
I am still hopefull that Godae will make a full recovery, I do think that he is one tough little glider!!

09/20/99 updated by Carol
     A post made by Carol::

I am letting you all know that as of 0342 on the morning of the 18th Godae passed away. He was doing
so well, I don't know what went wrong, I was going to take him to the vet that day for a weight check
and a shot of fluids under his skin, but it wasn't to be. I am still beating myself up over this..it is still
painful to write about him .....I do thank all of you guys for your support and care during his recovery, it
really meant alot.
The details of his last night:::
     I was playing with Godae when I got home from work, he was doing so well, he ran around and ate his food from the syringe, I still have the fresh scratches, and they are not as painful as the memory of the night of the 18th. when he got done playing he ran into my pocket and fell fast asleep. After about a half hour, I went in to get him more food. I got everything to gether, sat down and was ready to feed him, I reached in to get him from my pocket, and he had already died.. I don't understand what happened. he seemed to be doing so much better, he was eating and drinking, running around on me..

09/20
Final decisions....

Carol had placed his body in the freezer, and after long discussions and decisions we all thought it would be in the best interest of all gliders to donate his body to the vet for more extensive testing and research, maybe the vet can find out what happened, maybe we can prevent this from happening again, we don't know, But for all the gliders that is still here, his death will not be in vain..
 
 

10/24/99

I (Bourbon) went to the vet to see what she had found out about Godae. here is what she found..with more examinations yet to be done, she is taking pics as well so other vets could benifit from her findings.
His heart was perfectly fine, no signs of stress or blood clotting, his lungs were just fine , spongy and
healthy, his bones were also perfect, no signs of calcium deficiency, No signs of too much calcium either,
his kidneys were fine as well, no signs of the dehydration. His spinal cord was still intact, no signs of any bone injuries, and all muscles were still in tact and in order, The blindness she hadn't found out about yet, and she didn't go into his skull to check the brain area out, a stroke, brain hemorrhage or neural disorder is still a possibility. By the time he was taken to the vet his stomach and intestines had already decomposed, but she did say the bacteria was normal, meaning no poisons. however intestinal blockage is still not out of the question. what she did notice though, is that the adrenal gland was like 1/3 the size of the kidney, which is really large compared to other mammals, she is trying to do more research to find out if that is the norm for gliders in general, which she said probably is considering they don't handle stress well at all, the adrenal gland could account for that. Also she noticed that under his jaws were 2 very large glands, that extend the entire length of each side of his jaws, she thinks that maybe used to help break down foods, but again is doing some checking to find out.
We did find out that the adreal gland should be 1/8 the size of the kidney