I guess I could say that my story started in June when we purchased our
Chi Chi at a flea market in Daytona Beach, Florida. She was 7 weeks old,
and we were told to give her formula mixed with 3 drops of PolyViSol
vitamins 3 times daily until she was 10 weeks of age. When we first brought her home she was a little scared of us until she learned that we were going to just love her like the rest of our family. When she was 10 weeks of age, we purchased a cage for her that was about 3 feet wide, 2 feet deep, and about 2 1/2 feet tall. It had enough room in it for us to put lots of limbs for her to jump around on. We also got a wheel for her to run in which she really enjoyed. I bought her a house that would
attach to the side of the cage and I filled it with some fuzz which she snuggled in every day.
     We were told to give her fresh fruits, vegatables, hard snacks for gerbils so she could nibble, and plenty of fresh water. We tried to make sure that she received lots of attention from the family, and we let her run through the house in a hampster ball. We all grew attached to her, and my husband really loved her I think more than the children did.
     The first week of December, we noticed she was making kind of the same noise she was making when we first brought her home-except it seemed more intense. She would poke at her bottom and make this noise at the same time. I called our vet who we use for our cat, and the nurse told us that since she was 8 months of age, she was in heat and that since she wasn't getting any "action", she was engorged and was trying to take care of the matter herself. She said that they go into heat around
this age and that it would last around 3 weeks. I told her that there had to be something that could be done for her and they said that we could have her fixed so that this wouldn't drive her crazy-as it seemed to be doing.
     That evening while I was at work, my husband called me and told me the Chi Chi was all swollen and she had pulled some of her fur out. Plus, she looked like she had poked herself to much that it was creating a hole. This hole was right on her area where she went to the bathroom. He said that he was going to take her to the vet and let the doctor look at him and get his opinion on what should be done.
When I got home that evening, she was barely moving, and I asked him what the problem was with her. He said that the doctor had squeezed on her pelvic area and some feces and blood came out along with some infection(I assume that would be pus). The doctor performed a test on her and said that there were red and white blood cells present and that there was a large amount of gram-negative present-which he said would be a sign of maybe salmonella. She also had a horrible smell to her and I'm not sure if it was from infection or something else. He gave her a shot of something to help ease her pain and bring down the swelling she had
and gave us instructions to clean her bottom and apply Dermalone Ointment to it twice daily. He also gave her some antibiotics to take in a syringe. I'm not sure how often we were to give her this because about 6 hours later, our Chi Chi died.  My husband had made her a collar to wear, but she never seemed to come out of her state of drowsiness to need the collar. We were ready to put it on her when she started acting agitated. We couldn't get her to drink anything, even when I would
put it in a spoon and give her 1 drop at a time. Also, when we put her in her cage to clean up the bathroom where we had cleaned her off, she wasn't using her legs very well, in fact, I can't recall her using them at all. She was trying to climb a little bit and her hind legs were just hanging. I don't know if it was paralysis or if it was from the shot he gave he gave her to ease the pain. I think I knew that she wasn't going
to make it. I don't know if it was from being overmedicated or if she had developed something and it just took her life quickly. I guess we will never know. All I knew to do was to wrap her up in a small towel and hold her like a baby, talk to her, and stroke her head. I didn't want her to be alone when she died, so I stayed with her as long as I could. I finally laid her in her home wrapped up in her blanket a little
before my husband was to get up for work. He said she had passed on before he got up, so I think she must have died right after I put her in her home. Even though we didn't have her long, we all loved Chi Chi. We buried her in our flower garden and placed a headstone there for her so that she would never be forgotten.
     I think the hardest thing is not knowing just what happened to her.
If it was self-mutilation, it had only started the day before she died. I have heard of much worse cases lasting much longer. I'm just glad that she didn't seem to be in pain when she died. That is the only peace I can have about it.
Those who read this, please remember it, and please-for the sake of your sugar glider-don't take anything lightly. If you think you might have a health problem with her, take her immediately to someone you trust. In fact, it's a great idea to already have someone lined up who is knowelable in the area of sugar gliders. If your vet doesn't have much knowledge with them, take them information you find off of the
internet. There are different sights that can recommend material for the vet to
read so that if this was to happen to your loved one, they might be better informed on how to deal with her.

In loving memory,
Missye L