cause of abcess

I had to take Tinkerbelle back to the vet today because the abcess in her face was horrible again. The vet had to cut open her cheek and he scraped out all the hardened puss and then he used some tweezers to kind of squeeze the abcess and out popped a hard chunk of white stuff. He picked it apart and it looked like a small claw. We originally thought Tinker's baby joey might have clawed her face causing the original abcess. How likely it is that his claw could have ripped off and stayed in her face?
The vet let me stay and hold her as he did the surgery on her and i couldn't believe the pus he got out of it. Unlike human or cat or dog pus glider pus is super slimy and sticky. I have seriously never seen anything like it and i've asisted in thousands of animal surgeries.
I absolutely love the new vet I found. He is fantastic with the gliders and he doesn't rob me blind everytime i have to take one in.

Yes, that is possible. I hope now the abcess will heal up for your girl and she recovers quickly.

Connie I hope that it's all better for her now! I know how much you love her. That is crazy about a babies toenail.. Where did you find your vet? Just wondering Incase I ever need one.

Awe, poor thing Hopefully she's fully recovered soon.

Yes, it is possible. It would be great if this could be the end of this for your baby.

What you are describing is very typical of abscesses in gliders. I have some photos of the sticky, goopy mess that comes out of them because I hear so often that people think it is unusual. Turns out, it is very usual for facial abscesses in gliders, for whatever reason.

Please be sure to complete the SUGAR Group's facial abscess survey so that this information can be used in the research.
http://www.sugargroup.org/Current-Surveys.html

Thanks Jackie I will go fill out the survey right now.
Roxie I'll pm you with the vet info.
Tinker's face looks fantastic today. We have her back on clavamox for 3 weeks. Last time he cleaned it out it was filled back up before bedtime. I really hope getting the claw out will solve the problem. I hate my poor little girl hurting.

Sounds like it will heal up now. It is like having a deep splinter. It will fester up and keep festering until you get the splinter out.

I sure hope she is feeling better too. That has to be painful.

I hope that since the cause was removed, this is the last time she'll have to deal with this!



Is your vet listed on Sugar Glider Help? If so, please leave a review so others will know of your experience. If they aren't listed, please add them so you can leave a review! This site has helped so many people - please help us keep it as updated as possible.

Prayers for a speedy recovery for your lil girl.

He isn't listed on the help site shelly but I will get him on there because he has been fabulous for me so far and the best part is it's at a fraction on the cost of any other vet around. I'll just be so thankful for my baby to finally be over this abcess. I highly recommend anyone with the abcess poblem insist on having it cleaned out. Dr. Tebay said if you don't get the cause of the abcess out of the sore it will never fully heal.

I just wanted to give everyone an update on my little tinkerbelle. We spent about 6 weeks battling an abcess in her cheek. Our wonderful new vet did 2 surgeries on her and finally removed a claw from her cheek. She is now fully healed and looking fantastic. I am just soooo thankful to our new vet for fixing it finally. I really thought for a while we would loose her. I can't believe how great it is to see her healthy again!!!

That's wonderful news! Sounds like you have an amazing vet!!

Great News!

awesome news!!

YEA FOR TINKERBELLE!!!

I'm so happy that the cause of the abcess was finally found and removed. She has to feel so much better!

I'm so glad that you discovered the cause of her abscess and she is now healthy!

Great news! Give that little one a mealie for us. You can have one too.

How did you or the vet go about finding the nail???? Was it just luck, an xray, was it protruding?

Sorry I lost track of this thread and didn't answer...The vet cut open the abcess and scraped out all the pus and he scraped something really hard surrounded by a bunch of pus and he thought it looked odd so he scraped all the junk away and sure enough it was a tiny little joey toenail. Bandit must have gotten it stuck on mommy's face and not been able to get unstuck and when he pulled away it left the toe nail behind. Our 1st vet handling this problem put her on antibiotics and it did clear it up but only until the meds stopped and it grew back quickly. Now we are weeks gone by and my baby tinker looks fantastic and started eating very well again and gaining back some of the weight she lost. I am the happiest mommy ever!!!

That is great news!