Hi everyone,

Just wanted to stop in to share a bit about what's going on with my 11 year old glider Ringo. I posted about a month ago asking about the kind of 'old glider' behavior I could expect in the future. Little did I know Ringo was going to take a nose dive in health in the following few days.

Here I am almost a month later. After 2 different vets and 5 visits, Ringo is feeling great again. Here's what happened:

The signs:
Ringo was sluggish, drinking way more water than normal, urinating so frequently that it seemed she had no bladder control, and her bottom was wet. The wet bottom began on a Sunday evening, and then mere hours later her whole body was shaking. I took her to the vet first thing Monday morning.

First vet visit:
I went to my normal vet office, but my vet was out (vacation?). They saw her and did a fecal and tested her urine and said that all signs were pointing to diabetes. They referred me to another vet that frequently works with gliders (much closer to home). They said Ringo needed a blood sample and it needed to be done today, but that they didn't have the equipment (strange, right?). They sent me home with an antibiotic because the fecal came back with minor bacteria.

I saw the next vet that very afternoon. They got a blood sample and it was not diabetes. Nor was it Shaky Glider Syndrome. It came back with kidney failure.

Ringo was then on the following:
subcutaneous fluids (shots) every 12 hours
phosphate medication (oral) every 12 hours
antibiotics every 12 hours for 10 days

7 days later Ringo went for a re-check. She was doing well. I was told to slowly reduce the fluids until we found a good balance. So, I maintained the phosphate meds and dropped the SubQ fluids to every 24 hours for 7 days, and then reduced frequency again to every 48 hours for another 7 days. Ringo finished her antibiotics during this period.

Ringo went for a re-check last week. She was feeling horrible the last 2 days before hand. The phosphate gives her an incredibly acidic stomach and she was eating and drinking normally up until the last 48 hours before the visit when she started throwing everything up immediately after eating. She was incredibly lethargic for her vet visit and noticeably dehydrated. From this visit we changed her meds:
Took her off the phosphates completely. Good. She HATED it and would sulk for an hour each time after I gave it.
of SubQ every 24 hours.

AND NOW- just got home from the vet.
Ringo has been so happy and energetic this last week. She's been running in her wheel again (and doing flips), eating and drinking normally, enjoying treats again, and is eager to come out of her cage to play. I couldn't be happier!

I will continue to administer the SubQ every 24 hours (with no phosphates) since it's working. It's entirely possible she will need this for the remainder of her life. I am okay with this as long as she's happy and energetic. The moment she's suffering and in pain we will have to go another route.

My vet was quite pleased with me too. She's seen loads of gliders during her career, but has never met a glider as old as Ringo. She said it's a testament to my proper care. I of course told her I couldn't have ever done it without everyone on GliderCentral, who helped teach me everything I know.

Thank you all so much. <3 <3

Thank you for the update on Ringo.

It's nice to hear about older gliders pulling through a rough spot.

I'm glad she's feeling better!

The vet I went to is on the list. :D

Here are some photos of Ringo through this whole process.

This is when she was at her worst. The vet suggested apple baby food.


This photo makes me giggle. The fur over her eye was slightly ruffled which makes her look very concerned:


Here she is getting her appetite back. When she started feeling bad I switched to dishes at the bottom of the cage because she had difficulty climbing.


This was from just a couple days ago. So much more spunky!

Beautiful lady Glad she's on the mend!

Looking good, keep us posted on her progress.

Thank you for pics! So cute!

Which vet did you use? I am in Fruit Cove.

Its good that you caught it in time and she is doing better.

I went to the Exotic Bird Hospital. Two of their three vets are versed in gliders.

Yes, I have been there before.

I actually go to Dr. Gary Shelton in Elkton, on 207. Much less expensive and a homey atmosphere.

Right! I think we've actually messaged about this before. That's exactly where I went the day Ringo took a turn for the worse, but he wasn't there.

Ringo passed over the Rainbow Bridge this morning at 12:32am. I was away for the weekend and while I was gone Ringo & Soba were in the care of a friend of mine, who also happens to be a veterinarian. She was touch and go most of the weekend, with moments where she looked exhausted and moments where she was jumping around from person to person and cuddling like her usual happy self. My flight landed at 7pm and my friend called me to say that as she was packing up their things Ringo took a nose dive into dangerous territory. I drove straight there and it was clear that this was the end. We kept her warm on a medical glove filled with water (heated 10 sec in the microwave). It was clear she knew I was there. After 2 hours she was still hanging in there (barely), so I drove the 45 minutes home with her on my lap.

Once I was home I just cuddled her and kept her comfortable, reheating the heating hand every 30 minutes or so. She wasn't in any pain while she passed.

In case any of you ever experience renal failure in your gliders, they won't be in any pain. My friend explained that the toxins that aren't filtered out due to failing kidneys are most of the same toxins you get from drinking excessive amounts of alcohol. Essentially, Ringo was drunk. The effects are strong enough to make their bodies numb to feeling (we all know a little bit about what that's like, right?).

At an amazing 11 years old, this little girl was my fluffy sidekick for a third of my life. I'll never forget how she opened zippers from the inside, taunted cats, loved doing flips in her wheel, and tail carried milk rings and plastic monkeys. She cheered me up when I was down, and brought laugher to so many people.

I'll miss you, "Ringolette." (October 2005 - November 22, 2016).

I am very sorry for your loss. May you find comfort and peace in your memories of her.

Glide Free Little Ringo