Hi I have a sugar glider that is almost 9 yrs old now and she was smaller than the rest all her life and she usually doesn't eat as much but lately she decreased in eating and I noticed she has a chipped pincer with weak back leg muscles and I was told that she would need to get both a blood test and organ test to find the problem and that he believes that its possibly a kidney problem and gave me medication to improve her to eat more called meloxicam for now but she now eats less with it
The vet i used to go to since 10 years ago is no longer there and there was some changes in staff too but I know they want me to go for the expensive options but im afraid she is too skinny for anesthesia which is suggested all these tests and I had my eldest in the past go for almost a similar problem which I was originally asked to do a mouth swap that led to the conclusion that he had a gum infection which is taken care of now but im constantly implied its possibly a kidney failure or arthritis and told its best to do those tests and that the medication should help her eat more and I contacted them about her diarrhea and loss of appetite and asked if it was cause by the medication but I was told meloxicam doesn't do that and just today I read online it causes loss of appetite and im worried about the broken pincer which is not a concern to the vet not sure if I should stop the medication because it was given to me as just a suggestion until they can find out whats wrong with her
Any advice? Her weight i kwep trying to bring up goes back down to exactly 64 grams

Mainly the problems are


Low Weight (she was already a very tiny glider used to weigh 68g)

Chipped right pincer

Weak lower muscle

Loss of appetite (all her life she ate less than others but I think even less now)

Was administrated meloxicam incase of inflammation and help her bring up her appetite but it decreased it more

vet suggested possibly a kidney problem

Your glider is geriatric! Old age has caught up with her, with her small size all her life she doesn't have much more to lose.

If she were my glider I would take her off the medications, give her anything she will eat, Avocado, cooked chicken, scrambled eggs ......

Just love on her for the time she has left. I wouldn't put her under for blood work.

She is at the average life span for a glider.

I agree with Feather.

Also keep her hydrated as much as she will willingly take.

Her favorite foods and keep trying different foods she has liked in the past.

She's just not strong enough to be put through those kind of tests.

Hugs and prayers to you both.

Thank you im planning on doing that starting today
This morning I was surprised that she ate the meal worms i gave her
She usually just eats 2 then gives up and only eats a bit of food but she also has been drinking water and im feeding her liquid food with a batch I make with vitamins and nutrients they need she hasn't been eating her vegetables and only licking her fruit

I had a situation with my oldest when he was 11 he had an infection in his mouth that caused him to lose a lot of weight due to an old wound but he's better now and he will be 13 in a couple of months

I want to get her mouth checked for bacteria but the new vet feels like using anesthesia to examine her and I dont like that idea with her weight and hes very pushing on blood work and organ x-rays for the x rays I understand because her body always stayed small like she is still 1 years old

She will eat and drink more if she is warm.

So far I got her to 66 and she is off the medication she eats about 5 meal worms and she mostly goes for liquid foods and fruits and I am trying to find new types of food she would like and I always keep my room warm summer and winter
🙂

What diet are you feeding? Maybe feeding her the staple Critterlove Plus will help her.

Im not sure what its called but I've been feeding it to her father for 10 years now I got him at age 2 and hes gonna be 13 soon I have 4 gliders link is 12 Yuki the mother is a bit over 10 Raiden is 9 and Maria is 8 and a half
The diet I give them is mixed berries peas and carrots some meal worms once in awhile and the diet mix has the ingredients of
Multi vitamins and calcium for animals hard boiled egg yogurt organic
Honey apple juice fruit pablum wheat germ and 2 cans of baby chicken with broth al blended and frozen into ice cube trays

Right now Maria is at 66 grams but stable now I've fed her extra meal worms for protein and luckily she's been eating them and is more interested in eating on her own she had a twin sister named Mary unfortunately I lost her due to a malfunction in the heating system in my apartment ever since then I've been taking a lot of measures and been extra paranoid with their health which happened 5 years ago but even that my heater is fixed I have a special sheet to keep them warm incase of emergency or if im at work I wouldn't be worried about the room temperature

For the staple Critterlove Plus im gonna check it out and thank you for the suggestion 🙂