For anyone who was wondering, we did finally get the results back from Emma’s autopsy on Christmas Eve. She suffered some type of trauma to her chest that caused her heart to hemorrhage slowly throughout the night. She could have fallen or gotten caught on something and torn an artery trying to free herself. We’ll never know. The vet said there was nothing we could have done to prevent her death and it was an accident. She’s very missed, that’s for sure. I can’t help but wonder if she would still be here if I kept her nails filed better, but I know all I can do is take care of Maddie and Pascal the best I can.

mrsnationalguard:

Gliders’ stockings. We missed you this Christmas, Emmy<3

If you don’t read anything in the post, read this: consider using a full spectrum light on your gliders and make sure your gliders are eating a good diet.

We took Madders and Paca to the vet today to make sure they were okay. The peace of mind was definitely worth the $25 and the hour wait. They’re both healthy. One had eye gunk and had their eyes flushed but it wasn’t an infection or anything. Just some sleepies:)

So… poor Emma. We talked to Dr. Mary Jane about what happened to her the night she died. She thinks she died from a neurological problem. This means it could be one of three (or possibly something else- we may never know) things:

1. Lack of Full Spectrum Light. However, we shine a full spectrum light like this one on our glider from 10-10ish everyday and it’s a fairly new bulb. Also, Pascal and Maddie aren’t having any problems so we’re crossing that off the list.
2. Diet. We feed a great diet that our vet approves of and that many gliders have great experiences with. Again, both Maddie and Pascal are thriving on HPW Complete so she agrees that the diet isn’t the issue. Was she eating the diet? I know she had been. I know she loved the HPW Complete mixture and she was always a fatty when it came to the veggies. The last few days? It’s possible she wasn’t eating but that would have been a sign of another problem.
3. Brain Tumor. This is the only one we can’t cross off. It also makes sense. During the time she spent with us, Emma increasingly got more lazy. It didn’t seem like a problem, it was justEmma. She had always been the calm and sweet one. The night she died, we realized her nails hadn’t been filed even though we had the nail file insert in their wheel. This makes us think she hadn’t been running on her wheel. 

Will the autopsy tell us anything? Probably not. Does she think we could have done anything to save her? No. That is both comforting and upsetting. On one hand, I’m glad I’m not the reason she died. On the other hand, I wish I could have saved her!

We’re all still very heartbroken. I saw her old cage in my parent’s basement tonight and just stopped moving for a few minutes. We also got a “sorry for your loss” card from the veterinarian that helped us the night she died.

One thing is for sure though: she didn’t die in vain. Her life will help many other gliders. I love you, baby girl. Glide free♡

PELLETS ARE BAD.

Here is my proof.

Emma was on a dry food diet. Pellets, then hamster food, then back to pellets with grapes or apples. Nothing too complicated.

The first picture is from the day we got her. She was malnourished and underweight. She had patchy fur and never recovered full motor skills.

The second picture is from just a few weeks on a new diet- a real diet. Total change. Her coat was shiny and full. She moved more and seemed generally happier.

And you know what? Emma died last night. Not because of what we did, but because the majority of her life was spent eating a diet that her body didn’t want- a diet that didn’t fulfill her needs.

DIET IS IMPORTANT.

Click here for a little more info.

We thought she was getting better because she was eating her grape, but it became clear a little later that wasn’t the case. We rushed her to the vet but she died while he was listening to her little heart.

These are the last pictures we got of her. You can tell how weak she is in the second one.

I’m so sorry I couldn’t do anything for you, Emmy. I miss you so much.

Tonight, we lost our oldest sugar glider, Emma. We rescued her about a year ago and we’re very sad to see her go.

I love you so much, Emmy. Rest in peace. Nothing is the same without your sweet little face looking back at me. I know Maddie and Pascal miss you too.

I can’t believe you’re actually gone…

Lmao, my husband referred to himself as a “sugar daddy” the other day.

I’m really starting to love having the gliders out in the living room with us. We get to watch them do things we normally wouldn’t see, lol. Pascal barks every night to wake everyone up. And then he hangs by one foot and stretches his membrane as far as he can. Emma gets mad when he leaves the cube and she tries to get him to go back to sleep. It reminds me of a child on Christmas morning.

Sweet little Emmy:)