Coat quality pictures

[Marie]

The latest scare mongering tactic on some of the US boards is fur separation.  We have people judging others diet and the health of suggies by the quality of the coat in a photograph, so I thought it would be a good idea to post pictures of poor fur and good fur so that you can see without a shadow of a doubt just what we mean when we say a poor coat.

These photo's are posted with the kind permission of LuckyGlider, the first picture is of the poor coat, the glider was a rescue - LuckyGlider is NOT responsible for her condition.  You should notice though that despite the obvious poor state of her coat, she is grey, there is no discolouration. 




This next picture is of a good coat - how it should look. 



You can clearly see the difference in these two pictures.  So when someone says your suggie is suffering with fur seperation look at these two pictures, which one is closest to your suggies coats?

[roxyandboys]

  you know.... now i worry... well... i worry mostly anyways.... i'm gonna try and get a pic of my gliders and see if you guys think they look healthy - they act healthy, but sometimes i look at them and think they look "messy" it's not ruffled or out of place fur, but sometimes i just.... i dunno... worry i guess!  I think it is down to their poor midnight snacking recently.

[roxyandboys]

this is a photo from a week or so ago - you see where his fur between his ear and shoulder line seems to "seperate".  Like i say - i'll try for better pics.

[sugarchin]

I've only been keeping gliders since March this year, and have SO much to learn about them
I worry about them and if I am doing everything "right" for them
I have attached a pic of 3 of my suggies....can anyone confirm that their coats are fine/look well??
Ink(R) has grown huge since he came here

[roxyandboys]

ummmm.... just checked out my lot again.

Actually, their fur doesn't look at all like the "bad fur" photo.

I think they dont have top quality fur, but then they have been eating junk food for a fortnight.  For the last two nights they have eaten up all of their good goo!!!  I mixed it with a little apple juice and have taken away treats as well as stopped the access they found to the rodent food!

Hopefully with a few weeks of this thier fur will be back on track, i just hope there are no long term affects, i cr*p diet for a fortnight?  I'd not have thought so?

Sugar chin - your gliders look well to me, but i aint no expert, i realise how difficult it is to pass comment on the health of animal from a photo - i just thought, god if someone sent me a photo of a cat, would i be able to tell if it was sick?  Possibly, but not always.

I think by asking the questions and constantly checking to make sure what we do is right means that we are responsible owners.

I've made my lot some new good goo (thats what i call the mashed fruits i give to them) so will see what they make of it in a bit - i'll probably get some thrown at me!

[Marie]

Noooooo, this was meant to set your minds at rest!  Have a good look at the top photo, the coat is in clumps and appears ruffled, it doesn't lie smoothly!

This is what bothered me on the US forums, everyone started to panic.  Does your suggies coat lie flat?  Is it smooth rather than clumpy and fluffed? If so then don't worry, if it does resemble the top photo then re evaluate the diet you're feeding them.

Fur isn't glued together, you are going to get some degree of seperation, it's not like a feather where the different strands (for want of a better word) on each quill are 'stuck' together by small hooks, the coat isn't waterproof therefore there SHOULD be some degree of separation especially around joint areas because of the movement! 

STOP BLOODY PANICKING!!!

[roxyandboys]

ok - panic over here!! LOL

[Angi]

So is it actually proven that seperation/clumping etc of the fur is down to poor diet or is it a theory and if its a theory are there other theories?

[Marie]

There's a lot of speculation, there are no written studies (as far as I'm aware), but people do notice the difference in fur quality when changing from bad diet to good.  The reason this was posted was on one of the US forums there was a lady who was basically causing panic by telling people that their suggies fur is seperating, well, fur seperates depending on the position of the suggie, joints moving etc (if you see what I mean).  The problem is the clumping. I've had to edit the first post because despite the claims that this is the same glider, we do doubt it, BUT, it's a good example of how fur should and shouldn't look. 

On this particular US forum, I posted a picture of beautiful fur, but the suggie was bent so far over his head was almost up his ass, she said something like "I can see the beginning of fur seperation", and it was the pompous attitude (because she's written a book) that got under my skin.  The fact that from a photo she was telling me I was feeding the wrong diet, despite his head disappearing.  Grrrrrr   

And relax ... 

[roxyandboys]

My gliders fur reminds me of thick velvet.

[foufou]

I know I've been going on about mine but it's not like the above picture. it's just not how it was when I got them....

[Angi]

Ah, thanks for that.

[ilovemysuggies]

Good to know my little guys are healthy, thanks! 

[Rhianna]

holly's fur is a mix of the two.

her hair is quite sleek, but there is like, fluffyness about it! not like the first pic, but not as sleek as the second.

though i think with her new diet, she may change.

[Don]

Does Rocky look OK?
Bruce looks much sleeker and tidier, same cage, diet etc, Rocky is the bossier male so if anything he would be getting the first pick of the food.