Long story short, she had a bone infection. The vet gave her pain medicine and 2 antibiotic shots but she continued to get worse. Late last night we were faced with the decision to either amputate the leg, which with everything would have been over $1,000 and no guarantee that the infection had not spread to other bones or euthanize her. The vet said it would be less than 30% odds that the amputation would be the end of it, so after much discussion and dismay, we had to make the sad decision to have her put down.
Ironically, we adopted another glider a couple weeks ago from a lady I work with. I think God brought "Rocket" into our lives for this very reason.
Please, Please, PLEASE make sure that you ONLY have high-quality FLEECE material in your cages and make sure you have a 'wodent wheel' and/or maintain your pets nails at least every 2-3 weeks! It's not difficult when you and your pet get used to it, and always helps when there is a favorite snack involved (papaya, yogurt treat..etc).
We know "Pocket" is in a better place now, and are happy that she is no longer in any discomfort, although we are still very sad....
Many of you may be familiar with "Rainbow Bridge". I created the following in her dedication and am going to frame it and place it above her cage where Rocket is now alone..
http://tuxadmin.com/rb-pocket.jpg