UREGENT HELP NEEDED

[tallysqueals]

I posted several days ago about a 16 week old squirrel who had taken a fall and bloodied her nose. She seemed to be rapidly improving, but as I was just dumping food into their cage for the morning I noticed she was laying on the bottom. She is shaking and does not appear to have control over her limbs...any advice would help...what can I do for her? There are no wildlife vet clinics open at this time. Any advice would help!!!!!

[gs1]

first of all heating pad....

no emergency vets?

shaking could be mbd... metabolic bone disease....

first get her warm

[tallysqueals]

Can you call me? Or can I call you?

[tallysqueals]

Sorry...just realized you are in Canada!

[gs1]

hi:

i've got no experience with mbd or even squirrels but i've been on this board for a while...

mbd is one of the first things we think off ....

what's her diet like?

is she warm now?

be very careful her bones don't break if it is mbd....

i'll copy our mbd advice soon....

[gs1]

i've highlighted what you need to know short term....



Emergency Treatment for MBD

Get calcium into the squirrel IMMEDIATELY, not later, not tomorrow, NOW. Delaying treatment can cause death or permanent paralysis.

You will need:

--Tums or calcium pills (any kind)
--a syringe, eyedropper, or spoon

Crush one Tums or calcium pill and add a little water or fruit juice. Use the syringe, eyedropper, or spoon to force-feed the mixture, a little at a time, until it is all gone. Feed a total of 600-800 mg of calcium, and spread it out through the day and night to keep his blood calcium levels as steady as possible.If the squirrel is having seizures, weakness, or paralysis, the symptoms will usually improve within a few hours, but this does not mean the squirrel is cured. It will take many months to rebuild the calcium in the bones.Long-Term Treatment for MBD

The next step to curing MBD is to fix the diet.

1. Remove ALL seeds, nuts, corn, and treats.

2. Follow the Healthy Diet For Pet Squirrels, which can be found at the top of the “Squirrel Nutrition” forum. (http://thesquirrelboard.com/forums/s...ad.php?t=16093) Your squirrel MUST eat rodent block or squirrel blocks every day. If your squirrel doesn't like rodent blocks, you can try crushing them up with peanut butter or avocado temporarily. You can also make a tastier version of squirrel blocks using the recipe at the top of the Squirrel Nutrition forum.

3. In addition to the Healthy Diet, you will need to continue giving extra calcium every day for several weeks. Either use the syringe/eyedropper or you can try putting the calcium on a small piece of fruit.

Week 1: calcium = 500 mg per day
Week 2: calcium = 250 mg per day
Weeks 3-8: calcium = 100 mg per day

The cause of the acute symptoms—weakness, lethargy, seizures, paralysis—is a drop in blood calcium levels. If these symptoms return at any time, you will need to give another emergency dose of calcium.More Tips
MBD causes brittle bones that break easily. Try to keep your squirrel away from high places, where he might jump and break a bone. Also, if he is in a tall cage, either place him in a smaller cage, or pad the bottom very well.

Heat is very soothing for a squirrel with MBD. A heating pad turned to low and placed so they cannot chew the pad or cord, or a rice buddy (a sock filled with dry rice/beans and microwaved for about 20 seconds) will work.

[gs1]

16 weeks ...was she on formula and if so what kind?

when she hit her face ... has she being eating/drinking well since then?

[tallysqueals]

It could possibly be MBD. I feed them an extremely varied diet of mostly vegetables. All of the babies weaned really early, however. This is also the runt of the litter. She is nearly as big as her siblings now, but I have noticed she has a tendency to eat the nuts before she will eat the vegetables. I remedied this a bit by feeding them vegetables and fruits only in the morning and nuts and seeds with their vegetables and fruits in the evening. I have been sprinkling bone meal that I also use as a supplement for my dogs (human-grade from the health food store) for some time now. It is impossible to determine exactly how much calcium she is getting this way though. Her current symptoms are as follows:
Laying at the bottom of the cage.(I had just put her back into the cage with her siblings this morning but I moved her back into her own lower cage right after I saw her convulsing.)
Little to know control over her limbs...they are shaking and she is laying down flat on her belly.
I would appreciate any advice so much on what I can do for her at this point. I immediately removed her from the tall cage (I don't want her to fall again) and into a lower cage by herself. She is on heat in a dark room. I just don't want her to suffer. Why does this stuff only happen really late at night? I am considering now that perhaps this is what caused her to fall last Friday in the first place. She is small, agile, and fast. It didn't really make sense that she could have fallen and hurt herself so badly. However, if she had no control I can see the potential for that.

[gs1]

these vets may be able to help you more...

Re: ON-LINE EMERGENCY HELP

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Another one:

www.justanswer.com

Vets (including wildlife vets!) on staff 24/7. Only thing is, they will charge you $35 and upward so be prepared. Very good service, though.

__________________
Island Rehabber
NY State Licensed
Wildlife Rehabilitator

http://www.televets.com/

This free service may be extremely helpful when no one is available on TSB....ask for an "exotic pets" expert.

__________________
Island Rehabber
NY State Licensed
Wildlife Rehabilitator

from this thread....

http://www.thesquirrelboard.com/foru...ad.php?t=17863

[gs1]

first of all for the future keep them on formula as long as you can till release... and there are healthy foods for them... in the nutrition section....

but if i was you ... i'd follow the mbd instructions...

quote:

Get calcium into the squirrel IMMEDIATELY, not later, not tomorrow, NOW. Delaying treatment can cause death or permanent paralysis.

You will need:

--Tums or calcium pills (any kind)
--a syringe, eyedropper, or spoon

Crush one Tums or calcium pill and add a little water or fruit juice. Use the syringe, eyedropper, or spoon to force-feed the mixture, a little at a time, until it is all gone. Feed a total of 600-800 mg of calcium, and spread it out through the day and night to keep his blood calcium levels as steady as possible.

If the squirrel is having seizures, weakness, or paralysis, the symptoms will usually improve within a few hours, but this does not mean the squirrel is cured. It will take many months to rebuild the calcium in the bones. end quote...

i'm sorry ... i wish these things didn't happen late at night either....

[gs1]

i'm sorry i have to go now.... please keep us posted....

and if you can i'd recommend an emergency vet especially because you are legal in florida ....

not many legal places for squirrels...

but warmth, hydration, calcium ...and if you still have formula i'd try getting some of that in her too....

(i'm hoping it's fox valley formula???)

[tallysqueals]

I agree that I need to get calcium into this little one as soon as possible... she is really fierce and not excited about being handled. Does anyone have any advice for the least traumatic way I could go about this? She and her siblings were about to be released right before she fell on Friday night so she is pretty wild. They weaned really early and she has not had a syringe in her mouth for a long time...I have a glove to handle her (she absolutely wants it dead)...is there any other way to go about it other than forcing the calcium down her throat?
Oh! Also, the squirrels have always eaten Mazuki rodent blocks up until about 3 weeks ago.

[gs1]

i'm glad about the blocks...

as for how to force her ??? a burito style ... 2 people???

i'm sorry i have no idea....

i've been trying to figure out if bonemeal has as much straight calcium as the tums and i've no idea ... i'm sorry....

[gs1]

be careful she doesn't choke ... on the calcium syringe....

i'm not sure if there's a sweetner that might help? corn syrup??? a little bit....

there's no way to get it into her but in her mouth ...

maybe a vet has a different idea.... are you thinking syringe???? i've known vets that were able to do this to a gecko... so maybe a vet could give her a needle ... but that's nothing that you can do .... they'd have the right calcium for that sort of thing....



prayers for you tonight... i'll be back in the morning....

[MsOakley]

I use powered calcium carbonate for MBD, purchased from Chris' Squirrels and More online. When I have an older squirrel that's difficult to handle I dust a nut with it so I'm sure they'll eat it. I can't speak to effectiveness of bone meal. Does the university have a wildlife clinic? Just a thought. Haven't read your other posts yet but could it be a spinal injury?

[tallysqueals]

By some miracle of miracles...I just took a full 1cc syringe filled with about 1/4 of a crushed calcium pill mixed with apple juice and she drank THROUGH THE CAGE!!! Every single drop. That would be about 150 mg of calcium. I will continue to give her this mixture through the night and as long as it takes. (I know it can take months). However, is there a possibility that this is not MBD and that this treatment could be detrimental to her in some way? Also, what should I do about my 4 other babies? Do I need to do anything for them other than remove all nuts and seeds from their diets for awhile? I will continue to sprinkle the bone meal on their vegetables and fruit but is there something else I can do? And what does this mean for their release? They were outside in a release cage for two weeks before she fell and I brought them back in after her accident...should I proceed on with their release? Thank you all!

[tallysqueals]

It could be a spinal injury but I have not seen ANY indications that she was hurt beyond a bloody nose until now. I thought she might have injured her teeth but I caught her and looked them over and they are pretty straight and not moving so I assumed they were ok. Last Friday I heard her screeching from inside my house and when I ran outside I saw her up in the nest (ferret cube) with a bloodied nose. She seemed to be having a difficult time breathing which I attributed to either blood in her nose or swelling. The labored breathing gradually eased up until today when she seemed totally back to normal and I moved her back in with her siblings. She has been running and climbing (in her short cage) for the past several days and got around fine in the tall cage until tonight when I saw her laying on her side on the bottom.( I have since put fluffy tails all over the bottom of the cage.) I don't know if she fell again or not but she is definitely less mobile than the last time she fell or at any point she has been recovering from her first fall.

[MsOakley]

Great news, you must be relieved. I wouldn't release until I was sure everyone was healthy. I don't think you can do her any harm with the calcium and if that's the problem she should perk up soon.

[tallysqueals]

She is currently pancaked in her cage. Her toes seem curled inward...does this sound like an MBD symptom? She is able to get up and act furious (angry, angry chirping and growling at me) but she is unsteady and it is clear that her arms and legs are not functioning properly.How soon can I give more calcium? I know it is ridiculously late at night for some of us and I really appreciate everyone's help.

[CritterMom]

Keep pushng the calcium. You want to get about 500 mg a day into her for the first few days until the worst symptoms subside. Spreading it out like you are is best.

The Mazuri will prevent this if the squirrels can get back to eating that.

Continue with calcium. If she seizes, get sugar into her - karo, pancake syrup, sugar syrup, whatever. The calcium is not going to hurt her if this isn't MBD.