Possible upper respitory 2-3 weeks old

[Squir-Earl]

I'll try to make this short, i'm currently rescuing 2 baby squirrels 2-3 weeks old one was found with head trauma. Blood coming from its nose and mouth, i've managed to stop the bleeding but he seems to have an upper respitory problem he will eat .5cc's from his normal 3-4cc feedings (snot coming from its nose, wheezing from its nasal cavitys when breathing) his chest does not sound like has fluid I cannot hear any crackling in there, but im worried about dehydration since hes not eating properly.

I would like to administer some sq LRS fluids about 5% of his weight divided into two administrations twice daily, and put him near a distilled humidifier for a few minutes to try and open up his nasal cavitys. Im a veterinary technician but have more experience with dogs and cats than small rodents, any advice would be greatly appreciated.

The Orphans were found about 2 days ago the healthy one is doing fine eating urinating and deficating, I got the lethargic one to deficate this morning and urinate yesterday but the poop may be from what it had left from its mothers milk. Not sure if i should start him on some baytril yet or not i would like to try non-medicine first and see if i can improve its health before he declines rapidly.

[Squir-Earl]

Does anyone here have experience with this kind of problem? How long is a sufficient amount of time to nebulize? When should I start taking action and begin antibiotic treatment? Is it a good idea to use a squeeze bulb on the nose after humidifying? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[Shewhosweptforest]

Squirrel-Earl thank you so much for helping these babies...I have no clue about what you can do...but I do think you should move this thread to Life-threatening ...it will get noticed by our heavyweight rehabbers Maybe cut and paste to a new thread there This is really important

[CritterMom]

Inhaling any kind of fluid can cause aspiration pneumonia - including blood. If you suspect this I would do the baytril IMMEDIATELY. I would much rather give medication when it wasn't needed than wait too long or not give it at all, and baytril will take care of this if pneumonia is the issue.

Get the baby hydrated though, even if you have to do it drop by drop or sub-q.

[island rehabber]

i agree, and would start Baytril asap -- even if the URI is viral, the Baytril will ward off other nasties that may invade this little one's immune system.

[Squir-Earl]

i agree, and would start Baytril asap -- even if the URI is viral, the Baytril will ward off other nasties that may invade this little one's immune system.

Inhaling any kind of fluid can cause aspiration pneumonia - including blood. If you suspect this I would do the baytril IMMEDIATELY. I would much rather give medication when it wasn't needed than wait too long or not give it at all, and baytril will take care of this if pneumonia is the issue.

Get the baby hydrated though, even if you have to do it drop by drop or sub-q.

Squirrel-Earl thank you so much for helping these babies...I have no clue about what you can do...but I do think you should move this thread to Life-threatening ...it will get noticed by our heavyweight rehabbers Maybe cut and paste to a new thread there This is really important

Thank you guys and gals I have been administering sub Q fluids i just got done with my afternoon feeding and the sick one still does not want to eat, i will post this in "life-threatning" do you know what dosage i should go with, with the baytril? I'd have to go with injectable because he wont take oral and spits everything back up. Thanks again for the insite

[island rehabber]

I have never given Baytril as an injection. However, the dosage for a baby this age is so tiny I believe you can pull up the small dose of medicine, then pull maybe another .5ml of sugar water and slip it right under his muzzle and into his mouth. Stroke his head and throat gently immediately after, to get him to swallow.