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Thread: Approx. 3 week old baby with possible oral defect

  1. #1
    Mrs.s.hewitt Guest

    Default Approx. 3 week old baby with possible oral defect

    I was recently brought another baby on the 16th he looked to be about 10-15 days old weighing 27g. I started him on fox valley and have been feeding with a miracle nipple and syringe and He currently weighs 35g. Well things were moving right along up until a few days ago... He started struggling to with eatting. Upon further examination I noticed there are what I'd call birthdefects and as he's growing so is the defects.
    1. I noticed it appears his lip is split on the crease that goes to his nose. Not sure what it's called.
    2. There is a rather large chunk of skin on the inside of this spilt that is hanging down low.
    3. His tongue curls around this piece of skin. He's not gasping for air but he stops like his tongue sticks to the chuck and then he resumes as normal.
    4. Because of this issue he's no grasping a latch on the nipple so it appears he's eating with his mouth open and here recently with no warning the milk gushes out of his nose and mouth. Sometimes it's difficult to tell where it's coming from his nose or this split. I assure I'm not forcing it down him but I am having to pump the syringe because he doesn't close his mouth or latch so I watch the flow and express based on the suckling... but I'm worried. When this initially happened I immediately thought aspirated pneumonia and took all the steps I could for support care. I hold him upside down and suck his nose out. I'm also running a humidifier 24/7 and I recently started doing nebulizer treatments because I swore at one point I heard clicking but that's actually his tongue snapping. I don't hear any consistent clicking or wheezing. Last night at his 6pm feeding I noticed he was dehydrated and gave him Lactated ringer orally as well as at his 9 & 12 feedings, this morning he was back to himself and I fed him the Fox valley with no issues, but I'm worried about him. I have noticed him not wanting to eat at the normal time intervals. I'm curious if others have run into this type of defect and if anyone can offer any advice on management I would be greatly appreciative. I'm also concerned about bringing him to the right veterinarian. My own vet doesn't treat wildlife and was not very helpful. I told him according to research baytril was a commonly recommended antibiotic used and asked if he'd prescribe to which he said no. I only have SMZ-TMP 480mg that was prescribed to my dog after her spay surgery as well as doxycycline 100mg prednisone 20mg and rimadly 100mg but I've never seen those mentioned to give to a squirrel and I don't know the breakdown of the others.

  2. #2
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    Default Re: Approx. 3 week old baby with possible oral defect

    Could you possibly post a picture of what you're describing? You know the old adage....a picture speaks a thousand words.

    Pictures also better help us to assess and advise.

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  3. #3
    Mrs.s.hewitt Guest

    Default Re: Approx. 3 week old baby with possible oral defect

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  4. #4
    Mrs.s.hewitt Guest

    Default Re: Approx. 3 week old baby with possible oral defect

    I describe it is difficult but I'll do my best. The split in the upper lip exposes gums. On the inside of the top of this gum is a flap of skin (where teeth should develop) his tongue curls up around and appears to stick at times. This prevents him from latching on to the nipple correctly and is causing the aspiration. I tried to feed with out the nipple and just syringe 1drop at a time but it a flop. He would choke on each drop. So I went back to the nipple because he doesn't choke on what's going down his throat vs. when it's sitting in his mouth. I have recorded a couple feeding sessions as well but can't upload them here with out YouTube.

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    Default Re: Approx. 3 week old baby with possible oral defect

    It would be good if we could see a video of him nursing. I will admit that the first picture looks to be odd or abnormal. The other 2 pictures look fairly normal. Not real sure. Your baby could have a cleft palate or a split palate if he fell from a tree. This can happen from a fall. However, this could just be a case of "guppy mouth" nursing. They usually nurse with their mouth open and somehow use almost the back of their throats to get suction on the nipple. It is easy for a guppy mouth nurser to aspirate. A video would be great for us to see exactly what is happening.

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    Default Re: Approx. 3 week old baby with possible oral defect

    All I am seeing his his tongue sticking out .

    But I could be missing something.. ESP if your telling us that's not the tongue.
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    Default Re: Approx. 3 week old baby with possible oral defect

    He may be cutting his teeth. The line that goes up the front to the nose is normal. His gums may be a bit sore and as such, may not want to latch on. I keep the nipple out of the mouth and only put the tip to their lips and as Logan does right now, he will sort of lick the formula, not latch on. He took a bad fall, with a bloody nose, so has some residual issues. Are you using a 1 cc syringe and going really slowly? May have to go drop by drop so he does not aspirate (would take me about and hour and a half initially to even get 3 cc's into Logan.)

    Sorry I reread your post and saw you did the drop at a time. Agree it could be a palate issue. See if he will lick the formula from the syringe, as opposed to putting it in his mouth, if that makes sense.
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    Default Re: Approx. 3 week old baby with possible oral defect

    Quote Originally Posted by Mrs.s.hewitt View Post
    I have recorded a couple feeding sessions as well but can't upload them here with out YouTube.
    Just upload them to YouTube and post us the link.... It would really be helpful to see what you are talking about...

  9. #9
    Mrs.s.hewitt Guest

    Default Re: Approx. 3 week old baby with possible oral defect

    I'll see what I can do to post video (I'm not a youtuber) this is a better picture of the pallet and curled tongue. It's that top gum that causes suckling issues and his tongue sticks to it Name:  image.jpg
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    Default Re: Approx. 3 week old baby with possible oral defect

    I wonder if this baby is like one of mine that is a guppy nurser and even when you remove the nippie he continues to keep his mouth in the same position? Sometimes it goes on for several minutes before the baby is able to relax and appear normal. This picture of his mouth seems pretty normal. I just don't know what is going on here. Sweet little baby Is this your first baby?

  11. #11
    Mrs.s.hewitt Guest

    Default Re: Approx. 3 week old baby with possible oral defect

    No ma'am... Not that it's a huge difference but he's my second. I just didn't have these issues with my first... So I'm just wanting to be safe rather than sorry. I just found this so odd. It's like he breaths through his mouth instead of his nose. I'm perplexed since I've been trying to be diligent and do my research but I'm coming up short. I'll look up this guppy mouth though and see if this is what we are experiencing.

    His back story is he was found on the ground under a tree but was in danger of being eaten by ants. I was already rehabbing a baby female so they contacted someone who eventually contacted me. He was bitten up by ants and muddy but otherwise healthy and he's been doing well. I keep him and the baby girl together in a very nice large habitat. I weigh the babies every morning, feed them, clean them and try not to handle them unless absolutely necessary. I have a good friend who has a nice piece of land out in the country I'm hoping to release them on when that time comes.

  12. #12
    Mrs.s.hewitt Guest

    Default Re: Approx. 3 week old baby with possible oral defect

    https://youtu.be/1KAXnUDEk2o

    Hopefully I did this right. Definetly guppy mouthed. He doesn't open nearly as wide as the one video I saw.

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    Default Re: Approx. 3 week old baby with possible oral defect

    Boy oh boy, I am not sure. This looks like a normal guppy mouth baby at the end of a feeding session. Still with his tongue curled. But is that the case? Does this baby do this while he is asleep? Or if he has not just been fed?. Can you post some more pics of him sleeping or if he is awake before you pick him up. Sometimes just the act of picking this age baby up gets them so excited and anticipating nippie that they start nursing and curl their little tongue while you are stimulating them to potty. I am hoping some others will weigh in here as I am just not sure. Kinda looks odd but guppy mouth babies do look odd at times. Two of the first pictures look normal. IDK this is a hard one to judge without having eyes on this baby. I wonder if any TX members are close and might be able to confirm any abnormal oral issues? BTW, Is this a little foxer baby? Anyone else have an opinion?

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