Possible MBD!!!! Help!

[Taragracee]

I have a grey squirrel, around 4 months old. He is having weird symptoms, extreme thirst and what I think are seizures (no paralysis). He's shaking his head back and fourth while defecating himself. He is not lethargic at all. I noticed his appetite decrease yesterday but other than that nothing out of the ordinary. He has a consistent diet of 2 Henry's Healthy Squirrel Blocks a day, plus nuts and other fruits. We have an emergency MBD kit, which I have already forced him to drink about .5 mg of calcium carbonate.

He is still having seizures, its been about 15 mins since I forced him to take the calcium. I am curious if .5 mg is enough for an initial dose? How much more should I give him right now? and when can I expect his seizures to stop? He's very agitated and giving us a hard time about holding him.

PLEASE HELP! I'm not sure what else to do!!

[Taragracee]

Update: He just vomited. please help!

[SammysMom]

What has he eaten recently? It sounds more like toxins than MBD.

[Taragracee]

He wouldn't eat his blocks this morning, but did eat an apple slice and like 4 almonds. What do you mean by toxins? And what should treatment be? Should I still give the calcium?

[SammysMom]

Has he had access to any houseplants or other things that he shouldn't have eaten? I mean he may have eaten something toxic.

[Taragracee]

No not that I know of. We don't have house plants. He's getting really bad. He's now just laying there, breathing is really slow. I think he's dying. Is there anything else I can do that you know of? I'm really upset and worried.

[SammysMom]

Getting hydration into him to help flush may help. If you are in Florida, is there a vet nearby that you could get to quickly?

[Taragracee]

All of the vets nearby typically refuse to see the squirrels, plus its seven so I'm sure all of them are closed. I just called a wildlife rehabilitation center and I am waiting for them to call back.

He's still alive, just very still, but not paralyzed. I think his seizures have stopped. He definitely doesn't look good though.

If this is MBD, how long should it take for him to get better? and what improvement should I be looking for?

Thank you for taking the time to talk to me, I really appreciate it because I'm freaking out.

[CritterMom]

I am a bit confused about how much calcium you have given him. You said .5mg - that doesn't make any sense - I am familiar with Henry's calcium carbonate. 1/3 teaspoon of the powdered calcium = 400mg elemental calcium, so you want to shoot for that, but the 1/3 teaspoon needs to be divided up into as many small doses as you can give through the day. Try mixing it with something flavored - like a little apple juice or if there is something you know he likes. Again, that is 1/3 teaspoon PER DAY.

Make sure you keep him hydrated too, especially if he has vomited.

[Nancy in New York]

Have you taken your squirrel outside at all recently?
IF so what was the temperature, and did you have
him in direct sun?
How hot is it where you are?

http://thesquirrelboard.com/forums/s...heat-in-Summer!

[Taragracee]

I'm sorry, I wrote that in the initial confusion. I meant I gave him 1/4 teaspoon. I think I was trying to type .25 tsp. It's been about an hour since I gave him that. He's still hanging on. When should I give him his next dose? Also It seems to really stress him out when I go near him (he's normally very friendly), is this okay? I just want to make sure I'm not causing more bad than good.

Nancy, we went outside together about a week ago. He was not in direct sunlight, he was climbing one of our oak trees for about two hours. He hasn't been out since because of rain. But that day it was probably about 85 degrees out. It has been even hotter since like in the mid 90s but like I said he hasn't been out recently. I don't think it could be heatstroke, he's been in the AC.

[CritterMom]

OK, that is probably why he threw up. A quarter teaspoon is nearly an entire days worth of calcium - way too much for one dose. Envision how you would feel if you just ate 2 or 3 sticks of chalk!

More is not better - this is a quite high dose of calcium already, which is necessary with MBD, but you don't need or want to add MORE. I would measure out the entire day's worth of calcium - 1/3 teaspoon - and put it in a little dish. If you can break that up into at least 4 doses a day he will be getting 100mg every few hours.

[Taragracee]

Okay, got it. Thank you.

So I should wait until morning to start giving him calcium again?

How do I know if he's getting better? He stopped seizing but his paralysis has worsened. I really can't lose this little guy!

I spoke to a wildlife rehabber and she was no help! She told me that she was really exhausted and already had a lot patients, and if he was still here in the morning that I could bring him in. But I'm scared he won't make it to morning!

Is there nothing else I can do?!

Thanks again everyone.

[Nancy in New York]

Not sure if this has been said, give him a little molasses or maple syrup when he seizes.
Seizures lower his blood sugar levels and giving the additonal sugars brings them back up.
Give him a little now, and see if that helps.
You could also offer him some honey water. Plain water with just a touch, for flavoring, of honey in.

[Taragracee]

It's really hard to give him anything, he is very agitated and whenever we go near him he tries to climb then he falls. It's terrible to watch. He is also trying to bite, I have gloves on but it just upsets him so much.

I feel like I've taken every precaution to prevent this so I don't understand what I could've done differently. I'm very upset. I know squirrels come back from this, so I'm hoping I'm doing everything I can to treat him.

Can anyone tell me what improvement looks like and how long it should take to see even the littlest improvement?

[CritterMom]

I would give him a small dose before bedtime. Like less than 1/8 teaspoon.

You can:

Make sure he is nice and warm. MBD makes their bones ache and heat helps that. If you have a heating pad that you can put under part of his sleeping area without her being able to get to it. I would.

Also, you can make him a bit more comfortable with infant ibuprophen. It is available at any drug or grocery store, in a flavored liquid. We would need to know his approximate weight to tell you how much to give.

If you can keep him close to you, pet him, etc., do that, he is probably frightened - his body isn't working.

We need to get into his diet, etc., since MBD is normally a dietary issue. If you have the MBD kit, make sure you are feeding him the blocks that come with the kit.

He will likely be lethargic and sleepy for a while and honestly, if I had a choice, all he would do for the next few days would be to sleep, eat, drink, take his calcium, and sleep some more.

[SammysMom]

I do think that we need a bit of background on this. I know this is critical at this moment, but was there anything that led up to this? How long has he been off of formula and what kind of formula did he get?

[Taragracee]

I put a few warm water bottles in his cage with him. I tried to pet him but he tried to run away, then when I pressed it he bit me. Is it normal for them to be this aggressive with MBD? I'm not sure how anyone can provide them care whenever they're this agitated.

[SammysMom]

Warm, dark and quiet may help to calm him a bit. He hurts and you fed him something he hated. He will forgot it and be better when he feels better.

[SammysMom]

Just don't leave water bottles in as they cool off. They actually will draw the heat from his body. Of you have some uncooked rice or dried beans, you can put them into a sock, tie it closed and microwave it for 20 secs at a time and heat it up. Squish it around to be sure there are no hot spots. It will hold the heat for longer and won't draw his heat from him as it cools.