Calif vet/rehab referrals for adult squirrel who fell and as mobility issues?

[zippyzip]

Greetings Squirrelfriends,

Should the wild adult fox squirrel who fell and has back-end injury make it thru the night, we need to get her Xrayed/Evaluated
to know if time/treatment could keep her in a decent quality of life.

I heard long ago only that Lindsay Wildlife in Walnut Creek only takes natives and euthanizes fox squirrels. Does anyone have suggestions for vets/rehabbers who could help?

She can use her front end and her tail somewhat and one rear leg but since her fall at Noon on Sat 30th and has not regained ability to do more than drag around in slow circles, rest, and flop around She isn't eating or drinking and it's obvious this hurts so we'd like to drive her to some evaluation tomorrow morning if anyone has any suggestions.

I have experience with raising pinkie rats and orphan birds but not squirrels, tho we could commit to her in some way if she can't return to a decent wild life. We have individuals in our squirrel population with tails that drag on the ground, a leg that doesn't work, etc. They rely more heavily on our handouts but seem to do ok here...

Thanks for any tips, Zip (written last night)

[Tashahaven]

I’m assuming you took her in somewhere safe after her fall? Based on the ability to observe her mobility and drinking? (If not, PLEASE do so now! If she is outside she WILL NOT make it through the night!)

She will need to be kept somewhere very quiet and preferably quite dark, to eliminate the stimuli which will add to her anxiety and trauma.

Is she a FULL grown adult? Or a teenager? (Young adult/juvenille?)

She will need hydration if you can attempt to offer her some? You can sweeten it very slightly with a pinch of sugar, agave syrup or molasses. Provide it in a shallow dish, preferably something heavier in an attempt to prevent it being tipped over. Put some small clean rocks or marbles in the bottom of the dish, which can help keep them from placing their whole nose into the water and accidentally aspirating it.

If you can get ahold of some children’s or infant ibuprofen an admin on here can help provide dosing. We typically prefer to have a weight on the squirrel, but given the extent of injury, we don’t want to stress her more, or risk possibly exacerbating the injuries. Would it be possible to get a photo of her next to something of a common and uniform size so experienced members can attempt to guess her weight? Like a soda can or can of soup? You will also need to post the strength of ibuprofen you locate.

It’s very possible she won’t have an appetite or desire to eat while in pain, but even after ibuprofen, she just might be too scared.

However you can definitely try to offer her some foods most squirrels love and are easy to eat, which might entice her to get some calories. Avocado (no skin or pit! They are toxic) or organic baby food. Peach, apple, pear, with some carrot or kale? They have TO S of these types of baby foods, they are usually in the little squeeze pouches. If you want to attempt to offer some formula, she may be willing to drink some, and it will provide her ample calories and nutrition, until or if we can find somewhere who will take her? The formula should be the POWDERED esbilac puppy milk replacer. You can offer it to her in a shallow dish the same as the water.

Hopefully others will chime in and correct me if any advice I’m offering is wrong. (I’m not sure if food is a good idea if she is actually paralyzed and unable to go potty on her own?)

Make sure wherever she is being held, she has lots of fleece or flannel to borrow into for warmth or out of if too warm. (Avoid terry cloth towels, or other fabrics with loops or strings, because they easily get their sharp nails stuck in it or the string could wrap around a limb and we don’t want her to panic or thrash about.

Ideally we need her to remain as calm as possible, where it is quiet and warm and she feels relatively safe, and let her rest without a lot of disturbances.

Also what part of California are you in? You mentioned Lindsey’s in WC (I’ve taken lots of injured animals there my whole life when I lived there, but never a squirrel.) I’m not sure if they would euthanize. It’s best to ask or see if you can find out anything online? I believe they have folks there all weekend, for emergencies, just not fully open for the public and such.

Hope she is doing ok! Thank you for caring and looking after her as best you can so far!!! ❤️❤️❤️

[zippyzip]

Thank you for your fab response! We are in Berkeley, CA.

Linsay Wildlife said that their vet would "evaluate" but sounded very likely euthanize.
I want an Xray for her before she is put down and once she's given it's out of our hands. We heard thru the grapevine that
this kind of major injury of a non-native species didn't have a good chance at getting treatment there??

She seems to be hibernating in a Sterilite bin with heating pad under half and the usual..... I am pleased to hear about the marbles
to stop drowning, thank you! Her agitation passed quickly after we brought her in. Another squirrel attacked her (!) while we were giving her space to recover from her fall so we intervened. She took a scratch to the shoulder but shows no other marks.

I have horribly sugary liquid Advil. But I have had no luck getting her to take eyedropped water around her mouth I can take pics for dosing or possibly weigh her even but would need advice on getting her to swallow. The eyedropper/syringe attempts were annoying to her but not enough to do much about it.

She is a full grown adult fox squirrel who is familiar with me from my deck feeders and much used water dishes. She can rest on all 4 paws but mostly just rests flopped on her side. I fear broken pelvis/spine and that she's a gonner but giving her a warm safe space to make it or die seemed like it gave her a chance? Some of our feeder friends have gone missing for a week and come back with horrible injuries including some spinal and serious leg breaks that eventually healed <hope hope>

She is sleeping most of the time now and has every treat we have in stock getting rotated thru to stay fresh (pecans, almonds, sunflower seeds, peanuts (all unsalted and raw), as well as backyard apple, peeled org grapes, and watermelon served on a chard leaf.....) Only unscented products in our house/no perfume, etc.

We are not finding a vet OR another rehabber option to get her proper care and it's driving me crazy since it's now 30 hours from her fall.
I hear that if it's not an extremity that is easily treated they tend to get put down?? We do have some squirrels who have def survived bad spine injuries around here and seem to have a decent quality of life but I am aware of having intervened and possibly just prolonged her pain too <wilt>

I have called around for vet and dental x-ray possibilities to no avail so any tips or connections would be very welcome. I would also take the advice of y'all about what is best if anyone is within driving range or something.

Grateful for the advice! <3

[zippyzip]

Update: She had a last huzzah walking slowly once around her space but died just before 36 hours after her fall. Thanks so much for being a space to try to help our squirrel friends <3

[Tashahaven]

Awe! I’m so sorry! Poor baby girl. Thank you so much for giving her a safe and warm place to spend her last hours. Because of you she was able to experience love and kindness in her final moments.

Rest in piece sweet one! I hope you have a happy life filled with love in the trees above! ❤️

[SamtheSquirrel2018]

Hi Zippyzip:
I am so sorry for the loss of your little Squirrel. TH has said everything I would have said and she worded it much than I could!
RIP Little Squirrel!
I wish Peace for you, Zippyzip!
Regards,
SamtheSquirrel

[supersquirrelgirl]

Update: She had a last huzzah walking slowly once around her space but died just before 36 hours after her fall. Thanks so much for being a space to try to help our squirrel friends <3

Hello ZippyZip,

Very sorry to read this fox female didn't make it. Thank you for all the effort trying! Sometimes the pain is just too much.

We were out of town during your situation and I'm so sorry we missed this post to help you.

We are just down 580 East in Pleasanton so close by. In the future, there are 2 places that are squirrel friendly to help.

1) WildCare in San Rafael

2) Wildlife Center of Silicon Valley (WCSV)

In our case, there is an injury wild fox here that WCSV would take for rehab and give back to us for local release. Forunately, the squirrel did her own surgery and eliminated her rehab visit.

SSG