Nasty looking sore on Pookie's breast. Help!

[JLM27]

Pookie seems to be healing nicely from her mange attack (I gave her Ivermectin 11 days ago and a dose again today). BUT she now has a large nasty looking sore on her right second breast. She is nursing (I believe), and all of her teats are swollen, pink, and the nipples darkened. I have observed wet fur around her teats on occasion so I think she is nursing.
The sore does not look so much like the manage scabs, which were red and yellowish. They have pretty much cleared up and her fur is starting to grow back. This one is very dark red (almost black) with a lighter red around the rim. It is about 1/4 inch long and 3/8 inch wide. It seems to be getting bigger. I will try to get a photo but it is hard to expose it where it is located. Can anyone guess what is going on? Is it an ulcer (it is not espececially swollen.) Is it part of the mange attack? Does she have (Godd forbid!) breast cancer? What can I do? My poor Pookie! She needs a break!:shakehead

[Mrs. Jack]

poor pookie :( she has been through the ringer, hasn't she. How old are her weelings? is it possible someone got a little vociferous on the breast and chewed her? or possibly that teat gets more attention than some of the others, maybe she lays so that one is exposed.. and it's bearing the brunt of it. Here's an odd fact: the best "cure" for nipple injuries is breast milk itself.. it's really rather a miracle drug.. so maybe one of those babes will be helpful and dribble a bit on her.
Sorry I am not much help, sure someone else will be in presently just wanted to respond..

[TexanSquirrel]

aww Poor baby. I hope it turns out to be nothing!

[atlantasquirrelgirl]

Peanut had a nasty one last year, towards the end of baby season. One of her babies did a number on her. It eventually healed on it's own.

[Loopy Squirrel]

The fact that it is so dark leads me to think it is a bruise/hemotoma. Maybe one of the babies is developing teeth and got her. As long as it doesn't open up like an abcess it should heal. It'll probably look like crap for awhile those kind of bruises can take weeks to go away.

[JLM27]

Thank you everyone for your response. :thankyou I saw Pookie Pie today, and the sore didn't look any worse. I thought maybe one of them bit her too. They must be 3 weeks old, at least, but I don't really know. She was pretty feisty today, she even growled at Paulie who was trying to poach on her peanut patch and chased him through the oak tree into a magnolia tree. That's the first time I actually heard her growl at anyone. Then she got chased by a cat, and I had to chase the cat away. [Spike:nono, naughty cat. ]All in all she seems to be ok. I have to go out of town now and won't be back until Friday morning, so we'll just have to see.

[thundersquirrel]

best thing you can do is keep an eye on her condition. note changes in behavior- look for lethargy, disorientation, loss of fur/weight, growth of the wound, development of pus, etc.. you can't really do any capture treatments because of her babies, but if things get worse you could try giving her antibiotics on a nut or something.

keep us posted.

[JLM27]

I can't do anything until Friday because I am out of town. I'm a consultant and I travel a lot. She was pretty perky when I saw her on Sunday evening, and it didn't look worse at that time. Since 24 hours is a long time in squirrel time, I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it has plateaued off. Back Friday to let you all know. The problem is half way down her underside and it is hard to see because fur normally falls down over it when she sits, Pookie doesn't stretch up very much and its hard to get her to do it. I tried to look close when she was sitting on her spiral staircase, but she was puzzled about what I was doing and stuck her face in mine in this questioning way. She has a very expressive face. Used to smile more as a young'un, though.

[JLM27]

I think Pookie Pie is OK. I'm no expert on squirrel sores, but I looked at her yesterday and it looks as though it has not gotten bigger and it is much less red. If I could, I would get a photo up, but I just can't get the fur tuft up to expose the place while I'm taking a picture.
:thankyou
Thanks for all the good response. I think a lot of us junior members are probably real worry warts. Her mange spots continue to improve too.

[JLM27]

Today is a banner day! :jump I just saw my grandsquirrels for the first time! I don't know how many Pookie Pie has up there, but I saw two of them, and they are beautiful! Plump, clean, mange-free, lively and inquisitive. They are PERFECT! :D Pookie's fur coat is also looking much better now, and her breast sore looks really good. She seems to go farther away from her nest nowadys too. Now all she has to do is shepherd them past Spike! Thanks to all for the support! :thankyou