Need experienced rehab advice

[I Love Lucy]

Hi, fellow rehabbers,

I hope you've had a successful year so far. I have a case that has me stumped and I was hoping someone might to give me some advice.

Three weeks ago I got in two 4 week old squirrels, weighing in at 70 grams, severely emaciated and dehydrated. One of them had a wound on her neck with maggots and maggots coming out of her anus. Both were covered with maggot eggs which I removed. I treated them both with ivermectin (didn't have Capstar until a few days later) and TMZ/SMP. I had to sub-q them because they could barely swallow. I also gave them pedialyte drop by drop. The one with the internal maggots unfortunately died 12 hours later. Her sister survived and is the one that has been giving me a run for my money.

A few days later she developed nasal congestion (definitely not pneumonia) I switched her to Baytril and a few days later added Benedryl to her regimen thinking maybe it was an allergy. Her symptoms gradually lessened. After her symptoms were gone a few days I put her with two other healthy squirrels I had gotten the week before.

All was progressing nicely, she had no nasal symptoms and was eating and gaining weight beautifully. I then noticed her fur was thinning on her back and her nasal symptoms were returning all thought not as severe. Then her bowel movements became soft and had mucous in it. She does not seem itchy and is not scratching. I have seen mange and it is not that. She has been on Esbilac since I got her and has been nibbling on rodent block. Her appetiteand weight gain is good and so is her activity level. The 2 other squirrels she is with are 100% fine.

I tried switching her to Goat Milk Esbilac but her diarrhea got worse. I put her under a full spectrum light and gave her a calcium supplement today because it almost seems like the beginnings of MBD. I'm thinking maybe her body is not metabolizing the calcium in her diet.

Does anyone have any ideas what could be going on with her and how I could help her?

[Mountain Mama]

Have you tried adding any yogurt to her formula? The antibiotics could have killed some of the normal flora in her gut, giving her psuedomembranous colitis, and accounting for the diarrhea.

I usually add some Stonyfield's organic vanilla to each feeding with mine for the probiotics and calcium. The squirrels love the flavor and I have had great success with it.

[I Love Lucy]

She was fine on plain Esbilac for about week. I am not sure it will make a difference but I'm going to try yogurt in the next feeding in some Pedialyte. I have Stonyfield organic vanilla whole milk yogurt. Did you ever use that? I did read some where to use low fat.

Her fur looks thinner every time I feed her. Just now she wouldn't eat she only wanted to play and run around.

I'm going to see if she'll eat some eggs, cheese, oranges and/or mushrooms to increase her Vitamin D in case it is a calcium absorbtion problem.

Has anyone ever used Multi Milk? I read in the 24 hour mammal bible to use that with Esbilac in suspected cases of Kitten Fur Syndrome or MBD.

[pamela lee]

NEVER use the low fat. The whole fat is what you want:thumbsup .

[Mars]

I use multi milk. My formula looks like this

1 part Esblilac + 1/2 part Yogurt + 1/2 part multi milk in 2 parts water.

Be aware that Multi milk is very rich and can cause diarhea if added to quickly. I start slowly and take my time building up to the 1/2 part.

I would suggest adding bioplasma to your formula. One tablet twice a day for a bit. Bioplasma ( also called cell salts or bio salts ) can be found in health food stores. ( not GNC ) :)

[Mountain Mama]

I don't use low fat, always whole milk, and of course no artificial sweeteners.

If it were me, I would just start by adding the yogurt for 24 hours and see if that works. If it doesn't, then you can move on to other things. At least this way you will know what worked.

[Squirrel Rescue]

I've used L-glutamine powder in their milk, to aid digestion. :) You can buy capsules and twist them open to add the powder to the milk.

[ShesASquirrelyGirl]

Not to go against anyone here but I find that unless using yogurt for other reasons (calcium) you are better off using a straight probiotic such as acidophilus with a "1 billion" count otherwise its pointless. Some yogurts contain chemicals that kill the acidophilus, and most of the time the acidophilus doesn't even make it into the intestines when using it through yogurt. You would have to feed the entire container to the squirrel for it to get all the acidophilus in the yogurt and its still not as much as a straight probiotic would supply. Also the sugar in the yogurt or fruit will feed the bad bacteria basically making it harder for the good bacteria to work.

I would definitly try to supplement calcium and get a FS light.
Good luck !

[Abacat]

I'm assuming since you ruled out mange, you have also ruled out molting (sometimes they have weird patterns, even though in the fall it starts on the flanks & progresses anteriorly). Is this a gray squirrel? Not a red? I'm thinking something maybe in her food or environment she is sensitive to. Have you changed anything? One of the top reasons for hair loss in mice is food allergies...maybe the same for squirrels?

I too, would add the bioplasma. I can't thank Mars enough for "turning me onto it". It truly has been "miraculous" in some of my critters.


almost seems like the beginnings of MBD. What symptoms? I didn't see anything in your post leading me to think that, you said, appetite, weight gain, activity level all good. I would tend to think hair thinning more allergy related, along with nasal...but I'm not an expert.

What is her diet like? I've always been under the impression if still on formula, normally no need to worry about FS light.

Please keep us posted...good luck. We posted together...I still think allergy...but again, not an expert...

[I Love Lucy]

I've never had much success with Benebac so I'll try the yogurt for 24 hours and see what happens. Maybe I'll try a little of both at the same time. I don't see how it could hurt. One of them should help with the diarrhea.

I still don't understand what is going on with her stuffy nose and thinning fur. The mucus coming out of her nose is white so I don't think she has any type of upper respiratory infection. There is no redness, swelling, scabs or anything noticeable on the skin. It is very strange to me. The only thing that makes any sense to me is that she might have a genetic problem with calcium and Vitamin D absorbtion. Her diet has been perfect so why else would she have some signs of early MBD. But diarrhea and stuffy nose, what does that have to do with MBD.

Since I got her she has been one of those special never forget squirrels. She loves to be held and petted by humans. I'm really worried about her.

[I Love Lucy]

Abacat - the only thing that made me think of MBD is the thinning fur. I've read that could be an early sign.

She is a grey squirrel and has been on Esbilac since I got her. I also had started to introduce Mazuri.

I also thought of environmental allergies which is why I put her on Benedryl. I'm in the process of re-washing all of the bedding I use for my animals in a free & clear detergent. I know environmental allergies can cause nasal stuffiness and skin conditions. I'm also thinking that all of the mucus production could cause mucus in her stool.

As I mentioned before I'm going to try the yogurt to settle her stomach. I've got her back on Benedryl and I'll change her bedding. I'm leaving the FS light on just as a precaution and I'll see what happens in the next few days.

[I Love Lucy]

I gave her the yogurt in 2 feedings last night and one this morning. I also gave her bio-plasma salts last night and this morning. Her diarrhea is worse and so is her nasal congestion. Her fur still looks like it is thinning out more.

Now I'm starting to think could it be a lactose intolerance. Her symptoms definitely got worse with the addition of the yogurt and bio-plasma salts.

Isn't Multi-Milk lactose free? Has anyone ever used it exclusively?

[ShesASquirrelyGirl]

Bene bac sucks, I never use it. Get straight acidophilus 1 billion count, it will help with the stool. Yogurt is not going to contain enough to control the bad flora in her gut if thats what you are worried about. I thought I just explained that...
You can get acidophilus in almost any grocery store. ( for humans) \
Some sell it in the refridge section ( in health stores) and you can also find it in the vitamin section in grocery stores.

I am not familiar with the use of bioplasma although I am interested... Perhaps keep trying that with some acidophilus and regular formula. Or try switching formulas...
Perhaps like someone else mentioned it is a food allergy.

[I Love Lucy]

I have already tried Goat's Milk Esbilac and it made her worse. I do think it is a food and/or an environmental allergy. I'm researching enzymes to aid with a possible lactose intolerance. I've also ordered another milk replacer, Multi Milk to try.

[Mars]

You may want to consider these products as an alternative. Multi milk is not a full formula. It's an additive such as heavy cream.

http://foxvalleynutrition.com/prod/products.asp?PLID=1

[I Love Lucy]

I bought the L-Glutemine, have the Prozyme and was able to buy plain acidophilis capsules.

How much formula do I add a pinch of Prozyme and L-Glute to? And how much acidophilis? The capsules I bought have 3 mil.

I also ordered the fox Valley formula and the Acidophilis plus.

By the way her name is Hope. She has a hard time since I got her and I always had hope for her full recovery.

Thanks everyone for your help.

[I Love Lucy]

OOPS! Just read the acidophilis box and each capsule has 500 million units. I don't have any idea where I got the othe number from...I guess sleep deprivation and number crunching don't go will together.

[I Love Lucy]

Thanks soooooo much for the info. I checked the acidophilis caps and it did say 500 million units. I feed her again at 12:00pm so I'll mix up a batch with the 3 special ingredients and keep my fingers crossed. I already stopped the Benedryl.

I'll keep you posted with her progress.

Tell Squirlgirl I hope she gets better soon and thanks again soooooo much.

[ShesASquirrelyGirl]

you can give her the entire pill in between antibiotic doses.. since its only 500 million you can give it twice a day or 2 pills at once. 1 billion is better but 500 mill will do. You can't really over dose on it.

[Sissy]

Don't know if this will help or not, but I just had a squirrel that had an allergic reaction to Baytril. I thought he had a server upper respiratory infection due to sneezing and rapid breathing and liquid diarrhea on top of it all. He ended up having a seizure also. I tried everything from switching formulas, to trying Benadryl, etc. Within 24 hrs of changing his antibiotics he showed a marked improvement. I hope this is all thats wrong with your little sweet one.

[I Love Lucy]

She has not been on any antibiotics for the last ten days. She was on TMP/SMZ for 3 days for a maggot infestation when I first got her then she developed the nasal congestion and I put her on Baytril for 7 days.

[Mars]

Not to go against anyone here but I find that unless using yogurt for other reasons (calcium) you are better off using a straight probiotic such as acidophilus with a "1 billion" count otherwise its pointless. Some yogurts contain chemicals that kill the acidophilus, and most of the time the acidophilus doesn't even make it into the intestines when using it through yogurt. You would have to feed the entire container to the squirrel for it to get all the acidophilus in the yogurt and its still not as much as a straight probiotic would supply. Also the sugar in the yogurt or fruit will feed the bad bacteria basically making it harder for the good bacteria to work.

I would definitly try to supplement calcium and get a FS light.
Good luck !

True and false. :D

I'm going to jump in here with my 2 cents. You get what you pay for. There are yogurts and there are yogurts. You need to purchase an organic live cultured yogurt. I perfer Stonyfields myself. But it is also in how you use it. Gut flora can not be restored over nigt or even in a couple of days. And it can't be restored to proper balance by mega dosing either. You must be consistant. The yogurt must be in every feeding, every day until weaned.

Other products are available, but agian you get what you pay for or more exactly buyer beware. A probiotic is only as good as it is kept, stored, shipped and shelved. If you buy from a drug store or food store where the product is treated as a fad item and has been on the shelf from year 1 it's a crap shoot what it's worth. I would shop a health food store. The acidophilis is kept in the refrig and you can get it in a powdered form. The brand I trust is Natren. But again you must be consistant - it needs be in every feeding.

:)

[Mars]

She has not been on any antibiotics for the last ten days. She was on TMP/SMZ for 3 days for a maggot infestation when I first got her then she developed the nasal congestion and I put her on Baytril for 7 days.


This baby came in emaciated - have you checked her for Coccidiosis?? I think I would aproach this with a 5 to 10 day course of Albon starting with a loading dose the first day. I would back off on formula and do 24 to 48 hours of LR or other fluid to which I add a suppliment called Liquid Lea once per day. I would also include Bioplasma for supportive care. Lastly, as I tend to look at a problem from many angles I would give a homepathic Phosphorus. I don't know how familiar/comfortable you are with homeopathy but if you are interested I can PM you with details on how I would use this product.

[I Love Lucy]

Mars - It is definitely not coccidia. I had a litter that came in with it in the spring and I could tell what they had immediately. Hers does not have that distinct look, odor and texture of coccidia. Also her litter mates do not have any of her symptoms at all and they have been together for a week or so. Coccidia is very contagious and has a short incubation period.

I only use Stonyfield organic whole milk yogurt. When I introduced the yogurt and bio plasma salts into her formula her diarrhea became much worse. I gave her 3 feedings of yogurt and a bed time and morning dose of bio plasma salts. Her diarrhea went from being mushy to explosive liquid within those 12 hours.

The acidophilis I bought was from the refrigerator section of a health food Store. That is also where I purchased the L-Glutamine.

I would be interested in any homepathic knowledge you can share with me. I would prefer to go natural if it is possible.

[I Love Lucy]

Hope is much better today. She has not lost any more fur in the last 24-36 hours and has no nasal congestion yet this morning. Although she has never lost her appetite, last night and this morning she couldn't get enough formula or fast enough. She is definitely feeling much better and has a ravenous appetite. Her BM this morning was huge, formed, only slightly mushy and had gelatinous chunks in it. (Yuck!) A great improvement since yesterday morning.

Squirlgirl - Hope sounds like your Jess. Her improvement is remarkable with only 3 feedings. Hats off to you for your research on this protocol. It is definitely one for the books. When I get the Acidophilis Plus I will substitute it for the one I'm using now. Should I make any other adjustments with the Prozyme and L-Glutamine when I start the A Plus? I'm going to keep her on the special formula indefintely and watch her closely. The only thing I did a little different was I also added Lactaid to her special formula. I stopped introducing solid foods about 4 -5 days ago. I was going to start again in 2-3 days. What did you do with Jess on food introduction?

I'll keep you posted on her progress.

Thank you everyone for your help.

A very special thanks goes to Squirlgirl, Gammas Baby and Mars for sharing your experiences and knowledge so I could help Hope.

[ShesASquirrelyGirl]

Of course its not restored over night. But in order for it to properly work you need a certain percentage which you will not get through feeding small amounts of yogurt. Again even if the entire container is consumed its not the amount needed and most of the amount in the container doesn't reach the intestines.
I used to live by yogurt until I did my research.
I do agree on the best being in the health store in the refridge section and its only as good as you store it.