Cats, Squirrels, and the risks...?? HELP PLEASE!!

[Gracie&me]

I have a 5 to 6 week old squirrel. My cat had brought it up yesterday afternoon and did not hurt it. It seems strong and I contacted a rescue as soon as I had her settled into a box. They never got back to me until late last night and now I have no way of transporting Gracie (the squirrel) I am wondering at what risk is Gracie at of having a bactrial problem. She is very small but her eyes are open and this morning during her pedilyte feeding she was strong and willing to climb up my shirt. I have her isolated from the area of my cat and have keep my hands clean during handling. I will have no way of transporting Gracie until after 4:00 pm this evening (if then). Is there anything I should be worried about as at her 11:00am feeding she seemed a little less active. I know infection in small animals is a fast killer and I would not want anything to happen to her as I have become very attached already. I understand that her best chance is with a rehab, but our nearest rehab is in another county and as I have said I have no way of transporting her. What are her chances and what should I do ?

[Buddy'sMom]

If you would be able to get Gracie to the rehabber later today, that should be fine. We might have other rehabbers near you but I'm not sure if arrangements could be made any faster with them. If you let us know what city you are nearest to, we can check and see.

At that age, they do sleep a lot. She should have periods of activity though. Do you have a heating pad for her (on Low, under half of the box she is in).

Is she drinking the Pedialyte well? Please go VERY slowly on that!

Has she peed? Pooped? (In case you aren't aware, you must stimulate her to do both, before or after feeding. Take a damp tissue or cloth or Qtip or finger and gently but quickly stroke her genitals. Since she has taken Pedialyte, you should get some pee, but might not get any poop.)

In case you have not already seen our Emergency Instructions, please look here for more info: "I Found a Baby Squirrel - Now What? Thread" http://thesquirrelboard.com/forums/showthread.php?t=13090

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[Gracie&me]

I have been changing out heated gel packs that I have been keeping under the box. It is not in the box with her. I did some research after I didn't get an answer from the rehab right away and have been giving her a small eye dropper half full of pedilyte(?) every 4-8 hours depending on how she responds to the dropper and have tried to get her to pee pee, but have had no sucess. I did find a very hard small ball of something black in her box last night but not today. I am not completely convinced it was poo b/c it was so hard even though the box was completely clean when Gracie was put in. I am nearest to Spartanburg city and have searched the phone book and internet trying to find a rehab closer to me. Thank you very much for responding!

[Gracie&me]

Your links of rehabbers has led me to a closer rehab and this is the only place I have been able to find this link so I'm very happy I found this site. Yesterday I called Animal Control and Animal Allies and they had no answers for me! :dono

[Gracie&me]

Yes!! thank you sooo much. I found them too! LOL I will call them now. Thank you again!

[Gracie&me]

I called the Piedmont Audubon Society Wildlife Rehabilitation Program and the number is no longer in service. I had this problem yesterday when I emailed some of the listings I found. My emails were returned and the places are no longer listed in the phone book.

When I found Gracie I thought of her mother too, but I live on 24 acres and I have no clue what tree she came from. Today it's raining and I can't leave her out there in it hoping her mom will find her. Gracie will not be going to a place where they will just put her down...don't worry that will not be happening! I am very disappointed in my county today...I can't believe I'm having such a problem placing her in caring hands :(

[Buddy'sMom]

Gracie&Me, the TSB members that I was thinking of are on the other side of the state, so the contact you made is likely the closest we can find for you. Try to figure out the logistics to connect with that rehabber -- it might be possible to meet halfway, if that helps you out at all.

MANY of us have found that it's not that easy to locate someone to care for baby squirrels. Hopefully your contact will work out so baby can get the antibiotics that are probably needed. Let us know if it does not and we will see what else we can figure out.

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[Kathy56]

I live in Florence and will be glad to help you out.

[Buddy'sMom]

Thanks, Kathy56! --- You were one of the ones I was thinking about. If she can connect with the local rehabber, that would be good, since it looks like you are about 2 hours away? :dono But it's good to have options :thumbsup

[Peaches]

I just saw this post but unless I'm missing something here she said the squirrel is 5 or 6 weeks old and she's giving it half a small eye dropper of pedialite every 4 to 8 hours. Thats only half a ml. per feeding and only about 4 times a day. (2ml's) The baby will dehydrate at this rate.

[Peaches]

Gracie&me you are not giving enough pedialyte. At 5 or 6 weeks you should be giving about 5 or 6 cc. Thats 5 or 6 full eye droppers full every 4 hours until she is hydrated. If you still have her tomorrow check back on the board for the diluted esbilac formula mix.

[Buddy'sMom]

:thankyou Peaches!!

Gracie&Me, how is she doing? Were you able to get her to the rehabber tonight? If not, Peaches is right -- you will need to start her on formula tomorrow. The closest thing to squirrel milk is Esbilac puppy formula. It can be purchased at Petco, Petsmart, other pet stores and many vet's offices. It comes in liquid (ready to use) or powdered. The powdered is more economical, although if you plan to transfer her to a rehabber as soon as you can arrange it, a can of the liquid will be enough for the time being.

Let us know which you purchase -- it needs to be diluted to start out with and the instructions differ for the liquid and the powder.

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