New Squirrel with bad injuries

[KimbleSquible]

Hi All. I have a new baby in this evening. I am guessing he is around 5 weeks old, eyes open, fluffy tail and moving independently. He has a severe injury on his nose, looks like it goes all the way through to his nasal cavity, quite a large rip. Also two puncture marks on his body, so I am assuming he got munched by a cat. I have Doxybiotic (and this is the only thing the vet prescribes for rodents here.)He is _very_ small and thin, I dont remember Scribble being this thin at this age. I cant get enough skin on his neck to do a pinch test. Is there another way to check for dehydration? My husband has gone to South Africa with our big first aid kit, I have got some Savlon Antiseptic wash, betadyne (sorry, to late in the eveing for spelling) and Rescue Remedy in drop form. Also Saline drip that is about 2 years old... I am worried that if I feed him and his nose is all buggered up I might hurt him. He shouts alot and has said his name is Oscar Nut but not sure it will stick.

[KimbleSquible]

55187 The Tear is Bigger than it looks

55188

[KimbleSquible]

Just some more info, he is 30 grams (tiny!) according to my gram scale. I got .3mls of formula into him. He seems to have bite marks around his genitals. The cut accross his nose has dried but the two puncture marks are still bleeding, one on his shoulder and one on his lower tummy area.

[Sarabi]

aww bless his little heart:Love_Icon Hang on and someone will be in shortly to help this poor little guy:Welcome

[lookmomchickens]

Oh goodness!! Poor baby... this hurts my :Love_Icon !!!!!

[Buddy'sMom]

:grouphug :grouphug Poor baby!

Warmth and fluids are probably te best thing for him to start.

Bleeding: I recently found two things that can be used to stop bleeding (and ran it by a rehabber who agreed it would be ok to try on a squirrel. First: flour (plain old baking flour). Try not to get any dust where he could breathe it in, but putting some on the bleeding wounds might stop it. Other: cayenne (red) pepper --- I know, sounds scary; the website I found the info on (I'll post it if I can find the link) swears that it doesn't hurt. I bought some but haven't tried it yet. I would try the flour first and see if that does it.

If you think he seems dehydrated, try some hydration fluid in between formula feedings (one other sign if you can't do the pinch test is their fur looks kind of spiky, standing up instead of laying down smoothly):

1 tsp salt (teaspoon)
3 Tbsp sugar (tablespoon)
1 quart warm water

Keep refrigerated.

:grouphug :Love_Icon :grouphug

[Buddy'sMom]

Antibiotic -- I don't recall having read about Doxybiotic on TSB. Do you have a recommended dosage from the vet? If not, tell us exactly what you've got and perhaps someone can calculate a dosage for you (it seems to come in different formats, Doxybiotic and Doxybiotic-S. Is it a powder?)

Looking for info, this is what I found, so perhaps it will help one of the other members that comes to this thread:

http://www.vetproductsonline.co.za/productinfo.asp?productcode=2031&affiliate=

DOXYBIOTIC POWDER 500G - it's under ANTIBIOTICS & ANTIMICROBIALS
Presentation : 500G
Composition : Doxyclicline, vitamins & dextrose
Species : BIRDS & POULTRY
Condition : SUPPLIMENTS & TREATMENTS - AVIAN
Description : For the flock treatment of Psittacosis/Ornithosis and bacterial infections in pigeons and cage birds. Vitamins included in the formulation to enhance recovery. Can be used in the water or soft food. In confiermed cases of Psitticosis, treatment must be given for 40 days and supplimented with Entero-plus three times a week to replace beneficial gut bacteria. Safe to use evenfor extended periods.

I saw several sites, all for treatment of pigeons or caged birds. (But I know that there are other "bird meds" that have been used safely in squirrels)

If it was a cat, antiobiotic treatment should be started ASAP. I hope this is a suitable antibiotic. Perhaps that is what it is used for by your vet -- cat caught rodents??

Hope this helps someone give Kimblesquibble some advice. I didnt find anything yet about dosage, even for birds. :thinking

:grouphug :Love_Icon :grouphug

More info about what is in Doxybiotic: http://www.medpet.co.za/productlist/Doxybiotic.htm
Available sizes: 50g, 200g, 500g and 5kg
CONTAINS:
Doxycycline 25 000 mg/kg
Vit B2 250 mg/kg Vit K 790 IU/kg
Vit A 200 000 IU/kg Vit B6 250 mg/kg Lactose 485 g/kg
Vit B1 250 mg/kg Vit E 660 IU/kg Dextrose 485 g/kg

[Buddy'sMom]

Bleeding: I recently found two things that can be used to stop bleeding (and ran it by a rehabber who agreed it would be ok to try on a squirrel. First: flour (plain old baking flour). Try not to get any dust where he could breathe it in, but putting some on the bleeding wounds might stop it. Other: cayenne (red) pepper --- I know, sounds scary; the website I found the info on (I'll post it if I can find the link) swears that it doesn't hurt. I bought some but haven't tried it yet. I would try the flour first and see if that does it.

Also, you can try cornstarch.

Here are the two sources where I got the info:
http://www.exoticbird.com/gillian/bleeding.html - cornstarch or flour

http://www.zetatalk.com/health/theal02n.htm - cayenne pepper

[Mars]

Hi All. I have a new baby in this evening. I am guessing he is around 5 weeks old, eyes open, fluffy tail and moving independently. He has a severe injury on his nose, looks like it goes all the way through to his nasal cavity, quite a large rip. Also two puncture marks on his body, so I am assuming he got munched by a cat. I have Doxybiotic (and this is the only thing the vet prescribes for rodents here.)He is _very_ small and thin, I dont remember Scribble being this thin at this age. I cant get enough skin on his neck to do a pinch test. Is there another way to check for dehydration? My husband has gone to South Africa with our big first aid kit, I have got some Savlon Antiseptic wash, betadyne (sorry, to late in the eveing for spelling) and Rescue Remedy in drop form. Also Saline drip that is about 2 years old... I am worried that if I feed him and his nose is all buggered up I might hurt him. He shouts alot and has said his name is Oscar Nut but not sure it will stick.


If the saline drip is still clear and has no floaters it is still good. It can be used to flush the wounds as well as for rehydration. When using betadyne it should be dituted down to the appearance of a weak tea and can be applied to disinfect the wounds after they have been cleaned. How is his breathing?

Do you have access to any Homeopathic remedies?

At 30 grams I would not feed more than 5% or 1.5ml (cc) per feeding. Overfeeding could cause diarhea.

Hope this helps :)

[Mars]

:grouphug :grouphug Poor baby!

Warmth and fluids are probably te best thing for him to start.

Bleeding: I recently found two things that can be used to stop bleeding (and ran it by a rehabber who agreed it would be ok to try on a squirrel. First: flour (plain old baking flour). Try not to get any dust where he could breathe it in, but putting some on the bleeding wounds might stop it. Other: cayenne (red) pepper --- I know, sounds scary; the website I found the info on (I'll post it if I can find the link) swears that it doesn't hurt. I bought some but haven't tried it yet. I would try the flour first and see if that does it.

If you think he seems dehydrated, try some hydration fluid in between formula feedings (one other sign if you can't do the pinch test is their fur looks kind of spiky, standing up instead of laying down smoothly):

1 tsp salt (teaspoon)
3 Tbsp sugar (tablespoon)
1 quart warm water

Keep refrigerated.

:grouphug :Love_Icon :grouphug


No Cayenne pepper is safe when used near the eyes. :nono

[island rehabber]

KS the Doxybiotic contains doxycycline + vitamins, which is acceptable for use in squirrels, so I would give to him to ward off bacterial infection from whatever attacked him. As S1 and Mars have already cautioned, I would not use cayenne pepper anywhere near the eyes or mouth. (I actually got it in my eye once and it's horrible.)

[Peaches]

If that slice on the nose goes through into the nasal cavity do not use any form of powder on it or pour a flush into it, powder might clog his nasal passages and liquid might end up getting inhaled. The nose will heal on its own, just keep it clean. I am most worried about the abdominal puncture. If an abscess forms inside the abdominal wall it could blow out into the abdominal cavity and cause peritonitis. There is also the possiblitly that the hole already goes all the way through into the abdominal cavity already. You must rehydrate him before you do anything else and you must get him on antibiotics right away for the wounds. If these are cat bites he cannot wait to get antibiotics.

[KimbleSquible]

Thanks everyone for your quick response!! Fantastic! The Doxybiotic is the one used for birds, I originally got it when I had a Kestral that was Star Gazing. The dosage for it is 1tsp Doxy Powder to one Litre of water. And the vet says to put it into the drinking water for older Squirrels. I used it when Scribble (my VERY clever and wonderful Big Boy) got pnemonia (again, spelling!!) as a baby and again when he got a severe soft tissue injury to his paw. And again, the Vet said that the dosage is basically as much as you can get down.
Oscar Nut quite happily took .5mls of rehydration fluid (salt and sugar) and earlier the .3mls of watered down formula. No poops or pees, despite my best efforts so cant see what is going on inside for the most part. I cleaned his puncture wounds with some watered down Savlon and a Q-tip and have tucked him up in my baby cage on a warm bed for a few hours. All the bleeding has since stopped and i will get him up in an hour or two for another rehydrate and coax n poop,
I had him in my vest (handy built in bra-perfect for sleeping Squirrels, I lived in them when Scribble was little) and he was having a little trouble breathing it seemed, was making little wet nose sounds. I dont want to clean the tip of his nose just yet. The cut isnt into the nasal passage as I originally thought but it is very deep and long and everytime I tried to clean the tip of his nose the whole area moves and re opens. Eugh.. Thought I would give it a chance to knit together.

So is it OK to start him on the antibiotic despite him being possibly dehydrated and hungry? Wont cause any problems?

On the homeopathic side of things, all I have is Rescue Remedy in drop form, should I add a drop to his feed?

I have known about the Cayenne Pepper thing for a few years, almost got beaten up by a father when I sprinkled a whole bunch of it on his daughters Knees, she stopped crying in the nick of time! Interesting that you can use it on Squirrels, definately going into my file for future reference! Wont use it near his face but will keep it in mind if the puncture marks open up again!

I am going to be up tonight with him, just to see him through the rough bits, if he has any. Am so glad my friend found him (same one who found Scribble). He was at our local Country Club, hiding between the curtain and the net and shouting the odds at anyone who tried to touch him. Some of the _very_ stupid people tried to kill him with a broom but my wonderful friend stopped them. Not sure if I answered everything, I will try to get more pics of him.

[Mars]

You can put a drop of rescue remedy in his food. It should lower the stress level a bit. I perfer to put an odd number of drops ( 3 or 5 ) in about a cup of water and then into a misting bottle. This can be gently sprayed directly on the baby as needed.


:)

[Buddy'sMom]

Thanks for the corrections and the better advice, all!


.....
I have known about the Cayenne Pepper thing for a few years, almost got beaten up by a father when I sprinkled a whole bunch of it on his daughters Knees, she stopped crying in the nick of time! Interesting that you can use it on Squirrels, definately going into my file for future reference! Wont use it near his face but will keep it in mind if the puncture marks open up again!........
Actually, the concensus seems to be that it would NOT be good to use on a squirrel at all :nono :nono -- as wherever it is applied, they might be able to get it in their face, eyes.

I hope he's doing better tonight. :Love_Icon

:grouphug :Love_Icon :grouphug

[jme2323]

aw good luck with him. i hope the wound heals fast...i hope the antibiotics work quickly and he starts to heal soon...but i am glad you have had some experience and have the meds and supplies for him...

best wishes!

[KimbleSquible]

Well, we have had .03 antibiotic and the same in rehydration fluid. He shouted and screamed about an hour later so I gave him some formula and he gobbled up .5ml. My eyes a crossing and its 3am so am off for some zzzzzz! Thank you all for your quick response as always and I will give you an update in a few hours

[digiandchipper]

Looking forward to hearing how the new baby is doing............ so glad your friend saved him!!:thumbsup

[KimbleSquible]

Morning all. He slurped his breakfast of Doxy and Rehydration fluid. He _will not_ poo or pee, despite my best efforts. He has only had two formula snacks but with all the liquid going into him I would think it would all want to come out. He gets very agro when I do the warm wet cotton ball bit. Any suggestions? Those bite marks around his genitals are superficial, more like drag marks. The sore on his nose looks SO big and ouchy but is dry at least. I will give it a little clean later. And the puncture marks have knit together quite well. I will still give them a good clean though. This little guy is small, I was looking back at the charts I made for Scribble and he was 30g when I got him in and he was around 3 weeks. But this little guy is WAY more advanced than Scrib was at this age. Scrib only started shouting when he was much older and didnt move around this much either.

[Buddy'sMom]

He may have been pretty dehydrated when you got him and so will take a little while to start peeing, and longer to poop. Mom may have been gone for several days before he started climbing out of the nest to look for her. Plus he lost at least a little blood (but starting from a pretty small volume, even a little can be significant). Hopefully he will start peeing for you soon.

:thinking Are the puncture wounds in a place where there could have been a urinary injury that might interfere with him peeing? It seems more likely he was dehydrated, but keep that in mind also. [If his bladder seems to fill up without him being able to pee, that is quite dangerous -- sometimes it can be expressed manually but might need a vet to catheterize, as in Tori's thread that you have seen. Again, it does not seem likely for Oscar Nut, but you should watch for any problems.]

You mentioned last night that some people were going after him with a broom -- is it possible that being hit with a broom or broomstick was the cause of the injury and cut to his nose? The reason for asking is that a blow to the face could knock his teeth/jaws out of alignment and you would need to watch for overgrowth of his teeth if they don't line up properly. So this is another thing to watch him for -- overgrown teeth can lead to infection and death if not trimmed.

I hope this is just me being a "worry wart" and he starts peeing and healing up nicely for you. :)

:grouphug :Love_Icon :grouphug

[Sarabi]

:Love_Icon :thumbsup Good Job and best of luck with this little one

[Peaches]

I'm still most concerned with the abdominal puncture wounds. Sometimes its not good that they close up because they could be sealing in nasty bacteria. Did you get a chance to clean them out good before they started closing? You will need to keep a very close eye on those spots for any sign of swelling. If you start to feel a pea sized ball under the skin you will have to have the holes reopened and drained, antibiotics will not help if a puss pocket forms. I have an adult that was attacked by a cat and as bad as the abscess were on his back it was the abdominal puncture abscess that nearly killed him. Cat bites are EVIL.

[sherbear59]

Oh my goodness,,,,,,,:soapbox CATS I have 4 of them :soapbox things ! needing an update on Oscar Nut ???? Praying for his recovery he's lucky to have you :thumbsup :grouphug :peace

My cats had always been indoor , and nuetered, ONLY til Katrina changered all our lifes forever,, once they go out there's just no getting them to stay in ,,,, I make sure the are well fed, always have lots of food . And when they get a critter and i catch them i beat the:soapbox out of them with a broom:dono

[KimbleSquible]

He has been taking his rehydrate without any discomfit, his mouth seems to be working fine but I will still keep an eye out for that. The broom in question was a African style grass broom with no handle (basically just a bundle of thatch held together with a tyre tube.). I thought it could have been made by the broom at first but the grass wouldnt be strong enough to cut so deeply. It looks like it was cut with a claw, with the rip through the skin it also went under the skin and sort took away some of the flesh under the skin flap. He did one little poo, it was dark brown and crispy looking, sort of hollow which he did in the cage while I was out of the room. He shouts while I try to stimulate him. Doesnt like it one bit. And still no pee. The one punture marks are on his tummy just next to the curve of his hip on the left hand side and the other is on his right shoulder. Along with the lack of toileting he is also sneezing quite a bit, i put a dry q-tip against his nostrils and there was no fresh blood. He also doesnt want the rehydration formula and is only taking .3mls at a time but LOVES the formula and quite happily slugs back 1-1.5mls now. I am uncertain if I should be letting him have the odd formula feeding instead of just straight rehydration stuff to clean out his system. Antibiotic solution is going well though.

I feel like I know a bit more this time round but I am second guessing my instincts so much you would think it was the first time all over again.

Scribble was very interesting tonight, I put Oscar Nut into a little see through plastic container and let Scrib take a look at him. Scrib was quite excited and tried to get into the container so I thought he would try to kill the baby.. later on, Oscar starts crying and i take him out for a feed, Scrib jumps onto my shoulder and watches Oscar having dinner and the next thing he runs onto my hands and starts licking and snuffling little Os. Who didnt really like all the attention and gave Scrip a little nip and a Zzzzship sound. Scrib left him but then came back and tried to gather up a sleeping Oscar under his arm and started grooming him and licking his bottom. Kind of strange, I really thought Scrib would want to kill him. Dont trust Scrib 100% but it would be really great if Oscar survives and they like each other.

[KimbleSquible]

Sorry! Missed all the other posts! I have two cats to, makes living under one roof quite interesting at times!! One who is an adoption and known Squirrel killer (and human biter-I am getting over a HUGE infection in my hand after she bit me) the other one knows that if I catch him with a Squirrel he will be Beeeeg Trouble! I did clean the wounds while they were still bleeding and am just praying that they are fairly superficial and havent punctured anything important. This little guy is such a squirmy little thing but sits very still while i clean his wounds. The one on his nose I clean after each feed, just incase he gets something in there. i will upload more pics of his little head soon.

[Buddy'sMom]

Good that he's doing well.

The preferred order of things IS hydration and then formula. But since he seems to be doing OK on the formula ..... active and interested .... at this point it's probably OK to just continue. Perhaps make the "in between" feeding more dilute, at least to start? That way he is getting the fluid intake but you won't overwhelm him with formula?

Generally, it is recommended to start out with diluted formula anyway and gradulally go to full strength. (That is, first 1/2 formula and 1/2 water for a few feedings, then gradually less water and more formula ....) I guess this advice is about 24 hours too late, though :shakehead . Giving too much formula, too soon results in diarrhea, which Oscar definitely does not have. :dono Maybe one of the rehabbers will come on with more specific directions for you.

Cute that Scribble wanted to "mother" him! (but, good thinking-- I wouldn't quite trust what he might do either -- although it seems that Oscar is the Tough Guy of the two :D )

:grouphug :Love_Icon :grouphug

[KimbleSquible]

WE HAVE WEE WEE!!! YAY! And we have POO!! Wooohooo! Good consistancy and good colour, I almost cried when I looked down and found a golden smear on the the cotton wool (LOL! This is the only place where I can talk about Squirrel Poo and know other people will be happy about it to!). Just one thing though, he has a very strong odour now, like fish. I remember seeing a post about that awhile back but dont know where to look and cant remember the gist of it.... Otherwise he is active, noisy and has an attitude to boot. I think Scribble helped him pee, Scrib rolled onto his back and Oscar climbed onto his tummy and attempted to suckle on Scribs Winky (much to his horror) and Scrib flipped him over and had a wee on him. So Oscar returned the favour the next tim he was on Scribs face. I think they both like the interaction but Scribble is SO rough with him.

Some pics for all our far flung Aunties and Uncles...

55412 Oscar Barrito

55413Oscar Scar Face McNut

55414Doesnt look so great but I took him into the Doctors this morning and he took a look and said it doesnt seem infected

55415Scribble and Oscar

55416Scribble about to cuddle Oscar

[Buddy'sMom]

:multi :multi :multi PEE!!! and POOP!!! :poop :poop [:tilt but, we don't have any pee smilies :shakehead ]

and also ...... :rotfl :rotfl :rotfl :rotfl
That is just TOOOOO funny about how Oscar came to finally pee! :jump

I think his nose does look better --- well, not good, but like it is starting to heal. :grouphug :grouphug Love the pics of both boys. They do seem to be getting on rather well! :thumbsup Good job, mommy! :bowdown

:grouphug :Love_Icon :grouphug

[rippie-n-lilgirlsmom]

What precious little ones, the baby is adorable, scar and all.

[Mars]

:jump :jump :thumbsup :jump :jump

[digiandchipper]

Awesome pics, and he is looking a lot better - what a couple of funny guys!

[Peaches]

Yay good news. The fishy smell you mentioned might be formula pee pee smell. Their urine stinks when they are on formula. which might be why you didnt notice the smell until he started peeing.