Continueing Diarrhea

[SuzieSloth]

i posted a while back about my three young squirrels (13.5 weeks) having runny poop.
two of them have cleared up and are gaining weight. they still eat formula but have free access to water and lab blocks- also have greens. my runt squirrel is not recovering. in fact his loose stool has become pretty much brown or sometimes yellow mucusy water. he still drinks his formula and plays but is very weak and is not gaining any weight.
i've been giving him acidophilis, he's had live culture yogurt (in very small amounts) we tried a small bit of banana baby food to get some substance to his bowel movements but still nothing.

he also has been licking everything in the cage and room. i think he may have some kind of mineral or salt deficiency but this is my first rescue so i'm not up to snuff on all their needs. he's even gone so far as to try to lick the dried salt off my boyfriend's sweaty gym shoes. i immediately pulled him away from them, but he just goes back to things like that. he also licks all the metal he can get to.

i don't know what to do. my vet had given me an anti diarrheal liquid for my runt, but it has NOT helped. he got it twice a day every day for nearly a full week. no change.

i'm at a loss. i'm really terrified he will die from dehydration or some type of infection.

please, if you can help, let me know what i can do for him.
if you need any more information i can provide it.
thanks.

[foxsquirrels]

What medication did you give her for diarrhea? Do your squirrels have a nest box of some kind in their cage?

[Mars]

Do either of the following describe your baby?

Feels fragile like a little bag of bones with little or no muscle tone? or Baby chills very easily, has a poor appetite and is more often than not dehydrated?

Also - how often and how much Probiotics have you given?

:thinking

[ShesASquirrelyGirl]

The yogurt and the banana are going to make the problem worse. Banana contains sugar which will help any bacteria feed and grow, and the yogurt is dairy which will add to the diarrhea.
As asked how often are you giving the probiotics and how much ( what is the count? anything below 1 billion is almost useless) Are they eating rodent blocks at all?
How do they feel to the touch?
I personally would get them back to the vet and have get some fecal floats. This may sound weird but in the meantime give them bottled/purified water only and offer some pumpkin. We have had squirrels and other species develop Giardia simply from tap water. If it is Giardia or anything parasite wise they will need different meds from the vet.

[SuzieSloth]

i can't read the writing off the medication they gave me- sorry that's completely not helpful to you. :(

they do have a nest they can curl up in- i clean it out every three days cause they like to store yummies in it too. if it's raw food i take it out the next day.

he's not a bag of bones, he still feels like he's pretty harty, but he's small and tires easily. he doesn't chill either. he has a pretty good appetite and still enjoys playing. he take breaks often to have his horrible diarrhea, then he continues as if nothing was wrong.

everyday i give him a tablet (because he will jsut eat it as if its a treat) which contains 500 million. i can up the dosage no problem. and i will take out the bananas. a lot of other places had said banana baby food worked really well :(

he eats his block regularly.

the other two feel thick and have a nice coat. they are very strong and hard to get a handle on.
the little guy's hair is in jsut as thick but he's just not as big or full feeling. his legs are skinner than the others and his belly is never full.

i really hope its not Giardia, i have other critters in the house that also drink tap water :shakehead

thanks so much for your help. i'll let you know how he's doing.

[ShesASquirrelyGirl]

Instead of upping the dose try hard to find 1 billion count and put it in a syringe with water and feed it to them. The wafers often contain sugar which is not always harmful but you will up the sugar too.
They have white capsules or pills that crush into powder easily.

Good Luck

[SuzieSloth]

i will look for the larger count.
also- i thought the larger boy was- i guess, barking, is a good term, because i had heard them do this before but now i'm nervous it's actually a cough. how would i be able to tell the difference between barking or talking, and coughing?
i'm sorry if these seem like really obvious questions.

i took some photos of my little guy enjoying his pumpkin. i had actually carved a squirrel into it- i think beans was trying to say hello.
the last two pictures show how much smaller he is than the other two. :Love_Icon

[ShesASquirrelyGirl]

A barking or warning noise is usually followed by bruxing or acting aggressive/scared.
A cough sounds about the same as a small bark noise and will be out of the blue with no aggression.

[SuzieSloth]

darn it. ok. then the big boy may have a cough.

i'll be getting albon, and flagell? i don't know how to spell it. when i get the bottle tomorrow i'll let you know what it is.
they said that should knock out anything, even giardia. so i'll keep my fingers crossed.

thanks for your help everyone!! :thankyou

[digiandchipper]

They are precious..........I'm hoping the meds work and your little boy will be better soon!