HELP PLEASE!!

[Beau and Brownies mom]

Hello to everyone- I have visited this page many times and its a great site. I need help. My sister was given 3 pinkie grey squirrels. The weakest of them all a little female has bloat. What is she to do? She is soaking the lower 1/2 of her body in warm water for a few minutes- then waiting and then repeating this procedure. We live in Toronto area and its against the law to house squirrels so there isnt alot of help here for us. What can we do? Any suggestions? I know that this site is very informative so I hope you can give us some alternate suggestions on what to do. Help please?

[GhosTS]

First of all :Welcome to TSB..Second thing..How did the baby became bloated.They normally doesnt get bloated in the wild.Two main reasons for bloat is feeding her with an incorrect formula or overfeeding her.If her stomache is hard and really bloated, you can try giving her a couple of drops of baby gas drops ( simethicone ).Soaking will help too.Make her poop.( Are you sure its bloat..not just a constipation ).Are there any rehabbers in your area that can help.

[Beau and Brownies mom]

Thank you so much for your quick reply! She's on her way to the drug store to get the medicine you suggested. I'll keep you posted and we'll
hope for the best for our little friend. Have a great weekend!

[Beau and Brownies mom]

Just talked to my sister. The little female is a little red squirrel. She is about 3-4 weeks old. She weighs 25 grams. She had her and her sibling a little male for 3 days. She hasn't been eager to eat since day one. She not energetic- very quiet and weak. She takes her feeding drop and drop and very slow. She stimulates her amd she has had extremely small bowel movements. Her last feeding was at 9pm last night. Angie checked on her at 12:30 she was bloated. Angie just completed an internship at an animal sanctuary/rehab center in Napanee. Her bowel movements are extremely small and minimal- she's not a pooper. Does it take a little while for babies to get used to the formula - adjusting from the wild and real mom to formula- Esbilac. She just gave her sub-cutaneous fluids ( .1 ml) and .05 of the simethitone at 12 noon. Was .05 enough and how often should she re-administor if there is no effect? How long does this medication take for her to see results? When does it kick in?

[Timber]

First, yes it often does take some adjustment time from going to Mothers milk to a formula. Second I would be extreemly careful about the sub-con. with out professional help. People often use this when it is not necessary and end up causing problems. Subs can cause to sudden of a drop in internal temperature. And trying to feed them when their temp is not appropriate and they are dehydrated can cause death. And if the simethicone doesn't help try something more natural on the baby like one eight of a teaspoon of kayro/corn syrup mixed with one cc of very warm to almost hot water or pedialite.

[Beau and Brownies mom]

If this isn't bloat what do you suggest for constipation?

[Timber]

Well, constipation can cause bloat. Once again, try the kayro/corn syrup. Start off with very warm water/pedialite with one eighth teaspoon syrup then in afew hours or so repeat the dosage. of course try to stimulat infants into having a bowel movement before second dosage. If you get some releaf then feed babies with formula as recomended but also add about an eighth of the syrup to the formula for two or three meals to keep babies regular for a a day or so or until they began to eat and elminate properly and regularly. also continue to do the warm water soak thing. I have found through experience that my babies will use the bathroom better for me if I use a very soft -some what fuzzy wrag or cloth wet with very warm water wrapped over the tip of my finger and then very rappidly flick the tip of their urinary spot as in the light rapid flicking motion of a mothers toung. A Squirrel doesn't take long licks like a dog or cat. They are short rapid flicking licks that are very gentel and soft. I find that a cotton ball can work but sometimes they get to soggy and don't feel stimulating to the infants and Q tips can be to hard on the penial or clitoral area thus irritating and causing the infants to hold back potting thus causing connstapation and or urinary infection. These are some of the obervations and things that more than usually work for me.

[Beau and Brownies mom]

Angie called her Thumbelina- she survived the night. She tried the suggestion you gave with the corn syrup. Nothing is passing thru at all hardly- only the smallest of drops. Is bloat fatal? She is puffed out quite bad. Angie is still soaking her in the warm water regularly. She doesn't know what else to do. She is losing her mind with this as she just wants her to do good. She's also got 3 flyers and their doing great. Her other squirrel Chubbs had 5 babies about 3 months ago in an indoor/outdoor enclosure. Mom and babies are fine. Its just little Thumbelina who's not well. Thumbelinas sibling a little male is doing great also. I hope the best for the little girl- so tiny trying to survive. Please if theres anything else you can suggest, we'll try it. Bye for now and thanks for the support.

[Timber]

Maybe you can try increasing the corn syrup from 1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon. Make sure the warter is really warm without actually being hot enough to burn. Keep her hydrated with pedialite but no food until she has a B.M. because more food will only increase the bloating. If you can not contact a vet at this time I would go to a pharmacey and ask a pharmacist for some suggestions. They may not know exactly what to do for a squirrel but they can give you some suggestions as what to do for an infant with constapation and you simply apply those ideas to the baby squirrel just do it in tiny tiny dossages. At least maybe they can help get her through the night until you can get professional help from a vet in the morning. If nothing else, get on the web or in the phone book and find an exotic vet, call them and ask for suggestions on what to do. Tell them you have a pet rat or hamster with this problem. If they tell you to bring it in just pretend that you don't drive and it may be a day or so before you can get someone to bring you and you would like some suggestions now until you can get there. I don't promote lieing but sometimes if it is the only way that you can get help for an animal that some consider unworthy of help then you do what you have to do.

[Beau and Brownies mom]

My sister got in touch with a vet in Rockwood that deals with natural medicines. She said Thumbelina's problem could be an E-coli infection that manifests itself in the stomach. She advised Angie to give her this specific type of yogert- she got it at the drug store. The ingrediants in this food will kill the bacteria in her stomach. Little Thumbelina ate it down as she's hungry so we have to wait to see what the results will be. Hopefully this will be effective.

[Secret Squirrel]

Just a word of caution....too many abrupt changes in diet will only make it more stressful on the baby. It will take 12 to 24 hours to see changes in a babies diet according to the bowel movements.
Keep the babies warm and never feed a cold baby, food wont digest properly when the baby is chilled. You may already know that since your sister is a trained rehaber.:peace

[Tammy]

Our little Thumbalina didnt make it- She passed away last night. Its so sad when you lose something so small and precious. She was a little red. Anyway my sister is going to bury her in her backyard with other furry friends and pets. Thanks for everything.

[Secret Squirrel]

:sad So sorry for your loss.