3month old eastern grey in need of help

[SquirrelDaddy]

hey all, i found Sam and her brother when they were about 1week old, i almost immediately found this board to help me threw the process. They both went on a esbilac diet as prescribed. Unfortunatly Ben didnt make it. But Sam is and has been doin awesome since then. Very active, jumpy, eating like crazy regular bowel movements, everything that a healthy squirrel should do. But this morning she was not herself at all. She is very, lazy, like her jumps are labored, usually she can jump very far and high, but she could barely reach my shin on my leg this morning. Shes only jumpin maybe 6inchs-10inchs high now. Shes not in any pain, but has been laying down alot. She still runs fast but its like shes being wieghed down when she tries to jump. Also last night she stole a small piece of pizza off the kitchen table and ran away before i could get it. it was mostly just crust. Im worried though because she is definately not herself, and her condition seems to be worsening. I gave her a few pieces of spinach and fruit this morning. She ate the spinache but left the fruit. I then put some more food in the cage with her with some vit D and calcium suppliment sprinkled on it, fearing that it was a vitamin deficiency, but she hasnt touched it yet. Also being that its winter here an i cant take her outside, i been trying to give her vit d suppliments to help. Any help is appreciated before she gets worse or dies. she is not lookin good.

[4skwerlz]

Sounds like MBD (metabolic bone disease, or calcium deficiency). Do you have any plain calcium pills (no vitamin D). Tums will work. Don't give her any more Vit D for the moment. Also do you have a syringe?

If not, can someone run out and buy Tums and a syringe at the drugstore?

You will need to crush one Tums in a small amount of water or fruit juice. Mix it up, draw it up in the syringe and force feed it to her, a little at a time if you have to.

MBD is an emergency and must be treated immediately! We also need to know what her diet has been, and how old she is.

[4skwerlz]

Here are some VERY important linkss for you to read. :thumbsup

Is your little girl on our Healthy Diet?

http://thesquirrelboard.com/forums/showthread.php?t=9715

Does she go outdoors EVERY day for several hours, and/or under Full Spectrum Lighting? Post #11..

http://thesquirrelboard.com/forums/showthread.php?t=11684

Have you seen the Squirrel Blocks recipe that MUST be 70-80% of your little girls daily diet? If you don't want to make them, you can PM 4skwerlz, as she bakes and sells them. :D

http://thesquirrelboard.com/forums/showthread.php?t=14963


Also, if you think she is suffering from MBD, please get her on this diet ASAP.


MBD Treatment-Week One

1. Provide emergency calcium. You can buy calcium carbonate supplement pills (600 mg) at any drugstore.

Dosage: Day 1--600 mg of calcium. Then 400 mg per day for a total of 3,000 mg of calcium for the first week.

How to give the calcium: The first day, crush up the pill in water and give by mouth with an eyedropper, one drop at a time, until he has taken the full day’s dosage. After that, if the squirrel is still eating well, crush up the pills and put in his food: yogurt, avocado, banana, even peanut butter will work. If squirrel won’t take the calcium in food, continue with the eyedropper.

[b]2. Provide natural sources of Vitamin D: mealworms, mushrooms, eggs, dairy products (especially yogurt--make sure the label says the yogurt contains Vit D).

3. Provide a liquid vitamin supplement. Buy the kind for rats and mice—available at any pet store. Dose per directions on the label.

4. Provide sources of Vitamin C. Oranges are good, but red or green bell peppers are the highest.

5. Eliminate all nuts, seeds and other unhealthy foods. Feed only foods from the recommended Diet.

6. Introduce a balanced rodent chow. try KayTee Forti-Diet for Rats and Mice. I recommend this because it is widely available at pet stores and it is tasty.

7. Follow the recommended Diet for Pet Squirrels. Make sure your squirrel is getting foods from every category.

Note: The emergency MBD treatment is calcium and Vit D. Changing your squirrel's diet will take time; he will have to learn to like the new foods.

Gammas, In this particular case, since he's been giving her Vit D, I'm thinking its best not to give her any more just right now. After all, Vit D is not required to raise the blood calcium levels, which is what she needs right now. Thanks for posting the diet info. You always have that handy. I need to update that MBD treatment info though.

[SquirrelDaddy]

Sounds like MBD (metabolic bone disease, or calcium deficiency). Do you have any plain calcium pills (no vitamin D). Tums will work. Don't give her any more Vit D for the moment. Also do you have a syringe?

If not, can someone run out and buy Tums and a syringe at the drugstore?

You will need to crush one Tums in a small amount of water or fruit juice. Mix it up, draw it up in the syringe and force feed it to her, a little at a time if you have to.

MBD is an emergency and must be treated immediately! We also need to know what her diet has been, and how old she is.



thx for the quick response. Ive got calcium pills and tums, and a syringe. Gonna give her the mixture and see how she is. Shes about 5months old now. Her diet is spinache, broccolli, apples, oranges, some almonds, a peeled grape once in a while, mostly just fruit and veggies, sometimes banana as a treat, but not to much as i heard in large ammounts can give potassium poisoning. Also sweet potatoes on occassion. But daily it is spinache, broccolli, apples, oranges, some almonds.

[SquirrelDaddy]

thx for the diet info. Gonna start the change immediatly. She was able to take 3cc's of the tums/fruit juice on her own, i have 2ccs remaining that i will give her again in 20mins. I put 3pieces of veggies(carrot, romain lettuce, celery) and a piece of green pepper in with her for when she hungry. im gonna stay away from fruit for now as suggested, she usually had a piece of apple every morning with her spinache, which is now changed to the veggies diet. Thank you so much for you quick response, my family is very much appreciative. I want to keep her as healthy as possible, in hopes of introducing her back to the wild in the spring. It breaks my heart when shes lookin out the window but its hurts even more to think that she'll never be able to experience life outside of the house.

[4skwerlz]

Just to repeat and sum up what has already been said:


Long-Term Treatment for MBD

The next step to curing MBD is to fix the diet.

1. Remove ALL seeds, nuts, corn, and treats.

2. Follow the Healthy Diet For Pet Squirrels, which can be found at the top of the “Squirrel Nutrition” forum. Your squirrel MUST eat rodent block or squirrel block as 70% of their diet.

3. In addition to the Healthy Diet, you will need to continue giving extra calcium every day for several weeks. Either use the syringe/eyedropper or you can try putting the calcium on a small piece of fruit.

Week 1: 500 mgs per day
Week 2: 250 mgs per day
Weeks 3-8: 100 mgs per day

The cause of the acute symptoms—weakness, lethargy, seizures, paralysis—is a drop in blood calcium levels. If these symptoms return at any time, you will need to give another emergency dose of calcium.

You should also cut out the spinach. It contains high oxalates, which block calcium absorption.

Good luck.

[SquirrelDaddy]

so far i was able to give her the tums mixed with fruit juice by syringe(approx 600mg tablet) within 4hours, an left some of the above mentioned veggies. She wolfed down the romain lettuce and carrot( both of which had a small ammount of vit d3 on it). She seems to have perked up more then she was this morning. I went to the grocery store to pick up some of the things on the list, this way i can start her diet change immediately. Also ive cut out the nuts for now as well as the daily fruit intake for a few days. Maybe this weekend il give her a small piece of fruit a day, or should i steer away from fruit until shes gotta 100% better. Also, until im able to get a full spectrum light, should i substitue vit d another way, or is her being in the front window allowin the uv rays in. I no some windows filter the rays out which from my understanding are providing the vit d. thx you so much for you help so far. i hope together we will be able to bring Sam back to full health so that she may be ready for release back into the wild come spring. Also i have moved her into a new cage, its only about 2feet high as apposed to the other one, which was almost 10feet high. She doesnt seem to mind the change right now, but she is running around it alot, so i know she still has a portion of her energy which does please me. Now its just up to me to make sure shes getting her vitamins and eating her veggies :)

[4skwerlz]

so far i was able to give her the tums mixed with fruit juice by syringe(approx 600mg tablet) within 4hours, an left some of the above mentioned veggies. She wolfed down the romain lettuce and carrot( both of which had a small ammount of vit d3 on it). She seems to have perked up more then she was this morning. I went to the grocery store to pick up some of the things on the list, this way i can start her diet change immediately. Also ive cut out the nuts for now as well as the daily fruit intake for a few days. Maybe this weekend il give her a small piece of fruit a day, or should i steer away from fruit until shes gotta 100% better. Also, until im able to get a full spectrum light, should i substitue vit d another way, or is her being in the front window allowin the uv rays in. I no some windows filter the rays out which from my understanding are providing the vit d. thx you so much for you help so far. i hope together we will be able to bring Sam back to full health so that she may be ready for release back into the wild come spring. Also i have moved her into a new cage, its only about 2feet high as apposed to the other one, which was almost 10feet high. She doesnt seem to mind the change right now, but she is running around it alot, so i know she still has a portion of her energy which does please me. Now its just up to me to make sure shes getting her vitamins and eating her veggies :)

If Sam is eating the healthy diet, with 70% of her diet being rodent block, you don't need extra Vitamin D.

1 small piece of fruit daily is okay. For long-term captive squirrels we like to limit fruit because it is high in sugar.

There is very little UVB light being produced by the sun at this time of year (the UVB is what helps with Vit D production), so I wouldn't worry about that right now. The full-spectrum light does seem to have many health benefits and is highly recommended.

If Sam won't eat rodent blocks, and many squirrels won't, you'll have to make homemade squirrel blocks. The recipe is in the "Nutrition" forum.

Does Sam seem any better since you gave her the calcium?

[SquirrelDaddy]

she does seem a little more active, i havent taken her outta her cage yet, however she was running around more then this morning. also her balance seens a little better. She looks as if she was, well kinda drunk and wobbly. But since the calcium dose shes starting to hang upside down from the cage and run all over it. Im gonna continue giving her the recommended calcium doses for the time being see if it helps more though. And im goin out tomorrow to get the ingredients for the homemade squirrel block.,

[4skwerlz]

she does seem a little more active, i havent taken her outta her cage yet, however she was running around more then this morning. also her balance seens a little better. She looks as if she was, well kinda drunk and wobbly. But since the calcium dose shes starting to hang upside down from the cage and run all over it. Im gonna continue giving her the recommended calcium doses for the time being see if it helps more though. And im goin out tomorrow to get the ingredients for the homemade squirrel block.,

Excellent news! Good job.:thumbsup

Please keep us posted.

[SquirrelDaddy]

well, im attempting to make my first squirrel block, so far it turned out a little watery so i added a little more whey isolate, my scoop was only17g so had to get my digital scale out to equal out the 28g scoop. Even after addin a little more it was still a little watery and hard to make into a ball an knead, think i used a little to much water. So what i did was seperate the batch into 2 cookie sheets and made a small square outta the batches, this way when there baked, i can still cut it into 1inch strips an get 60pieces outta it. il let ya no how it turns out. Note to self, less water next time.

[Lady Squirrelly]

Congratulations for making the new right choices for your baby.

Glad to have you here.:Welcome :Welcome

[4skwerlz]

Welcome to the wonderful world of making squirrel blocks.... It is a little difficult at first, but most folks get the hang of it eventually. There's no reason why you can't make them as a batter, pour into a cookie pan, and then slice them into squares. The shape doesn't really matter.

[merman]

Hey, any update about her ? is she ok now ?
also, how about your blocks ? ;)

xx