Rapid Weight Gain

[forlittleman]

Hi all-
Let me first say that this forum saved our squirrel's life. In mid December, our 5 yr old (Rodney) was really sick. He had lost a ton of weight and had started to have seizures and show signs of paralysis in his real legs.
I Googled "squirrel having seizures" and ended up here to quickly find out that he was suffering from a sever calcium deficiency and we followed all of the steps here to help him recover.
I am thrilled to say that we completely changed his diet and he is so much better! He has great balance and energy again and seems back to his old self.

The only concern that we have now is that he seems to have really packed on the weight! He even seems a little chubby now and his tummy feels a little bloated. Does anyone know if such rapid weight gain can be detrimental to his health? I think that we may be overfeeding him a little, but his appetite is insaitable!
Any advice that anyone has would be much appreciated. thanks.

[island rehabber]

First, forlittleman, :Welcome and bless you for taking the right steps to saving your boy Rodney's life! Remember that he needs a calcium-rich diet for the rest of his life in order to stay healthy -- no breaking down and letting him eat only the bad stuff :nono :).
As for rapid weight gain, many things could be causing this. You've been having some nasty winter weather out there on the West Coast and he may be following the outside squirrels in packing on winter weight. Did the weight gain coincide with shorter hours of daylight and colder temperatures?
Or, more seriously, he may be overeating foods that are too high in sugars or fats. Please go to our Squirrel Nutrition forum and read up on the Recommended Diet for Pet Squirrels, and also the recipe for Squirrel Block which TSB member 4skwerlz has developed. With these blocks as 70% of Rodney's diet and the good healthy foods from the pet Squirrel Diet as the rest, he should stay in tiptop health. :thumbsup

[philomycus]

I think in WA squirrels ar eillegal pets??? It'd be interesting to do blood work to check to see if he has an underactive thyroid???

[forlittleman]

Thanks for your responses.

island_rehabber: Thanks for the advice, yes we have him on this new diet permanently. The worst thing that we did was that when he started to lose weight, we started giving him more "comfort food" like chips and bread. Apparently that was the exact opposite of what we needed to do!
I'll take another look at the squirrel blocks (we have been feeding him the nut ball recipe from here: http://users.hal-pc.org/~jbsum/squirrel.html#NutBal
Maybe these are too fatty.

phylomicus: Actually we talked to our vet about having pet squirrels in WA, she said that becasue they are English Grays, there are not technically considered an indigineous species to this area! Thanks for the thyroid tip, we'll consult with our vet.

thanks again!

[forlittleman]

Oh, we do have an exotic animals vet who has seen Rodney in the past to trim his teeth a couple of times (he had to have one pulled once too) and give him check ups! She sees all kinds of animals and has the scars to prove it!!

[Legomom]

Stay away from that Website!!! I don't know all of the details, but this woman (Clarissa Summers) has caused more harm than good in the squirrel world! (I'm sure others will have more info if you want it!!)

Definitely go with 4skwerls block recipe. Or you can PM her for info on buying them from her. (She's in the process of setting up a site, but not there yet!) In a pinch, and IF he'll eat them, the blocks mentioned on the Healthy Squirrel Diet will do until you make/get the other blocks.

If you want a treat to make for him.....here's a few ideas from GammasBaby:


Here's my recipe for Critter Scones that I make for Baby and she just LOVES them, and they are very healthy.

1 cup flour regular or wheat
4 Tbs. veg oil
1 cup Quaker Oats/Oatmeal
1 cup chopped nuts
1 cup powder Esbilac
1 cup of sesame seeds
12 crushed Rodent Blocks
3 crushed Calcium 600 mg pills
1 egg

I mix all this together, and then keep adding Strawberry (you can use any flavor but chocolate) flavored Pediasure/Ensure, until it sticks together. I tear it into small pieces, and place on a cookie sheet.

Bake at 350 for about 10 minutes, or golden brown.

Sometimes instead of veg. oil, I will either add all natural peanut butter, or applesauce, just to give her a little variety, and use Vanilla Pediasure/Ensure. so as not to have too many different flavors going at once.

Baby gets a couple of these a day.

Here is another simple recipe I got from muffinsquirrel that Baby really enjoys.

'Squirrel Cookies'. I mix peanut butter, raw oatmeal, applesauce, honey or molassas, wheat germ, Esbilac powder, the little pieces of pecans that are too small to give them as treats, maybe a little birdseed, and anything else I think of that they might like. I used to bake them, but got in a hurry one day and gave them raw, and they seem to like them better raw! I just kinda roll it into small balls - marble size. I make up a big batch of it and just keep it in the refrigerator. You could try putting the prime in that, too.
Good luck. Although they can be hard-headed little animals, they find it hard to resist peanut butter! If he doesn't like yogurt, try mixing some peanut butter in it! Could be a new taste sensation!

[forlittleman]

Oh dear, thanks for the warning!

These recipes sound great, we'll give them a try and also make some of the squirrel blocks.
Thanks again!

[4skwerlz]

The nutball recipe is NOT balanced. All of the vitamins/minerals are "off" but the worst thing is that they are extremely high in starches (such as rice cereal) and sugars (the fruit). They are a perfect recipe for weight gain AND for diabetes. Also, alfalfa is not good for squirrels. It is not part of their natural diet (squirrels don't eat hay) and is full of phytoestrogens, which also contribute to weight gain and hormonal imbalances and are associated with tumors in rodents.

So you should definitely ditch the nut balls and get Rodney on our Healthy Diet right away.

And since your squirrel is old enough for diabetes to be a concern, especially if he's overweight, so I would schedule an appointment with your vet right away to test his blood sugar, etc.

[forlittleman]

Thanks for the info, we'll get him off the nut balls right away and get him in to see the vet.

Thanks to all of you for your advice and concern.
I am so glad that I found this forum.

[skye]

:D Hello and :Welcome Many good people here to help you out. Hope in time to see pics of your sweet baby:) Best wishes good luck.