Cleft Palate?

[Rodney Ro-Dent]

Does anyone know if squirrels can have cleft palates? I think one of these little guys that I Have now may have one.

He was very congested when I got him on Friday, and has been on Baytril the last few days. He's doing fabulous. Very lively, eating well, playing. No more clicking in his chest etc

Anyway, I have noticed that when he is eating his formula (and i feed him very carefully since he apparently already aspirated before I got him) that sometimes a little formula will drip from his nostrils. It's consistent with what you would see in a human baby with a cleft palate is why I'm asking, and he doesn't behave like he's being aspirated (because he isn't).

So what say y'all?

[Rodney Ro-Dent]

tried to edit the first post and for some reason it wouldn't open up

wanted to add that his head is shaped differently. Instead of sloping down to his nose there is actually a visible "indentation" for lack of a better word, from his forehead to his little nose, almost like a dog, and his face is kind of smushy looking as opposed to pointier like most squirrels. So I don't know if maybe he fell out of the nest and maybe broke his nose or something or if he was born with an issue.

[virgo062]

Hey Rodney Ro-Dent my little Knot Head has the same problemo...hence the name knot head. your little fellows head description fit's knot head to a T...Now we don't have the milk nose problem but we are STILL feeding him from a dropper very slowly. He has a HUGE gash on his head when we got him. Thinking His mama bit him at birth to eliminate the runt maybe she sensed something was wrong but he is doing fine now since his hair has grown you can't see the mark on his head...How old is he?
btw...Since he is a little "slow" we have been giving him vetri-dmg and he is showing signs of improvement...I always said his head looked like a snakes head

[psychobird]

could be a down syndrome baby they can sometimes have a cleft palette

[virgo062]

Let me add to that post now that you mention it his mouth looks like a cleft palate we just thought it may be swollen from teething...I hope he is ok?

[Rodney Ro-Dent]

You know PB, I actually looked at some of the photos of the Downs Syndrome baby when I started wondering about this guy.
His legs and all look pretty normal to me though.

He's fully furred, eyes open, very lively :) we weighed him Saturday when we were getting dosing for the meds and he weighed 3.5 oz. I haven't weighed him since then due to my crazy life but he has been eating tons more than he was then since he's feeling better now from the Baytril and looks bigger now. He would like to be eating much faster than I am feeding him, but I'm being very careful with him. right now he is devouring a Henry's Healthy Block :)

He didn't have any visible injuries when I got him Friday at the Wildlife Rehab but I don't have any history on where he came from or how they got him etc.

So what kind of future does this little dude have? Does this make him non releasable (which would just break my heart LOL) but is there any special I should be doing for him?

[Rodney Ro-Dent]

I just found an old thread that has a profile picture of a downs baby and it looks very similar to this little guy's profile (for ease of reference we have named him Rico Suave Ro-Dent).

But his body seems "normal sized" for his age and his limbs look to be the right length and all. I haven't gotten any pics of them yet but plan to within the next couple days, tomorrow if I can get it together.

[pamela lee]

Have you actually checked his palate. Wrap him in a blanky with only his head poking out. Take a small dowl type stick (I've even used the plunger from a 1cc syringe) slid it between his upper and lower teeth. Tilt his head back so you can get a good look in his mouth. He should have an opening in the far back part of the roof of his mouth but you need to look up closer to the front of his palate like where his teeth are. GOOD LUCK

[Rodney Ro-Dent]

Eek. I haven't yet but I will. I just fed him, gave him his Baytril, he hogged down a healthy block and now he is asleep. When he wakes up I'll check it. His attitude not so good when his beauty sleep is interrupted LOL

[4skwerlz]

Here are pics of cleft palate in two older squirrels. In this case, it also caused the teeth to grow crooked. Cleft palate can be mild or severe; it is simply a defect in the palate that causes it to not close properly. It can be associated with other types of problems too.
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Below, normal teeth:
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[Rodney Ro-Dent]

Wow those pictures are awesome! Thanks.

Whooooeeee is he mad now! I just tried to look, using the small syringe plunger method. All i saw was little teeny teeth and a black hole. His little mouth is so small still I really couldn't see. I Probably need someone to hold a flash light. The good news is he was hungry and got to eat after LOL

4S, they were fighing over a health block yesterday in their carrier. They LOVE them. Sarge came running out saying" You need to get in there, they are fighting!" I ran in, the carrier was shaking LOL. I broke it up and ended up cutting the block in half. Today we brought more than enough blocks to have peace in the valley, they have each had one for today, saving the others for tomorrow.