squill
09-24-2009, 05:35 PM
Hello, I was wondering if anyone could give me some advice? I have only just joined this board. I have a 5 year old grey squirrel (Squill), I have had her since she was about 2 days old when someone brought her into the wildlife park where I was working, her mother had been killed by a dog. I hand reared her, however she suffered from a calcium deficiency and a broken leg both of which she recovered well from. She appears to be just as mobile as any other squirrel to me and doesn't limp, however I was told by the vet that she would have little chance of surviving in the wild due to the break. We built her a large encolsure in our back garden and she has lived there quite happily ever since. I can still handle her, however at this time of year I give her cob nuts which she buries in her enclosure and she becomes fairly teratorial.
My problem is that yesterday morning she would not come out of her nest box at all (this is very unusual for her and she is normaly waiting for me to feed her). When I finaly managed to encourage her out of her box she was walking really strangely, dragging her bum along the branches. She has been managing to jump from branch to branch ok and can climb the wire on her enclosure well. I examined her feet and they seem fine. My first impression was that she was constipated or had worms. However she was very quiet all day. Today has ben pretty much the same although she has now been pooing lots and lots of yellow poo (again not normal), she is still walking the same way. She has been eating but only very small amounts compared to normal.
Today I contacted my friend who is a veterinary nursing assistant, I text her a video of the way she is walking to show the vet. The vet has said that there is something very wrong for her to be walking like that and that the yellow poo could indicate a problem with her liver or kidneys. She also says that 5 is very old for a squirrel?? (I have read differently to this). She wants me to take her in next Tuesday when she will give her an anasethetic and find out what is going on, she also says that she could have tumours.
I was wondering if anyone here had any ideas of what this could be? Tuesday seems like a very long way away to me and I am worried that she may die before then. I live in England and not many people know much about Grey squirrels in this area as a lot of people see them as vermin! I have read something about Squirrels getting bloat and wondered what the symptoms of this were? Any advise would be very much appreciatted as she means the world to me. Sorry for such a long post.
Jenny
My problem is that yesterday morning she would not come out of her nest box at all (this is very unusual for her and she is normaly waiting for me to feed her). When I finaly managed to encourage her out of her box she was walking really strangely, dragging her bum along the branches. She has been managing to jump from branch to branch ok and can climb the wire on her enclosure well. I examined her feet and they seem fine. My first impression was that she was constipated or had worms. However she was very quiet all day. Today has ben pretty much the same although she has now been pooing lots and lots of yellow poo (again not normal), she is still walking the same way. She has been eating but only very small amounts compared to normal.
Today I contacted my friend who is a veterinary nursing assistant, I text her a video of the way she is walking to show the vet. The vet has said that there is something very wrong for her to be walking like that and that the yellow poo could indicate a problem with her liver or kidneys. She also says that 5 is very old for a squirrel?? (I have read differently to this). She wants me to take her in next Tuesday when she will give her an anasethetic and find out what is going on, she also says that she could have tumours.
I was wondering if anyone here had any ideas of what this could be? Tuesday seems like a very long way away to me and I am worried that she may die before then. I live in England and not many people know much about Grey squirrels in this area as a lot of people see them as vermin! I have read something about Squirrels getting bloat and wondered what the symptoms of this were? Any advise would be very much appreciatted as she means the world to me. Sorry for such a long post.
Jenny