Severe fibramatosis

[TimTimMom]

Found TimTim three weeks ago and have been rehabbing him myself. I was hoping to successfully rehab and release him when the time was right- we were looking forward to hopefully having him visit us for food over the winter and coming years.

But now it appears he has a severe case of fibramatosis. It seemed as is it would pass on its own initially, but now some of the bumps/lessions have started to bleed and he has less energy. So I called and left a message for a professional rehabber in my area to see if I should give him over to her now. In the meantime I figured I'd post on here for some ideas...

I'm so afraid he's going to die. He's still eating but is definetly weaker- he can't jump or climb as high as he could just a week ago. I have a large enclosed screen porch that I let him run around in a few hours per day- the rest of the time he spends either in "his" room (a bathroom- totally squirrel-proofed) or a cage. Lately his wounds are so sore that I can't even pick him up to hold him without him "crying"- so he's just been hanging out in the bathroom for now- I just sit on the floor and pet him on the head and back where he isn't wounded- and sometimes he will come and sit in my lap.

Is there any hope for him? Can he recover from this? Can he even ever be released?

I have really enjoyed being a squirrel mommy and would like to learn more about it and then will hopefully be able to do it again if the opportunity presents itself.

----Barb (Tim Tim's Mommy :)

[island rehabber]

I'm so sorry this poor squirrel is suffering. :( First, are you certain it is fibromatosis (squirrel pox) or maybe a bad case of mange? The treatments are different, and mange would be more hopeful..... there are rehabbers here who have had experience with treating squirrel pox, but I must tell you it's not usually very effective. Most importantly, keep his immune system up with high quality foods and keep him hydrated.

[TimTimMom]

I'm 99% sure it's pox and not mange. Reveiwing the literature and the pix online.... I wish it was mange so it could be cured :(

What are the best foods to be giving him? He loves bananas- and one site said to feed them, but recently I found another that says not to??? He is not a fan of any nuts yet. He is not thrilled with wet dog food but eats it when hungry (one was lamb with sweet potatoes, that ran out and now he's eating the salmon and rice I think.... is there a certain type/combo that is best? If so I'll run out to pet store and get it). He won't eat dry dog food or cheerios. Occassionally he'll eat a little wheat bread- if I dip it in formula for him....

I am still feeding him puppy formula- he drinks it from a bowl- and he'd prefer to have just that and nothing else- how long does he stay on that? Should I just give him more formula instead of "forcing" solids on him? Thanks for your help :)

Part of me thinks a rehabber would be best, but then another part worries that would be too much stress--- he already lost his first family and now is very bonded to me... but is that just wishful thinking and me being selfish? Of course I'd like to continue raising him- but not if that will lead to his death. I'm not sure what to do.

[Mrs Skul]

:wave123 Hi Timtim mom, How old is your Squirrel? What kind of Squirrel do you have? Do you know his weight is? What kind of formula are you feeding him? Do you have any pictures, that will help a license rehabber identify what is going on.:thinking
mjs WHY ON EARTH are you feeding him DOG FOOD!!!:shakehead HE is not a dog It's a Squirrel. Crack a pecan, ?no shell Give him Vegetables. (Broccoli, Snow peas, sweetpotatoe, celery, kale, romaine lettuce, asparagus,any kind of greens.):dono Have you visited the NUTRITION section? You can order off line Henry's Health Block (http://healthblocks.com) You can buy Mazuri Rat and Mouse Diet :--- It is available at Pet's Mart You can feed some fruit Like apple grapes Please look up The nutrition section .

[Jackie in Tampa]

can you post a pic?
please, no more 'wet' dog food. what brand puppy formula is he taking?
I would provide heat. Does he have fleas?
It is too cold up north for mosquitoes...
are you sure he has pox not a bad case of sarcoptic mange?
Stress is the worse thing when sqs have pox, so do not change anything.
If you are in an illegal state , most rehabbers, vets and wildlife centers will put him down. It is contageous to other sqs.
Can you get meds from a vet? If so you should try to get him sq friendly pain aide and some antibiotics reguardless.
Like IR has said, healthy diet building his immune system, and no stress.
A pic is needed.
We have some great threads that you should read about healthy diet in our Nutrition Forum.
How old is your sq?
Depending on his age, he needs veggies and rodent blocks.

http://thesquirrelboard.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=191
Here is a link, carefully read alll the sticky's.
Please post a pic:grouphug

[Mrs Skul]

Thanks Jackie.:thankyou I am going off line now see you later Christal

[island rehabber]

Yes, you've gotten great advice here: NO MORE DOG FOOD! (Is there a website someplace that is telling well-meaning folks to feed squirrels dog food? Because this is like the third person in a week who's been doing that.....yikes!) I know you mean well, TimTimMom, but you must get his diet on track in order for him to be strong enough to fight this pox. There is lots of great info in our Nutrition section. You can keep him on the puppy formula (FORMULA, not the dog food :D) for as long as he wants, because it is giving him good nutrition and calcium. Remember, squirrels are vegetarians -- they need greens!

[TimTimMom]

Not sure why the dog food--- read it on some site somewhere. I found some pure veggie only dog food today so gave that to him and he seems to like it. I started the dog food originally cause he won't eat any regular solid foods (like carrots or greens). He just doesn't seem to like solids- not even nuts.He won't touch the rodent blocks (I had those for my hamster) I've got a nutty squirrel on my hands it seems lol.

I'm guessing his age now to be 8-10 weeks I think- when I got him 3 weeks ago I thought he was anywhere from 5-8 or more weeks. Still no back teeth.

His wounds look a little better today and he actually had the energy to climb to the ceiling in the screened in porch.

Not sure of laws in MI, but I think rehabbers have to be licensed. But I'm worried no rehabber will want him in his condition- for fear of him spreading it to their other squirrels.

I'll try and get a good picture tomorrow. Just put him to bed for now :)

He is a male fox squirrel. About 8 oz last time I weighed a few days ago. Will weigh again tomorrow when I take pix.

He has been on esbilac puppy formula.

I will read up on the nutrition info on here and keep trying to get him to eat some solids. In the meantime I'll up his consumption of the formula to as much as he wants (rather than pushing some solids after he's had one oz or so of formula, I'll just keep offerring up more oz of formula everytime it's empty-- in addition to still offering him the other items mentioned here).

Thank you all so much for you time and concern. I'll be back tomorrow with pix and other info. along with a health status report.

----Barb Tim Tim's Mom

[Jackie in Tampa]

He is young! He still needs Warm formula every 8 hours, are you using a 1cc syringe? I would offer heat ...poor baby. I also would not let him climb that high, he would still be in the nest at 8 weeks old and being taught by momma at 10 weeks.
Pox lesions have an odor, does he smell bad?
pox is a virus that attacks the immune system, and diet is key. You must insist that he get good nutrition. Offer him what the local foxers are munching on too...acorns, small twigs of what is native in your area.
First foods that I offer are peeled grapes, peeled apples, broccoli, skinless avacodo, mushroom, rodent blocks, acorns and pecan halves. He should love them...I am thinking he may have appetite loss from the virus.
typical pox treatment is a antiviral, pain meds and antibiotics.
:poke I will be here waiting for pics tomorrow.
sending good vibes:grouphug

[TimTimMom]

Hi sorry for the delay- I have some health issues of my own and so getting on the computer daily is not always possible (but the squirrel always gets what he needs- my kids say I take better care of him than them).

And good news, just after posting to you he started to improve. His energy is back up and he's climbing all over the place in his outdoor screened room- approx 15 x 12 feet or so (I go around daily or more checking for possible holes in the screen and killing off any wasps that wander in). I built him a "tree" out there, and also gave him several hiding and nesting spots within the enclosure- as well as enrichment "toys". And he always has food and formula available.

He is eating some solids now (although he would still rather drink the esbilac puppy formula all day long), like a tiny bit of broccoli and apple, some dried pineapple and papaya- but he only eats these is I hand feed them to him- if I leave them with his other foods (or no other food at all) then he's not interested. He has started to play with sunflower and pumpkin seeds- although I'm not sure if he eats them. Yesterday he opened a regular peanut but then threw it away without eating the nut. I thouught he dropped it so I gave it back to him- he just sniffed it and threw it away again. So some instinct kicking in as far as opening nuts anyway.

Since he still won't eat much solid I have started giving him VEGETARIAN wet dog food- basically it's just a bunch of veggies ground up into a mush- so that should be OK, right?. He will eat that- but he stills prefers the dogfood with meat (lamb and sweet potato) in it. Si Give him a lil of the meat one and then the rest is the veg one. A few hours after the meat one is gone he'll give in and eat the vegetables.

His pox are healing up very nicely now too. When I first wrote you his pox were bleeding and were causing him pain if I touched them (in addition to the appetite and energy problems), and I was sure he was on the verge of death- but so far he seems to have pulled through. The pox are not bleeding and are scabbing over and getting smaller in size. And he doesn't seem to be in pain when I pick him up or hold him (before it was near impossible to even move him from one place to another -thus why he comandeered the bathroom for 2 days).

Here are some pix. I tried to show his pox on one of his feet, and I put my hand in one so you can get his relative size. I don't smell anything "bad"- he smells like a squirrel to me LOL--- but my husband says he reeks. His bedding (non terry towels- very tight woven work shop type) gets very smelly if after I change it (every other day) if I leave it sitting in a hamper-- some of the towels were so bad smelling I threw them away rather than even try to wash them.

So I guess I should move this thread to another area of the forum since he doesn't seem to be in a life-threatening state anymore (or for now).
Any way, I appreciate any more advice you can give me for my guy.

1) What can I do for the pox? How do I get a hold of meds for him? Will he continue to develop new pox, or once this episode is over will he be "cured"?

2) He no longer drinks from a bottle, he laps up about 1/2 to 1oz of formula at a time from a small 2oz container/bowl (he looks so cute with a milk moustache :). He drinks as much as 6-8 oz a day- if I let him he would drink even more I think (his last 16oz can of esbilac lasted only 48 hours- but since he was sick I wanted to let him drink as much as possible).
2a) How much formula is the right amount to give him?
2b) Is it OK to be leaving it in a bowl for him to drink when ever he wants? Or should he still be on a bottle on a regular feeding schedule?
2c) At what age does he stop drinking formula?
2d) I have a water bottle for him that he never touches, as well as a small bowl of water that he also refuses. Should he be drinking water?

3) Any other advice based on the pix and the info I supplied?

Thanks so much for your help! Barb (Tim Tim's Mom)

[Nancy in New York]

[B]JUST RESIZING[I]

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[Jackie in Tampa]

I have PMed you ...in the upper right corner you will see Private Messages.:wave123

[TimTimMom]

Hi, Just a short note to let you know he is doing a lot better. Up to 14 ounces now. Stopped drinking formula suddenly on his own and now drinks from the water bottle. Has started eating more solids. Instinct is kicking in cause he has been trying to open a walnut for the past week- I'm sure he'll crack it open eventually. I'll continue this post in a new thread in a new section of the boards. Thanks everyone for your help :)