Think Tank: 2angels2 - SQUIRREL NEEDS HELP

[PBluejay2]

The amount of water this squirrel consumes is HUGE! Does anyone think that, along with possible MBD, this squirrel may also be suffering from diabetes? The diet is loaded with fruits/sugars. It's awfully young, however.




Symptoms: Symptoms include but are not limited to: Drinking more, urinating more, weight loss, increased appetite, dehydration, and sudden cataract formation. If diabetes remains uncontrolled the animal may become ketotic - cells begin to use fat as fuel for energy production, ketone bodies then begin to accumulate in the blood. If your dog is ketotic it may have these additional symptoms: depression, weakness, vomiting, rapid breathing, and the breath may have an odor of acetone to it. If your dog has any of these symptoms see your veterinarian immediately.

[Ardilla]

That amount af water, along with all that sugary fruit, makes me think diabetes as well as probable MBD.

[Ardilla]

He died. :(

[PBluejay2]

He died. :(

Dammit! :-(

[island rehabber]

This thread will be deleted later today. :(

[Ardilla]

IR, I just saw she has another squirrel. There's still a concern. Please don't delete this thread.

[crazysquirrels]

Those are all red flags for diabetes. Atleast in humans. I have it as does my daughter. Very sorry to hear the one passed.
Also. Ketoacidoses affects the muscles and cause them to cramp. If let alone you heart is a muscle. Its a slow death. The squirrel could have had type 2 and since the diet was poor led to type 1.

[4skwerlz]

What happened to the original discussion thread for this? I'm confused...:thinking

FWIW, a couple of thoughts.

The excessive thirst in a young squirrel is puzzling. Especially since she said he's being doing it since she first got him. Type I diabetes...you wouldn't expect him to live 2 years, would you? High-sugar diet for sure, especially all the fruit (fructose).

The parrot food stands out to me; that stuff is deadly for squirrels, partly because it has enormous amounts of vit A, which birds do require. That can damage the liver.


The signs typically associated with vitamin A toxicity are weight loss, fatty liver, hyperlipidemia, calcification of soft tissues, mobilization of bone calcium, bone fractures, increased urinary excretion of 3-methylhistidine, and hemorrhage.

That's just one possibility. With such an out-of-whack diet, other vitamin/mineral deficiencies or toxicities are also possible.

[Ardilla]

The original discussion was moved to All Squirrels go to Heaven.

This is the "sister" thread for discussing possible diagnoses without confusing the person who started the original thread.

I agree that those are all red flags for diabetes. It runs in my family. My dad has it, along with countless aunts, uncles, cousins. Given the diet of the one that died (the only fresh foods were fruits), we need to keep on top of this because the ohter squirrel is also likely to be suffering MBD and diabetes.

[PBluejay2]

This thread will be deleted later today. :(

Reason? And not combined? I wanted to field the possibility of diabetes and get feedback from my peers without taking the initial emergency thread off on a tangent and possibly confusing the poster. Perhaps move the thread--uh--"elsewhere"?

[Ardilla]

IMO, when Think Tank threads are no longer active, they should be locked so people won't think the thread is still active. They could serve as useful reference for later cases, and therefore should not be deleted.

[island rehabber]

OK, for now, I will close the thread and leave it in Emergency. IMHO this is going to cause a lot of clutter in the Emergency forum but that's just my opinion.