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thundersquirrel
10-17-2006, 12:24 AM
hello all

wow it's been a busy year. i'll just skip describing little details though, and get to the point. once again, i came on when it's far too late at night. :rolleyes:

we received two red squirrels last night. they look to be around 10 to 12 weeks old, but they're just not ready to be on their own. anyway, the boy came in fine, but the girl came in with a bloody nose. the people who gave them to us thought their cat might have gotten them. however, i checked the bloody girl carefully for bite wounds, and all she had was that bleeding nose.

the nose didn't seem bad at first. i thought maybe she fell on her face. but right now she is alone in a box dying. i didn't want to separate them but she was convulsing and panting and scaring her brother. i never put them in a box unless i'm sure they'll die.

but we're still not sure if it was cat saliva or not. i realized that we've never really gotten a squirrel with cat wounds who died. we've been lucky. so i need to know; what exactly are the symptoms?

our girl started with lethargy, then weakness, moving away from her brother, breathing slower, and finally shooting forward every minute or so like she suddenly snapped into consciousness. now her eyes are closing and wet, her back feet seem numb, and she's lost the will to live.

cat bite or no cat bite? that is the sad question. :(

GhosTS
10-17-2006, 02:50 AM
It is really a sad situation.I dont no much about symptoms of cat bites, but from what I found out, they get a bacterial pneumonia from the cat bites. So I think the symptoms will be the same as Pneumonia with lethargy, hard to breath, breathing from the mouth and perhaps seizures.

Suro
10-17-2006, 06:18 AM
I would guess with bleeding from the nose it does sound like an internal injury, you can hope thats its just the nose itself, but the fact she is panting suggests internal bleeding in her lungs. It could just be shock, and I really hope thats all it is.

The first step would be what you have done, warm and dark place for her to recover, we'd be giving fluids in addition to that if she had come into the vets, and antibiotic cover just incase it was caused by infection. Sadly though and I hope with all my heart it isn't, but it does sound very serious for her at the moment - I will be thinking of her. :(

The convulsing worries me a great deal. Maybe you can give her a shot of steroids - any nice vets near you?

GhosTS
10-17-2006, 12:20 PM
TS, any improvements on our little buddy here.I think its internal bleeding too.Lets hope its just the nose.Are you giving him antibiotics.

thundersquirrel
10-17-2006, 09:35 PM
she passed. honestly, i'm not sure that medicine would've helped much. we only get to take the squirrels out a few times a day; she was perfectly normal yesterday morning, same as her brother. but then....everything changed so quickly. she wouldn't even open her mouth. her eyes were glazing over.

since so many squirrels died this year, i could tell she was going to die. and usually when we need anti-biotics, it takes at least a day for our dispatcher to get them to us. she's kind of abandoned us this year; the person taking squirrel calls is actually a raccoon rehabber.

i feel bad for the little dear, but i could tell she was suffering. i just hope she didn't feel much in the end.

Somebody's Mother
10-17-2006, 09:39 PM
God bless you thundersquirrel. Sorry. At least she had someone there for her. It could have been worse if she had been killed by the cat. Cats are nasty in that they play with their victims before they kill them. Grrrr!!
I am so sorry about your loss.

Squirrelly
10-17-2006, 09:45 PM
I'm sorry, Thundersquirrel. Thank you for caring and giving her a comfortable place to rest when she passed :grouphug Janet

GhosTS
10-17-2006, 10:05 PM
So sorry to hear that TS.

Suro
10-18-2006, 07:20 AM
So sorry you lost her, but Somebody's Mother is quite right, at least she was warm and safe and could pass away peacefully, I think this is the nicest thing for her, and although she did suffer in terms of her injuries, being without that care you gave her would have made it all so much worse for her.
Thankyou for that. :grouphug

Momma Squirrel
10-18-2006, 09:53 AM
Thundersquirrel I am so sorry about the little one. You were there for her in the end and made the best of a terrible situation. She knew before she left us that she was loved and not alone. Thank you so much for being there for all of them :grouphug