major diarrhea, 5 week olds...

[SquirrelLove]

The boy and the girl have diarrhea, and they are brother and sister at 5 weeks old. They both just opened their eyes. They are not very hungry today.

They are on Fox Valley, 1 part FV per 2 parts water, fed every 3 and 1/2 hours to 4 hours. I'm still doing the night feedings but at 6 hours. They have pooped all over each other 2 days straight now.

At feeding time they have lost a lot of their appitite and are down to about 6cc's each max. Sometimes only wanting 3 cc's.

Any suggestions?116870

116871

[NaturesGift]

What are their weights?

you can cut the night feedings out!! Just start early and end late in the evening!

can you give me a back drop on these babies? how long have you had them?

What color is their poop?

[SquirrelLove]

I don't know how much they weight as I do not have a scale. I've had them for 3 weeks and they fell from a tree and were given to me by a wildlife rehab organization. Their poops used to be normal, not soft and gooey nor hard. Their poop now is turning greenish but mostly clear and pure bubbly water coming out. They were given a warm water bath last night to clean off the poop from each other because they snuggle together of course. And then this morning they were covered in the sticky stuff again so another bath. The only thing I've done differently with them is I bought them a very soft stuffed duck that they like to climb on and cuddle next to when they go to sleep.

I'll cut out the night feedings - whew - was so tired anyway. I'll go to feeding them at 7 am, and last feeding at 11pm is that sounds good to you.

I was thinking instead of feeding them at their 6pm feeding tonight to just give them warm water. But I'm not sure what to do.

Thanks for any advice. PS: They are not skinny nor dehydrated. Plump and pretty and their fur is coming in nicely as expected.

Joanne in Jax

[I Love Lucy]

Sounds like your babies have giardia or coccidia. If you are able to have a stool sample analyzed collect samples from both babies over a few bowel movements because they are both shed intermittently and can be absent in one sample. Giardia is usually treated with metronidazole or Panacur and coccidia can be treated with Sulfatrim (SMZ/TMP, Bactrim) or Albon. I put my babies with diarrhea on Pediasure with Fiber so they won't become dehydrated and the meds have a chance to be absorbed.

[SquirrelLove]

How do they get this condition / disease? They haven't been exposed to anything?

[NaturesGift]

ok this is what I was thinking as well.

They can be exposed to this is many ways. One way is via your water.

Please begin making your babies formula with distilled water.

Do you have access to Albon or Sulfatrim?

And yes it would be wise to give extra hydration. (also making sure its purified)

[I Love Lucy]

Many animals have these parasites in their systems but exhibit no symptoms. When their bodies become stressed in some way these parasites can take hold. Incubation for these parasites can be weeks.

[SquirrelLove]

My poor babies. I do have triple filtered water for drinking water in my house but not "distilled". I have access to a vet that I can take them to tomorrow but they are closed today of course. Everything is.

Thank you for the advice,
Joanne in Jax

[NaturesGift]

Yeah I would get some distilled water and keep them extra hydrated! And in the AM get them some Albon. :thumbsup

[island rehabber]

I think you're feeding them too often. 5-weekers on FV don't need to be fed every 3.5 - 4 hours...more like 4 times a day, every 5 hrs. Try 7am, 12noon, 5pm, 10pm. Works for me. :D

[NaturesGift]

jeepers! clue me in now IR!! I feed mine 5 times a day and thier almost 6 weeks but im cutting them down to 4 this week lol. Mine all have good poops..n chubby bellies..Tho with the xtra night feedings it may cross the line.

But the green diarrhea is what worries me.

[island rehabber]

True -- overfeeding is pale yellow or whiteish poop. Joanne, it can't hurt to treat them for giardia/coccidia since this did happen suddenly. What meds do you have on hand?

[mpetys]

I think you're feeding them too often. 5-weekers on FV don't need to be fed every 3.5 - 4 hours...more like 4 times a day, every 5 hrs. Try 7am, 12noon, 5pm, 10pm. Works for me. :D

Yes, I would try that. I have three babies right now. I haven't started a thread for them yet but will. I picked them up on 08/17. One boy and one girl were about 3 weeks old (eyes closed still) and the other girl was five weeks old (eyes open). I started having a problem with diarrhea with the little boy. I was also concerned that the young female squirrel seemed to be putting weight on and the boy was not. So I got a scale (from the grocery store - about $20 or $24 I think).

I started weighing all of them prior to each feeding. Yes, I became obsessive about it. This way, I knew what they each weighed and could see if they were eating the recommended amount (5% to 7% of body weight). What I found is that it was easy to overfeed! And overfeeding can lead to diarrhea!. The little boy cleared up by 08/19. Yeah! and started putting weight on. Besides their weight, I took notes of anything out of the ordinary. Diarrhea, loose stool, not good appetite etc. On 08/21, this little boy had a loose stool. I was going to gather a stool sample to take to the vet the next day, but . . . . his stool firmed up. What I found with this little boy is that if I feed him much more than the 5% of body weight, it is too much.

He is fine now. Back on 08/19 when I first weighed them, the little boy was 42 grams. The little girl was 48 grams. Today, 09/06, the little boy is 107 grams and the little girl is 119 grams. Her eyes opened on 08/23 and his opened on 08/27. By the way, the bigger female was 68 grams on 08/19 and today is 168 grams.

There is so much difference between these two little ones. The little girl is up in between feedings running, jumping, climbing and playing with the larger female. The little boy just sleeps. Even when I wake everyone up to feed, he just sleeps until I pick him up but then he is very anxious for his meal and after eating, pooping and peeing, he curls up and sleeps. To me it just seems that his system is not as advanced as the little girl. Like he is just getting off to a slower start. I did see him trying to chew on a HHB yesterday! The other two make crumbs out of them in no time but the little boy is just starting to show a slight interest in them.

Anyhow, for me, it just makes sense to use a scale and weigh them. Not only to accurately determine how much they should be eating but also to determine if you have one that can only handle the minimal amount (5%). At one point the little girl started having softer poop, so I looked back at my records and saw that she was eating more toward the 7% or even a bit more so I cut back and her poop became normal again.

By the way, they do have names. They are the Three Bears, the big girl is Koala, the little girl is Panda and the little boy is Grizzley. Every time I feed him, I tell him he is going to grow up to be big and strong like a grizzly bear!

Michele in Tampa

[SquirrelLove]

I'm pretty sure the overfeeding is the problem. The poop is not green, I just can't see with my glasses on and I had an aqua towel on my lap. Upon rechecking with no towel on my lap the poops are more white, with a yellow tinge to them. (Yellow and blue make green - the blue towel and the yellow poopy and bad eyesight - made it look a little greenish)

Tonight instead of feeding them their usual I just gave them warm water. They were happy to have the warm water and drank about 6cc's each.

I will drop the night feeding and start again on the normal feedings - but less of them and farther apart. I'll start out at 7am, noon, 5pm and 10pm. I'm sure this will help. I noticed their poop getting softer but guess it wasn't a crisis until today when it became very liquid and white at that.

By the sound of Mpetys we have the same squirrels lol. My boy is not as big as my girl and likes to sleep right after eating. The girl likes to investigate the lap and climb up my shirt. They both took turns biting on a new small stuffed SOFT duck I got for them and then snuggled down for a good sleep next to it.

I guess I should buy a scale. I was hoping to not have to buy one right now as a few peoples birthdays are coming up - but the squirrels are more important :Love_Icon:Love_Icon

Thank you for the advice, I'll update you tomorrow and let you know how the poops are probably around noon.
Hugs,
Joanne in Jax:thankyou

[SquirrelLove]

I didn't take the squirrels to the vet today, the girl's poops (Princess Sookie) are firming up and yellow again. The boys are firming but still quite wet and still white. I think it was just over feeding. I'm going to monitor VERY closely and take them in if I don't see improvement.

Hugs to all!:thankyou