cactus poisonous? baby squirrel severe vomiting ...s.steves' sparky....

[gs1]

i haven't even asked steves' permission ....

i'm just posting this in the hope that someone will see it soon .... asap....

it's just not a good place to be.....:grouphug sparky/steve....

(the bolding is mine ...)


http://thesquirrelboard.com/forums/showthread.php?p=571543#post571543



Hi Friends

I am worried some about Sparky tonight.
He keeps throwing up his food and making weird bird like sounds .
almost sounds like he is choking
but he can eat then it comes back up.
so throat must be free or open :dono
He is getting weaned by his choice.
he drinks 4-5cc of fox valley mix then quits.
I been giving him today some snow pea pods and some avocado and squirrel blocks..... the usual good food.
but he did get into some cactus this morning he ate a piece of it.
I brought the cactus plant in a couple of days ago.
because of the frost coming
Chuck has never messed with it.
I didn't think Sparky would.
It is a big one we have had for years they grow in the wild on the west side of Iowa.
are cactus ok for Squirrels to eat ?
He is throwing up a lot everything I gave him tonight.
It was a very hectic Day are first pet we ever got Lacy our Cat that we have for 17 years died this morning.
She was throwing up too.
but she has been failing for awhile and was getting old.Then after burying her we had to do a bunch a running to pay bills and went for a leaf ride.
I put the squirrels in there cages at 11:00 am
Sparky seemed ok then.
we didn't get home till 5:00 pm and sparky didn't want out of his cage till 7:30 pm .
his eyes look like he doesn't feel good.
when he did come out he was making those noises
I feed him 4 cc of FV mix its all he wanted and a snow pea pod and a almond.
and he threw this all up ...everything.
in like 4-5 big efforts a pile of stuff.I don't think his has a cactus needle in his month I don't think.
I checked him out didn't see any
He crawled back in bed in his cage at 8:00 pm
was not up for very long.
did some running not much
I never had a squirrel throw up this muchnot sure what to do. ? :dono
If he did eat some thing bad at least he is getting it out right ?
or should I do something else ?
I would appreciate any help or advise very much. :thankyou
kind of worried ...dang a lot :shakehead
Thanks very much :thankyou
Squirrely Steve

[gs1]

steve i've pmd some of our rehabbers but it's already 2 am ... feel free to pm who ever you can think of to help... if they're awake they'll see it....:grouphug

(steve i just panic easily....:grouphug )

[Kristal]

Please post a picture of the cactus and an estimate of how much he ate. I am betting it is peruvian torch or similar since they are popular and easy to grow. What that means is that your squirrel is tripping on mescaline, but should be ok in a day, max... aside from any emotional trauma, that is. It's actually a very pleasant experience... if you have an idea of what to expect.

Edit: I am sorry, I know that sounds funny, but I am not kidding. A lot of cacti have high concentrations of mescaline, not just the famous peyote.

Edit again: also please post the latin or common name of the cactus if you know it. I might know a thing or two, but I am no cactus expert ;p

[Kristal]

Also, the time frame is about right. It takes quite a while for the intoxicants in mescaline cactus to metabolise, and I think poison would act quicker... or at least I am guessing it would. Stimulating vomiting is pointless, I guess, with the amount of puking he is doing already :(

[muffinsquirrel]

Some cacti is actually rather good for them, and for people, too. They even sell it in grocery stores here. It's big, flat oval 'leaves', or whatever they are called. But that's about the extent of my cacti knowledge - I would advise getting on Google and trying to identify what kind it is, and then go from there.

Good luck with him.

muffinsquirrel

[Kristal]

HAHA, and now I see that this happened last night... when I read the original thread :P

Yes, that sounds about right to me. I am glad that the whole experience did not leave him a nervous wreck.

If you want to ditch the cactus and make a few bucks, too, you can chop it into disks of about 1 pound, let it air dry until no longer moist, and sell it on ebay as san pedro peruvian torch incense:

http://shop.ebay.com/i.html?_kw=peruvian&_kw=torch

Just ship it in paper :D

[mugzeezma]

HAHA, and now I see that this happened last night... when I read the original thread :P

Yes, that sounds about right to me. I am glad that the whole experience did not leave him a nervous wreck.

If you want to ditch the cactus and make a few bucks, too, you can chop it into disks of about 1 pound, let it air dry until no longer moist, and sell it on ebay as san pedro peruvian torch incense:

http://shop.ebay.com/i.html?_kw=peruvian&_kw=torch

Just ship it in paper :D
Whoa...legal drug trafficking:dono

Steve mentioned that this was a native plant in Iowa ...

Iowa's Only Cactus
Prickly pear is Iowa's only native cactus plant. It is unusual in that it is cold-tolerant, unlike other types of cacti. Its needles are actually needle leaves. These fine needles help protect the plant from foraging animals. Prickly pear fruit, pads and seeds are all edible. The fruit are edible raw, but can also made into jelly or candy. The pads can be sliced thin and sauteed in butter for a savory vegetable side dish.

http://www.mccullagh.org/db9/1ds-4/prickly-pear-cactus-flowering.jpg

[Kristal]

Well, many common and household items and plants are intoxicating. Maybe you would be surprised at how many. Mescaline is definitely a soft drug, anyway. It does not make people violent like alcohol can and it is not addictive, soo.... why not. And if that is your cactus, no, it is fine.

[CritterMom]

If that is what Steve has, I doubt they caused a problem - prickly pear is edible.

Wake up and update us, Steve!

[stosh2010]

Hoping for a "GOOD MORNING" report on your little friend...
Sparky is the concern of EVERYONE of us...
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% %%%%%%%%%

Stosh & Rama Rota ( KING of Costa Rica )

[astra]

Steve, check your original thread, too

[Squirrely Steve]

Good Morning Friends :wave123

Thanks gs1 for starting this thread for us. :thankyou

I tried staying up late last night and got worn out. :shakehead
just getting around and got the squirrels fed.
They kept me busy this morning.
I checked on Sparky a bunch of times last night.
He was real hard to get up and had a hard time giving him Electrolyte mix.
I got him up at 7:00 am had to pull the ball nest out of cage.
He is doing lots better today. :thumbsup
looks sleepy but no bird like noises coming from him and is eating good and not throwing up. :)
He drank about 5cc of his FV mix and some Electrolyte mix and gave up and wanted food so I gave him some apples and avocado and some Pansy flowers and a piece of pecan.
he wolfed it down and is running like crazy from room to room making up for yesterday. :wahoo
I been having troubles typing he has been keeping me busy
Not sure what happened yesterday.
I never seen a little animal throw up so much before.
it was like everything he ate.
maybe he had some caught in his throat and was throwing up to get out. :dono

Thanks gs1 for starting this thread and for pming some of the rehabbers :thankyou
I was very worried and still kind of scared wonder what he got into.:dono
I was panicking too

Thanks Kristal :thankyou
I took a couple pictures of the cactus and will post them.
I think it is the pear cactus like mugzeezma posted. :thinking
very interesting about the mescaline in cactus never knew that before :thinking
Thanks muffinsquirrel :thankyou
very good news about the cactus Thanks :)
Thanks mugzeezma :thankyou
very good information and thanks so much for posting a picture of the Pear cactus we have here in Iowa. I got some pictures took and going to post .
I think that the one we have is a pear cactus :thinking
We bought it from a garage sale many years ago and the lady said she dug it up from western Iowa. :thinking
MMMM..... that sound good for Sunday afternoon diner. "The pads can be sliced thin and sauteed in butter for a savory vegetable side dish". :D
Thanks :thankyou
Thanks Kristal :thankyou
MMmm.... maybe I should dry some too and try it for my stress from Chuck and Sparky
Sheri just said ...... no way your not touching my Cactus :rotfl
Thanks CritterMom :thankyou
Running Late today and the squirrels have been really keeping me busy running around here like crazy :wahoo
Took a bit to type this.
That's a good sign right they up and running :thumbsup
Here is the cactus pictures
I am not sure if the cactus made him sick but at least he is back to the Sparky I know and love.

Thanks so much for all you help and advise Every one:thankyou :grouphug
be back in awhile .... time for chores :tilt
Have a Great 10-10-10 Day :wott

[Squirrely Steve]

Hoping for a "GOOD MORNING" report on your little friend...
Sparky is the concern of EVERYONE of us...
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% %%%%%%%%%

Stosh & Rama Rota ( KING of Costa Rica )

Good Morning Stosh and rama

Thanks :thankyou
He is doing great Today :wott
Thanks :D
Squirrely Steve :)

[Squirrely Steve]

Steve, check your original thread, too

Good Morning Astra :)

I will ....thanks ..but got to run quick and feed some farm animals
I hear them talking :crazy
be back in awhile :)
Thanks :thankyou
Squirrely Steve :wave123

[CritterMom]

That isn't prickly pear, I don't think. They have whorls of multiple spines, not singe long ones like this. They are all over Arizona and the javelinas (little wild pigs) eat them like candy, spines and all.

My offer to identify and rate your plants holds, Steve. You would be surprised how many will make humans and animals ill.

I'm glad Sparky is back to normal (being bad) today.:thumbsup

[Kristal]

I dunno, that looks about like an iowan prickly pear to me

http://media-cdn.tripadvisor.com/media/photo-s/01/7c/c9/56/prickly-pear-cactus.jpg

It just looks "leggy" which is what they say about plants that don't get adequate sunlight. I think that would be normal for a fast growing and part time indoor cactus. Maybe he has a food allergy to prickly pear? I have a leggy looking cactus, myself. I am not sure what to do about it as you cannot really prune them, afaik.

My squirrels have just discovered how to climb the curtains to access the hanging plants in my living room. I have two of these pothos plants:

http://www.istockphoto.com/file_thumbview_approve/452793/2/istockphoto_452793-house-plant-pothos.jpg

and some spider plants. Probably they will soon have all kinds of interesting-to-squirrels things buried in them... Are my plants ok to eat, Crittermom?

[CritterMom]

Spider plants are fine - pothos not.

NEXT!!

[crazysquirrels]

Looks waxy. I thought waxy looking plants were usually bad. Not sure in this case. Glad your peep is doing good this morning.

[SquirrelNut]

i am SO very happy about the Spark!

i may be old fashioned, but i just do better by NOT having any plants inside having a squirrel, bunny, and two kitties. it just saves a lot of heartaches! of course, if i had a bigger place, i would have plants in other rooms.

a few years ago, i lost a bunny due to my poor thinking!

a guy who was grouting my tile, told me i should let my bunny out of his cage more. i forget now if he said outside?

i let my dale out on my patio. he was having so much fun running around. without realizing it, he must have found some birdseed and/or hulls.

long story short, he went into an extreme emergency situation almost immediately. he lived for about 7 to 10 days after an emergency vet visit and many other vet visits. many meds and subq fluids. i took him to work w/me so worried about him.

he was such a beautiful bunny that i had found along the freeway. took me a couple of weeks to catch him. i checked on him all of the time. i kept dropping off carrots to him. he was at the exit where my mother lived.

one night, i was out there at midnight on a labor day week-end. the california highway patrol, stopped and asked me what i was doing?? i think they thought i was NUTS! i said, i was chasing a bunny. of course, he was not to be seen! thank god, he appeared. i think they thought i was 5150!

they tried to catch him with their pole but were unable. of course, they had to add that he wouldn't last long on that busy exit and freeway!

he was at the trousdale exit. i ended up naming him dale. had him three years. shortly after finding him, my mother had a stroke. he was my first ever bunny. i really felt he was sent into my life to help support me during my mother's stroke.

when my mother was living in a residential bed & board, i would take him nightly and the residents would hold and love it. he was so therapeutic for them!

long story short. after my loss of my lovely dale, i realized how much it is OUR responsibility to protect our pets.

to this day, i blame myself for his death!!! i truly felt like i murdered him!

p.s. what was really funny is the night i caught him, i left him w/my dear mother at her apt. i wasn't sure if they carried any diseases that might pass on to my cat at the time. the next day, i took him to a bunny vet. i was planning on them finding him a home .

his lop ears were FULL of ticks underneath! omg, when i told my mother; she wanted to strangle me! LOL she did not like bugs of any kind! she had already listened to him move his food and water dishes all night so was not real happy w/me!

steve, i know you don't mind i stole your thread. nos and i love steve!

i just want to make a point that we really need to be extremely careful what we have around our pets!

i have never loss the guilt i carry about my dale's death!

RIP, my sweet Dale!

[Kristal]

Wow, that is such a sad story, SquirrelNut :( I don't believe it was your fault at all, if that helps in the least.