squirrel with bacterial infection - need help

[kateg]

One of the squirrels in our backyard has what looks like a bacterial infection on her right ear. It has been getting worse over the past few days. She still comes for little treats (unshelled nuts) but I am worried that she does not seem to get better, quite the opposite. What should I do??? Please help...

[philomycus]

Can you get a picture??? There's no true way to know it's bacterial or otherwise....

[kateg]

It is very hard to get a good picture since she doesn't want to stay still (hope this is a good sign). Attached is a zoomed in /& cropped picture but may not be very clear. Basically the ear is red and swollen and the skin looks split in a few places. She is one of the smartest animals I have seen and would love to be able to help her somehow... Any advice is much appreciated! We already lost one squirrel that was missing 3 toes on his rear leg and don't want to loose another one :(

[cole]

if you can get hold of her a good bathe with a very low concentration of peroxide wouldnt hurt, could be bacterial or mite either way whatever... a bathe wouldnt hurt, although careful with the solution as it dont go down the ear canal or eyes :)

[Kristal]

S/he is quite a beauty with that coat and tail. It reminds me of a handful of duck down. You could try whipping up some kind of squirrel treats with natural antibiotics/antivirals such as goldenseal, allicin (available in garlic capsules from the health food store or the pharmacy as fresh garlic would put a squirrel off) and echinacea. Those things strengthen the immune system and help fight infection.

In fact, giving them plain old, quality rodent block for a while would be a help as city squirrels may not get a balanced diet, possibly resulting in a vulnerability to infection or vitamin deficiency diseases. The cheapest ones can be gotten from www.craftyrat.com, and they are recommended by other TSB members.

How about sleep? If you live in a noisy area with a lot of cats and dogs a nesting box would be a blessing. Sleep is the absolute best thing for boosting immunity.

[kateg]

Yes, she is a beauty, isn't she :) Here is a picture from her better days.

Thank you for the usefull tips! I will definitely give it a try.

[CritterMom]

It is sort of difficult to tell, but that sort of looks like regular old mange mites to me. If she was a pet, or could be handled, I would suggest putting some Revolution on her, but since she is wild, you will probably have to use Ivermectin. You need to be extremely careful dosing this stuff - the amount used is about that of a pinhead, but it can be put on a pecan half and given to her that way.

Henry's Pets sells this and can probably help you with dosing info, even if you wind up buying it locally (I see you are in Canada and shipping can be problematic).
http://www.henryspets.com/products/Ivermectin.html

She is a TSB member and I am sure she will help you with the dosing info.

[squirrelfriend]

It looks like mange to me. If you can catch her I have meds for her. She would need to be kept in captivity for a couple of weeks or so until it heals up. I see you are in Toronto. I am in Mississauga. PM me with your location in Toronto.

[Wonkawillie]

Hard to tell from the picture but it looks like a hemotoma. Does it look like she has fluid under the lining of the ear?
Possible that she simply has a hemotoma from a scuffle with another squirrel. This would just be fluid mixed with blood filling under the skin lining the inner ear. Because squirrel ears are so thin, it would look quite red. Maybe I am wrong, but looks it from the picture. If this is the case, it will just get better on its own. You dont want to open it up as the fluid will leak into the ear canal. You may have seen it get bigger over a few days time? But it will eventually go away.

[kateg]

It looks like mange to me. If you can catch her I have meds for her. She would need to be kept in captivity for a couple of weeks or so until it heals up. I see you are in Toronto. I am in Mississauga. PM me with your location in Toronto.

No, I can not catch her... even though she comes right next to me for her little treats, I have purposely restrained myself from trying to even touch her so she does not get too used to human contact. We live in a townhouse in Willowdale - highly populated urban area where not all humans can be trusted...
I would absolutely love to touch the beautiful tail and softest coat and play with her but that's only in my wildest dreams ;)
I will see how she is doing today when she comes and try to get a better picture. I am also researching where I can buy some of the meds recommended here.

[kateg]

So purchasing Ivermectin in Canada is proving not to be so easy :( I went to the animal clinic here and searched online and no luck so far...
My baby seems to be doing better today though!! The ear is no longer swollen, however, she keeps scratching it so it may be mange mites as suggested by some of you. I managed to get some very good pictures today and hope you can better diagnose her.
If the pictures confirm the mange theory, please let me know if anybody has any idea where I can urgenty get Ivermectin from in Canada. :thankyou