I think Squirrelett is sick, please help me.

[asweetdiversion]

One of my four baby squirrels, Squirrelett, is sick but I can't find anything physically wrong with him. I think they are three months old (?) and born around August 1st or a little earlier because when I found then they all had their eyes closed but all eyes opened in just a day or two after I got them. We started their soft release a few weeks ago and all have been thriving in the big magnolia tree...love their large nesting box and have seemed to be so happy and healthy until yesterday.

Yesterday morning Squirrelett, the largest of the four, seemed to be moving very slow and struggling to climb around from tree limb to tree limb and was holding his mouth open a little bit in a funny or strange way I think. He was walking slow, not limping, just lethargic maybe. He actually climbed slowly down the tree and walked over to me and let me pick him up, not kidding. Since they have been in the magnolia, they really don't like to be "mommied" if you know what I mean, so, when he let me pick him up without nipping me, I was really shocked. Last night I put him on his heating blanket and he fell sound asleep so I gave him a good exam all over his body and can find nothing wrong like a bite or wound. The only thing that I can expand on is that when I pick him up he cries a little bit and squeeks like it hurts him. Do you think he fell out of the tree and is really sore? His breathing seems fine and he is not making any clicking noises. He drank from his syringe this morning and ate a piece of apple and a few sunflower seeds too. He is fed everything that my rehabber told me to feed them AND everything ya'll have recommended to me ( by the book ) so I feel like nutrionally he is OK. My wild life rehabber is not home and the only vet in this small beach community told me to let nature take it's course basically. Anyone have a clue? Sorry to be so long winded I just wanted to give you any details I could think of. I stayed home from work today to try and nurse him and he's letting me pick him up and hold him just like he was an infant again. This is just so strange. Thanks for helping me. Teresa the mommy and Squirrelett... The squirrel. PS Here are 2 pictures my husband took last night of sickly Squirrelett

[Tomo]

Next time he falls fast asleep, look for bruising under the fur by gently pushing the fur backward. He may have fallen and have an injury to internal organs or he may have hit his head. Open mouth, the first thing you think of is respiration - lungs.

Is he eating, drinking, peeing, pooping? If possible, check inside his mouth to see if he is missing any teeth in the back and to make sure his tongue isn't swollen. Hold him up to your ear, hold your breath and listen to his insides. You should hear slight gurgling from his lower abdomen - digestive sounds are normal. Listen to his upper chest and hear his heartbeat and lungs. If you hear weezing, he may have a small infection that is causing him to be slow and breath with an open mouth.

Can you post photos and maybe a video of him? Pictures are worth one thousand words. Feel free to PM me with questions and I'll try to help any way I can.

Hope he's feeling better soon! :)

[CritterMom]

Can you tell us what he eats? Specifically, is he eating a rodent block of any kind?

Can you keep him inside and on the heat?

The lethargy and difficulty climbing sounds like MBD. Do you have any calcium? Tums will work. Dissolve in water or fruit juice and administer it to him is small amounts - get a whole Tums into him by the time you go to bed tonight. It will NOT hurt him if it is NOT MBD; if it is, you will see some signs of improvement and you will have your answer.

Will he still take formula from you? Try.

[spykitten01]

I hope you get some help for your baby and find out whats going on quickly! More people should be on soon to expand upon whats already been said and also try to help! Hang in there!

[asweetdiversion]

Yes, I can answer these questions:
1. He eats apples, avacodos, sweet potatoes, carrots, sunfower seeds, and a mixture of squirrel food ( rat block ). Drinks water and sometimes a little apple juice.
2. Tonight he is drinking, eating, and pooping and all is normal to me as far as those three things. He is drinking his puppy replacement milk via syringe I had for them when they were tiny babies.
3. Right this moment when I am not holding him he is playing in his cage a little bit and trying to get out and seems a little more active tonight and not struggling or acting too lethargic.
4. Here are two more pictures I took of him a little while ago...brushed back his fur as instucted and found a dark circular patch under his elbow maybe by his ribs?

Thanks so much ya'll, do you think he will be ok?

[Tomo]

Thanks for the photos; he's adorable. I see the redness on the ribs. I bet he went to jump and hit his ribs by accident. That would knock the wind out of any of us. As long as you don't hear any congestion in his nasal passages and/or his chest and his breathing starts to return to normal in a day or so, I think he's just bruised and with time that will heal. He may also have gotten into a squabble with an older squirrel and when they are young, they don't have the experience high up in the trees and he may have slipped.

Keep heat available to him and keep up the feedings and water as well. I think he's most enjoying the cuddling and knowing you are there for him. I will say he may be the right age for release, but he looks a bit small. Sometimes fall babies are smaller than the spring babies, or maybe they seem that way because winter isn't closing down on release time.

If you believe in homeopathy, you can administer Arnica Montana. You would take 5-10cc of water and add 4 pellets, then administer via syringe several times a day. Each day, making new solution. I would mix it in a small tupperware or ziplock container. Before you would draw up the mix you would gently shake the container and then tap it 4 times on the counter. This activates the active ingredients. Do not touch the pellets with your fingers. You can use tweezers or tap 4 pellets into the bottle's cap. Normally you can find Arnica Montana at health food and vitamin stores such as GNC and The Vitamin Shoppe, and some better drug stores, etc. I would start with 30c as the potency which is usually easy to find. Arnica will help with the bruising and encourages healing.

Which puppy replacement formula are you using? Just curious.

From the photographs and the fact that you have not mentioned that his breathing is labored or that he seems worse, I think he will be fine. You may want to consider over-wintering him if you have that ability. Just to give him a little extra time to make certain he is all healed and you won't find him in duress again.

Please keep us posted as to his progress. Big Hugs and Big Kisses to your little Squirrelett! :grouphug :Love_Icon

Tomo

[asweetdiversion]

Thank you so much Tomo for your reply and for everyone's, really, ya'll are so wonderful. OK well, I did the thing with Tums just in case and since it won't hurt him and he drank 1 and 1/2 small syringe full of the tums/apple juice ( ewww ) mixture and seemed OK with it.

I tried Esbolic, Hartz Plus Puppy Replacement, and finally another one my rehabber gave me that she said was the best and proven better than Esbolic but I can't remember the name because it was the last one I gave them and ran out.

All four of them seem small to me too but they begged me to let them out to play everyday and I kept on thinking it was too early but my rehabber said soft release was good to go. So with that said, all four took control of that big magnolia and their nesting box in like two days and would hardly even come home before dark. They have been having the time of their little lives and we watch those little clowns play together all day long and I bet your right, Squirrelett just fell down.

He is going to stay in the house with me for the next several days or until he convinces me he is OK. He H-A-T-E-S the large bird cage I have him in at the moment but it's small enough so that if he climbs I feel like if he falls again he won't re injure himself.

His breathing seems normal to me and I listened to his belly, his chest, ( hed my breath made the house real quiet ) and I could here some normal bowel sounds and tummy grumbles and his heart beating really fast. I'll keep a watch out tonight around the clock of course and see how he is doing in the morning and report back. I can drive him to Pennsacola if I have to to see an exotic or small creature vet and will no anything to save his life, I think he escaped a life threatening injury this time and is ding just like you said Tomo, ejoying the kisses and cuddles from Mommy ( or at least that's what I tell myself ). Thanks again, God watches over me I just know it because he helped me find you all here on this board. Squirrelett sends his love. T&S

[CritterMom]

You are very lucky on many counts today - Squirrelett is probably going to be just fine, especially with a little extra mama lovins, and you came looking for help on a night when Tomo was on, which doesn't happen too often. I think you need to run buy a lottery ticket!

Given his diet and the signs of bruising, you probably don't need to worry about MBD. So often people come on with lethargic babies feeding what they think is right and it isn't; I usually jump there because it is so often the reason.

Is the formula Fox Valley? It is in a gold foil bag.

[asweetdiversion]

Yes that was it ! Fox Valley. My rehabber, Lisa, gave me a very generous supply of the powder because I had 4 babies and a large ( gallon size ) of the Zoopreme to soak in their milk or apple juice and some cherrios for treats. They did not at all like the soaked monkey biscuts but would try and eat a little bit of it. Now I just take food to their feeding tray and water bottle and they seem to be eating just fine. I am worried that they seem small for release but they did so well the first few days... I just hope I did the right thing. I kept a good picture diary and videos of the little sweeties on my Facebook photo album, here is the link if you are interested. http://www.facebook.com/reqs.php#!/album.php?aid=77434&id=1376875335 and here it one of the last videos I created titled, "Oh what a wonderful world" warning, it will make ya cry, ha! http://www.facebook.com/asweetdiversion?v=app_2392950137#!/video/video.php?v=1642139898165 Thanks so much for everything, I pray he will be OK tonight, I love these little babies so much and never in a million years thought I would ever be blessed to have some of my own. Teresa

[mpetys]

I just saw your photos (facebook), how sweet that you have a water bottle mounted next to their nest box! What a great idea.

Michele

[asweetdiversion]

Ya know, a week or so after those pics, we actually disassembled the large cage they were raised in and made the base of their cage into a very large feeding tray ( with water bottle ) and my husband then made them a wonderful, very large nesting box he placed a few limbs higher in the magnolia and they love it.

Squirrelett is a little bit on the pittyful side tonight. He's been sleeping in my lap for a few hours and then I tried to feed him some formula and he drank only a little bit and then fell back to sleep. I've been gently rubbing his head and under his chin and kissing his little ears like I used to and he seems to be in a little bit of pain because he squeeks a little if I get up or try and move him. I just put him back into his cage and turned on his heating pad but now I can hear him crunching a cherrio. This is so strange; for the few weeks they have been on their own, not one of them would really come back close enough to pet or touch again and although it made me sad knowing I probably would never hold any of them again, in my heart I was very happy they were living as squirrels. I had absolutly no idea that one of them would ever allow me to hold them again but once again know in my heart I want him to get better so he can hurry out to be with his fun brothers. Oh what a wonderful worl:Love_Icon d.

[mpetys]

I looked at the pictures and have to ask some questions just to put my mind at ease. I see the pink area, but when I look at it, it seems like it is not just the skin that is pink but the fur? And it looks like there is some pink on the fur in the neck area. I'm concerned that if the fur is pink, could that be blood? After licking and grooming? Has that area been thoroughly looked at? I mean, used your fingers to part the fur to check for any wounds or scratches? I know I am probably worrying for nothing, but after these past few weeks taking care of Davey, my baby that was attacked by a cat, I just worry about that.

Please put my mind to rest and let me know about the pink on the fur and what it looks like beneath the fur.

Michele

[Tomo]

Sorry asweetdiversion to butt in, but just saving you the time so you can spend it with Squirrelett.

The discoloration you are seeing is the photo pixelation. Here the photos are resized and now you can better see the true coloring. Now the bruising under the right arm is very clear. I'm just happy it's not on the other side nearer to his heart.

Hugs and Kisses you sweet little baby, Squirrelett! :grouphug :Love_Icon

[Tomo]

Just wanted to add that seeing the photos smaller, I notice what looks like a few little scratches on his lower right eyelid. I think for that and the bruises, a warm, wet compress would make him feel a little better.

[BHO]

poor little babe. If he had a fall, you may also want to add the following to the arnica: hypericum perforatum, ruta graveleons and Bellis perennis, all these together with the arnica will help with brusing, pain and swelling. Get either the 30C potency as suggested by Tomo or 6C. Dont get any other potencies, ie X potencies. If they have 200C or 1M, they will be fine as well (more expensive) Vitaminshoppe usually sell Boiron or Hyland. Remember, because the remedy itself is coated onto the pellets, do not touch pellets with your hands,. Pour into cap and then into distilled or pure water. if you use 5cc water, you may want to leave the pellet in the water for 20-30secs then scoop the pellets out and discard pellets or the water may get a little sticky,. if you use 10cc then there is no need. Remedy is sensitive to light so keep away from bright sunlight. Divide the dissolve remedy in to 4-5 servings and give in small sips of each serving after feeding. HTH. GB and hugs to Squirrelett

ps: if you use say 6C and you switch to 30C, you can do this immediately but say if you use higher potencies like 200C or 1M then when you switch, you need to wait for a few days. Therefore start with low potency, ie 6C or 30C and if you need to switch you can do so immediately.