Spencer needs help

[Patty]

Spencer is a young adult gray squirrel that I was trying to raise and release until a dog bit him on his back. Working at a Vet's office; we gave steroids short term and kept him confined. Over a course of 6 weeks now, he has really come a long way from being paralyzed from 'waist' down to scampering around again. Legs are atrophied from not being used but is getting around okay, running around sloppy.
My question is that his urine is amber colored or dark all the time. I don't know what normal squirrel urine looks like. We've done a test strip but the colors are thrown off by the color of the urine. I have been expressing him twice a day in hopes that he will resume on his own; but it is hard to tell if he is or not. He contracts against me alot when I am expressing him. I would love to release him, but he can't go as he is. Any suggestions please??

[island rehabber]

Spencer is a young adult gray squirrel that I was trying to raise and release until a dog bit him on his back. Working at a Vet's office; we gave steroids short term and kept him confined. Over a course of 6 weeks now, he has really come a long way from being paralyzed from 'waist' down to scampering around again. Legs are atrophied from not being used but is getting around okay, running around sloppy.
My question is that his urine is amber colored or dark all the time. I don't know what normal squirrel urine looks like. We've done a test strip but the colors are thrown off by the color of the urine. I have been expressing him twice a day in hopes that he will resume on his own; but it is hard to tell if he is or not. He contracts against me alot when I am expressing him. I would love to release him, but he can't go as he is. Any suggestions please??

Patty, in a squirrel who has sustained trauma to the back, and who must be manually expressed in order to urinate, the possibility of urinary tract infection is always there. He may be contracting because it hurts when his bladder is pressed, poor sweetie. A normal squirrel's urine is clear to light-yellow, so Spencer's is not normal unless he is eating a LOT of acorns and only acorns. You might want to give him lots of fluid therapy to flush out his bladder and possibly a course of antibiotics. Some people have had results with this using cranberry juice, but others say it has no effect. If he's had it for awhle, I would say antibiotics is the way to go.

[Gabe]

I read dark urine as being dehydrated. So, I go with IR and think he needs to be better hydrated.

Put the squirrel in a smaller area for 12-14 hours, on white and I emphasize white - towels, sheets or bedding. If he is peeing you will know.

[Patty]

Thanks to I.R. and Gabe for your quick replys. It does seem like when I pick him up and let him run around on my shoulders, the little stinker pees or leaks on me. This is before I've expressed his bladder. So I wonder if he just will get too full and then leak out rather than eliminate on his own;retaining urine. I will try a course of Clavamox on him. I'll take some fluids home too. I give him cranberries but he's not too fond of them. Do you give cranberry juice in the water bowl diluted?

[squirrelfriend]

I noticed my squirrelie had the same thing one time. It turned out to be mild dehydration.