Grey Squirrel 8 Months Old has Diarrhea

[Ehelms]

Hello all,
Skeeter and I started out on TSB last August and you all have been nothing but helpful ever since. Today is the first time I have had a concern about Skeeter's Health. First of all, Skeeter is a Male Gray Squirrel. He was orphaned at about a week old, and I have taken care of him since. Today for the first time he has diarrhea. About a week ago I introduced avocado to him and he loved it. This is the only change in diet that he has had, other than the fact that he was without HH blocks for 4 days due to a shipping problem. I gave him extra veggies to compensate for the missing blocks, and also gave him some Mazuri rodent blocks, which he has had before. He has been very lethargic all day as well. I did some searching on the board and common advice was to give pedialtye to keep him hydrated, so I plan on doing that.

I was wondering if anyone has any other advice, or things to watch out for in the next few days, other symptoms I should look for.

Other than that he has been very healthy, his fur is great, no signs of respiratory ailments, urination has been good.

Another thing that may be unlrelated is that a few days ago I noticed that his droppings had increased in size considerably. About twice the size, to about the size of a raisin. Could this be related?

Any input would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks,
Erik and Skeeter

[CritterMom]

Yes, please, start hydration immediately. I assume you have pedialyte or you can do homemade:

1 teaspoon salt
3 Tablespoons sugar
1 quart water

Is he still having diarrhea now?

How much avocado? Did you feed meat only or did he eat skin and/or pit of the avocado?

[Ehelms]

Only the fruit portion. No skin or pit, which I have read can be toxic. I will keep you posted on the status of the diarrhea.
What is the best way to administer the pedialyte? Should I put it in his water bottle and monitor if he drinks it, I may have a syringe left from rehabbing but I'm not sure.

And it was a rather large piece of avocado. I usually give him smaller pieces but my father fed him today.

[CritterMom]

If he will take it from a syringe, that is your best bet. You can monitor his intake. You might have to work at this - the dehydration makes them not want to eat and it becomes a vicious circle. It is likely that the large amount of avocado was too much for his system. Get him rehydrated and let us know if you see more diarrhea.

[Ehelms]

Update: His general condition seems to be worsening. His eyes are red and inflamed around the edges, and apear to be weeping reddish fluid. He is very lethargic, and has been hanging around the bottom of his cage, but does climb up and hang near the top near his hammock. I will keep hydrating, but I am concerned. What else could be causing these symptoms? Could this be life threatening? I would take him to a vet, but in MA it is not legal, and im not sure what the reprocussions would be, but obviously my intentions are to keep Skeeter healthy, at whatever cost.

Update: He just drank a good amount of the homemade pedialyte. I will keep it up as long as it takes. He perked up right after taking a big drink. Will keep posted.

[Tickle's Mom]

:grouphug :grouphug

[CritterMom]

I would be pretty persistent in getting him to drink the pedialyte over the next few hours. Then I would start to alternate the pedialyte with either some plain water or a water juice combo (sometimes a splash of juice makes it taste better and they are more willing to take it without a fuss. It will rehydrate and if this is something that made him ill it will help flush it from his system. Pushing fluids is always good if you suspect some sort of toxin.

Any more diarrhea?

[Ehelms]

On a second inspection of the newspaper that I changed it looks like it might have been torn up newspaper that he had peed on that looked muddy that I mistook for diarrhea. What would cause these symptoms without diarrhea?
Sorry about the misinformation I am just a little flustered at this point. From what I have read it seems that he might be dehydrated still, so I will continue to give him the rehydration solution. These symptoms have set in since lunch time, just to give a time frame.

Here is an updated list of symptoms:
Red irritation around eyes, with clear/reddish weeping
Lethargy
Felt cold when I picked him up, am holding him to warm him
decreased appetite, but is taking rehydration solution willingly

[CritterMom]

Well, the hydration is not going to hurt him, and I would continue it if I were you.

Grill your dad - could he have given anything else to your squirrel, or might there have been skin/peel involved? Avocado is a tough one - they love it, seem to consume it with no problems but if you google you will see it listed as toxic for rodents. I am wondering if you are seeing a little of this because of the amount. How ripe was it? The more ripe, the less problems, hard avocado would tend to have more probems.

But regardless, if it IS causing problems, flushing it through his system with lots of water/rehydration fluid is your best bet. Are you sure about no diarrhea? Can you see if he might have vomited somewhere in the cage?

Do you have a heating pad? I would put him in a "hospital" cage on a heating pad and spend the night petting and loving on him (yes, it does help) and giving him fluids and making sure he was nice and warm if I was n your situation.

[CritterMom]

Is there any update, hopefully a good one, this morning?

[Jackie in Tampa]

:thinking ck for insect bite...
are you sure he gets plenty of calcium?
ck teeth, he may have infection unseen.

just throwing out ideas..

[Ehelms]

Dropped him off at the Tufts university wildlife clinic tonight. Won't see him again, but they said I can call and see how he is. I'm sure going to miss my little friend.
All I can hope is that he makes a full recovery, and they will try to release him.

Thanks everyone for all the support and advice.

Erik

[Wonkawillie]

hOW DID i MISS THIS POST????? i LIVE VERYclose to you and could have tried to help. It sure sounds like you have done everything right along the way. Two things come to mind when I hear about bloody weaping from the eyes, i think of rat poison or possibly getting into a human pill bottle of common blood thinners used when someone has had heart surgery. Like Cumadin ( sp? ) or Warfarin. These things thin the blood to where a squirrel could bleed internally. Also asperin or advil could do the same thing. The plant " foxglove" the same thing, but it is early for this plant here in MA. These things would cause weeping of bloody fluid from everywhere. Any friends come over that could have droppeda pill from a purse or anything???????
Also urinary track infection would cause bloody pee and feeling very sick, but not so much the eyes issue.
I hope Tufts helps this little one. PLEASE keep us posted.
let Tufts know anything you can think of with this situation.

[Mrs Skul]

Erik How are you doing to day? :grouphug
Any News on how Skeeter is doing??? :dono