Help w/ 4 squirrels needed!

[m&bs mom]

I received 4 baby gray squirrels tonight....all clicking. They all have "snot" coming from their noses and 1 with diarrhea pretty bad. 2 with eyes opened 2 eyes closed.

The finder had them on kitten milk (per the vet) since she found them about 3 weeks ago. All of them I am sure have asperated. I bathed them all because they were covered in poop. I started them on pedialyte...trying to flush out old formula and rehydrate.

I have them on heating pad in fleece and they are cuddling right now. Weights are between 102-120. One is bloated (with diarrhea) but belly started to go down a bit. His poop also smells really bad. I can't get them to the vet until morning (guess I will call in sick). He is usually very good to me as far as meds go.

Can someone tell me what meds are the best. We will also have them do a fecal float to rule out any internal parasites.....yuck! If we need wormer what kind.

I will also need dosing information. If you can't give out dose over the board, could someone PM me with that info. I have no meds tonight, so I just hope for the best.

Any help is appreciated.

[Rescue04]

For asperation you need clavamox or amoxicillin. Dosage would be .1cc per 100g. Depending on the meds, depends on the dillusion. A 400mg amox tab (crushed)mixed with 10cc grenadine......for example. If they are as bad as I fear they need something quick, it won't take long for them to go down fast.

[sundogdayze]

Oh, poor babies! I am no expert, but I'm pretty sure that Baytril is the medicine of choice.

Do you have any Baytril? The other name is Enrofloxacin. If you do, and you know the weight of your babies, I'm sure someone can calculate the correct dosage.

I'm looking everywhere for one of the threads that talks about the dosage per ounces, when I find it I'll post.

[sundogdayze]

For asperation you need clavamox or amoxicillin. Dosage would be .1cc per 100g. Depending on the meds, depends on the dillusion. A 400mg amox tab (crushed)mixed with 10cc grenadine......for example. If they are as bad as I fear they need something quick, it won't take long for them to go down fast.

I'm not an expert, so I am not challenging your advice at all, just clarifying for myself. I had heard that you can't give squirrels any of the medicines ending in "cillin." Is that incorrect?

Also, I have used Baytril on squirrels with pneumonia before (although it was years ago.) Is that not the best one anymore?

[m&bs mom]

I have nothing for these little ones. I didn't get them until 8:00 tonight and didn't expect them to be in this bad of shape. 7:30 tomorrow morning will be th earliest I can see the vet. 2 of them are really bad and I pray I can help them make it through the night.

1 of them is having a hard time staying warm. I keep checking on them and all 4 are together.

I will get 1 of the 2 meds in the morning and keep everyone posted. Please keep these little ones in your prayers....they all need it.

[island rehabber]

PLEASE ask for Baytril, first choice, or SMZ-TMP (sulfatrim) SECOND choice, or chloro, Third choice ,.,......'cillins are a distant fourth for aspiration pneumonia, I'm afraid. Don't waste your time or money. Baytril can turn pneumonia around in 24 hours sometimes -- try to get it!

[m&bs mom]

Ok...baytril it will be. I seconed guessed myself. I thought that was first choice but wanted to hear someone else say it!

What about the smelly poop? I will have a fecal done tomorrow but I have never had a squirrel with poop thaat smelled soooo bad. We adopted a puppy a few years ago that came to us with parvo...this smell reminds me of that.

I am washing hands very well and keeping all utensils seperate anything else I need to do? I have 1 flyer and 1 adult gray that really don't need to catch anything.

[m&bs mom]

I also forgot to mention...1 with eyes closed has nasty looking discharge. The finder said the last 2 days that it swelled up pretty bad and when they cleaned it puss was coming out. It looks to me like the same discharge that is coming out of the nose. Very thick and white. Not sure what it could be but I do not think it looks swollen right now.
Discharge is coming from the eye.

[BeeFernandez22]

Baytril is excellent, as others have said! Worked wonders for my little Ollie girl! Good luck!!

[Rescue04]

You are right baytril is the better choice, but not many people have it on hand in the middle of the night. Baytril is easier on thier tummies, but not everyone keeps a bottle or the tabs in thier home. It was late and I was tired, I was referencing our dose chart from our rehabber, I should have known better......:shakehead

[island rehabber]

It was late and I was tired, I was referencing our dose chart from our rehabber, I should have known better......:shakehead

No worries Rescue04 -- it's true that more of the general public is likely to have amoxicillin or clav for their cats & dogs, vs. Baytril. Never hurts to have all the options in front of you. :)

[Jackie in Tampa]

You are right baytril is the better choice, but not many people have it on hand in the middle of the night. Baytril is easier on thier tummies, but not everyone keeps a bottle or the tabs in thier home. It was late and I was tired, I was referencing our dose chart from our rehabber, I should have known better......:shakehead
not stepping on toes...but baytril is hard on the belly...but is a kick butt medicine...works well...BUT PROBOTICS a must...
cillans are the worst, pen, amoxy, clavamox etc...bad belly aches, cramps etc...
baytril is not ideal to inject due to the abcesses it sometimes leaves.
SMZ-TMP is a very broad spectrum med, THAT DOES cross the blood brain barrier, but it too has draw backs...very slow acting, but gentlest on the gut...this is alll from my experiences with these meds...and the cillans info is directly from several vets and all over TSB.
I have used doxy combo'ed with baytril for a mycotoxins issue...
but that was a tough case, long term and many many ABs were used as well as combo'd! It was a nasty wicked case.:grouphug Sammy:grouphug

I love SMZ-TMP, {Septra, Bactrim SulfaTrim}for babies with boo boos...but with serious stuff..I am baytril orally 100%...:thumbsup
THE BIG DOG!

[Wonkawillie]

Very normal for pneumonia to spread to the eyes. The bacteria just crawls around. The antibiotics will help with this as well.
They sound really bad off. I hope they make it.

[m&bs mom]

Still waiting for the vet to call me back. All 4 have made it through the night. One is coming off the heat and nobody is cuddling with her. Her body temp is low...breathing is very shallow. All have had pedialyte through the night and seem to have enjoyed it.

I will start on diluted FV very soon. Lets hope they like it.

Vet just called. He said we will do clavamox...we will see how this goes. Does not want to see them there really isn't anything he can do for them. Hydration is good and all were eager for the syring of pedialyte.

Prayers are appreciated.....they are all in pretty bad shape.

[island rehabber]

Also: stress will cause "white tears" in squirrels, may be mistaken for pus.

[Pierre]

Clavamox will do it. Just keep up the hydration, give with food [for possible nausea], and go get Benebac / yogurt to help replenish gut microflora. Watch out for increased or significant diarrhea. :grouphug

[m&bs mom]

Meds have been given and yogurt. I will pick up benabac today. Clavamox was not my first choice but vet said he is no longer ordering it...to expensive. Him and his wife (both vets) have done rehabbing in past years so I have no choice but to go with this.

I have to go to work and will be unable to post until later (babies go with me). Please keep prayers going!

Thank you everyone!

[Pierre]

You are SO lucky to have vets that will help you and have done wildlife rehab! :thumbsup Hope they turn around soon. :grouphug

[spykitten01]

Praying hard for these little ones - poor things! As for the stinky poo, it could be due to the bad formula, but could also be a bug. Metro works wonders to help stop diarrhea AND to get rid of any bad bugs. My girls had giarrdia (poop was loose/diarrhea, slimy and SUPER stinky) at one point - got them on metro and within a day or two, the bad poops stopped and they were well on the mend.

[lila01]

:shakehead :shakehead Poor babies!!!! I hope that they start doing better fast!!! Prayers to you and the little ones! Please keep us updated! Good luck!:thumbsup

[m&bs mom]

Quick update: All 4 babies are still with us...thank you TSB and God!

Have each had 1 dose of clav. followed by 3cc yogurt. 2 feedings of pedialyte and just now their first feeding of FV. I hear no more clicking from anyone! One has a little wheeze but I can deal with that. Snotty noses are getting better...a little clear discharge but not thick and white anymore. No bloat and poops are looking better. I would say we are 80% there.

Thank you all once again for the advise and prayers. Maybe we can move this into non-life threatening?

I almost forgot...the one that was having a problem regulating body temp is now nice and warm and very active. They all ate between 6-10 cc of formula and weights are from 102-118. We did loose a bit of weight but they were not on formula for the last almost 24 hours. I am keeping track of weights and amounts each feeding so I hope to see some weight gain tonight!

[Nancy in New York]

Quick update: All 4 babies are still with us...thank you TSB and God!

Have each had 1 dose of clav. followed by 3cc yogurt. 2 feedings of pedialyte and just now their first feeding of FV. I hear no more clicking from anyone! One has a little wheeze but I can deal with that. Snotty noses are getting better...a little clear discharge but not thick and white anymore. No bloat and poops are looking better. I would say we are 80% there.

Thank you all once again for the advise and prayers. Maybe we can move this into non-life threatening?

I almost forgot...the one that was having a problem regulating body temp is now nice and warm and very active. They all ate between 6-10 cc of formula and weights are from 102-118. We did loose a bit of weight but they were not on formula for the last almost 24 hours. I am keeping track of weights and amounts each feeding so I hope to see some weight gain tonight!

Amazing....This is the best update ever!:thumbsup :Love_Icon :Love_Icon :Love_Icon :Love_Icon

[Rescue04]

Good to hear the babies are doing better......keep up the good work.

[stepnstone]

Best read of the day! :thumbsup
So good to hear, keep up the good work! :grouphug

[lila01]

:crazy YAY!!!!!!

[m&bs mom]

Ok...I hope I didn't speak too soon. Yucky poops again, possibly from Clav. I just fed round 2 of FV they seemed a little less interested this time. Still no clicking...so hopefully that part I need not worry anymore. However, I am worried about the runny poops. I did pedialyte last night and into late afternoon, so I need to stop that. Do I just give plain water or sugar water between feedings? They need to stay hydrated with this poop fest we have going on. Should I do this every 2 hours through the night, every 4 hours?? I do not want to loose these guys but I am worried.

Also, one of the girls guppy mouths worse than anything that I have ever seen. It is 1 drop formula and wait about 1 minute for the guppy mouth to stop and then repeat again. It takes forever and a day to get formula into her. She is the only one that does it this bad. Never seen anything this bad. I take the syringe out of her mouth, flick it side to side, up and down...round and round...still guppy mouthing. I need to video this for everyone to see. Any suggestions?

So I guess these are the questions:
1. What to use to hydrate between feedings for the diarrhea.
2. How often.....between formula and hydration or just extra water in formula?
3. This guppy mouth little girl...any suggestions on that.

I think I am done ranting now!

[m&bs mom]

Just checking in to say babies are doing fine. No more diahrrea...we have 2 with formed poop but a little soft. They are all gaining very nicely and are up to full strength FV with yogurt and cream. I think they could use the extra fat part! Smallest weighs in at 109 and the largest at 122.

The finder came by at work today for a visit and was very happy with the results. The baby boy still has his eyes closed but he also had some swelling and a discharge. They almost look like they are glued shut with goopy stuff. I have used warm tissues to lightly wipe away anything that might be on them but nothing comes off. We will wait and see (boys.....)!

I put a 3 cc syringe of yogurt through them (watered down) in the middle of the night. With them being on clavamox I want to try to keep their bellies from getting yucky. I don't know if it is a good idea but they sure think so.

Still having a problem with my guppy mouth girl. She weighs the most but looks smaller than everyone else. Make any sense? She is just so hard to feed. I tried a nipple tonight to see if that would help and no change. I get a 45 minute lunch break...it takes at least an hour to feed these messy marvins!

Also...admin, can we move this into non-life threatening? I hate to keep posting when others need more help than I do.

And names....we got 3 girls and 1 boy. Any suggestions? Finder wants to keep the boys name Ira...but I want something with a little umph to it!

[spykitten01]

Diggory would be a cute name for the boy - IMHO =)

VERY glad to hear the little ones are doing better - thanks for updating! Willow was pretty bad with the guppy mouth too - Sometimes it helped with I turned the nipple/syringe sideways and kinda teased at the corner of her mouth. Now and then she wouldnt stop until I totally stopped feeding and rubbed at her face with the blankie :dono

[m&bs mom]

Yet I have a few more questions about these little ones!

Baby boy has finally opened his eyes...sort of. He opened them both for the first time on Thursday. I noticed that one of the eyes looked totally white. This is the same eye that the finder had said had been very swollen and I noticed when he arrived here that he had what looked like mucus in the eye. The other eye looks cloudy but not white. It is not tears it it the eye itself. He now has the "white" eye closed all the time. Is it possible that my little man is blind? If so, what does that mean for him?

Also, the smallest one is only at 127 grams while the largest is 147 grams...the 2 in the middle are at 136 grams. Is it normal to have such a big difference in size? I have never had any that were that far apart. They have all gained about the same amount...smallest was 102 and largest was 121 and the middle ones were 118. I have stopped anding the cream into the milk but still add yogurt.

Abx have been stopped, everyone is doing fine other than the little guy with the eye issue. Hopefully someone else has seen this white eye thing and knows what it is. I hope he isn't blind in that eye.

Any thoughts?

[rygel1hardt]

Can you get a picture of his eyes without using a flash? It might help to identify what the problem is. I had one last year that came in aprox one week old. When he opened his eyes one had a cataract and he was blind in that eye. Fortunately he was that way from the start and learned very quickly to compensate for it. He was released along with his littermates and has done just fine. Stacey

[Jackie in Tampa]

I would continue to add the cream, it's fat and yummy.

The white eye maybe permanent due to injury, but I have seen this also in wilds and after awhile, the eye healed itself {thinking good nutrition was key}
sending good vibes to your sweetie, he may be blind sadly...
I have two sqs with white eye, they are both blind in that eye...both were from injury.
give it some time., Like stacey has mentioned, he's young and can learn to compensate.
yes weights vary!:thumbsup

[m&bs mom]

Thanks for the info. It took him much longer than the girls to open his eyes and what a surprise when he did. I assumed it was from an injury maybe from one of his sisters. I didn't want to hear that he would be a NR. We will wait and see what they eye does in the next few days.

I will add the cream back into their formula...their poop started looking a little lighter and not real firm so thought maybe if I took that out it would stop. It isn't runny at all, just soft. But they had also been on abx for several days so that could be the reason.

Thanks again!