Tragedy

[Rescue04]

Guys we are having a serious issues, in the last 72 hours - we have lost 4 babies. We have no warning, we have treated everybody for Pox, but I think it spread through the house to late on us. We have separated all of babies to try and save who we can. Today we lost three.....everybody seemed to be fine until we got home. Today we buried Carebear, Goofball & Charlie. Yesterday we lost Irene.

Everybody seemed fine, we would leave the house to run erands.....and it would be a different story by the time we got home. We are afraid to leave the house, we tried to treat everybody as soon as we found out we had a pox baby......I guess we saw it too late. Now we are sanatizing everything......hands, dishes, towels & cages. At this point there nothing more I think we can do. Our problem is we had the pox baby for two days before we realized she had the problem.

The hardest part is that our twins played a huge role in raising goofball & careabear on thier own......they were what we thought to be the healthiest and strongest of the bunch......they are taking this real hard.....gonna need all the prayers we can get at this point.

:sad :grouphug

[astra]

:grouphug :Love_Icon :grouphug :Love_Icon :grouphug :Love_Icon :grouphug

[Milo's Mom]

Oh Rescue, I am sorry. Many prayers and good healing vibes are coming your way!!:grouphug :Love_Icon :grouphug

[lila01]

I am so very sorry for your loss! I cantimagine how u are feeling! I'm sorry about the kids too cause my four year lid loves Lila and would be so sad if something was to happen to her! Prayers and hugs coming ur way for u the fam and the furry babies!!!:grouphug :Love_Icon

[SammysMom]

:grouphug :grouphug :grouphug

[Baxied]

:grouphug :grouphug I am so sorry!!! I hope and pray that you don't lose any more babies.:grouphug :grouphug

[JakesLittlePrincess]

:grouphug :grouphug :grouphug

[djarenspace9]

I'm so sorry to hear this...
I have not had to experience such a tragic loss firsthand, but saw it happen several years ago where I volunteer.
It can be so discouraging but inevitable sometimes.

Can you share the signs please so we know what to look for?
I'd like to warn anyone I know in the area that is raising squirrels too.

Praying for all your babies and hoping they all pull through!
:grouphug

[momma2boo]

I am so sorry to hear of such a tremendous loss. My heart breaks for your twins ... I can't even imagine the pain your heart must be feeling watching them hurt over the loss of their squirrels.

(((Hugs)))

[Rescue04]

There were really no signs to speak of, they would eat like normal, then you would turn around and they would be lethargic the next.....less than an hour later they were gone...

[haydenismylife]

Im sorry for your loss.:grouphug

[Rescue04]

The next, one if we loose any is going out for necropsy

[stosh2010]

Prayers for you and for the remaining babies...they were so beat up by the storms,,,
Thank you for caring for them in their last days.

[fire-eyez]

so sorry how is everyone now? I hope all is well:grouphug

[littlebeky]

:grouphug

[djarenspace9]

Poor little ones...at least you gave them a fighting chance at life.
Nature can be so cruel :shakehead

Please keep us posted on anything you find out.
Someone in Ocala reported a high incidence of babies dying in her area this week from some mystery virus.
If there is something spreading we all have to be careful and quarentine new babies before exposing them to others.
There may be some treatment that can be offered as prevention to the survivors.
You may want to call all the local rehabbers and see if they have had any sudden deaths.

[Rhapsody]

My Thought & Prayers are with YOUR FAMILY and SQUIRRELS....... :grouphug

[gs1]

natures gift went through this too ... her mama squirrel had pox and the babies got it ...

and with her, it seems with you too, the babies don't show the lesions as much ....

but it's worse then because they've gone on the inside...the internal organs...


rescue i can't tell you how sorry i am ....

[Twi_prime]

Sorry this is happening to you and your babies, Rescue. Djarenspace mentioned a mystery virus in Ocala; could that one have been West Nile? But if it were, would that mean Rescue's babies couldn't be passing it to each other? Just thinking out loud. I hope you find out something useful R-04. :grouphug

[Rescue04]

Hey any and all input is welcome, everyone made it through the night....

It has not affected the adults we have in the house - this we can see so far (we have 3 inside right now).

We were thinking the same thing about the virus - but all of the babies were too far gone to send out. It was so hard that season we lost over half of our babies. We had to actually watch one go through all of the stages, write down what we observed & preserve her at time of death to be sent out.....it was so hard, but at least her sacrifice saved so many others. Our re-habber was able to come up with a "coctail" for them. I have been in touch with her and so far - it seems to be contained in our broad - we are going to try and keep it that way.

We are not sure where it came from.....we think it came in through the baby with pox or the 5 we took in from a vet. They all arrived within a day of each other. So we have stopped taking in anyone now....going to keep with the current protocol & sterilize and medicate.....hopefully the treatments have taken in the stronger babies, and the worst is behind us. We now have so many singles in cages.....it is depressing. Babies need buddies to grow stronger and survive!

[Milo's Mom]

Glad to hear you made it through the night. Lots of work with cleaning, sterilizing, etc. and singles do look sad. Make lots of rice buddies and stock up on stuffies...hopefully you can knock this monster on its butt and soon the babies can have each other as snuggle buddies again. :grouphug

[Rescue04]

And to top it off 3 more came to us today, they are isolated from the others - already given them the cocktail to prevent anything from spreading.

[gs1]

:grouphug

[Adventurista]

So sorry---you are an amazing person to do all that you are doing! :grouphug

[MiriamS]

:grouphug :grouphug :grouphug

:thumbsup :thumbsup :thumbsup

[Rescue04]

Day 2 - no more babies lost....new ones have had a bath and are eating well....
:wahoo

[SquirrelsinSingapore]

I am very sorry for your sudden lost,

and impact on the kids as well

I was just wondering will detoxing
the room or furnitures work?

If syndrome persist, necropsy will also be my option...

We need to stop whatever that takes away our babies....

RIP Carebear, Goofball, Charlie and Irene...
:grouphug
you lot shall keep each other company
and be good playmates to one another

[stosh2010]

Praying for a healthy weekend.... & No problems with the babies

[Best Life]

How awful. I'm so sad for all of you. :shakehead :grouphug I am so glad to hear that there have been no further deaths.

Rescue04, I don't know exactly where you guys are, but a recent inquiry makes me wonder...

I was visiting family in Ocala last week and and someone asked me if I knew of any "squirrel thing" that would cause them to be fine and running around in the trees one day, and literally falling down dead the next. They've been noticing it in one particular area of where they ride (their horses) frequently. No one in my family does rehab, (technically), but all are animal lovers with rescues and pets, and regularly enjoy the company of the wilds that come around. So when they're dropping dead, something is obviously wrong.

I mentioned Pox, but assumed that the squirrels would have some type of visible lesions by the time they died. Apparently they didn't appear to have any obvious signs of illness or injury. My sister in law agreed to call Florida Fish and Wildlife, rather than handle the animals herself, to see if someone would come out to pick up the dead squirrels and hopefully do a necropsy. I will check back with her asap, but I'm sure she would have already contacted me if anything had resulted from the call. An additional worry, of course, is that someone is putting out poison.

Was the initial pox baby a confirmed pox case? Have you spoken with any other rehabbers in your area about another pox outbreak?

Again, I'm so, so sorry for what you are going through right now. My prayers are with you.