Swollen Toe,

[Gabrielle]

Hello Everyone,
Our Rock Star is having another issue. He has been acting on the puny side for a few days, I increased his calcium thinking maybe he was not getting enough, then last night I went in to check on him and feed him his calcium grubs and his eyes looked brighter and he had more energy but still not himself really. He started to climb on me and I was able to check him over better. On his front right hand, his "pointer" finger is swollen twice it's proper size and there is either an injury on the side of the toe into the pad or it busted open from the swelling. We called every vet in town, apparently there is some convention or something going on out of state and all of the "squirrel" vets are out of town. Yes, I know that sounds crazy but it's true, the only vets here wont see him because they don't know anything about squirrels. The soonest we can get him in is Monday, he has an appointment but in the mean time that is 2 more days away and I need to know if there is or what I can do in the mean time? I don't think he is in death danger but I know these little guys can take a turn for the worst really fast and I would rather be prepared. I can get anything I need from my normal pet vet if I tell him what I need.
Any advise would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you,

[Sweet Simon's Mommy]

a picture would help, could it be a spider bite?

[Gabrielle]

no its definitely not a spider bite, we just did the big clean in the habitat. it is very big and every 3 months we do a complete gut out, scrub everything down, no chems used and no old stashed food to find. New sterile bedding all cracks and corners completely cleaned out. I am getting ready to do his nightly cal grubs and will see if I can get a pic, it may be very difficult though.

[Gabrielle]

the only camera I have is a phone camera and the light is bad for pic so everything I took is either lighted out or too dark. but in my efforts, I did a better look at it and I think it maybe broken. the bottom knuckle seems to turn to the side, it is still very swollen, the swelling may be causing the fur to look ragged, but it has a fever from the infection for sure, I can not see a direct wound / cut anywhere really. He has been with us for about a year now, he is aprox 6 yrs old, he has mbd pretty bad and is not overly friendly with anyone, he has had a traumatizing life up till he came to live with us and it shows. He can not be rehab into wild at all or I would do that for him, he was captive bread and raised for a pet but did not go to a happy home with proper diet and habitat and interaction. So handling him is difficult at best most times he does get very aggressive.

[Jackie in Tampa]

Triple anti B is safe for a start...fluids always with any injury.
With MBD, brittle bones, thinking he may have snagged it.
try to post a pic in the morning..
just in case, can you get anti biotics?

[Gabrielle]

That would make sense that he snagged it, with MBD. I have the triple anit b and yes I can get antibiotics from my normal pet vet he just does not know what levels to does him at or any of the particulars on squirrels so does not feel comfortable treating Rocky. He is a really good vet, he really cares about all animals and he helps me out with rescues and fosters with at cost vet care prices and gives me extras and samples of formulas for the babies I take in. I love my vet :D In the morning the lighting will be better, I should be able to get a pic of his toe. He ate all of his grubs tonight, and then a grape, which is better than the last 2 nights. His eyes are brighter and he does have more energy.

[Jackie in Tampa]

safe meds to have on hand for pain management would be metacam and tramadol
safe Anti biotics are metronidazole/flagyl,
baytril/ciprofloxacin,
and smz-tmp/bactrim/septra.

these are the most effective safe sq friendly meds

[Gabrielle]

I managed to get 4 pics of the toe out of probably 30 tries, here they are. I am not completely sure how to size the pics down but I tried so I hope it works. His energy is up more, his appetite is improving more, but the toe still looks horrible and I think it is actually getting worse. I'm afraid they will have to amputate it. Oddly enough though he is acting like he feels better. I don't know if you will be able see it but on the bottom of the toe it looks like 3 round swollen bumps, it is really really weird and it looks painful. He is not favoring it to much but you can tell he is careful with it.

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I'm sorry if I did not size these right, I'm not that great with computers and technology type stuff.

[jbtartell]

we are seeing more and more of these swollen toes and feet in squirrels. could it be a spider or another insect doing this? this is the fourth squirrel I have seen with this this past year. 2 were mine which with one it started swelling then started turning black starting from the toe and lisa got her and well she saved her. the other started swelling and went into the leg and he ended up suffering from it so bad the vet finaly said he would not make it any longer. so I had to make the tough call to let him go. I think this baby needs to see the vet iff possible and does the swelling get worse or is it staying right in the same area?

[lilidukes]

Lauras talking about Reyza. I treated the infection in her foot with 7 days of cipro/baytril and then went with smz-tmp for over 2 weeks. Kept yogurt in her formula at all times.

[Gabrielle]

We made it threw the weekend, kept him fed as much as he would eat, boosted the calcium just a bit in case and this morning bright and early he went into the squirrel vet (she is the only squirrel rehader on this side of our state.) Good news, it wasn't a bite of any kind at all. He dislocated his knuckle right above the nail, which is why it looked broken. The vet believes his toe will be fine, he went into anesthesia fine and came out fine. Some antibiotics and a little pain killer, all in the list that you guys provided me. Vet recommends 2 weeks on the antibiotic and if not improved by then almost completely then we will need to bring him back in. Other than the toe he got a clean bill of health and we got a big pat on the back from vet for all the knowledge we have with squirrels. We gave this forum complete and total credit. As it turns out, Rocky is the first "pet" squirrel they have ever seen and they agreed that he could not be rehabed back into the wild because of the issues he does have and we got a coodoes on everything we have done with our house to accommodate him and give him a worthy life. Also, of course they did an ex ray and his bone density is good, they can see that he defiantly has MBD but he is doing very well and we were told to continue what we have been doing because it is defiantly working. Also, I have been beating my head against a brick wall trying to find out what the requirements in South Dakota are to become a licensed rehaber and no one has been able to tell me anything except to call another agency and that one tells to call another one until I get to someone who tells me they have no idea. Long story short, she gave me the contact information for who she has her license from and is willing to help me get it going. So it has been a awesome day. Oh, and Rocky went straight to his food dish and ate very well and drank lots of water as soon as he was back in his habitat. So he has made it threw this whole ordeal rather well. We want to thank you guys again for being there and for all your help. Honestly this is the only forum I belong to because I don't really do the computer thing but you guys rock and you are the best. I attached a video of him as soon as we got back home.:jump
Ok, the video is apparently beyond my computer skills but it is a cool video and considering he is less than 5 mins home after all he has been threw, it is pretty cool. He hadn't eaten like that in the last 4 days.

[island rehabber]

:goodpost wow.
I am SO happy for Rocky, so happy for you finding this rehabber/vet (that's the BEST kind, and the most rare!) and SO happy that TSB really made a difference here. Makes everything we do so worth it.....my heart is singing :tilt