Does Red need oral Antibiotics?

[Uno's Mom]

My late fall release Red came to visit early Saturday morning with a boo boo on his back. Friday night we had high winds all through the night so I am not sure if this is a bite or a rub injury. I applied polysporin the best I could with a qtip since he does not really like to be touched. Sunday it looked about the same; tried more polysporin. Today it looks perhaps a little more red but no swelling.

He acts and eats normally. Still chases other squirrels out of his territory, etc.

Just need some help with determining if I should try to catch him and administer oral antibiotics and if so which ones.

I am attaching pics--hope they are not huge.

[Nancy in New York]

Just did a little resizing....

http://i673.photobucket.com/albums/vv95/nancym518/TSB%20photos/2-Red-boo-boo.jpg

http://i673.photobucket.com/albums/vv95/nancym518/TSB%20photos/3-Red-boo-boo.jpg

http://i673.photobucket.com/albums/vv95/nancym518/TSB%20photos/Reds-boo-boo-1.jpg

[djarenspace9]

Since it's an open wound there is always risk of infection.
Better safe than sorry and help him to heal up fast.

I can give you some meds if you think you can get him to eat it by putting it in something he likes.

[Uno's Mom]

Thank you for resizing the pics Nancy...that's a class for me on another day:thinking .

Karen, he is a very picky eater with me. One day's favorite is the next day's reject. What type of antibiotic does he need and I'll see if I have it before I start begging for drugs.:poke

[djarenspace9]

Commonly used I'd say Baytril or Cipro.
Not sure what else you could use that you may have but you can always post the names and get feedback.

[Uno's Mom]

I have cipro 500 mg tab. He is an average size squirrel, there is no way to get a weight on him unless I catch and cage him.

[Uno's Mom]

Could someone point me to the correct place for dosing instructions? Thanks

[djarenspace9]

I can give you dosing for Cipro cause I have used it a lot for mine.
If he is full grown he'd weigh around 1 lb.
I'm gonna ask Jackie if it would be better to not dilute in water
since you can't give it to him by mouth, to see how to measure
the amount you could sprinkle into something like peanut butter.

[Uno's Mom]

Thank you. I've never given them p'nut butter. Ought to be interesting.

[djarenspace9]

Well I figure if it's a crushed pill sprinkle it won't be very much to give.
So you could probably take something he likes (nut) and a very tiny amount of PB with the med in it spread over like frosting :D

Waiting on Jackie, but I betcha she is packing up Honey for her homecoming,
so I told her to get back to you with instructions.

[Uno's Mom]

Yes, the hand-off should be under way. Honey has changed a lot from that car ride in the wee hours a few weeks ago! So glad she has done so well and will be a happy "spoirrel" (spoiled + squirrel). :multi

[island rehabber]

djaren's right -- that looks nasty and I would get some AB's into him asap. Abcesses on rodents are quite difficult.....what clears up on a cat with 2 days of amoxi can take weeks for a little squirrel on big-gun Baytril. :dono

[djarenspace9]

If anyone has ideas on the best way to administer to a "wild" (without inserting in the mouth),
please share with Uno's Mom. I don't have any experience, just theories. :D

[Kelly Brady]

I have opened a pecan shell at the top and left a bowl so to speak of the rest, then dug out a small amount of pecan meat in the center and inserted a syringe full of medicine inside the rest of the pecan.
They want that pecan and all of it so they take it all. I have literally inspected the discarded shell and found nothing of the medicine in it.

I dosed a wild hit by a car that was in BAD shape that way two times a day for 7 days. I was worried if he would live and he still comes to see me to this day. Maybe this will help.

If it doesn't make sense to you pm me.

[Kelly Brady]

P.S. Good luck with your guy uno's Mom.

I hate it when they come home with boo boo's:shakehead

[Uno's Mom]

That sounds good Kelly. Only problem is that for some reason Red thinks anything in a shell is to be buried. If is is even a quarter of the shell on it he will bury it and not eat it. Maybe I can roll some pecan in something to make it stick to the actual nut.

Thanks.

Ask Richard if you can have a kiss for me:D .

[Kelly Brady]

Oh dear if it is an opened nut at my house, mine have to eat it. They ONLY bury whole nuts. That is a problem....hmmmmm

Depending on how much medicine you need you could lay the med in the grooves of the pecan and then smash peanut butter around it?????

Also depends on the medicine and if it is thick or not. They love some of the ab's. Cant remember which one. Sweet and pink. That is why I cannot help much on this board. Don't describe things well and have terrible memory:rotfl

I will absolutely request a kiss from the stud muffin from you:D

[Uno's Mom]

Okay, so Red has had his first dose of Cipro at the recommended amounts.

He doesn't like avacado (even the Has(sp)), and HATES the smell of peanut butter. I don't know why I thought he would eat peanut butter since he won't eat peanuts.:shakehead

I finally took a small piece of pecan and loaded the cipro into a syringe with a needle on the end and injected it into the middle of the pecan piece. He took it warily (after the p'nut butter and the avacado) and I kept expecting him to spit it out or drop it and run but he ate the whole thing. Granted he didn't take anything else I offered him! And he may never eat another pecan from me:dono

The sore on his back has not improved from this a.m. If anything the area without fur seems to be larger and it is becoming very circular in nature. Any thoughts?

He also is biting his paws, legs, back, etc and scratching every few minutes...something he has not done before. His ears look good and his belly (what I can glimpse of it) looks clean so I don't think it is mites.

I am hoping he will look better in the a.m. If he is not improved do you think I should try and confine him to a cage until he is better?

Thanks

[djarenspace9]

Whenever any of my releases have turned up hurt in some way I have caught them,
put them in as big a cage as I can on my screened porch (so they still feel like they are outside)
and have given them the time, rest, nutrition and treatment to heal.

None has fussed too much over it.
In fact I have a hard time getting them to leave after they are good and done! :D

[Uno's Mom]

Could you give me some pointers on how to catch him?

He usually comes to my screened pool deck where he did
His soft release once a day.
He does not like to be touched.
Will run if you get too close.
He will sit on my lap and let me hand feed him most of the time.

He does not let two people close to him and
I am his person of choice the older he gets.

[Sweet Simon's Mommy]

can you open the screen door and sit inside with his treats and have someone close the door after he enters the porch. That would be step one.

[djarenspace9]

I have had success with luring mine into a small cage with a nut.
They either go in willingly or I tie it to a string.
I use a bird cage with slider doors that I release once they are inside.
Please don't laugh anyone, it has worked just about every single time :D
It just takes some time and patience.
The curiosity and temptation is too much for them to resist.
He may be suspicious of the cage at first but if you leave it be and keep your distance he will eventually check it out.
I can PM you the specific details of the set up that work best if you think you will try this.

Option 2 for me is to use a Havahart, but I hate those things, make me think of a mousetrap and I can imagine it's very stressful to get caught in it. :shakehead

[Uno's Mom]

I swear I must have stepped out of line when common sense was handed out!

:bowdown :bowdown :bowdown :bowdown

I can get him on the pool deck but he is impossible to catch...he climbs the screens and will eventually start chewing them (I just paid $$$ to have the whole enclosure re-screened...my husband will kill me).

It never occurred to me to trap him in his cage by using a string on the door. I can set up the Henry's cage he used to stay in and put something good in the bottom and hopefully, voila!

I worry about him being agitated and about feeding him since he has become so picky. I'll play Scarlet and think about that tomorrow.

:thankyou

[djarenspace9]

My neighbor doubted my technique last week.
She kept telling me to use her Havahart.
I was able to lure one of my released squirrels Brownie,
that lives in her yard and was badly hurt.
She is now recovering safely and comfortably on my porch.
I stuck to my guns and it worked and was not a stressful event.
In fact once I closed the door she sort of plopped down on the fleece and made a big sigh of relief, ate the nut and went to sleep.
All I had to do was put a cover on it and carry her home.

[Uno's Mom]

Red has now had three doses of cipro (1x a day) for three days. He is beginning to show some scabbing on the wound. It is no longer bright red, no swelling arond the area. He is still living in the trees...he just did not act ill in any way and I did not want to stress him.

Does everyone do Cipro 1x a day for this type of wound? Should I be trying to get a different antibiotic? Cipro is just what I had acess to on Easter weekend.

Thank you

[djarenspace9]

Cipro is fine in my book.
Same as Baytril.
Some vets seem to prefer one over the other, and some say it's all the same.

:dono