May be Pneumonia?

[amtrakery]

First off - great forum, wonderful resource and wish I found you sooner...

Background: We found (2) 5 week old baby squirrels on Saturday (8/25). One in our yard and one in neighbors yard. The neighbor had found a dead adult squirrel in his yard on Thursday. We're assuming it was the Mother.

Read up on a few squirrel sites before we brought them inside. Warmed them up with a heating pad for 45 min and then began to slowly hydrate them with Pedialyte. They responded well - a male and a female, she was stronger from the start. Eyes open on both.

Late Saturday evening into Sunday morning, we began to slowly introduce Esbilac. They both continued to respond well. Female was talkative from the start and male became a little talkative too.

Monday went by fine. Added some heavy cream to Esbilac 2 parts/ Water 2 parts / heavy cream 1 part. Today (Tuesday) we noticed a change in the female. She's not as "bright" and sneezing. I'm sure we must have aspirated her at some point - feeding them is indeed an art. We've improved dramatically in just 3 days.

Problem now: Female seems lethargic. She does eat, but not with the gusto she had even yesterday. She's sneezing. We think we hear a little crackling when she sleeps. She's been relieving herself in place - so she's a little damp.

I can take her to the vet at 9 am tomorrow, but I'm worried if she has pneumonia, that might be too late. The pet antibiotics we have on hand are: Amoxicillin 500 mg, Amoxicillin 250 mg, Amoxi-tabs 100 mg, Cephalexan 500 mg, and Zeniquin 25 mg.

Would love to hear your thoughts, suggestions, and dosing - if we should do the antibiotics.

Also, both seem to have diarrhea. We can switch them to the goats milk/yogurt/heavy cream immediately. I've also put in an order for Fox Valley.

Thanks in advance,

Alison

[amtrakery]

Oh. I forgot to add her weight - 108 grams.

[daniellenc]

Cephalexin is commonly used in skin, ear, urinary, and sinus infections- amoxicillan is broad spectrum but crappy for pneumonia, and the zeniquin is similar in that it treats a broad spectrum of bacterial infections. None is ideal for pneumonia. You could dose with the cephalexin but I have no info on your babies weight and the only thing I can remember how to convert this late at night after a week of no sleep is mg's to grams not ml's though. If my brain decides to have a lucid moment I will post:rotfl

[amtrakery]

Please do. Her weight is 108 grams.

Observing her - I hear a slight noise at the end of the inhale/exhale, not sure which it is. I can post a video, if it would be helpful.

[Jackie in Tampa]

:Welcome are you sure of your vet?
It has been said, PA is wicked gestapo for non permitted rehabbing, be careful.

do you have human Abs..
ideally ciprofloxacin

we love baby sqs, so you are at the right place.:thumbsup

[Jackie in Tampa]

Please do. Her weight is 108 grams.

Observing her - I hear a slight noise at the end of the inhale/exhale, not sure which it is. I can post a video, if it would be helpful.
clicking will be with every breath whether she is asleep or awke..every breath..
sometimes they make little pffts and alot of mouth sounds..
the clicking will be from the chest..
stop the cream...make sure she stays hydrated, go slow slow, never tilt a baby back like you would a human, head up tail down. SLOW is key.

[amtrakery]

I have a friend that's a vet and also a good relationship with my vet....as we are a family of many animals.

Unfortunately I have no human antibiotics.

I'll watch for the clicking as you explained.

We'll stop the formula and try the homemade hydration fluid we've seen here -

Hydration Fluid

1 quart warm water
3 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon salt

Thanks for all your suggestions!

[Jackie in Tampa]

tell the vet if he does diagnose as AP, baytril is choice..
good luck...

[Jackie in Tampa]

oops, I forgot, I would omit the cream from her formula as well until she is better.:wave123

[daniellenc]

Ok I think it is impossible to dose him with the cephalexin. Let me see if I can explain why with math so forgive my late night exhaustion. In kilograms he is .108. To find dosage you take the weight of animal in kg's x the dosage per pound and divide by the strength which is 500 mg's in your case.

so .108 x 15/500= .003 now move the decimal over one to get an ml dosage which would be .0003 of an ml which is not possible to dose unless I am very wrong:dono

[amtrakery]

Do you mean it's impossible to dose?

The smallest syringe I have is for a diabetic cat who passed away in March.

It has 1 unit increments.

I also have 100 mg amoxi-tabs.

[daniellenc]

I think I am wrong and can't figure out why my brain can't do math anymore while tired?? Worked well in college I must be old as heck. Even if they won't see a squirrel you can ask for the dosage, but Jackie is right Baytril or human Cipro would be best:(

[daniellenc]

From what I am getting which I believe is wrong you can't accurately dose that with a 1cc syringe for sure or even a half a cc syringe:(

[amtrakery]

I think I am wrong and can't figure out why my brain can't do math anymore while tired?? Worked well in college I must be old as heck. Even if they won't see a squirrel you can ask for the dosage, but Jackie is right Baytril or human Cipro would be best:(

Got it. Thanks much for the help.

[amtrakery]

From what I am getting which I believe is wrong you can't accurately dose that with a 1cc syringe for sure or even a half a cc syringe:(

Actually - my syringe - assuming I can remove the needle - is a grand total of 3/10 cc - because it's for insulin.

And there are 30 increments - each of which would be 1/100 of a cc I think.

[daniellenc]

Still sure I am missing something in my calculation for sure since I tried to use my formula with the baytril my boy is on and can't get his disage as the answer:D I used his weight/baytril dose per mg/and strength and get something waaaay off but this is a dog/cat formula which may explain something, lol

[Jackie in Tampa]

what keflex do you have? a capsule?
mgs?

[Milo's Mom]

Leave me know if you guys need any help. I may not be online a lot today, but those of you who have my phone numbers...CALL me if you need me....

I do not have Baytril, but I do have Cipro, syringes, and FV and I am about an hour away.

[amtrakery]

what keflex do you have? a capsule?
mgs?

No keflex - I do have amoxi-tabs.

This morning, the female has visible nasal discharge. She would not take the homemade hydration fluid last night (trying to stop the diarrhea), but she did try and take a 50/50 water pedialyte solution this morning. It was hard for her to suck with her nose bothering her. The male had a little bit of the pedialyte solution this morning. I did find more solid stools. Will call the Vet at 8 am.

Thanks for all your help and support. Will keep you informed.

Alison

[daniellenc]

Keflex is cephalexin- I know I know they should just call it one thing so not to confuse us:D

[Nancy in New York]

Leave me know if you guys need any help. I may not be online a lot today, but those of you who have my phone numbers...CALL me if you need me....

I do not have Baytril, but I do have Cipro, syringes, and FV and I am about an hour away.
:bowdown Thanks Milo's Mom :grouphug

[Jackie in Tampa]

Leave me know if you guys need any help. I may not be online a lot today, but those of you who have my phone numbers...CALL me if you need me....

I do not have Baytril, but I do have Cipro, syringes, and FV and I am about an hour away.
Thanks Milos MOM

[Jackie in Tampa]

No keflex - I do have amoxi-tabs.

This morning, the female has visible nasal discharge. She would not take the homemade hydration fluid last night (trying to stop the diarrhea), but she did try and take a 50/50 water pedialyte solution this morning. It was hard for her to suck with her nose bothering her. The male had a little bit of the pedialyte solution this morning. I did find more solid stools. Will call the Vet at 8 am.

Thanks for all your help and support. Will keep you informed.

Alison
AP will take down a sq rapidly..
they are too small and bacteria are big..
ya got to treat her..is she clicking with every breath?
if nasal discharge she needs ABs..
the amoxy drops will work..
they are targeted for respitory, however, they are hard hard on the GI tract..
you may see stool change..I would recommend adding a probiotic in her day..
let me know if you need help dosing, contact Administration if you need any verification on who CAn help.:thumbsup
I am not a rehabber, however I am 100% sq friend.
:grouphug :grouphug
get well little booger girl..:Love_Icon

[rosewitch]

In the mean time, If you have an infant bulb syringe-- the rubber kind that you squeeze?-- you can use it on her to remove excess nasal discharge, which will help her eat a little better.

[amtrakery]

Update: The two little ones are now in good hands. i took them down to a Veterinarian in Maryland, who also treats exotics and wildlife. They have an experienced squirrel rehabber on staff. They will take care of their care and treatment going forward.

Long term, it would have become quite complicated for me - living in PA, and we also have 4 dogs and 2 cats. They couldn't be in a better place and will certainly have a wonderful life up to and after release.

I'll call tomorrow to check up on them and will drop off some supplies I ordered online.

Many thanks to all of you for your support, help and good wishes for the little ones.

Alison