Help with abscess!

[SquirrelFosterMom]

Hi everyone. I want to thank you all again for the advice you gave me a few months back - I have successfully released 4 baby squirrels that I raised from 5 weeks of age into my backyard. Three of the 4 brothers, who are now 7 months old - Marco, Polo and Taz, come back to visit regularly. One of the babies, now has a couple wounds that I am concerned about.

Two days ago, I noticed a scratch on his shoulder when he came for his visit, which I treated with Neosporin. It's healing nicely. But I just noticed yesterday there is a small grape sized abscess on his underside almost underneath the shoulder wound - and I couldn't get a good view of it, nor reach it to get some Neosporin on it. He's much too fast for me!

I was wondering what the best course of action would be for this. I'm not certain what kind of wound it is - cat, raccoon, squirrel scratch, falling and getting pinched by the wooden picket fence, etc. I don't believe MD is a squirrel friendly state, so I'm not sure if I can take him to a vet anywhere near the Silver Spring area. There's a place called Second Chance Wildlife Center, but I'm afraid they might euthanize him.

He seems to be moving well, good energy, good appetite. I think the abscess might be in the soft tissue in the upper chest area near his front right leg. Should I monitor and let this run its course? Take him to a squirrel friendly vet and get it lanced? Administer antibiotics? Baytril, Bactrim, Clavamox, etc.? Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks again!

[CritterMom]

Can you work harder to get a good look at it? It might not be an abscess; it might be a bot fly larvae. There will be an opening in the top if there is - there are photos of them on this site - disgusting things. If it IS a bot and it is not someplace that interfere's with his breathing, you need to leave it alone. Trying to remove them can cause them to exude something that will cause raging infection, and once they mature they will drop out and the wound will heal up just fine.

I live in Maine and we don't have many, but I saw a squirrel just this morning with a bot at my feeder, so our wet and unusually warm summer may have brought them north - and you are considerably south of me...

[SquirrelFosterMom]

Thanks for the reply. I thought of the bot fly, but had ruled it out because of the wound on the backside of the shoulder that was almost directly in line with the abscess on the underside. The probability of an unrelated surface scratch/puncture wound occurring like that in the close vicinity of an abscess seemed low to me. But I'll try to get a better look at it.

[SquirrelFosterMom]

Hi again. It doesn't appear to be a botfly. It appears to be a puncture wound. Help?!?

[CritterMom]

If it is an abcess, best course is to drain and clean it and put him on antibiotics. We have a couple MD rehabbers here who might be able to assist...I have no idea how far you are from them. Could you catch him?

[Milo's Mom]

You are actually pretty close to one of our members who is also a Licensed Master Wildlife Rehabilitator....approx. 30 minutes. Her screen name is UDoWhat and her real name is Marty.

If it is indeed an abcess, like CritterMom said, he needs abs and it needs to be drained...this requires trapping/catching him. If this is the route you decide to take, prepare everything in advance so if and when you catch him you are ready to go, as it will help to reduce the amount of stress for the squirrel.

By preparing I mean...layout your plan in regard to how you will catch him, what cage he will be in after you catch him and how you will do the transfer, meds on hand, & contact has been made with a ready and prepared rehabber, etc.

[SquirrelFosterMom]

Thank you so much for the response!!! I'm in Silver Spring Maryland. I have a large outdoor cage that I built that I could sequester him in. I can trap him the next time he goes into his cage for food and water. Do I go to the rehabber?

[CritterMom]

Thank you so much for the response!!! I'm in Silver Spring Maryland. I have a large outdoor cage that I built that I could sequester him in. I can trap him the next time he goes into his cage for food and water. Do I go to the rehabber?

Contact Marty. Do you know how to find a member? Click Member List, go to "U" and find UDoWhat. She is one of "us" and isn't going to grab him and euthanize him. She can tell you what step 2 is.

[SquirrelFosterMom]

I messaged Marty, but didn't get a response in the past couple days. Do you have any other suggestions?

[Milo's Mom]

I believe she is off today, so I will try calling her. She's working sort of kind part time but yet full time, so her schedule is sort of messed up and I know she's got some super sick babies right now too.

I'll try calling her right now. BRB

[Milo's Mom]

Just tried BOTH numbers I have for her. No answer at either, but I left messages on BOTH.

How's he doing? Does it look better, worse, or the same?

Have you caught him (is he in a controlled area)?

Is there any way you can get a picture of the booboo and post it so our experts can see what you are describing? (pics really help a lot)

Do you have any meds on hand (human or animal)? If so, please give us ALL of the info (like everything written on the label...word for word):

Name of Drug:
Strength:
Dosing Directions:
Expiration Date:

[SquirrelFosterMom]

Thanks so much for trying to reach Marty! I have Augmentin/Clavamox - Amox/K Clav 250 mg/5mL susp 100 mL. It works great on my indoor cats for bacterial infections - one of my cats had developed an abscess and it cleared it up right away.

I have not sequestered the squirrel yet. If need be, I can probably trap him when he comes back for the afternoon treats/rat block or tomorrow morning. I didn't want to cause too much duress until I knew I could reach a rehabber and get the proper meds. The abscess is now in day 5 or 6, depending on when it started developing. It appears to be about the same size, maybe slightly larger on the upper side of the abscess. It's about the size of a grape. The upper side is covered with the white downy fur. The scrape area, smaller than a dime is pink/red. He is still eating well, has normal mobility.

I am unable to put any Neosporin on the abscess - he shies away from me touching his chest. The other flat wound on his back is healing very well - I got Neosporin on that and the redness has gone and the patch is turning flesh-colored.

[SquirrelFosterMom]

I'll try to get a photo of the abscess. The Augmentin directions say to take 2 teaspoonfuls by mouth 3 times a day - I have a lot of the powder left in the bottle. The expiration date is 7/29/10 - so theoretically it probably started losing efficacy about 6 months ago. But I've kept it in the fridge, so that might have helped preserve it.

[SquirrelFosterMom]

I'm starting to get really concerned. I couldn't take a photo - the squirrels were chased away by another wild that came into the yard this afternoon. But my boyfriend worked for 10 years in an emergency room and he has definitively diagnosed it as an abscess. There's no question it's an abscess. He could lance the abscess, but he has no experience subduing squirrels. We were gentle with them when we raised them - holding him down is going to be an ordeal. If there's only one squirrel friendly rehabber in the whole D.C. metropolitan area or Maryland and she hasn't been available for days, maybe we need to go with plan B? Could someone maybe guide us on how to subdue a squirrel during the lancing? All those endocrine glands are there where we need to lance and I find the whole thought nervewracking. What antibiotics do you recommend if not the Clavamox? Do you think a grape sized abscess on the chest might heal on its own? Is this life threatening? Thank you again!!!!

[Milo's Mom]

No there are other rehabbers in the area, but Marty is a TSB member, she will not take the squirrel nor will she euthanize it, she will help it. She has meds and she also has access to a vet that she's worked with for years. I will call her again, right now.

In order to lance the abscess I would think he would need to be knocked out...I really have no idea.

[Milo's Mom]

I tried calling her again and still got no answer and left a more urgent messages.

I will post a link to this thread in the Emergency Forum so as to attract attention and hopefully some of our experts.

[Milo's Mom]

I just got off the phone with Marty. She is ready able and willing to help you. I sent you a PM with Marty's cell phone number, please call her.

Also, if you have not yet, please catch the squirrel.

[SquirrelFosterMom]

YAY!! :thankyou I reached Marty. She's able to help. I can't thank you enough!!!