Have ya'll heard of CLOSTRIDIUM ENTERITIS?

[Squirrel Girls Mom]

I just got home from the vet with Cheeky. He had coccidia when I first got him and I treated him with SMZ/TMP, but his stool never got all the way normal. He started getting really loose stools again without the coccidia smell, so I stopped putting heavy cream in his GM formula. It didn't help. I started giving him a little bottled water in between feedings to prevent dehydration. Diarrhea got watery, he had lots of gas, and got bloaty, so I gave him some baby gas drops & did warm water soaks & rubbed his tummy. Sick again today, took him to the vet and he has a bacteria called Clostridium. Now he's on Amoxicillan. The vet has a healthy squirrel living in her office so she gave me some healthy squirrel poops to crush and put in his GM formula twice a day to help get his gut in balance. When those are gone she said to use Lucy's poops.

She was surprised that he had been gaining weight and not gotten dehydrated with all the problems he's been having.

Has anyone had any experience with this bacteria? She said it's going to be a while before he gets normal. Poor little boy!

[Squirrel Girls Mom]

bump

[island rehabber]

I have never heard of it, to be honest, but that same treatment advice was given to me by primo squirrel rehabber Shirley Casey :bowdown many years ago, when I had a pinky with what turned out to be giardia. Unfortunately at the time I had no adult squirrels to get poop from....

[HRT4SQRLS]

Hi SGM,
The Clostridium your vet is referring to is Clostridium difficile. It is an anaerobic bacterium that was is associated with antibiotic usage. The balance of good bacteria in the GI tract is altered by antibiotics. This allows other bacteria, like C.difficile to take over. Some (not all) C.difficile are potent toxin producers. When they proliferate in the GI tract and begin producing toxins, it causes inflammation. It is associated with a condition called pseudomembranous enterocolitis which causes bleeding of the GI tract and is quite severe. Even though it is associated with antibiotic usage, it is now recognized as a 'Healthcare acquired infection'. The spores of the bacterium can be passed to other patients in the hospital and are infectious. NOW, super toxin producers have been described and are an even greater epidemiological concern and are VERY virulent.

I actually am surprised over the choice of antibiotic prescribed by your vet. Metronidazole (or Vancomycin) are the drugs of choice. With Metro you could slay 2 giants with one stone. IF (big IF) it is C.diff. Metro should work, IF it is Giardia, Metro would also work. Without lab work the diagnosis is speculation and the treatment is empiric, so if it was me I would pick a drug that would target 2 possibilities. :peace

This is gonna get rather gross so if you are easily grossed out you should stop reading NOW. The new virulent strains of C.difficile are proving difficult to treat with antibiotics. Your vet is on target with the poop treatment. I don't know if it is in practice yet but there is talk of treating people with fecal transplants. I have heard discussions of it where I work. In the lab (Microbiology), we told them don't even think about it, or we will QUIT.:nono :jump :jump

Sorry, this is probably WAY more than you ever wanted to know!!! :rotfl

[Jackie in Tampa]

my friend kim had the fecal implant done,
her procedure was a success.

[Squirrel Girls Mom]

Hi SGM,
The Clostridium your vet is referring to is Clostridium difficile. It is an anaerobic bacterium that was is associated with antibiotic usage. The balance of good bacteria in the GI tract is altered by antibiotics. This allows other bacteria, like C.difficile to take over. Some (not all) C.difficile are potent toxin producers. When they proliferate in the GI tract and begin producing toxins, it causes inflammation. It is associated with a condition called pseudomembranous enterocolitis which causes bleeding of the GI tract and is quite severe. Even though it is associated with antibiotic usage, it is now recognized as a 'Healthcare acquired infection'. The spores of the bacterium can be passed to other patients in the hospital and are infectious. NOW, super toxin producers have been described and are an even greater epidemiological concern and are VERY virulent.

I actually am surprised over the choice of antibiotic prescribed by your vet. Metronidazole (or Vancomycin) are the drugs of choice. With Metro you could slay 2 giants with one stone. IF (big IF) it is C.diff. Metro should work, IF it is Giardia, Metro would also work. Without lab work the diagnosis is speculation and the treatment is empiric, so if it was me I would pick a drug that would target 2 possibilities. :peace

This is gonna get rather gross so if you are easily grossed out you should stop reading NOW. The new virulent strains of C.difficile are proving difficult to treat with antibiotics. Your vet is on target with the poop treatment. I don't know if it is in practice yet but there is talk of treating people with fecal transplants. I have heard discussions of it where I work. In the lab (Microbiology), we told them don't even think about it, or we will QUIT.:nono :jump :jump

Sorry, this is probably WAY more than you ever wanted to know!!! :rotfl

This is exactly what I wanted to know!! Thank you. I thought c-diff was something only old people got in nursing homes. That's what I know.

I also thought "Enteritis" was inflammation of the small intestine.

Getting Cheeky to ingest poo in his formula has proven to be quite the task. He says it ain't happnin'.

[Squirrel Girls Mom]

Here is a message I got from a vet that I know:

"Clostridium is a bacterium often found in small numbers in the intestines and soil. The best known member of this group is Clostridium tetanii which causes tetanus. Over growth of clostridium in the intestines causes enteritis (inflammation of the intestine). It is very responsive to penicillins such as amoxicillin, but these antibiotics also knock out the normal, healthy flora... hence the use of poop.

So... supprisingly little Cheeky doesn't like the taste of poop...
Try mixing it with a little food with a strong flavour that he particularly likes (pureed banana, baby food). Mix it into a paste and use a small syringe to squirt it in his mouth a little at a time. He will spit out most but you just want to get some of the normal bacteria back in to him to recolonise the gut. Don't mix it with his formula again if he hates it so much and don't give the paste around meal times as you may put him off his food competely. If all else fails try a live culture organic yogurt."