HELP!!!! Anus protruding

[etmason]

I need help please we have 3 southern flying squirrels that are about 11 weeks old. Our male one has an extremely swollen and opened anus. I have cleaned all poop off, but not sure what to do now. Is he going to be okay? Any help would be great. Thanks so much!

[astra]

send me an email ad_astra81@hotmail.com and I will email you back with a phone number that might be helpful

EDIT: if you have photos of his bum - email them to me as well and I will post them for you

[Scooterzmom]

The same thing happened to my big grey boy this past week and he was also very lethargic. He's OK now but through all that I've learned that this is usually the result of diarrhea that stays stuck in the fur or what and blocks the rectum and therefore the other stools remain stuck behind and harden... causing the squirrel to produce a great effort to eliminate them and that is when the anus can prolapse. I have applied a blob of preparation-H - outside - and it did help a lot. You can also insert a tiny bit of vaseline in his little rectum if he still has stools in there or even just for lubrification to help relieve the pain... it will lubrify the stools and make it easier for him to pass them. Pull the vaseline up in a 1cc syringe, you will need very little (only .2 or so for a flyer), place a nipple that you cut fairly short to make it a bit stiffer without being hard and use that to insert the vaseline.

What you need to do is check if he still has any stools left in his little rectum and try to give something to help soften them without causing more diarrhea. What you do need to do most of all is make sure he gets plenty of liquids... diarrhea causes dehydration and dehydration hardens the stools and will reduce his appetite. Offer him plenty, whether it is water or water with a touch of apple juice in it (to make it more appealing) give him some of it with a syringe, slowly but regularly and I would do it all through the night - every 30 minutes if you can, or if you do manage to offer him enough each time, at least every hour. You can also offer watermelon - it's fiber and has sugared water... it can help.

Do you know if he ate something that could have gone bad? What formula do you give them?

[etmason]

Thank you so much for your reply. I was picking him up to take a picture and he had a fabulous poo!!! It was yellow and not completely runny which Imthought was a good sign. I cleaned him very well about 2 hours ago. It almost looked like an open sore then but already looks better. Should I still dab a bit of preparation H creme? Should i go get him some apple juice? Thanks again!

[Scooterzmom]

Thank you so much for your reply. I was picking him up to take a picture and he had a fabulous poo!!! It was yellow and not completely runny which Imthought was a good sign. I cleaned him very well about 2 hours ago. It almost looked like an open sore then but already looks better. Should I still dab a bit of preparation H creme? Should i go get him some apple juice? Thanks again!

Glad to hear he's already improving :)

A little prep-H will help soothe away the soreness - it's bound to still be a bit sore after his ordeal. However, if the poo is passing easily enough then I wouldn't give apple juice but do give him plain water at least (or maybe a bit of pedialyte - they usually like fruit flavor - it would help if he had diarrhea, it rebalances the electrolytes which get lost with diarrhea). If you can give him some yogurt (I can't remember the names of the brands you have down there but vanilla, high fat no sugar added) it would help re-balance his intestinal flora.

Make sure his little bum stays clean so the poo doesn't get stuck there. Use vaseline on a little cotton pad (the make-up remover pads work great for that) to clean his little tush. If you don't use prep-H to apply to it you can use vaseline to leave on... the important thing is to make sure the poo doesn't get stuck in his fur or that it is at least easy for you to clean it off without irritating him.

Give him plenty of love and scritchins :D