Diarrhea

[Nuthouse13]

I'm a bit at a loss with my 8 week old male Boris. His soft stools that he had for about 4 days has now turned into diarrhea. It is about the consistency of bird stool and a yellowish almost lime green color.

He is still eating well, very active and alert, no signs of lethargy or acting sickly. His sister is doing good and doesn't seem to have any problems. He is about 148g now and gets 9cc of Fox Valley (just over the 6% calculation) every 6 hours. He was the runt but is quickly catching up to his 152g sister. They were eating 1 Henry's squirrel block a day mostly for their teething. I was worried this was causing the soft stool (though it is just him) so I stopped giving it to them. It was suggested to give him in between hydration feedings, which I am doing. He doesn't seem to be getting dehydrated.

Any more ideas or changes I need to try? HELP! :confused:

[SammysMom]

I think giardia can cause that green diarrhea... Do you have a vet who would do a stool test?

[SammysMom]

Is there a foul smell to the stool?

[Nuthouse13]

OK...so after reading some old post about giardia and coccidia, I am thinking it may be door number 2 that our pal Boris may have. Maybe it is just my imagination (more like over coloration) believing the diarrhea was looking greenish. My husband and two others believe it is yellow.

His stools were alternating from normal to soft, now soft and just plain loose.

It is a bit smelly but not this "dead" smell others have described with giardia. Boy do I feel stupid! As a vet tech of 14 years, I have seen countless puppies and kittens with coccidia, and know the signs. However we typically see some weight loss with them. Boris is a true pig at heart!!!

2012 posting: "Squirrels with coccidia also may have slower growth rates but stool that appears normal." - This sounds like my little boy. He was the runt, and didn't gain as quickly as his sister did, but up until 4 days ago, his stools were just fine.

Plus I read an overgrowth can be brought on by stress. Unfortunately Boris and Natasha have had to take the show on the road...traveling a bit this week. My husband, who is usually "Mr. Mom" has had a lot of appointments and even a dental surgery this week. To make sure they stayed on schedule with their feedings, I have been taking them to work with me. Perhaps the traveling, different smells, and new people was a bit much for these babes.


I will test his stool tomorrow and see if we hit the jackpot! I always liked knowing more than it being a mystery. Ailments are just easier to treat than mysteries. Hopefully it will be as simple as administering some Albon!

[CritterMom]

OK...so after reading some old post about giardia and coccidia, I am thinking it may be door number 2 that our pal Boris may have. Maybe it is just my imagination (more like over coloration) believing the diarrhea was looking greenish. My husband and two others believe it is yellow.

His stools were alternating from normal to soft, now soft and just plain loose.

It is a bit smelly but not this "dead" smell others have described with giardia. Boy do I feel stupid! As a vet tech of 14 years, I have seen countless puppies and kittens with coccidia, and know the signs. However we typically see some weight loss with them. Boris is a true pig at heart!!!

2012 posting: "Squirrels with coccidia also may have slower growth rates but stool that appears normal." - This sounds like my little boy. He was the runt, and didn't gain as quickly as his sister did, but up until 4 days ago, his stools were just fine.

Plus I read an overgrowth can be brought on by stress. Unfortunately Boris and Natasha have had to take the show on the road...traveling a bit this week. My husband, who is usually "Mr. Mom" has had a lot of appointments and even a dental surgery this week. To make sure they stayed on schedule with their feedings, I have been taking them to work with me. Perhaps the traveling, different smells, and new people was a bit much for these babes.


I will test his stool tomorrow and see if we hit the jackpot! I always liked knowing more than it being a mystery. Ailments are just easier to treat than mysteries. Hopefully it will be as simple as administering some Albon!


Many have run into issues with Albon at this point - just not working on some of the bugs. SMZ-TMP adds a bactericidal to the table and is used for coccidia a lot.

May want to ask about Baycox, too - originally equine drug but it seems to be cutting the treatment way down to just a few days...

[Jackie in Tampa]

fyi, coccidia is hard to see under the scope..
runts can have a weak immune system, any stress will bring it forward, most wild animals are born with it..
stress can be as simple as loud TV, barking dogs, any drastic changes
treatment is sulfamethoxazole trimethaprim, SMZ-TMP
dosed at 25mg/kg BID 7-10 days usually, but if more than one sq is involved, may require longer treatment
activity can change but not ussually from my experience, and it is highly contageous with an incubation period of about two weeks...
adding yogurt may help with gut flora and solidifying, but it's a bacteria and best to treat with ABs so not to depress the immune system more.
as with any diarrhea, hydration is a must...
bleach everything, change out fleece daily..fleece can be bleached.
sending good vibes

[Nuthouse13]

Thanks for the info, guys! I will be getting Boris checked out today. I know for a fact that my vet doesn't have Baycox, so we will go with the SMZ-TMP.

My question is how in the world do I administer a tablet to this little guy!:thinking

Sometimes we dissolve tablets in water and syringe it to them. Can this be done for these guys? And would it be ok to add a little yogurt. Boris doesn't like the sugar water hydration feedings, so I add a small amount of yogurt to get him to take it.

[SammysMom]

Oh yes! You DEFINITELY must dissolve it in water and then dose by weight. If you give us a weight and med strength we can help dosing. Weight is very important and please do not try to dose without being sure of the breakdown. I am going to work, but someone here will help you.

[jbtartell]

I'm a bit at a loss with my 8 week old male Boris. His soft stools that he had for about 4 days has now turned into diarrhea. It is about the consistency of bird stool and a yellowish almost lime green color.

He is still eating well, very active and alert, no signs of lethargy or acting sickly. His sister is doing good and doesn't seem to have any problems. He is about 148g now and gets 9cc of Fox Valley (just over the 6% calculation) every 6 hours. He was the runt but is quickly catching up to his 152g sister. They were eating 1 Henry's squirrel block a day mostly for their teething. I was worried this was causing the soft stool (though it is just him) so I stopped giving it to them. It was suggested to give him in between hydration feedings, which I am doing. He doesn't seem to be getting dehydrated.

Any more ideas or changes I need to try? HELP! :confused:

just a quick question are you adding anything in with the Fox Valley? (heavy cream ect..) yogurt? and are you feeding every 6 hours through the night? also with full diarea, I would dilute formula 25% just to get the extra hydration. also we get some with finicky tummies that the formula may need to be a little weeker and he is old enough to add in the solids to the diet too. that will help diarea if there is no coccidia ect.. I use Kaytee block in the beginning cause at first it gets chewwed into crumbs,. then I swith to henery blocks. also chereos are a good start to learning to eat..:thumbsup like I said add some solids if he started to eat those it is good..hope this helps.:thumbsup

[Nuthouse13]

These crazy babies! So Boris' diarrhea firmed up ever so slightly and darkened a bit, but now our girl Natasha began to have the diarrhea. As mentioned before, both are eating like piglets, active and alert. Would it be okay to go ahead and treat as coccidia? We didn't see anything on the fecal test, but it doesn't always show up. (Just depends if they are released in the fecal at the time of testing.)

SammysMom: the smallest strength my vet has of the SMZ-TMP is the 480mg. As of this morning Boris weighs 182g and Natasha is 194g.

About the Fox Valley formula...I don't add anything to it. I did go ahead and start giving them back their Henry's blocks. They like them. I think they enjoy playing with them more than anything, but I notice all the crumbs later when I check on them. They are obviously eating them, just at their own pace. I tend to break them into smaller pieces because they ignore them when they are whole. Hmmm, Cheerios you say!!! I eat the Multigrain version. Is this okay for them?

[Nuthouse13]

Well turns out my vet doesn't have any 480mg on shelf, only 980mg. That's going to be way too big! A fellow tech friend is going to check her home "pet pharmacy"...we all have one. :D She also told me about another vet clinic not far who sees some exotics. I will check with them as well.
Their diarrhea seems to be taking turns. His was much better this afternoon - soft nuggets; hers however is definitely loose.

[farrelli]

SammysMom is away today, but if you need your question answered quickly, just say so and I'll try to get someone who knows this stuff. Unfortunately, I will be mostly gone until 8:30 or so. Someone else might come across this though.

[Nancy in New York]

Well turns out my vet doesn't have any 480mg on shelf, only 980mg. That's going to be way too big! A fellow tech friend is going to check her home "pet pharmacy"...we all have one. :D She also told me about another vet clinic not far who sees some exotics. I will check with them as well.
Their diarrhea seems to be taking turns. His was much better this afternoon - soft nuggets; hers however is definitely loose.

We can always break this down even if it's 960 mg. We just add more cc's of water to the whole pill.

[jbtartell]

These crazy babies! So Boris' diarrhea firmed up ever so slightly and darkened a bit, but now our girl Natasha began to have the diarrhea. As mentioned before, both are eating like piglets, active and alert. Would it be okay to go ahead and treat as coccidia? We didn't see anything on the fecal test, but it doesn't always show up. (Just depends if they are released in the fecal at the time of testing.)

SammysMom: the smallest strength my vet has of the SMZ-TMP is the 480mg. As of this morning Boris weighs 182g and Natasha is 194g.

About the Fox Valley formula...I don't add anything to it. I did go ahead and start giving them back their Henry's blocks. They like them. I think they enjoy playing with them more than anything, but I notice all the crumbs later when I check on them. They are obviously eating them, just at their own pace. I tend to break them into smaller pieces because they ignore them when they are whole. Hmmm, Cheerios you say!!! I eat the Multigrain version. Is this okay for them?
yes multigrain is great .. no other kind..lol I personaly would not treat for coccidia.I deal with these type of things all the time. you probly just have some finicy tummies getting use to new foods or formula..:D just like I said ad little extra water to formula.. u can also put in some small brocoli heads in. pieces carot. some apple peices no skin..

[astra]

THenry's blocks. They like them. I think they enjoy playing with them more than anything, but I notice all the crumbs later when I check on them.
yes, just ensure that they do eat them.
At 8 wks they are fairly young and their eating habits are not stable yet.
So, it might be a good idea to stick to formula and HHBs for a few days. First, to make sure that they eat HHB for sure. and second - to get their poops back to normal.
General diet guidelines suggest:
1. only block and formula until block is eaten all the time, every time, with pleasure, no fuss etc etc etc;
2. after block eating habits are firmly in place, you can start adding other solids in the form of good veggies and greens from the Healthy Diet for Pet Squirrels.

It is also important not to introduce any other foods, such as treats etc, until they eat block and veggies happily. Otherwise, you may 'ruin' their taste buds and it will be more difficult to maintain their healthful diet.

Veggies and greens may not be a good idea if they are having poop problems. Would wait till poop is back to normal.

For now it might be best to keep it simple: HHBs and formula.
And treat for coccidia as others suggested.

[jbtartell]

I never have a problem treating diarea. if it was cocidia it would not clear up with out meds.. it would be worse not better..:dono

[SammysMom]

Formula and HHBs is what TSB dietary suggestions call for. With that kind of diarrhea it seems sensible to consider treating for coccidia. Definitely nothing to eat that is not on the suggested diet list. Cheerios and that sort of foods are way too tasty and lack nutrition. Although they enjoy such items heartily, they are not giving them the benefit of a good and healthy diet.
See Post #29 in the below thread:
http://thesquirrelboard.com/forums/showthread.php?t=15397&page=2

[Nuthouse13]

Can't believe our babies are 9weeks old this week!

Ok, so tomorrow (Monday) I am getting the 980mg SMZ-TMP. How many do you think I will need for both Boris and Natasha. I will get another weight in the morning, but as of now she is 194g and he is 182g.

[Nancy in New York]

Can't believe our babies are 9weeks old this week!

Ok, so tomorrow (Monday) I am getting the 980mg SMZ-TMP. How many do you think I will need for both Boris and Natasha. I will get another weight in the morning, but as of now she is 194g and he is 182g.

You can get two if they have it. (It's always good to have on hand) BUT I am sure by the time 1 is broken down you will have plenty to treat both of them.
I will do up the dilution for you along with what to dose both of them, and I will also run it by Jackie in Tampa and then send to you in a pm.:thumbsup

[SammysMom]

Thank-you Nancy! I was just checking on these guys...

[Nancy in New York]

Can't believe our babies are 9weeks old this week!

Ok, so tomorrow (Monday) I am getting the 980mg SMZ-TMP. How many do you think I will need for both Boris and Natasha. I will get another weight in the morning, but as of now she is 194g and he is 182g.

I think you mean the SMZ-TMP is 960, right? I am sending you the breakdown and the doseage along with a page from the WBM book in a pm.:)