Worried Mom

[Nuthouse13]

Hi guys,
Well I thought we were past the stage where we were going to worry about our guys, but it seems our little girl is feeling blue. :shakehead

She is now 12wks and had been doing great. We have followed all the great advice we received and her and her brother have been thriving. We even started to pull back a bit on the formula and have gone from every six hours (four feedings) to every eight hours (three feedings) but continue to give Henry's Blocks and their veggies. Today however she did not finish her formula and is acting down in the dumps. I think I may hear an ever so slight wheeze occasionally but no clicking. She wants to just cuddle with me and sleep.

Does this sound like early pneumonia? Should I get some antibiotics or give it another day?

[SammysMom]

Have you ever noticed her aspirate? She seems sort of old for it, but it surely can happen. It is a click with EVERY breath though. Has she ewaten anything different that might not have agreed with her?

[Nuthouse13]

She did scarf her formula down a couple nights ago and aspirated a little, but she sneezed it out. She had done the same before when she was smaller, sneezed it all out, and did just fine. Both her and her brother have eaten the same things, yet he is bright as day. (Formula, squirrel block, carrot, broccoli, lettuce, occasional cheerio and pecan)

She is not clicking at all, but she appears to be uncomfortable and breathing harder than usual. There is no open mouth breathing happening. I feel like she's a bit shaky, but maybe that's just part of the labored breathing. She acts weak, but I attribute that to not feeling well. I'm afraid to give her any formula, however I offered squirrel block, which she did eat.

[SammysMom]

Is it possible she is getting dehydrated?

[quagmire]

Is she pooing and peeing okay? Any other odd behavior? Maybe want to give her more frequent liquid times, go back to 6 hour feedings if she was doing well then. Just some ideas.

[Nuthouse13]

SammysMom: upon the skin pinch test, yes, she appears a tad dehydrated. I will give her a little sugar water.
As far as I know, she is pooping and peeing. No other abnormal behavior. Again she is just very tired and uncomfortable with labored breathing.
Would it hurt to be on the safe side and get some Cipro tomorrow to start? I have some amoxi but read it is not ideal for squirrels.

[Unikorngrrl]

I hope she feels better!! :thumbsup :Love_Icon

[Monipenny]

When babies aspirate on milk, must stop feeding immediately and hold them face down, each time (s)he sneezes, dab the nose with a tissue to prevent from taking the fluid back in. Continue this until the baby stops sneezing. Watch for clicking sounds, that is a sure sign of pneumonia and batril 22.7 will be neccessary to give asap. If you can get that, get it quick to be ready. In the mean time weigh the baby in grams and let us know the weight so someone can give you the proper mixing/dose information.

[Nuthouse13]

Yes, we do the post-aspirate techniques anytime it occured (nose down, sneeze, wipe, etc.)

She is doing much better this morning. I actually had Natasha sleep with me until around 2am (she did most of the sleeping!) then put her back in the cube with her brother. When I checked her this morning, she was jumping around with Boris and ready for breakfast. :crazy She took all her formula and even a little squirrel block. Hoping she is back on track.

What could we possibly being dealing with? I know rabbits and other rodentias can get upper respiratory infections. Could this be that? She still is not clicking and her labored breathing has decreased. Just some slight, occasional wheezing.

[SammysMom]

Is it possible that she bumped her nose and it is irritated and causing snuffling?

[Nuthouse13]

SammysMom, that is always possible. As typical siblings, Boris and Natasha can get pretty rough when playing/fighting. :poke When he gets into his "I'm trying to assert my dominance" attitude, she becomes quite annoyed, and shows him. They love to run around their cage and tree branch.

She is back to herself and has no signs of wheezing or labored breathing. My husband came down sick the same time and thought maybe he gave her his cold. "How sweet!" He's always so concerned :Love_Icon

Both had a few sneezes today, but that is only because they were excited after drinking from a little dish for the first time. Their expressions are pretty funny when watching them learn things for the first time.

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