12 Week old with MBD needs help

[bhowdershelt]

PLEASE HELP!!!! found a baby about 5 weeks old and she is now about 12 weeks. She has been doing great until yesterday. I woke to find her unable to move her back legs. She has had a diet with a wide variety of fruits, veggies, greens and a few nuts a week. With reading up on MBD it has to be that. I read that the best treatment is a shot of Calcium Gluconate as soon as you notice a symptom then calcium daily. I called EVERY Vet and feed store in my area yesterday and no one had Calcium Gluconate or were willing to even see baby Daisy! I took it upon myself to buy 600mg Calcium pills at CVS, blend a crushed pill into formula and slowly force feed it to her. I also force feed her about 1/4 of a powdered pill again last night. She seems to be a little more energetic this morning but of course still dragging her legs. I'm about to force feed her another 1/2 of a 600mg Calcium pill.

PLEASE HELP! Am I doing it right? I had been sitting Daisy's cage on my covered porch daily with hopes of releasing her this happened....

[bhowdershelt]

PLEASE HELP!!!! I found a baby about 5 weeks old and she is now about 12 weeks. She has been doing great until yesterday. I woke to find her unable to move her back legs. She has had a diet with a wide variety of fruits, veggies, greens and a few nuts a week. With reading up on MBD it has to be that. I read that the best treatment is a shot of Calcium Gluconate as soon as you notice a symptom then calcium daily. I called EVERY Vet and feed store in my area yesterday and no one had Calcium Gluconate or were willing to even see Daisy! I took it upon myself to buy 600mg Calcium pills at CVS, blend a crushed pill into formula and slowly force feed it to her. I also force feed her about 1/4 of a powdered pill again last night. She seems to be a little more energetic this morning but of course still dragging her legs. I'm about to force feed her another 1/2 of a 600mg Calcium pill.

PLEASE HELP! Am I doing it right? I had been sitting Daisy's cage on my covered porch daily with hopes of releasing her when this happened....

[ques96]

More members should be respond soon but until then hereis the link for MBD emergency treatment.
http://www.thesquirrelboard.com/forums/showthread.php?t=34495

[SammysMom]

You need to be sure to space out the calcium over a 24 hour period so as to keep blood level calcium steady. Be sure that there was not a fall injury rather than MBD as she is young. Not out of the question that it is MBD, but also possible that it is an injury.

[SammysMom]

Here are the daily amounts to give. Please be sure to space them out over the day. I have to go to work, but there will be more help now that I moved you to your own thread.
Week 1: calcium = 500 mg per day
Week 2: calcium = 250 mg per day
Weeks 3-8: calcium = 100 mg per day

[CritterMom]

PLEASE HELP!!!! found a baby about 5 weeks old and she is now about 12 weeks. She has been doing great until yesterday. I woke to find her unable to move her back legs. She has had a diet with a wide variety of fruits, veggies, greens and a few nuts a week. With reading up on MBD it has to be that. I read that the best treatment is a shot of Calcium Gluconate as soon as you notice a symptom then calcium daily. I called EVERY Vet and feed store in my area yesterday and no one had Calcium Gluconate or were willing to even see baby Daisy! I took it upon myself to buy 600mg Calcium pills at CVS, blend a crushed pill into formula and slowly force feed it to her. I also force feed her about 1/4 of a powdered pill again last night. She seems to be a little more energetic this morning but of course still dragging her legs. I'm about to force feed her another 1/2 of a 600mg Calcium pill.

PLEASE HELP! Am I doing it right? I had been sitting Daisy's cage on my covered porch daily with hopes of releasing her this happened....


You are close. First, for now, pick up some Tums. They are pure calcium save for the flavoring and if you get the fruit flavor it may be easier to get the calcium into her. Shoot for 500mg per day, spread over multiple feedings.

Go to www.henryspets.com and order the MBD kit. It comes a bag of the HHB Picky Bites, which should right now become her staple diet with added veggies. A healthy squirrel eating 2 of these a day will not develop this; one that already HAS MBD will be helped by the additional nutrients in them - there are a lot of minerals needed to combat this besides calcium, and these blocks have them all - and are a lot tastier than commercial block. It also comes with a powdered vitamin/mineral blend - she makes her recipe for blocks available to the public and this "vitamin pack" is what goes into the blocks - but it can be very helpful with a sick squirrel who isn't eating much because you can sneak it into just about anything. Also included is a packet of pure calcium carbonate powder which you can replace the Tums with. It has NO flavor so it hides well and is quite concentracted so you don't have to feed a lot of it. The owner of the company is a member here; send her the link to your thread - or better yet, call the phone number on the site and speak to her. Leigh is VERY knowledgable about this disease - her blocks were designed with it in mind.:thumbsup

Keep your baby in an area where her movement is restricted - she doesn't need any falls, and you may want to think about a heating pad under it - the warmth feels good to their bones...

[CritterMom]

Please go to your other thread and read my post.:thumbsup

[Anne]

Think she may have had a fall in her cage. Happens all the time. Her diet sounds good, hope she is still on Fox Valley formula, don't wean her! Instead of forcing the crushed pills into her, buy some berry or other yummy Tums tablets and just put one a day in her cage for her to nibble on, that will be your insurance of calcium intake. Then give her a few days to rest and heal-think she will be OK. Take deep slow breaths and relax for now.
Squirrels love the Tums and will eat them-I buy the ones for children. Wouldn't hurt to stop the nuts, they are treats like dessert.

[island rehabber]

I merged the two threads to make it easier for you to get all this good info in one place. Critter Mom suggested you call Leigh from Henry's Pets and I second that suggestion -- you've got all the MBD protocol written out here but sometimes it really helps to talk to a knowledgeable human being when you're in a crisis about your squirrel.

[CritterMom]

Was this little one on formula? You don't list it.

[bhowdershelt]

We had weaned her off formula 2 weeks ago, when she was able to crack a nut all on her own. She's turning her nose at it now so I'm off to the store for some fruity TUMS. THANK YOU everyone! This is my/our first experience with a squirrel (aside from frying them up) and wow have we learned soooo much!

[CritterMom]

I am going to pretend I didn't read that last part. I hope this experience has changed your outlook. It usually does.

[bhowdershelt]

Think she may have had a fall in her cage. Happens all the time. Her diet sounds good, hope she is still on Fox Valley formula, don't wean her! Instead of forcing the crushed pills into her, buy some berry or other yummy Tums tablets and just put one a day in her cage for her to nibble on, that will be your insurance of calcium intake. Then give her a few days to rest and heal-think she will be OK. Take deep slow breaths and relax for now.
Squirrels love the Tums and will eat them-I buy the ones for children. Wouldn't hurt to stop the nuts, they are treats like dessert.




Her cage is less than 24" tall. She has been so active until yesterday morning so yes she may have taken a fall. Being that no vet in my area will even look at her I have done my best to slowly run my fingers down her back, legs, tail, belly..all over with no response from Daisy. I have had a dog with a broken leg before and when I barely touched his leg he would flinch and whimper. Daisy doe nothing, just lays there looking at me. Even when I pick her up she seems fine, just not able to move her back legs. She did flick her tail when I picked her up an hour ago! That's a good sign , right? TUMS TUMS TUMS!

[bhowdershelt]

I am going to pretend I didn't read that last part. I hope this experience has changed your outlook. It usually does.


haha Yes it has changed my mind and I believe Daisy is also changing my husband's heart! :flash3

[MollyBear361]

When you say we weaned her....did YOU wean her or did she? You are supposed to let them have formula until they refuse it...and longer.

[MollyBear361]

We had weaned her off formula 2 weeks ago, when she was able to crack a nut all on her own. She's turning her nose at it now so I'm off to the store for some fruity TUMS. THANK YOU everyone! This is my/our first experience with a squirrel (aside from frying them up) and wow have we learned soooo much!
:eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek:

[bhowdershelt]

When you say we weaned her....did YOU wean her or did she? You are supposed to let them have formula until they refuse it...and longer.


We offered her formula until she turned her nose up to it. We tried for several days after she first turned away from it and she continued to literally turn her nose up to it.

I have started the TUMS treatment...Praying it helps our little Daisy! Does MBD stop movement in a tail as well as the hind legs?

[island rehabber]

We offered her formula until she turned her nose up to it. We tried for several days after she first turned away from it and she continued to literally turn her nose up to it.

I have started the TUMS treatment...Praying it helps our little Daisy! Does MBD stop movement in a tail as well as the hind legs?

Yes, tail and hind legs usually work together...or not.
Is she peeing on her own? Check her bladder. If it's swollen and you don't see pee around as you normally would, it is very possible that she injured her back in a fall, in the cage, and that will require a whole different treatment method.

[bhowdershelt]

Yes, tail and hind legs usually work together...or not.
Is she peeing on her own? Check her bladder. If it's swollen and you don't see pee around as you normally would, it is very possible that she injured her back in a fall, in the cage, and that will require a whole different treatment method.



Well I'm trying not to get excited BUT she is flicking her tail as I type! Yesterday I couldn't get her to flick or move her to save my life! I have been keeping an eye on her "female area" each time I check on her and did notice some pee earlier, she has pooped several times since this began yesterday morning. So that's a positive side..right? Oh I pray she gets use of her legs back.....

[farrelli]

The site is going down at 1:00, so if you need further assistance, please go to the temp site during the outage:

http://apps.thetsbfund.com/Forum/TopicGroup/

Write it down.

[island rehabber]

OK, good...watch for movement in her tail, and pinch her back toes to see if she reacts. The critical thing here is whether she can actually pee or needs to have her bladder expressed by you. When there is injury to the back end resulting in paralysis, the nerves to the bladder are involved as well and the squirrel can't pee on her own. Some may leak out involuntarily, but that's it. If this goes unchecked her bladder could burst. Sooooo watch her lower belly for tightness or unusual fullness, and keep us posted via the alternative site as farrelli posted above.