Liza
08-21-2013, 02:07 PM
Hi all- got a question about Murphy, eastern grey, born in March of this year (so she is right about 6 months old).. She is our absolute sweetheart.. Our plan is to overwinter her in the house and let her decide in the spring if she wants to be an indoor or an outdoor squirrel. Right now, though, she is everybody's darling.. Anyway, day before yesterday, I cleaned her cage.. Because I the bottom is wire squares like the sides, I keep a folded blanket in the bottom as a pad. She usually tears it up, hides food in it, uses it for a potty and generally makes it unusable, so I just toss them out and put in a new one each week. Monday I used an old wool blanket that had shrunk, so it was like pressed felt, but nice and thick.A little coarse, but I thought it would be ok-I put tons of clean fleecies on top of it and it looked all cozy and nice for her to go back into.... But last night I noticed her sneezing a little in her sleep..not a lot, just a light snort once in a while..more cute than concerning.
But this morning when I got up she was full on sneezing, pawing at her face, and having a screetching fit.. man, was that heartwrenching!! I thought maybe she had something stuck in her mouth or throat..or maybe her teeth were messing with her. although she chews her deer antler faithfully. She sounded like she was barking/coughing/yelling all at once.. I called my husband at work, and he could hear her over the phone- This big tough old construction worker came flying home from a jobsite and helped me get a paintbrush (for prying) and a flashlight, get her burrito wrapped and look in her mouth.. She was so sweet about it, too.. better behaved than most kids would be- She didn't struggle, she let me look at virtually every corner of her little mouth, and even down her throat! Her mouth looked great.. Her teeth are perfect, her little tongue and throat are a healthy, moist pink, nothing stuck, nothing overgrown... and then I realized that now that she was out of her cage, she stopped sneezing and coughing. ...AHA!! My daughter kept her busy snuggling while I ripped everything out of the cage, threw out the red felt blanket and replaced it with a stack of my husband's sweatshirts (he loves her, plus he needs new ones anyway). Put her fleecies back on top, and now she is back in the cage, no longer sneezing or even snuffling. BUT, her little front paws are red and tender on the pads (hives?) and she seems kind of itchy... She keeps scratching her back and sides and rubbing her face on her branches. (although right now it seems it has settled down a little)..
If it was the wool blanket would she still be having symptoms? And can I give her benadryl? I have 25 mg capsules..they could be dissolved in water and I'm sure she would only need the teensiest dose, or I could wait for my poor husband to get done and pick up some infant liquid? Right now she is just grooming herself, not scratching, she is eating, drinking (water and FV both) and pee/poo is normal... I am just worried that she seems to be licking her paws a lot, and I don't want them to get any more raw and then possibly infected...infection scares the heck out of me...
Thoughts? Any advice considered. Oh, and vet care is out of the question- I am in a totally illegal state. My doggy vet might, just might, give me advice over the phone but I'm hesitant to even let out that she exists... the DNR up here can be pretty crazy, and she is an outlaw squirrel... :skwredup
But this morning when I got up she was full on sneezing, pawing at her face, and having a screetching fit.. man, was that heartwrenching!! I thought maybe she had something stuck in her mouth or throat..or maybe her teeth were messing with her. although she chews her deer antler faithfully. She sounded like she was barking/coughing/yelling all at once.. I called my husband at work, and he could hear her over the phone- This big tough old construction worker came flying home from a jobsite and helped me get a paintbrush (for prying) and a flashlight, get her burrito wrapped and look in her mouth.. She was so sweet about it, too.. better behaved than most kids would be- She didn't struggle, she let me look at virtually every corner of her little mouth, and even down her throat! Her mouth looked great.. Her teeth are perfect, her little tongue and throat are a healthy, moist pink, nothing stuck, nothing overgrown... and then I realized that now that she was out of her cage, she stopped sneezing and coughing. ...AHA!! My daughter kept her busy snuggling while I ripped everything out of the cage, threw out the red felt blanket and replaced it with a stack of my husband's sweatshirts (he loves her, plus he needs new ones anyway). Put her fleecies back on top, and now she is back in the cage, no longer sneezing or even snuffling. BUT, her little front paws are red and tender on the pads (hives?) and she seems kind of itchy... She keeps scratching her back and sides and rubbing her face on her branches. (although right now it seems it has settled down a little)..
If it was the wool blanket would she still be having symptoms? And can I give her benadryl? I have 25 mg capsules..they could be dissolved in water and I'm sure she would only need the teensiest dose, or I could wait for my poor husband to get done and pick up some infant liquid? Right now she is just grooming herself, not scratching, she is eating, drinking (water and FV both) and pee/poo is normal... I am just worried that she seems to be licking her paws a lot, and I don't want them to get any more raw and then possibly infected...infection scares the heck out of me...
Thoughts? Any advice considered. Oh, and vet care is out of the question- I am in a totally illegal state. My doggy vet might, just might, give me advice over the phone but I'm hesitant to even let out that she exists... the DNR up here can be pretty crazy, and she is an outlaw squirrel... :skwredup