Need some help

[LilLulu]

I am asking help for my aunt...her lil baby Spunky...here is Spunks background. Spunk fell about 20 feet from his nest at about a week old, a little boy brought him to my aunt. I helped her with the proper feed, Goats milk formula,with the heavy cream & Yogurt. Spunky is now about 8-10 weeks old. Here is my question &issue.
My aunt did order the growth HHB Blocks. and he is getting his formula & 1 block a day, when I was there last week he weighed 164 grams....which I think is low...I think she said the other day he is reading 21.1 ?? what she means by this I think is 211 grams? think she is doing the scale wrong, anyway,I had told her he needs more nutrition to start introducing greens,she said he chokes, last week when I went down I gave him some of my apple (no peel) he loved it and ate it fine..she doesn't wanna try anything other than formula and his block cuz she is afraid of him choking....I wanna say he is getting about 12cc of formula a day would have to dbl check, but at his age I feel he should be getting more, I told her this and she said he just falls asleep when he has had enough. She has bought one of Henry's cages he isn't in it yet, to young, but he is staying in a lil box heating pad, lined with fleece, I told her he needs something bigger to stretch his legs....??? right now his out of box time is through out the day only on her couch, he is not stable as he should be on his feet. Now I do believe he did get some damage from the fall, as he had a welt on his head, that went away, but now his right front paw I believe he uses but not like he should and his right ear ( all same side as welt from the fall) is not 100%normal. I told her he might be a down syndrome baby due to the fall, considering I'm not familiar with this in squirrels don't know how to direct her with that. But I feel looking at his coat & weight there is a nutritional issue goin on, she thinks he is fine, so I was hoping maybe some of the experts here can look at his pic and access. Now she did say his coat looks like this in the pic cuz of formula, maybe a lil but you can tell by looking at his coat that's not all due from formula...so any help or advice you guys could give my aunt would be very much appreciated...she is on the board but cannot post at the moment she lost her password, lol... thank you again.

[msriri]

Everything you're telling her is correct. And he looks so unhealthy. He looks like a 6-7 wk old.
At 8-10 wks, he should be in the upper 200's. Also 12cc's a day is unexceptable. He should get 12-15 cc at least 3 times a day. PLUS block and beginner veggies. The veggies can be cut really small if it makes her feel better. Choking is the least of this little guy's worries.
Is there a way for you to get involved in his care? Maybe offer to do a feeding or two a day?
Either way, it is imperative that something changes right away.

[CrazySquirrelLady]

yes yes you are right, please feed him more please. he looks hungry.

[Zeemiles]

He could also have neurological damage from the fall. That could possibly delay/stunt his growth.

[LilLulu]

I would assume & believe some nuro dam has been done, and it will put him behind, but his weight, coat worries me and the lack of food I understand she is afraid of choking but it's hurting not helping ...as far as me helping her??? I have told her what to feed, that she needs to give more and not worry so much, I know sometimes when there stuffing there lil face it "may" look like a small choke ... but nothing serious. I could ask her if I could help if she would mind, but I think it wont matter me going down a few days a week ( 30min drive) will do what he needs if she wont do what i'm doing....if that makes sense. As I said she does come on here but can't post at the moment, I don't wanna put down any help but I think it's established having nuro issues, reason I say this is, I don't want her to look at the thread and see that people state he might have issues because she will read that and say see nothing wrong with him, it's just cuz he has issues, because this is a nutrition type issue, yes slow from his issues but I want her to see good advice she doesn't know, or that goes with what i'm saying ...I hope you guys know what i'm saying don't wanna sound rude. I know if something is not done/changed quick he wont make it, I know these guys are tough but his body has the final say.....thank you guys again for all the great help and info!:thankyou

[farrelli]

She needs to adjust his care immediately. She's killing him. Does she have emotional problems? Will she give him up to someone else? To you? We have people in the Boston area, possible also NH who could take him. This poor little baby!

[HRT4SQRLS]

LilLulu,
What is your aunt using to feed Spunky with? If she is using a nurser bottle or syringe without a nipple, the baby could be getting too much formula causing the choking. If that is the case, the baby is at risk for aspirating and getting pneumonia. I would suggest that she get a syringe and Miracle nipple from henryspets.com .

You can PM administration (island rehabber , Nancy in New York , or SammysMom) about her password. They can reset it so she can select a new password. She can start a thread about Spunky. I would suggest a NEW thread ... NOT this one.:shakehead

Edit: Tell your aunt to take a cotton ball or paper towel and dip it in warm water and blot off the formula under his chin after he eats. Formula left on his fur will cause him to lose the hair in that area. I can tell that your aunt is committed to Spunky considering that she has already spent quite a bit on a big boy cage from Henrys. Let's help her get him healthy.

[Squirrel Girls Mom]

She needs to adjust his care immediately. She's killing him. Does she have emotional problems? Will she give him up to someone else? To you? We have people in the Boston area, possible also NH who could take him. This poor little baby!

:goodpost

[Unikorngrrl]

She's starving the little guy if she is only feeding 12cc of formula a day. I've cut mine down a bit, but they get 12cc twice a day. 2 HHBs a day, and a high quality rodent block for when I feel like they MIGHT be hungry and just want to treat them. Tell her to try broccoli. It's crunchy, easy and certainly isn't a choking hazard. Small amounts at first to get their tummies used to it. That or take the squirrel before she kills it. :shakehead Worried she'll kill it with what is good for it is a bit dangerous to say the least. She needs to buckle down and do what's best for the squirrel not for her irrational worries, or give it to someone that will...

[LilLulu]

Thank you guys for all your help and suggestions, as always! I have tried talking to my aunt so has my mother(her sister) but despite of it all, she thinks he is fine, she says she brought him all this way (which she did ) and he is breathing eats plays so to her that's all that matters, after I spoke to her letting her know that everyone here agrees he needs more and want to help, not just take him away, she said what do they expect me to do force feed him....when he is done with his formula he just pushes her away. She also unfortunately is going in the hosp for kidney stones & my mother and I offered to take spunky here till she is recovered again she does not want to, I don't know if she is afraid I wont give him back or what, I don't understand, I told her that she may have brought him this far and she has done good till this point but now she is killing him by being stubborn and not trying because she is afraid of him choking. I know she loves him to death but her love is not enough to help him, I feel like i'm at a loss, I guess I can only hope that by my mother and I keep trying to get her to listen & realize it's ok not to know everything and were only trying to help she will come around before it's to late. I will be traveling more to her area here soon, so maybe each day me stopping in and bringing him food will open her eyes that it's about helping not wanting to take Spunky. So there is no way she would ever give him up to anyone so I hope persistence will pay off. Thank you guys again, I don't know what else to do other than keep trying.:thankyou:thankyou

[island rehabber]

His spiky fur tells us he is dehydrated. A dehydrated squirrel has very little appetite and won't eat. This is tried and true and I think I've typed these words at least 1500 times on here over the past few years.

HE NEEDS HYDRATION. Tell her to give him water or homemade Pedialyte in between feedings, as much as he wants. His appetite may improve greatly after just one or two rounds of this.

[LilLulu]

Thank You Island Rehabber, I believe she is giving him water (through his syringe) in between feeding, how many...I don't know, but I know she is doing it. I can recommend to her to maybe try pedialyte in between a feeding instead of water? I don't wanna give up or turn my back on Spunky, so thanks to anyone and everyone for there help and input into the situation.:thankyou

Also Maybe suggest to her putting a little bowl or bottle of water in his box?

[farrelli]

You might have to, or at least threaten to, call animal services on her. She's killing it and it's suffering. The situation needs to be fixed one way or another. She's either cruel or mentally ill.

[squirrellove89]

this is sad really terribly sad break into her house and steal that squirrel!

[squirrellove89]

if she wont feed it real food tell her to blend it some veggies anything to help this poor baby

[farrelli]

this is sad really terribly sad break into her house and steal that squirrel!

Excellent idea. Seriously!

[Garden71]

Calling government officials breaking into private homes.
Then everyone is wondering why people are getting reported.
AMAZING! !!!!!!!
:peace

[farrelli]

Yes, because an abused squirrel is clearly no different a situation than Farm Mom.

[SammysMom]

Nobody is threatening to call authorities. Going in and taking the squirrel in order to save it's life from a family member does not seem that over the top to me. Let's just try to worry about the squirrel.

[Garden71]

You might have to, or at least threaten to, call animal services on her. She's killing it and it's suffering. The situation needs to be fixed one way or another. She's either cruel or mentally ill.


this is sad really terribly sad break into her house and steal that squirrel!

Guess I misunderstood these posts... SORRY

[farrelli]

No, I meant it. If this woman is mentally ill and/or cruel and causing this squirrel to suffer unto death, isn't that what animals services are for? However, I think to conflate this with a situation with one such as Farm Mom's is absolutely asinine. FM was a blessing for her animals, but this lady is probably killing hers. I would think that the two situations would stand out as separate and unique to any rational person.

[Garden71]

I didn't say not to do anything but just to be careful what is posted on the board.
:dono

[SammysMom]

See...we are all on the same page...:poke:grouphug

[SugarBugFerret]

Someone who is not willing or able to do what is best for the squirrel should not be in possession of said squirrel. :nono

[sid'smommy]

Reporting to animal services - not a good idea... they will euthanize him. Stealing the squirrel while she is in the hospital -Great idea! :thumbsup
What is she gonna do? Call the police to report that you have stolen a squirrel that she was illeagally harboring ? That would be like calling the cops to say that your neighbor came over and stole all your pot......

[squirrellove89]

Reporting to animal services - not a good idea... they will euthanize him. Stealing the squirrel while she is in the hospital -Great idea! :thumbsup
What is she gonna do? Call the police to report that you have stolen a squirrel that she was illeagally harboring ? That would be like calling the cops to say that your neighbor came over and stole all your pot......

I agree with this but if it cant be done i would rather see it euthanized then starving to death. i would break a window to save this baby if i was close enough but if shes your aunt clearly you have access to her house take her a cookie and go save its life! what does she intend to do with said baby if she is in the hospital? she will kill it if she leaves it. this is a tragic situation i send love and prayers to that lil baby squirrel