Neuro Squirrels [Archive] - The Squirrel Board

Kalora

05-03-2015, 08:19 PM

It has been almost a year since I had my neuro squirrel named Twitch. I posted about him all over the forums and even made him his own thread days before he passed away. I was going to turn that thread into an information hub about neuro squirrels since there isn't that much information out there about them. The only other neuro squirrel that I know of is Alex.

These are symptoms that Twitch had:
1) His right eye never opened and his left eye was open but had a rolled-back pupil. When I say that his pupil was rolled-back, I mean that the black part in his eye was not in the center but to the left of his eyeball, pointing to his ear.
2) He could not walk in a straight line. He would always walk in circles and sometimes RUN in circles very fast.
3) He would sway his head around when he tried to look at something. His head had very strange movements. I'm not sure if this is because of damage or if it was because of the way his eyes were.
4) He had seizures. His seizures were repetitive motions where he would look like he was going in slow motion on repeat, doing the same motion over and over again.

We had Twitch for a little over 3 months. I was told he would die in 2-3 WEEKS. I had him on neurotrophin and prednisone (sp) which is what worked for Alex. Twitch improved a lot after taking the medicine but he began to get violent. His health began to decline a week or two after he got his new Ferret Nation cage (Which he LOVED, by the way!). Twitch would only wake up for 3 hours a day. When he was awake, he would run in circles rapidly without stopping. Suddenly, he wasn't playing like he used to, and seemed more and more frustrated. In his frustrations, he began to bite us and attacked me to the point where he became dangerous.

No one wanted to see Twitch go, but we believed it was his time. He wasn't happy anymore and we knew he wanted a normal life, but we couldn't give him one. He was in pain and slowly declining. His changing moods made it difficult to take care of him because we would get bit while trying to do routine tasks for him. We said goodbye to Twitch. We buried him in my prettiest shoe box at my boyfriend's parent's, where he will join other animal friends in heaven. We are extremely sad that he is gone, but we are also happy that he won't feel pain anymore. I didn't want to let go, but I couldn't allow my selfishness to bring pain to him.

I will always miss the way he would climb up my pant leg, scurry onto my shoulder, and sniff at my face. I miss how he would play in my curly hair with his funny little hands. I miss seeing him dash through his tunnels, peaking out of holes. I miss how he gobbled down his formula, and I even miss seeing him as a little baby. I miss his fuzzy white belly, and the way he would pop his head out of under his blankets when he heard me come in the room. Most of all, I miss his cuddles, his yawns, and his good-morning stretches. He was so energetic, goofy, and adorable. It hurts deep inside that he never got to be released, but I know that we released him from something horrible and that he is living the life he longed for in heaven.

This experience reminded me how precious life is. Some people are born with less and we should always appreciate what we have, even if our only advantage in life is our health, there are MANY people who don't even have that. I have always believed that animals take care of us, and I believe that we should try to lend them a hand when they need us too. This experience re-confirmed what I want to achieve in my life. I know I want to help animals, because animals help us in so many ways. Rest in peace Twitch. We will never forget you. I thank God for bringing you to me, and I believed that he had a hand in a lot of this. I am forever grateful to have met Twitch.

If you have a neuro squirrel, things can either end well or with a heavy heart. I don't regret anything of course. Twitch was worth any and all of the "trouble" everyone else gawked at. I had the most amazing help and support along the way from Georgia, a nearby rehabber, who advised me on how to care for him along the way.

Below is my video log of Twitch's journey. Surely it will help someone in the future.
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLM90HTwHZZiir6crfH384qilonv1yZxhN

:grouphug

island rehabber

05-03-2015, 10:06 PM

Thank you so much, Kalora, for updating and sharing Twitch's story with us. I am so sorry it did not have a happy ending.....but then, with neuro squirrels there rarely are happy endings. The best we can do is to love them and care for them as well as possible, while always keeping in mind whether they are happy and whether they have a quality of life. You did that for Twitch, putting your own sadness and feelings for him aside, in order to free him from the tortures of his poor brain.

I have a neuro squirrel, too, and I love her very much. She enjoys her life right now, and in between seizures it's so easy to forget there is anything really wrong with her. But....when she does have a cluster of seizures and I see the pain in her eyes, I am reminded that she was sent to me to protect her from pain and suffering, and I take this responsibility very seriously.

Twitch was lucky to have had you. :tilt