Sucking on nipple - now it is bleeding :(

[IrishHarps]

Momo (my three year old flyer) has been bad about ripping out her hair lately. We have been trying to stop her by giving her lots of new toys to play with, cleaning her cage, re-arranging her cage, putting in new pouches, and so on.

Well now, she has sucked on one of her nipples to the point where it is bleeding, and she is really obsessing over it!! What can I do to stop her so that she doesn't actually hurt herself?

Help, please :(

-ps- before you ask, yes, she gets a good and varied diet. Protein, fruits, veg, yogurt, and a healthy block every day fresh.

[IrishHarps]

Some ideas I have, tell me if you think any of them will work

1) Making a tiny fleece onesie. Not sure how I will get it on her...

2) Is there something I can put on her fur that will taste bad (but not hurt her) so she won't lick there?

[Fireweed]

Could she be allergic to something? Like, the laundry soap or a certain food? :dono First thing I think is to try another laundry soap and to wash all fleece/bedding again with no soap. Then, I would consider foods.

I like the fleece onesie idea only because that would be way too cute to see! I'm picturing red with white polka dots. :grin2 But I'm thinking she might just rip it trying to bite at her skin/nipple. People have had to resort to mini-colars or stiff vests.

Does she have chew things like antler, cuttlebone, large branches? Does she have a lot of out-of-cage time?

[IrishHarps]

Hi Fireweed!

Yes, she gets at least 4-5 hours out of cage time every night. I know that seems like a ton, but we actually have a whole room dedicated to her and we go there in the evenings and watch tv, hang out, take naps, etc. while she is out.

She has fresh branches in her cage, a cuttlebone, and two calcium chews. We also give her in-shell nuts to work on.

I've tried the collar before and she slips right out of it. Maybe a onesie? She wouldn't really be able to fly then. Is there anything I can put on her wound tonight to make her stop immediately? How do I make a stiff vest??

Also, maybe she is allergic to a food?? All of her pouches are brand new - I bought them and put them right in her cage - so it can't be the detergent because I hadn't washed them here yet.

[Fireweed]

Hi Fireweed!

Yes, she gets at least 4-5 hours out of cage time every night. I know that seems like a ton, but we actually have a whole room dedicated to her and we go there in the evenings and watch tv, hang out, take naps, etc. while she is out.

She has fresh branches in her cage, a cuttlebone, and two calcium chews. We also give her in-shell nuts to work on.

I've tried the collar before and she slips right out of it. Maybe a onesie? She wouldn't really be able to fly then. Is there anything I can put on her wound tonight to make her stop immediately? How do I make a stiff vest??

Also, maybe she is allergic to a food?? All of her pouches are brand new - I bought them and put them right in her cage - so it can't be the detergent because I hadn't washed them here yet.

Hi, IH! :grin I love that she shares her room with you. Sweet Momo.:grin2

Hey, did this sucking start before you bought the pouches? What you said made me think it was something on the pouches if this started after you bought them.

I will have to look up some threads to post a link on how to make a vest.

If you think it might be a food allergy, I would try eliminating all but the essentials. Do that for *at least* a week or even two and see if the sucking gets better... if it does, start adding in one food at a time, and don't add any more for at least a few days. Then add another. If you notice the sucking again, you probably found the food-allergy. It's a lot of work and quite difficult but it can be done.

Do you have vet access? There's so many other things it could be: Skin infection, pain, parasites... :dono

[ALittleNutty]

Oh poor thing. Yes, they make a product that makes things taste nasty but another member said do not use it on open wounds because it burns so that wouldn't work for her. I have allergic reactions to new clothing that hasn't been washed. I would wash the pouches for sure just to be safe.

If you make a onsie for her we want video of you trying to put it on her. :grin3

[IrishHarps]

Hi FW,

What do you think are the food essentials I should feed her? Healthy blocks and... anything else?

When we first got her, I looked up a vet in the area but have never had to use them so I have forgotten the number since. I can try to look them up again.

Anything I can do to get her to stop the chewing/sucking immediately would be good, though, while we're trying to figure this out. She is making me very, very worried. I feel stressed and sick :(

One more thing - I am wondering if maybe she is lonely? If I gave her to a TSB member (we would miss her a lot but I'd rather her be happy and healthy than sad and alone and sick) who had other flyers, do you think maybe she would stop over-grooming if she had other squirrels to play with?

[IrishHarps]

Oh, and she was chewing her fur off before we got the new pouches. That is one of the reasons I got new pouches, thinking maybe it was something in the old ones. :( I can try washing them though. The sucky thing is that our washer is broken right now.

[Nancy in New York]

Fireweed I too was thinking of the pouches. If they are homemade, I wonder if the person had something she could be allergic to,..........a cat perhaps and some of the dander on them?
You can give her children's benedryl and see if that will help if this is an allergic reaction. :dono

edit: OK seems you answered my question. :tilt

[IrishHarps]

The pouches she had before were homemade, but she had them for a while and they had been washed several times. These new ones are little oven mitt type things that I found at the store, so they are store-bought.

Does anyone have infant benadryl dosage? I have been trying to get her weight and finally got frustrated and stuck her in a container and weighed her tonight. She is 59 grams.

[IrishHarps]

Guys, she is also acting strange (kind of lethargic, not interested in nuts). I'm really worried about her.

[Fireweed]

Yes, benedryl! Hopefully Nancy can dose it for you...

Do you have vet wrap? It's the stuff that sticks to itself. Or some kind of tensor bandage? YOu could wrap her in that and check it periodically. If you make it snug enough (not too tight!), she might not be able to bend over to suck. She will likely chew it or wriggle out at some point, so you'll have to keep rewrapping with new bandage. I say use something like this until you can devise a better vest (still looking for examples for you). But for now it might help some.

If she's being as obsessive as it sounds, I'd take her to a vet. You might need some medication to help her. There might be a more serious issue causing the sucking.

When she is out with you during the evenings, does she suck? Or is it only during the days when she's in her cage?
Oh, and is it *just* sucking - or chewing, biting, scratching?

I'd try to rule out everything else first - but for an elimination diet, I'd ask the flyer peeps (Fleeps? :tilt) what they think is essential. You want to try for the least amount of foods among the foods you think she will eat. Like, if this was a red, I'd do a block and one kind of simple green lettuce (romaine?) and one veggie (broccoli?) - as much as will fill her up. No treats. If she is still sucking after that, I'd consider that it's the block or lettuce or broccoli and try a new combo with the block. If it persists, I'd think "it might be the block" and change blocks. If it still persists, I would think it's not the diet. If it gets better during any one of those combos, I'd add in one (or two at the most) new foods and keep going like that, adding foods, reassessing. I had to do that with one of my dogs. Totally frustrating but we figured it out after many months: meat. :shakehead

[Nancy in New York]

Guys, she is also acting strange (kind of lethargic, not interested in nuts). I'm really worried about her.

I will pm you the dose/chart, but now that you say this, I'm not sure I would give her anything just yet.
I have to go feed the babies, but will try to come back on later.

[Fireweed]

Guys, she is also acting strange (kind of lethargic, not interested in nuts). I'm really worried about her.

Is she actually eating her blocks and not just picking at them? Regardless, if she's also acting lethargic, I'd take her to a vet for sure. Like I mentioned, this could be something more serious than you can deal with at home.
:grouphug

How long has she been doing the sucking?

[IrishHarps]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VLzJeyW0_Wc&feature=youtu.be

Here is video we just took of her. Very worried - she looks bad....

[Fireweed]

Oh, poor baby. She looks like she may be uncomfortable and/or in pain. Please take her to the vet asap if at all possible. :grouphug

Her fur looks pretty good in the video so that wouldn't make me think diet right away...

[IrishHarps]

Hi guys,

I'm sorry to say this but Momo has passed. I have her body in the freezer - does anyone know the information for that vet who does autopsies on flyers? I know Joan from the National Flying Squirrel Association had his information, but their board isn't working well right now. If anyone has Joan's contact info or knows a vet, we would like to pay for the autopsy.

I spoke with Mrs. Skul tonight and she helped us through it. She thinks maybe it was MDB, that Momo wasn't eating enough of the calcium/protein that was offered her (and that maybe she needed mealworms too). But, I would still like to check to get any other information I can.

Thank you everyone.

[Fireweed]

OMG - I'm so sorry! This is heartbreaking news! I feel so sad for you... :Cry
I just have no words...

:grouphug IH :grouphug

Fly in peace, sweet Momo... :sad

(I'm sorry I don't have vet info - hopefully someone else does.)

[ALittleNutty]

:sad Oh I am so sorry to hear this. :sad Rest in peace little Momo. :grouphug

[HRT4SQRLS]

NOOOO! Not sweet Momo! :boohoo

Oh IrishHarps :grouphug I am so very, very sorry about your loss of Momo.
This is just devastating news. I grieve with you over her passing.

IH, it is my biggest fear that no matter how hard I try, something unforeseen will happen with my boys. Like you, I follow the healthy diet completely BUT getting them to eat everything they need is a completely different story. They hide more blocks than they eat. I 100% feel your pain and completely understand how difficult a task it is.
Anne will have Joan's contact information. I believe they live near each other if I'm not mistaken.

IH, I am just so sorry for you today. :grouphug

Rest in Peace sweet Momo :sad :Cry

[CritterMom]

Oh, I am so, so sorry... sweet little Momo. :grouphug

[IrishHarps]

Thanks everyone,

My husband and I are very sad and devastated about Momo. We barely slept at all last night. I will PM Anne to see if she can get me in touch with Joan - knowing what happened will at least help us to find some closure, I think.

Thank you for everyone's kind words - I'll start a new thread calling the admins' attention so that her main thread can be moved to 'all squirrels go to heaven.'

We are really sad, but also really appreciate our little community of squeeps.

[farrelli]

I'm so very sorry. Momo was a fixture here.

:sad

[jbtartell]

Ohh nooo so sorry.. :grouphug

[MollyBear361]

:sad

[IrishHarps]

Thank you for your kind words, everyone. Love from our friends makes everything a little easier to deal with. I love you guys :grouphug

[ctmom]

I'm so sorry for your loss. Godspeed sweet little Momo.