Imp has swollen anal glands and swollen area around penis

[niapet]

Hi everyone,

I recently posted about how Imp has swollen anal glands this year. I was given advice to just make sure he can still poop. Well that has not been a problem, but today we just noticed he has some swelling around his penis too, it may be related. It seems to be painful because he squeals if we touch the newly swollen area.

All we have on hand for antibiotics are some Cipro pills for humans. I know this is a powerful broad spectrum antibiotic but i don't know if it is used in squirrels and at what dose? I'd like to get him on them if it is safe because i am worried about an infection; and I know haw fast squirrels can go down hill if they do have an infection.

Any advice, especially on the Cipro question, would be appreciated!

[farrelli]

Pics could help. I think this could be normal. Others will chime in.

Cipro is used in sqs. If necessary, we'd just need a weight on the sq and a strength on the Cipro to dose.

[niapet]

I can dose if someone can tell me a standard dose/gram or dose/ounce of body weight

[niapet]

It seems we also have some AMOXICILLIN on hand as well. It is a Russian brand we ordered in case of injured wildlife coming our way. I forgot we had it. Would this be a better choice than Cipro? I know I tolerate it a LOT better than Cipro =P

[farrelli]

I'm sorry no one responded. If no one does by late tomorrow morning, I'll ask some people to chime in. Lots of threads are going without attention these days and it 's really unacceptable. Everyone is so busy. If someone could at least say which drug would be preferable, if any, I could dose it.

[island rehabber]

I would use the Amoxi first before the Cipro. If it were mating season I might think that this is 'normal' for an adult male squirrel, but I can't see where late September in Mass. USA is mating season.
Are you sure he's pooping normally? If not, a bit of canned pumpkin can help get things back to normal -- not the "pie mix" but pure canned pumpkin.

[Nancy in New York]

Can you post a picture?
I really hate throwing drugs at squirrels when we really don't know
what the cause is. I know you are in Mass. do you have a vet that will see him?
Are you willing to drive?
We can definitely dose abs. but in reality, that may be putting a bandaid on
a larger problem.
Post a picture of the area in question, and let some of the seasoned rehabbers
see if they feel abs are necessary at this point.
If you have a vet, that is your best bet.

[farrelli]

I think there is a vet in NH that will see sqs. I think I asked SammysMom to put it on the list she keeps, if you want ot have him looked at, but pics would be very helpful.

[niapet]

These are pics of him from front and back. Don't be concerned about the missing hair on his butt. The missing hair is from fall shedding and has already begun growing back (I have a habit of plucking it as it falls out >.< )

I started administering the Cipro yesterday no one responded. I based the does on an online source and went conservative at 1ml @ 50mg/ml BID, but ive only given it to him once per day yesterday and today. I know Cipro makes me nauseated so i wanted to make sure he could get used to and be less likely to vomit.

If you all think I should DC this let me know asap.

P.S. We have no access to vets for squirrels here in MA but we would certainly travel if we needed to help Imp.

243347

243346

[farrelli]

I'm sorry no one responded. TSB really sucks now. I'm ready to give up.

Baytril, which is basically the same as Cipro, is dosed at 2.5-15 mg/kg. If I knew the strength of the Cipro and the weight of the sq, I would have sent diretions. I won;t be on much this weekened, but if you leave that info, someone may send instructiosn to you anyhow and you can compare with what you're doing.

Give probiotics from the drug store two hours before or after for stomach upset.

I would PM SammysMom and ask for the NH vet's contact info so that you always have it in your pocket for emergencies.

[farrelli]

I found the vet. I'll PM it to you.

I'm concerned about a possible OD. Should be fine if fixed going forward, but I think what you gave is way too much.

[lukaslolamaus]

Sending prayers :grouphug

[niapet]

Your dose info said 2.5mg-15 mg /kg. Imp as a very big squirrel so the 5mg once per day is on the lower end. When you combine that with the difficulty actually getting him to swallow it all, he is probably barely getting the minimum dose.

Any tips on administration of liquid meds to squirrels would be much appreciated =)

[Nancy in New York]

Can we just back up, I am not sure what you dosed or how much.
What is the mg of the Cipro that you dosed? AND how did you break this down?
DO NOT give more since you have already given a huge amount. We need to
get this correct.
Did you get the vet info from farrelli?
I would like the member that gave the vet info to be contacted first, that was
her stipulation, so that she could check with the vet.

[niapet]

Oh i see the confusion. I was about to get annoyed and say i clearly posed how much I gave him. However I see I wrote "50mg/ml" by mistake instead of 5mg/ml.

So to recap: I took a 250 mg pill, crushed it in a mortar and pestle. Next I added 50 ml of very warm, pre-boiled water and mixed the suspension well. I stored the whole thing in an amber glass bottle in the fridge and have given him 1ml of the solution by mouth each day. That comes out to 5/mg per dose.

[Nancy in New York]

Oh i see the confusion. I was about to get annoyed and say i clearly posed how much I gave him. However I see I wrote "50mg/ml" by mistake instead of 5mg/ml.

So to recap: I took a 250 mg pill, crushed it in a mortar and pestle. Next I added 50 ml of very warm, pre-boiled water and mixed the suspension well. I stored the whole thing in an amber glass bottle in the fridge and have given him 1ml of the solution by mouth each day. That comes out to 5/mg per dose.

I am going to pm you how we break down a 250 mg pill.
I am also sending you the page from the wild mammal book so you can see the chart.
You dose according to the weight, AND the dose you see opposite the weight is the dose for
the ENTIRE day, you do NOT give that dose twice daily, you would need to break that amount in
half if you dose twice a day.
Where did you find your instructions on breaking down the Baytril? I have never heard of it done
that way. :dono

[niapet]

I did it by arithmetic and SI conversion. 1 ml doses are easier to administer than 0.2 ml doses. If Imp spits out a little of a 1 ml dose he still gets most of it. Spitting out a little of a 0.2 ml dose is more problematic.

[farrelli]

Is there a 2nd Boston area vet? The one I PMd was basically just the Odd Pet Vet at New England Wildlife. I got that one from a member here who posted it openly. I didn't know that there was another who was basically by referral only.

Btw, listen to Nancy. She's our resident pharmacist.

[niapet]

I have had bad experiences with vets in this state so I am very wary. We almost lost a baby wild rabbit to an animal hospital that took her in, then told us all they can do is put wild animals down. I got her away from them and to Tufts for rehab by having someone at Tufts call them and tell them to hand the poor thing over to me for transport.. thankfully...