Bloody diarrhea & eye infection.

[a66jagdream]

Okay so here's the full story, I've been waiting for my account to be verified. I found a baby Squirrel who was very close to death. He was covered in flies and had several maggots on him. I immediately started to pick them off and get him in a warm and safe environment. A few hours after he was recovering I fed him some esbalic formula, due to there being no sign of dehydration. He took to it without hesitation. he did great the first day. that night I noticed maggots were infesting his eye! It broke my heart and I could do nothing to help him except hold him and keep him warm and with me until morning. as soon as the vet was open I ran and bought Capstar tablets and took a 1/4 of one crushed it up and fed it to him in water. it wasn't two hours later and they were all pouring out of his eye. I pulled 11 out. shortly after that his eye gunked up I attempted to flush it with saline solution but ultimately it sealed shut. he seemed to be wonderful other than that. I fed him on a regular 4 hour schedule and kept him comfortable. He was very sweet and very playful.

I put him to bed and woke up to him on his back cold to the touch. apparently the heating pad had turned off during the middle of the night and he went through hypothermia/hypoglycemia I immediately brought his body temp back up and fed him a little kayro mixed with water. he took it fine. but a few hours later he started having diarrhea. I assumed it was from the kayro at first, until I noticed blood in it. regardless I kept him cleaned up, and gave him pedialyte until he was better. hes still bleed from the anus area a little bit and dragging his but when I let him out to play. He's very active and peed a lot recently and its very close to clear. What worries me not is his eye is still stuck shut, and he isn't eating much at all when I can get him to eat. He takes a bit and then curls up in a ball. but yet when I set him down hes playful and runs around. Please help me in anyway you possibly can. I love the little guy and want him to make it. He's very sweet and loves to curl up on me and his Momma.

[island rehabber]

:bowdown You've done an excellent job so far with this poor baby.
If the maggots were in his eyes, they are in his internal organs as well.....this is what is irritating him and hence the bloody diarrhea, etc. He needs another round of Capstar. I would administer it asap, to be honest. The damage the maggots have done may be reversible, but time is of the essence.

I would give him extra hydration between feedings - flush his system continually for a day or so. Keep him warm as you've been doing and let him know he is loved. This brave little one has been through hell....let's hope the Capstar can save him!

[Shewhosweptforest]

Ohh bless you :bowdown As IR said you've done a stunning job....a real pro..picking maggots, cleaning bloody diarrhea and no complaints :dono you're born for this :Love_Icon

I was so afraid when IR said it was in his organs she was going to say there's nothing you can do :eek God, I was relieved that's not what she said :thumbsup I've never dealt with anything like this...I'm just relieved that you found him and haven't given up :grouphug

:thankyou :thankyou :blowkiss

[Mommaluvy]

Poor kid. These ladies will help you out. Good job - maggots are tough. How many days has his eye been sealed up? I would not worry about the sealing but watch for drainage . Will your vet see squirrels? Ladies .. Should he be in an antibiotic or wait and see what happens?

[a66jagdream]

Thank you guys and girls! I was hoping I wasn't doing things wrong. I'm worried about giving him the capstar, he wont eat much or drink much lately, so whats the best way to administer?

[a66jagdream]

Okay! I woke him up from his little nap and gave him the capstar he took most of it spit a little out. (he wasn't happy with me Haha) What should I give him now? Water, Formula, Or Pedialyte? I want to make sure he stays safe during the night, if i need to wake up every hour or so to check on him or feed/hydrate him I will!!

[Shewhosweptforest]

Thank you guys and girls! I was hoping I wasn't doing things wrong. I'm worried about giving him the capstar, he wont eat much or drink much lately, so whats the best way to administer?

I was just checking...most of our experts aren't on right now...when you ask best way to adminster...do you mean orally or injected...or do you mean how to get it down?

As far as injection or oral....I'm assuming you can't inject so you'd have to wait for the vet...and I believe time is of the essence. I also am sure I've read here that it's very hard to overdose capstar...anyway, the alternative is much worse. If you're asking what to put it in....most crush it and mix it in something you know he'll want...sugar water, juice....also you can adminster it slowly, making sure he doesn't spit or drool any out....I think putting the syringe in the side of his mouth and slowly putting it in will help:thumbsup I'm not an expert, but I've paid attention and these are tried and true:thumbsup I would dose him tonight. You don't want them to get a hold of him :shakehead Thanks again ...you rock :alright.gif

[Mommaluvy]

Ditto . I have not delt with maggots but felt sure I wo have to so I paid attention to that as well. I agree with She who wept.

Hopefully someone - I have seen Nancy in New York talk about cap star ..

[Shewhosweptforest]

Okay! I woke him up from his little nap and gave him the capstar he took most of it spit a little out. (he wasn't happy with me Haha) What should I give him now? Water, Formula, Or Pedialyte? I want to make sure he stays safe during the night, if i need to wake up every hour or so to check on him or feed/hydrate him I will!!

:thumbsup Good job! As IR said he needs to have his system flushed...so I would give him some hydration, sugar water or plain water if he'll take it...then give his formula...if he won't take much, just offer it more frequently...IR said he would need his system flushed continually for a day or so....so I'd try at least every 2 hours to get something in him....alternating between water and formula. And if you want to try every hour :clap go for it! :morning Just have the coffee ready in the morning:eek Good luck :grouphug :Love_Icon

[a66jagdream]

Haha I will certainly try! Right before I was able to post this he peed more than he has since he's been with me, and It was very very clear with a hint of yellow. So I took that as a great sign. I'll continue to hydrate him.

[Mommaluvy]

grrrr my phone is not letting me cut and paste .stupis iOS 8
It was a post by IR in the " results of maggots and capstar " thread - post number two.

Notoriously mild - hard to od . Flush flush.

I always get IR and Nancy confused :/

[a66jagdream]

Having trouble locating the thread.

[a66jagdream]

I thought I'd show you some pictures of my sweet baby boy. He's 97 grams, lost a gram since yesterday. Not sure of how old he is, I was hoping you guys could help me with that.

[farrelli]

No bottles. Causes aspiration pneumonia. Please use proper feeding technique - head pointed down syringe up:

http://thesquirrelboard.com/forums/showthread.php?36777-PROPER-FEEDING-TECHNIQUE!!

Syringes can be gotten at most pharmacies, often for free if you say it's for a kitten.

[a66jagdream]

I have a syringe now, that was when I first got him. I've done a lot of reading since then. Thanks for the advice though! :)

[Shewhosweptforest]

Thanks Mommaluvy :thumbsup I found it and will post for you:grin3

http://thesquirrelboard.com/forums/showthread.php?46942-Results-of-maggots-and-Capstar

Well, mainly for you a66jagdream :grin3 and your baby is adorable ...I'd guess he's 7 to 8 weeks old...by the bushiness of his tail...his weight has me thinking younger :dono anyhow he's beeeeutiful! :grouphug

[island rehabber]

hi guys, it's IR and not Nancy, but Nancy is wonderful. :grin2:Love_Icon
Anyway yes he is 7-8 wks old and probably without mamma for quite a few days. This is why the bugs got into him (mamma would have groomed and killed those suckers immediately) and why he is underweight. Good job hyddrating and getting the Capstar in him. Now you'll want to start him on formula....mix it 1part powder to 3 parts water at first AND then after a couple of feedings you can go to full strength. At his age he might enjoy a chunk of apple or sweet potato, as well, since mamma probably started him on solid food already. Don't be surprised if he doesn't take to formula immediately: 7+ weekers are notoriously hard to switch to formula because they had mamma's milk all those weeks before.

[a66jagdream]

Sadly little Marvin passed away in his sleep last night. I was getting up and checking on him every two hours. I wanted so badly for him to make it, but I guess they were infesting him too badly. In glad i was able to give him a few happy days a and keep him warm and loved before he passed. Even just last night he was happy and playful, despite all of his problems.

[Mommaluvy]

Oh I am so sorry. Those maggots. I hate them.

I read somewhere where when they have massive amounts of bacteria or other life forms die off inside them at a fast rate that they can actually die from the toxic breadown of the " die off". This even exists in Humans too. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jarisch-Herxheimer_reaction

Course we have to try. And most critters/people do ok.

Either way I doubt it was anything you did. It was either the maggots, bleeding, or die off. Thank you for caring for him.

Run free little guy.

[Shewhosweptforest]

:boohoo a66jagdream I'm sooo sorry...:shakehead you did everything you could have...sometimes they are too far gone to be saved....but you gave him comfort and love....he was able to pass on feeling safe, warm, full and loved...you did a wonderful thing ...most people would never have even tried....they would have seen a bloodied, maggot infested animal and run screaming....not you :Love_Icon you gave Lil Marvin your all, and you never gave up:bowdown As one of my friends here is known to say "you've earned your sainthood suspenders!" :Love_Icon I'm only sorry that Lil Marvin didn't make it :Cry but I'm thankful he had you to comfort him...he even got to play and be loved on :grouphug Safe journey :Love_Icon Lil Marvin :Love_Icon

:thankyou :bowdown a66jagdream :Love_Icon