HELP - Tree Squirrel with bad diarrhea

[Guga]

Hello,
We have got a male tree squirrel Choco at age 4-5 months old. Since 10 days he got a diarrhea. We feed him with homemade squirrel blocks ( http://squirrelrefuge.org/squirrelblock.html ), 3-4 blocks per day and vegetables ( cucumber, broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, cabbage, mushrooms, apples, pears, melon, pumpkin and pumpkin seeds, one walnut or hazelnut per day ). His weight is 200 grams. We give him and vitamins ( http://www.vitakraft.de/de/produkte/nagerwelt/hamster/produktuebersicht/einzelansicht/backid/749/product/25099.html ) 1/6 part of the tablet per day.
We think that we made ​​mistakes in his diet.
Please tell me your opinion on what we should do.
We think to give him a probiotic (but we do not know in what dosage and how often). We read that we can give him and fenbendazole (as a precaution against Endoparasite).

P.S. Here we can not find a competent veterinarian to consult on this issue !

Waiting for your reply.
Thanks!

[CritterMom]

Hello,
We have got a male tree squirrel Choco at age 4-5 months old. Since 10 days he got a diarrhea. We feed him with homemade squirrel blocks ( http://squirrelrefuge.org/squirrelblock.html ), 3-4 blocks per day and vegetables ( cucumber, broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, cabbage, mushrooms, apples, pears, melon, pumpkin and pumpkin seeds, one walnut or hazelnut per day ). His weight is 200 grams. We give him and vitamins ( http://www.vitakraft.de/de/produkte/nagerwelt/hamster/produktuebersicht/einzelansicht/backid/749/product/25099.html ) 1/6 part of the tablet per day.
We think that we made ​​mistakes in his diet.
Please tell me your opinion on what we should do.
We think to give him a probiotic (but we do not know in what dosage and how often). We read that we can give him and fenbendazole (as a precaution against Endoparasite).

P.S. Here we can not find a competent veterinarian to consult on this issue !

Waiting for your reply.
Thanks!


Your blocks are good ones. Most of us purchase the ready made version of these that is on the same page at Squirrel Refuge.

It is very difficult to give too much probiotic - if you get the capsules for humans just a sprinkle on his food. Yogurt is another source of probiotics.

We also use fenbendazole in the US (Panacur) and if he needs that would be able to help you with dosing as long as you can provide us with info regarding the strength of the product and the weight of your squirrel.

You got him fairly old. How old is he now - how long have you had him?

The most important thing you can do when they have diarrhea is keep them hydrated. That doesn't mean just offering water when he wants it - it means giving him water or slightly sweetened water by syringe regularly.

What happened right before he got sick? Is he indoors our outdoors? Who has access to him?

[Guga]

Thanks for answer!
About yogurt we are not sure because Bulgarian yogurt there is any "bacillus bulgaricus" do not know whether this is good for him.
We got him on 29th Aug, he was then about 60 days old. His weight is now 200 grams.
We raise him indoors, but trying to expose him at sunlight for at least 20-30 minutes per day.
Other animals do not have access to him.
We have not noticed anything that happened before he was sick. But this diet apply it one week before it gets sick.

I forgot to say that his stools smell a lot now and most of the time are like toothpaste and sometimes become liquid.

[CritterMom]

He is small - 200 grams - much smaller than our Eastern Gray squirrels. Can you put up a pic?

I would try the yogurt, and I would also reduce the fruits and vegetables for now - they tend to make one poop and he doesn't need that. Keep him on mostly dry food for now.

Did you make a sudden diet change? It sounds like this is a new diet. Sudden changes can be a problem too.

[island rehabber]

I forgot to say that his stools smell a lot now and most of the time are like toothpaste and sometimes become liquid.

What color are his stools, green-grey or yellow-orange? He may have giardia, or coccidia, and we use different drugs to treat either one.

[Guga]

What color are his stools, green-grey or yellow-orange? He may have giardia, or coccidia, and we use different drugs to treat either one.


This is a picture of Choco
245602
Today we gave him a small amount of yogurt on top of my finger. A little later today I'll give him and probiotic.
On the next picture we shot his poop.
245603

The color of his poop I think that now depends on food (what is eaten earlier in the day), because of a little carrot is changed to yellow-orange, a little cabbage changes to green-brown when eating blocks are basically brown. When there is more vegetable food has a liquid part.
What do you mean it to give him to eat dry food? The only thing that I see like a permitted for consumption is blocks and small amount per day nuts.

Thanks for your answers!

[Rhapsody]

The picture of his recent poops look good to me, just a little wet.
I would do as suggested and cut back on the fruit and push more
squirrels blocks, water and vegetables. His fur seems thin in a
few places, this could also be due to his diet lacking in places.

....... is his species of squirrels as small as him?

[Guga]

The picture of his recent poops look good to me, just a little wet.
I would do as suggested and cut back on the fruit and push more
squirrels blocks, water and vegetables. His fur seems thin in a
few places, this could also be due to his diet lacking in places.

....... is his species of squirrels as small as him?

Well, they look more better now (still wet and soft), but it's not stable condition. Yes i think all of the problems with diarrhea and fur are connected with diet.
I gave him 2 squrrels blocks this morning, i think in obout an hour to give him some mushroom and a little apple maybe. He is drinking a lot of water, witch is good i think.
When we get him i saw his mother, she was not much bigger (about 300-350 grams maybe). Don't think that they're getting much bigger. The man told us that this is "Canadian squirrel" is it real kind of species?

[Rhapsody]

Try and feed him his blocks, vegetables and wild plants during the day
and hold off on any fruits or nuts until dinner time, limit the intake.

[Guga]

Try and feed him his blocks, vegetables and wild plants during the day
and hold off on any fruits or nuts until dinner time, limit the intake.

I think it doesn't work.
For breakfast he eats two blocks at an interval of 1 hour. During the day i gave him small amounts of cauliflower, mushrooms, little carrot, one more block, red cabbage some times. For dinner i gave him one hazelnut, apple and half squirrel block.
We starts to give him probiotic. Yesterday we send samples of his stools to the veterinarian. Today we will have results.
This morning i noticed that his stomach is not digested food. His stool is grainy. I think it is cauliflower wich is not digested. When eat carrot, the stool becomes orange.

[CritterMom]

Yes, you will see color changes in both poop and pee from what they are eating. Our squirrels often eat acorns in the autumn and they make their pee bright red!

First, this baby is not a Canadian squirrel. I believe he is one of the Eurasian red squirrels that get the long tufts on their ears (and are so cute, too!!).

You got this baby from someone who breeds them as pets, right? You said you got to see the mama, so I assume this is correct. You are feeding a good diet but I bet that the breeder forced him to wean from mama's milk much too young. Breeders do this to all sorts of animals - they cannot sell and make money if they are still with mama. I believe the thin, poor quality fur is from that.

Look/call around to pet shops and maybe if you can find some dog breeders, and see what you have available there for PUPPY formula. You do not want kitten formula - the puppy is much closer to mama squirrel's milk. There is a brand called Royal Canin that makes a product called "puppymilk" and I know they do sell in Europe - you may have it there. You would need the formula and you also need a syringe without a needle - 1cc or 3cc would be perfect. We do NOT feed with baby bottles. They will try to eat so fast that they can choke themselves and get liquid in their lungs, which causes pneumonia. The syringe lets you control how much they are taking in.

If you cannot find the Royal Canin, make note of the names of the products you can find and give us that info so we can look them up on the internet and see if the ingredients are ok. It is hard sometimes to help folks in other countries because we don't know what you have available to you.

[lilidukes]

Cauliflower can cause diarrhea.

[Guga]

We have officially diagnose - COCCIDIA :(
I'm sort of happy, because we know already what the problem is.
The vet gave him some medicine from the Baycox family. (I didn't remember the name, he said that Baycox shoud give every day with a lot of water, but this medicine is kind of syrup and should give him again in 10 days.

According to vet, the wheat protein in his homemade squirrel blocks is too much for his weight and because he is not that active like a free squirrel. I think the next amount of blocks that I do, to put only the half of the quantity of wheat protein.

Thanks so much for help. :)

If you can gave me some other advice i'll be really happy.
This evening i'll clean his cage and burrow.
Should i give him puppymilk, probiotic or something else?