Woke up to a squirrley nightmare :( (swollen foot with picture) Please help diagnose

[SquirrelGirl423]

I had woken up to let my sunshine out of her carrying case (as her habitat is being reinforced) and noticed her hind foot was literally 3 times the size of her other ones! not to mention the fact that it was purple and slightly bloody, but not enough to show signs of a fresh, open, or deep wound. She wasn't walking on it at all, but keeps cleaning it and oddly enough there's also a bit of blood on her ankle. I can only think of her being her squirrely self and getting caught on something inside her little house, but I cant figure out what to do, how to treat it, or if I need to seek a vet. She's very calm when I hold her and touch it very slightly with a Q-tip to see if it was broken, and she doesn't seems phased by it. Unfortunately I'm still worried about what to do and was hoping someone could help.

Also: I found no broken nails, thorns, or anything sharp in her case
I've had her for over a year, due to her being blind in one eye and inner ear damage she has a permanent home with me.
No one has access to her except my girlfriend who loves her as much as myself.

[CritterMom]

Look very carefully. She may have a thread wrapped around the ankle - even long human hair can do this.

[SquirrelGirl423]

I checked again and no thread or hair. Very stiff and still very swollen.
Oddly enough she's sweating on the inside of her leg,..
..unless she's gnawing at it..
She's still very calm, and the swollen foot isn't hotter than any other part of her so I don't believe it's infected but honestly, I'm not too sure of anything. :(

[HRT4SQRLS]

Sorry, that looks very bad. The last toe looks completely black. Either that's the worse bruise I've ever seen or the circulation is cut off. She will probably lose the toe.
I just wanted to sound in to warn you that she will try to chew her foot off. It has happened before. :shakehead Be very, very careful. If you see her going after the foot, you will need to put a wrist wrap around her torso so that she can't reach back to get at her foot.

I can't imagine what she could have done. Did she chew or fray the inside of the carrier so that strings were exposed.

[island rehabber]

the 'sweating' may be fluid leaking through her pores from the edema -- fluids building up inside the leg. The pressure must be relieved by some type of lancing or drawing out fluids with a needle. I would strongly suggest a vet if you have one. The bit of blood could be the entry wound of a bite -- spider?

[SquirrelGirl423]

I was observing her and noticed she's constantly cleaning it, which makes me curious as to what she knows that i don't. I see no open wounds but the toes aren't black, just as purple as prunes. It seems to me, the two separate toes that have spread farther than the rest are where the swelling seems the worst.

[SquirrelGirl423]

Im trying to clean away the area but see no bite, the only thing i have seen is a slightly broken nail.
I'm going to cut away carefully at the hair, around the affected area and call to vets close to me, although i am very nervous about it, i will do what's best for my sunshine.
i will update when done removing as much hair as possible.
wish me luck

[PeeWee's Mom]

Sending positivity your way! :grouphug:grouphug

[SquirrelGirl423]

Thank you so much!

After cutting away at all her ankle and foot fur
i found an awful nylon culprit matted in her fur and around her ankle :( it had to have come from her new bedding, my girlfriend spotted the frayed corner after we went through her carrier again.
I immediately took a paper clip to lift and snip it and already her toes have dropped down into their regular formation.
I want to thank everyone on this post so much for replying so promptly and being so lovely.
I'm going to attempt to bandage it but she seems so done with me poking and prodding at her boo-boo.
i will post pics before and after the bandage, once i find something suitable.

Again, Thank you TSB <3

[CritterMom]

I knew there had to be something there.

She can have infant ibuprophen and it will help with the inflammation and pain (it will likely start to hurt once the circulation returns). Infant ibuprophen is a syrup - cherry I think - and available at any drug store. We need her weight to help you dose it. If you do not have a weight on her we need a pic of her in the frame with something we can use to gauge size - like a soda can. You will need a 1cc syringe to dose the ibuprophem.

[czarina]

Was she in a cat/small dog carrier/kennel thingy? The hard plastic kind?


I once had a broken leg on a baby whose eyes had just opened. After reviewing EVERYTHING in her environment that could have hurt her, the only possible thing was if she hah gotten her leg/foot caught in one of the ventilation holes in the top of the carrier.
(I had fleece wrapped at the bottom of the door to prevent just such a thing.)

You mentioned that one of her nails looked affected?

You can give her infant advil for the pain. Let us know her weight, and someone can dose it for you.( my poor baby was crying with the pain )

I have been been wanting to alert others about this.

Hope your little one is better soon.:Love_Icon:grouphug:Love_Icon

[island rehabber]

YAY for folks with sharp eyes! Hoping she gets better quickly! :thumbsup

[SquirrelGirl423]

Everyone is so lovely :D thank you
She seems to just wanna cuddle up and not be bothered but i did manage to snap a few of my finicky baby, she's scratchin me up :/ but at least she's able
I will attempt better ones once she wakes up :)

[CritterMom]

How old is she?

[SquirrelGirl423]

Best estimated guess for me would possibly be a year and maybe 2-4 months, i have pictures of when i first found her. I didn't know what to give her besides water so i started her on teaspoons of the pedialyte and water.

[CritterMom]

I would imagine that she is at least a pound - probably a bit more. I am sending you the INFANT IBUPROPHEN dosing by PM.

Please refer to this picture of a 1cc syringe with the markings on it, and if you have ANY - even the smallest question as to whether you are right or not about how to read the syringe, ASK FIRST!! There isn't a person on this board who wouldn't rather help you with that than see you give too much or too little!

http://thesquirrelboard.com/forums/showthread.php?44591-Reading-a-Syringe

[Shewhosweptforest]

:bowdown Great save everyone! I'm so glad she was helped so quickly:thumbsup I hope it was caught in time and she has no further issues from it :grouphug

[HRT4SQRLS]

http://www.sherv.net/cm/emoticons/hand-gestures/phew-smiley-emoticon.gif (http://www.sherv.net/)
Wow! What a relief. You realize you saved her foot, right? I'm so happy you found the problem now as opposed to later. :thumbsup

By the way, I don't know if it's a current pic or an older one, but I saw the towel in the last pic. You should avoid towels because of the loops. I think you got some 'up front' hands on experience as to why they should be avoided. We use fleece for bedding, etc because it doesn't have the same risk as towels.

She sure is cute and I'm so happy that she's going to be better. :bliss

[SquirrelGirl423]

Haha unfortunately she loves to run around, literally, around in circles, which is why she gets caught often and fast :/
I'm glad to have gotten such helpful advice. :)