Clicking sounds when breathing

[nchls_school]

Peanut again. Just when I think he is getting better something else comes up. I was reading over some of the other new posts and one lady mentioned that her squirrel-not clicking. Again my ignorance comes into play. What is clicking? While breathing? This is what is going on with Peanut. I hear a clicking sound as he breathes. Now what?

[island rehabber]

Pick him up and hold him close to your ear. Do you hear a click on every INhale and EXhale, regularly? If so, this is aspiration pneumonia and he MUST get antibiotics NOW.

If you hear a 'pfft' or a click every once in awhile, it is normal squirrel noises.

[TubeDriver]

Aspiration pneumonia sounds like this:

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=WtqWQKTOeRI


If you hear regular clicking (does not have to be every breath but fairly regular) then he needs Cipro ASAP. This can kill a baby in 36 hours.

Do you have Cipro (Baytril)?

[CritterMom]

This is NOT a baby squirrel - but he has been being force fed off and on...

[Nancy in New York]

Not sure if you can do this with Peanut, but I found this interesting and informative.
It may be worth a try. :dono

I couldn't find a place that seemed appropriate for this so I decided to put it here.

Last week I received a baby grey that was about 6 weeks old. The finder had her for 24 hrs and was feeding human baby formula. She didn't have a syringe so I'm not sure what she was using to feed her.

I picked her up around 7:30 in the evening. I put her in a deep Rubbermaid bin with fleece on heat. When she was warm I started hydrating and she took a little but was not enthusiastic about it. I continued offering the fluid with minimal success.

At 11PM, I approached the bin and I could hear it VERY clearly. The baby was clicking. The unusual thing was that the Rubbermaid bin actually served to amplify or concentrate the sound like a speaker. When I took the lid off, I could hear nothing. I ABSOLUTELY could not hear clicking from the baby at all. I put the lid back on and I could hear the clicking again. I was so amazed that the Rubbermaid bin (16x12x11deep) amplified the sound. Without this, I would have missed it and the baby would have died.

I dosed the baby with Cipro immediately. The next morning I dosed again. The baby was doing very poorly. At around 8AM, my mom got 0.3ml of formula in her. At around 11AM she took 1.2ml enthusiastically and started to improve rapidly. Now you can't fill the girl up. She is doing great.

I just wanted to post this due to the unusual way that the clicking was picked up. The bin acted as a speaker and amplified the sound. I was curious if anyone else has noticed thing. For me it was an 'aha' moment. Maybe this could help someone also. :tilt

[nchls_school]

Not sure if you can do this with Peanut, but I found this interesting and informative.
It may be worth a try. :dono

No, we don't have any antibiotics. I hear the clicking only when he is stressed; which is too often lately. We have stopped force feeding and using the syringe in any way. I've heard the clicking for a couple of days; dang. I should have realized… He ate well this morning; to get protein in him I put peanut butter (small amount) with protein powder mixed in on my finger. He will eat off my finger, but put it in a dish in his cage and it's ignored. And he is drinking well. Sorry for not answering your posts quickly; wish I could. I am at school setting up tables, chairs for a spaghetti dinner for the parents. I will reply as quickly as I am able. Thank you.

[nchls_school]

Not sure if you can do this with Peanut, but I found this interesting and informative.
It may be worth a try. :dono

Super idea. Peanut's clicking is quite audible. I don't think food has gotten into his lungs. Both Kimmi and I are very experienced at hand feeding conures and cockatiels which are very prone to inhaling food during hand feeding. I can not be positive, but Peanut has never given any indication of this; there has not been any choking on food incidents. He did become extremely stressed and fearful when he was syringed (this is when I noticed the clicking at first). There will be no more force feeding. Now he is fearful anytime he is taken from his cage. This has gotten better; we haven't force fed in a couple of days and he is calming down.

[TubeDriver]

Please check your PM.



Super idea. Peanut's clicking is quite audible. I don't think food has gotten into his lungs. Both Kimmi and I are very experienced at hand feeding conures and cockatiels which are very prone to inhaling food during hand feeding. I can not be positive, but Peanut has never given any indication of this; there has not been any choking on food incidents. He did become extremely stressed and fearful when he was syringed (this is when I noticed the clicking at first). There will be no more force feeding. Now he is fearful anytime he is taken from his cage. This has gotten better; we haven't force fed in a couple of days and he is calming down.

[TubeDriver]

I know, I should have been more clear: it can kill a baby in 24 hours and while it will usually take longer in an adult, it is a deadly serious issue that needs to be addressed immediately.



This is NOT a baby squirrel - but he has been being force fed off and on...

[Nancy in New York]

I know, I should have been more clear: it can kill a baby in 24 hours and while it will usually take longer in an adult, it is a deadly serious issue that needs to be addressed immediately.

I call ALL squirrels baby, or peanut head, (Oh except Henry the Fierce, of course :grin2) so I assumed that's what you were doing as well. :grin2

[CritterMom]

I call ALL squirrels baby, or peanut head, (Oh except Henry the Fierce, of course :grin2) so I assumed that's what you were doing as well. :grin2

Sorry guys. I really am not being nit picky. But most people only read 2 or 3 posts above the last one in a thread before commenting and they can go wildly off course that way - like thinking Peanut is, in fact, a nursing baby, or that two squirrels with symptoms are actually one. It's just how my brain works...

And I call P my baby all the time.

[TubeDriver]

Does the OP have a 1ml syringe? If not, I can send one.

[nchls_school]

My wife insists that I have overreacted. Peanut has been with us since September and Kimmi says that Peanuts breathing is the same as always. She tells me that she noticed the clicking when he is upset right away; may be I need a hearing aid. I guess, this time, I was worried over nothing Thanks to everyone and sorry for causing alarm.

[SammysMom]

From the sound of it, it may well me him clicking his teeth. They are just overflowing with clicking sounds...:shakehead I brought a litter of four pinkies to the vet, sure that they were all at death's door... The vet listened to them and said "what the heck are you talking about? Their lungs are perfectly fine!". The clicking to worry about comes from their chest. There are usually other signs of pneumonia that go along with it.