seizure in 3 month old gray squirrel

[cdamico]

Please help. I have been raising 4 orphaned baby gray squirrels for the last 2 months. Today one began having tonic/clonic type seizues lasting on and off for 3o minutes. His litter mates are fine..or the worst is yet to come No known injury, no dietary changes. HELP! Thanks, Cheryl

[rippie-n-lilgirlsmom]

How did you acquire them did they happen to fall from their nest? What is their diet, what have you fed them until this point?

[rippie-n-lilgirlsmom]

Keep the baby in the dark, warm and quiet. This could be a case of low blood sugar, try karo syrup, maple syrup, and or pedialyte.

Or this could be a case of head trauma because of a fall from the nest.
Or fever, infection or genetic or low blood calcium which is why I asked about the diet. Give the syrup a try first.

[squirrelfriend]

How old are the babies? once they are weaned they need to get their calcium from other sources. A full spectrum light is VERY important. Buy one from a place that specializes in reptiles. They are usually more knowledgeable when it comes to these. Keep the squirrel calm and stress free.

[willydugas]

Please help. I have been raising 4 orphaned baby gray squirrels for the last 2 months. Today one began having tonic/clonic type seizues lasting on and off for 3o minutes. His litter mates are fine..or the worst is yet to come No known injury, no dietary changes. HELP! Thanks, Cheryl Please listen to me IT IS LOW CALCIUM, I know because I went though the same thing . Give them their their FORMULA. tHEN GIVE THEM CRASHED CALCIUM ANTACID TABLETS IN THEIR FORMULA FOR A FEW DAYS. BUT THE fORMULA MAY BE ENOUGH.I saved my little Joey that way.I did not save his sister ,because I found out about that too late.THEY NEED CALCIUM!!!!!!!!!! WILLIE DUGAS:wave123

[willydugas]

Please listen to me IT IS LOW CALCIUM, I know because I went though the same thing . Give them their their FORMULA. tHEN GIVE THEM CRASHED CALCIUM ANTACID TABLETS IN THEIR FORMULA FOR A FEW DAYS. BUT THE fORMULA MAY BE ENOUGH.I saved my little Joey that way.I did not save his sister ,because I found out about that too late.THEY NEED CALCIUM!!!!!!!!!! WILLIE DUGAS:wave123 Please let me know how it goes. :thankyou

[ravenlaws32]

when you stated no dietary changes, we need to know what all the diet consist of to know for sure but does sound like mbd.alsl a little prime powder in the water will help . there all sorts of way to get more calcium so please come back and update the diet .

[willydugas]

when you stated no dietary changes, we need to know what all the diet consist of to know for sure but does sound like mbd.alsl a little prime powder in the water will help . there all sorts of way to get more calcium so please come back and update the diet .
Their is calclum in Puppies Replacement Milk. You can also crush tums with calclum in the Formula.You must do this right away! What have you been feeding them? Puppie Replacement Milk,Liquid or Powdered.You can get it at Wal Mart. I live in Dublin,Ga. I will be home after 2:PM Eastern. I will be here till 8:55 am. Good Luck I want to know how they come out.

[cdamico]

To all who posted,-thank you. I have had these babies for 12 weeks. Started out with Esbalac for puppies, added oranges, cauliflower, rutabagers, spinich, cherrios sunflower seeds. They weaned themselves from the esbalac about 3 weeks ago. They nolonger want the bottle but I still mix a sm one up daily just in case someone changes their mind. Sadly, the one squirrel I asked assistance in died within 30 minutes of the onset of the 1st seizure. His liter mate is dieing as we speak. I have given IM calcium (vet calculated dose for me) as well as glucose, without success. Im sick over this, they werent pets but soon to be released wild animals. Ive raised 60 plus squirrels over the years and this has NEVER happened. Please give me some advise. Many thanks, CA

[rippie-n-lilgirlsmom]

Will your vet see the squirrel? This sounds like it could be genetic, if you have raised 60 squirrels you obviously know whats what.
Sunflower seeds will block calcium, this is the only drawback in the diet I see.
Did they fall from the nest? This is important?

[island rehabber]

cdamico, this is awful -- I truly feel for you. Think back...is there ANYTHING that changed around these squirrels recently? A landscaper spraying....a new cleaning agent you used....a new animal in the home or another pet just back from the vet who might have been carrying a bug.....think hard, so that maybe something can be done to save the others. The only other thing I can think of is going back to the reason you got these squirrels in the first place: were they cat caught, or maybe head trauma when they fell from the nest? Sometimes bacteria from a cat will cause infection weeks later, and head trauma will kill squirrels later on as their skulls grow and the brain develops....something goes wrong from the original injury but doesn't kill them til later on. Again, I'm so sorry this terrible thing happened and it's obvious you truly care about these poor guys.

[Abacat]

Very sorry too about what's happening...what were they doing before the seizures started? Like IR said, think about anything that's come in contact with them recently...tree branches, dirt, etc. anything different? Wish I could offer you some sort of help, all I can do is pray...Please keep us posted...

[Buddy'sMom]

Just wanted to add my support, and sympathies. You must be heartbroken. I hope you can figure out what was the cause -- there are great minds here and vast combined experience, all ready and willing to help you try to figure it out. :grouphug :grouphug

[Kathy56]

:grouphug :grouphug :grouphug :grouphug

[ravenlaws32]

wow , that is truly sad. i agree with what island rehabber had to say since yo u have raised over 60 fuzzy i know you know what you are doing. Unfortunately in the world some thing just cannot be explained but i have a feeling some info will come from this. it has got to be something causing this to effect the litter. I would log everything on paper i mean everything , from time of first case til how long it took to develop in the other fuzzy . and try to go from there. i would also look into relocating all of them to somewhere else to rule out enviromental causes. i wish i was close to help and reccomend but all we can do is hope and pray from here/