Chipmunk emergency

[acorniv]

Hey
We are Moms kids (12 & 16), and there is noone with a car at the house moms out of town and dad is at work)
and we just rexcued a chipmunk from a neighbor cat.
the cat bit it and had it in its mouth. the chipmunk has what looks like a supourficial bite wound, from where the cat had it in its mouth. We haven't been able to get a good look at it yet, but its in a clear plastic box with air holes (that we used for the squirrel a whiule ago) burrowed into a towel.

Our first concern is infection from cat saliva, but we can't really get a look at it.
What can we use to clean wounds with that we have at the house?
neither of us can drive.

we also have no long distance phone right now.

please get back to us as fast as possible.

and mom is on the phone if you need to ask her questions

[acorniv]

HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[acorniv]

PLEASE HELP US!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[xoxkayxox]

I really dont know what to suggest and i hope a rehabber comes soon. How is the chippie? Is he still active? Ive heard suggestions on here before to put an animal in distress in a dark, quiet place to calm down, oh with food and water.
Ive got chipmunks myself and if any are ever scratched i use warm water to clean the wound, i did use tea tree oil once(a drop in the water) but im not sure how safe that is.
Good luck
Kay

[thundersquirrel]

i'm here. it's weird no one's responded yet!

he needs antibiotic for the wound as soon as you can get it to him. i'm pretty sure the stuff to use is baytril, but i'm not certain. damn. uncertainty means don't actually use it until you get a more certain opinion from a rehabber with a better memory.

if you can create an incubator type of situation, that would be good. if you have a box or plastic container (both would need to be clean and have air holes for decent ventilation) and towels, put two and two together.

heat is excellent for an animal in shock.

if you have a heating pad, set on low, put it beneath the box.

a bottle of hot water wrapped in a towel also works, but keep the plastic away from the skin and make sure it doesn't go cold.

if you have a clean sock and some dry rice, you can fill the sock with rice, tie it off, and put it in the microwave for thirty seconds.

if this is an adult animal be extremely careful. an attack may have put it into shock, but once an animal comes out of shock, it can be very unpredictable. this could happen at any time.

if it's a baby, make sure you wash your hands before and after touching it. don't worry about food or water for now, just focus on the following;

heat
darkness/calm
contacting your mother

i have to go, i hope this helps.

[acorniv]

We took a look at her, used a wet washcloth to wash off any cat saliva, and it looks like she only was held in the cats teeth. there was no blood, and as far as we could tell, no wounds.
what we thought were flank wounds seem to have been cat drool.
We've dried her off again, have a heating pad under her, and are filling the sock with rice as I type this.
We will treat her for shock, and see what happens.
WE think she might not even be in shock, though we aren't sure, because while we had her out to clean her, she was jumping all over the place. at the same time, we could sometimes hold her for extended periods of time.

[rippie-n-lilgirlsmom]

She needs baytril even more so being in the cats mouth.

[island rehabber]

You've gotten great advice so far, guys -- Dark, Warm and Quiet is best. If you don't see blood then just let her calm down for awhile, watching her breathing and other signs every so often. TS is right -- Baytril is great for cat-caught rodents as a precaution or cure for saliva-borne infectious bacteria. I see no problem, after she's calmed down, with cleaning her a little bit with warm water and VERY mild soap -- like watered-down Dawn, for instance......especially since she had the dreaded cat drool on her, you don't want her licking it off to clean herself. If you or your mom PM's me later I can look up the dosage for Baytril for you, if you're able to get it from your vet. :)

[acorniv]

Thank you everybody for your help. we're about to let her go. Thanks! any extra help would be great but I think we're ok for now.

[rippie-n-lilgirlsmom]

Your going to let her go as in let her free?

[thundersquirrel]

it might not be best to let her go just yet. she still needs dosing, even though she has no wounds. it's a precaution i suggest you take. at least keep it until your mother comes back, just to be on the safe side.

it must be young if it's not biting you, but be careful. those rodents are awful quick!

[acorniv]

My moms out of state and but i had her on the phone the whole time. The store she was at had somebody who said to use saline solution so thats what we did. She had no wounds on her and when we took her out of the box she jumped and ran around. When we dried her off she calmed down some and we set her back in the box and onto the heating pad. She sat there until my dad got home
(about 30:00 later.) She was breathing regularly and was active. Mom called and said she could be released. we took her outside about where we found her and opened the box. (after checking for cats) she bounced out (she was so happy to be outside again!) and kind of ricochets of a tree into our neighbors yard and under her back deck. she seemed just fine.

Thanks for all your help.

[Buddy'sMom]

You two did a very good job taking care of the chipmunk and getting advice and help for it. It was good of you to log on and ask -- and to report back with updates. :thumbsup Your Mom and Dad should be very proud of you both! (of course, we know that they ALREADY were, since your Mom has mentioned :D ).

Glad to hear chippie recovered from its terrifying experience. It surely was glad to get back outside where it could go back home and feel safe.

Cat saliva can be very dangerous in a wound on a squirrel or chipmunk. Since your chippie didn't have a wound, and you washed the saliva off, probably it will be okay.

:thankyou both for caring for the injured and frightened chipmunk!!
:grouphug :grouphug

[Gabe]

Cat saliva can be very dangerous in a wound on a squirrel or chipmunk. Since your chippie didn't have a wound, and you washed the saliva off, probably it will be okay.

Buddy's Mom is right. Only 38% of cats carry bacteria in their saliva. It is more common in kittens than adult cats. It was a good idea to wash the saliva off.

Good job!:thumbsup

[TexanSquirrel]

Good luck!!!

[halo]

My gut feeling was LET IT GO also. If u see no wounds and they act like they are trying to escape its better to let them go. Sometimes animals get so stressed out being in captivity (when they dont need to be) that will make them sick

Good job kiddos!!!


Halo

[acorniv]

:thankyou Everyone for being there for my kids and their little chippie. I've never seen one in our yard before! Guess they live around my neighbor's deck. After they released her they talked to my neighbor who said she'd keep an eye out. They think she was a pregnant female, and reducing her stress was one reason I said go ahead and release. I figured one cleaned off chippie with no open wounds was a better gamble than a litter of stillborn babies from a freaked out mom in early labor...

You were all so kind and supportive. I really appreciate it - ! My 12 yo found her and drove the rescue operation (same kid who has been there through thick and thin with Miss Hickory). She's going through a rough spot recently and it meant a lot to her to accomplish this. As you all know, rescues are not all that easy, and take a lot of different skills. But, some kids are better equipped than many adults :) I was 4 hours away - driving to a carving workshop and it was such a relief to be able to direct my dd to you, and know she was in good hands. You folks ROCK!

[island rehabber]

I think we all had fun interacting with those great kids. And nice to hear from you again, acorniv! :wave123

[acorniv]

Thanks, IR,

I've missed you folks! A lot has happened since I was last on. I have gone through FOUR computers in the last 6 months ( 2 macs and 2 pcs) and three have been in the last month or so. I can't figure out why. This one is only a week old; made brand fresh form all new components. I transfered NO data and work only through the internet ( no other program). I changed circuits, too. The only things common to all 4 computers is my email addy, my APC back up battery and my server. Right now I am thinking it may be the APC battery? Or, have I got a stalker who is targeting my email addy? Can they do that? At any rate, it stinks.

When I lost all my addresses for pet care and rehabbers, I skipped my trips to Chicago and Gatlinburg and only did the carving workshop in Huntsville. We still have Miss Hickory because all my rehabber research evaporated and the one person I was actually able to reach struck me as more of a witch than a saint. I just could not send MH, sight unseen to someone who had no bedside manner with me. I was pretty confident my 12 yo could be trusted to do all her care while I was away and as you saw, she went the extra mile and rescued yet another critter, :rotfl on top of caring for MH.

I've got to write the list about MH and all she is up to, and also get some help downloading photos, but will do so in separate threads.