Sick squirrel

[dreardon]

I have an adult squirrel that started to lose her fur about a month and a half ago. She stopped drinking from her water bottle and was having abdominal discomfort. She also had skin irritation. I took her to the doctor and did an X-ray which showed she had a backup in her small intestine. We put her on meds to help her go and she started to feel better. However, her skin irritation became worse and became infected. She then had bloodwork which was normal and scraped skin which was normal. During this time she began to eat more but still not drink from water bottle. I put a bowl of water in the cage for her and she still wouldn't drink. She stays dehydrated now and still has breakouts. A steroid shot almost completely cleared up the areas over night. I have cleaned and changed bedding several times. We can't find anything wrong with her. Everyone is stumped. I feed her water with a syringe which she will drink with no issues. But she still doesn't get enough water that way. Can anyone help this baby. Any ideas or suggestions are appreciated.

[Nancy in New York]

Are you positive the water bottle is working?
Try getting another water bottle. Get a large glass one.
I find the water comes out faster with them, and my squirrels
prefer them over plastic.
Can you post a picture of her?
What is her diet like, and how old is she?
Watermelon is great for hydration, though you wouldn't want
her dependent on that for her only hydration.

I'm sure that others will also chime in. :thumbsup

[CritterMom]

Can you tell us about her diet? What does she eat on a daily basis?

[dreardon]

Her water bottle is functional and is glass. Her normal diet is avocado, cauliflower, kale, 1-2 nuts per day, monkey biscuits, zucchini, cherry tomatoes.

[dreardon]

She is 3 years old. Was a slow developer otherwise normal. She opened her eyes late, she didn't get her upper teeth until about 15-16 weeks. She has had no health problems until now. I will try to upload some pics.

About a week or so ago she had an area come up on her abdomen that looked like she had been pinched. Blood under the skin. Her fur looks like kitten milk babies but was never fed kitten milk.

[HRT4SQRLS]

The blood under the skin... that's odd. Did they check her platelets?

[dreardon]

Pics

[dreardon]

260571260572pics again. one is the blood under the skin and the other is the rash that keeps popping up260571260572

[HRT4SQRLS]

Oh my, the abdomen is completely hairless?

You seem to know about squirrels so I'll just throw this out there.
Our first thought is always nutritional... have you thought of supplementing with a little calcium just to rule that out. I always think nutritional when I hear kitten fur syndrome. Personally, I'm not that impressed with the monkey biscuits. I know people use them but IMO the Henry's squirrel blocks are better. You might want to try them. Most squirrels prefer them over the rodent blocks.

You might even want to try 15 minutes per day of sunshine. Of course, you wouldn't want her in direct heat in the afternoon sun. She would suffer heat stroke with the extreme temperatures we've been having. Maybe morning sunshine. It would help her to properly metabolize the calcium.

Just curious, will she take formula? :tilt We have many adult squirrels that actually like the FoxValley 20/50 formula. It is full of nutrients and would be good for her. IMO, nutritional issues are not always due to a poor diet. Sometimes it can be an absorption problem so boosting up the diet can be helpful.

Is she chewing her belly or are those spots just popping up?

[dreardon]

I did try the Henry's Blocks but she wouldn't eat them. I have not tried calcium supplement but am open. I did try soaking monkey biscuits in esbilac but she wouldn't eat that. I haven't tried Fox Valley with her though. I haven't noticed her chewing on herself at all.

[HRT4SQRLS]

I have seen 2 hairless squirrels on TSB. One was a wild youngster that was turned around by nutrition. The other one always had issues and never grew hair. He had major systemic issues that shortened his life.

You mentioned that she was developmentally delayed when growing up. I hope she doesn't have a mysterious metabolic issue that can't be diagnosed or corrected. I'm glad you have a vet.

Can we see a picture of her? :tilt

[Nancy in New York]

Just out of curiosity, what soap do you use?
Have you switched any detergents etc?
Do you ever use dial soap?
We had a little squirrel here once that was getting bald spots.
It was determined that mama was washing her hands with dial, and then
loving on her little one, thus causing a reaction from the dial soap. She stopped using it,
and the bald spots disappeared. :)

[dreardon]

I haven't switched detergents. Everything has remained the same.