Groundhog with acute paralysis

[BDGibson4]

All,

I understand this is a squirrel forum, but you guys seem to have the best knowledge of rodents I have found. I have used a lot of info off this site to raise my baby orphaned ground hog from about 2 weeks old up to 3.5mo right now.

My emergency started this morning. I fed my little guy some broccoli around 7am. Another family member gave him some avocado a few hours later at 11am. At 1PM I went to check on him and he has lost 100% feeling and movement in his rear end. His stomach also is very inflated, but very soft to the touch - not firm like usual if he over eats. I have read about the calcium deficiency and actually started him on some mineral blocks and liquid vitamins a few weeks ago as a preventative measure.

Other thoughts are something in his stomach ruptured? He seems to have been pooping/peeing fine though. Also its possible he was climbing his cage (3Wx4Lx3T) and fell onto the edge of his bed box with his back? Unlikely as we would have heard the crash and the box would have most likely been flipped - which it wasn't. He was actually inside the box when I found him, unable to crawl out. I do not believe there is anyway he could have gotten into it in his current condition. Its like he went to take a nap and woke up paralyzed.

Any help here would be greatly appreciated.

[SammysMom]

Did they give the avocado with the skin or pit?

[BDGibson4]

Yes, we always have. He eats around it and leaves the shell and nut untouched. Just a clean knife mark in the skin, no teeth marks at the edges

[SammysMom]

What else does he eat on an every day basis?

[BDGibson4]

He is pretty picky. I would say 30% of each Broccoli, cauliflower, avocado. The other 10% would be a banana or peanut or cracker here and there. One time he begged for a french fry. Thats about all he will accept.

[SammysMom]

Is there any chance that he took a fall?

[CritterMom]

Wow. OK, some dietary problems there - we will try to get some people with more info about groundhogs on here but in the meantime, you need to really get the calcium into him starting this instant.

I don't know what you are using, but I would get 750mg of straight calcium into him between now and bedtime, broken up into multiple doses, and continue to do the same tomorrow.

You can use Tums for a calcium source - the fruit flavored ones are best. Flip the bottle and read the Supplement Facts on the back to see the total calcium and how large the dosage is, as there are multiple Tums sizes.

[CritterMom]

Also, does he have any sensation in the rear end at all? If you pinch a toe will he move at all?

On a scale of 1-10, how sure are you that he didn't fall?

[SammysMom]

What formula did/does he get and how old was he when/if he stopped taking it?

[pappy1264]

He should be eating greens, as in nature, they eat alot of it. Dandelions are a big part of their diet.

[BDGibson4]

Unfortunatly I had to leave home for the night. He is in the care of my parents currently. I will tell them about the tums.

As far as sensation I am saying zero from his ribcage back. No response to pinching at all.

As far as falling I am saying minimal. He has never tried to climb across the top of the cage which is what he would have had to do to fall where I found him. There is no chance he could have climbed into his sleeping box without his hind end.

For food I fed him the esblack from the day I brought him home (didn't think he had a chance at that point) but he thrived and put on weight fast. I ween ed him from about 7 to 9 weeks of age slowly. He has been on solid foods for over a month. Still growing and putting on weight.

I will try to keep in touch with my parents and this board tonight but I will be limited to service.

I sincerely appriciate everyone's help

[SammysMom]

The total lack of feeling so suddenly sounds more like an accident to me. If he has to climb to get into his house, is it possible that he fell getting out of it?

[Nancy in New York]

Just scanned these in. Hopefully something will help.
These are from the Wild Mammal Babies book.

http://nmognoni.smugmug.com/photos/i-BpVXmqr/0/L/i-BpVXmqr-L.jpg (http://nmognoni.smugmug.com/WoodchuckGroundhog/n-dxTDvZ/i-BpVXmqr/A)

http://nmognoni.smugmug.com/photos/i-FjSMPGs/0/L/i-FjSMPGs-L.jpg (http://nmognoni.smugmug.com/WoodchuckGroundhog/n-dxTDvZ/i-FjSMPGs/A)

http://nmognoni.smugmug.com/photos/i-bxknLBn/0/L/i-bxknLBn-L.jpg (http://nmognoni.smugmug.com/WoodchuckGroundhog/n-dxTDvZ/i-bxknLBn/A)


http://nmognoni.smugmug.com/photos/i-VTSRcNR/0/L/i-VTSRcNR-L.jpg (http://nmognoni.smugmug.com/WoodchuckGroundhog/n-dxTDvZ/i-VTSRcNR/A)

http://nmognoni.smugmug.com/photos/i-pJS3nkG/0/L/i-pJS3nkG-L.jpg (http://nmognoni.smugmug.com/WoodchuckGroundhog/n-dxTDvZ/i-pJS3nkG/A)

[Nancy in New York]

Unfortunatly I had to leave home for the night. He is in the care of my parents currently. I will tell them about the tums.

As far as sensation I am saying zero from his ribcage back. No response to pinching at all.

As far as falling I am saying minimal. He has never tried to climb across the top of the cage which is what he would have had to do to fall where I found him. There is no chance he could have climbed into his sleeping box without his hind end.

For food I fed him the esblack from the day I brought him home (didn't think he had a chance at that point) but he thrived and put on weight fast. I ween ed him from about 7 to 9 weeks of age slowly. He has been on solid foods for over a month. Still growing and putting on weight.

I will try to keep in touch with my parents and this board tonight but I will be limited to service.

I sincerely appriciate everyone's help


Tell your parents about this board. They do NOT need to be members to read this section of the board.
However, they can join the board if they like and ask any questions they may have.

[pappy1264]

He was weaned way too early. Start the MBD protocol. See if you can also get him to take formula, as well. He should be eating mostly healthy greens, as the main part of his diet. I am not sure this is MBD, but it won't hurt to treat for it. Generally it is not seen like this (sudden paralysis, you would more likely have noticed some leg weakness, or dragging a bit.) Has he been eating normally and seemed his usual self leading up to this happening? Is he able to go potty on his own?

[Nancy in New York]

This could be both, the start of MBD AND a fall. They could go hand in hand.
Not saying this for you ladies, I KNOW you both know this.:)

[Nancy in New York]

All,
I have read about the calcium deficiency and actually started him on some mineral blocks and liquid vitamins a few weeks ago as a preventative measure.




What kind of liquid vitamins are you giving and do they have vitamin D in them?

[BDGibson4]

I wanted to give you all an update:

We did get him to eat quite a bit of formula with the crushed up tums in it. After 36 hours from the "incident" he is considerably calmer and I could examine him better. I noticed he had a chipped top tooth and it looked loose as he would push his tongue against it. We were cleaning him up (he has lost all bladder and rectal control and is just going as he fills up. I tried to express him manually but I don't think the signal is making it to his brain.) and that's when I could really see and feel the knot on his spine right where I described his paralysis starts. It has swollen considerably in the area once the injury had some time to swell up.

While we were putting him away he took a strike at me (I must have put pressure on one of his injury's) and his chipped tooth came out root and all. While more aggressive than his normal play biting, he did not break the skin and the tooth still came out - so that tells you how bad it was.

As unlikely as it seemed at first, I now believe he did take a fall and just landed perfectly (wrong) on the side of his bed box and broke his back/ slammed his face.

To answer a couple replies above, his bed box is only about 6" tall so he couldn't have hurt himself getting in/out of it alone. It is tall enough that he cant get into it in his current condition though. He had to have landed in it from above- about a 24" drop, and hit the side.

Another member mentioned that I weened him too early? I am curious when I should have, in case I ever find one of these little fellas again. Everything I read lead me to believe I was on track with him or even a little late on the weening. Is it because he is captive that you wait a little longer?

Again I sincerely appreciate everyone's help here, even though he isn't this board's native critter.

[SammysMom]

Oh I am so sorry to hear that he is injured. However, now you can address the injuries. Where in the US are you located? We may be able to help you find a vet.

[SammysMom]

As far as weaning timing, it looks like they should have formula until 10 - 13 weeks of age. I do know that others who I know that rehabbed them gave it to them for longer.
Just have to move forward from here though so just know for the next time and don't focus on it this time.