OLDER FEMALE CANNOT SEEM TO EAT

[stevetheartist]

Hi, I joined this site to see if anyone might assist us in helping an older female squirrel my wife has known at a local cemetery (one square mile in size, so it is pretty large) here in Colorado Springs. She is most comfortable with my wife and often sits right next to her to eat her nuts and berries my wife brings to her menagerie. She is more interested in being with Pamela than with the food itself most of the time. But now she has developed a growth or swelling on one side of her face (jaw area), and though she comes to the food and looks at it, and sometimes picks it up to try to eat it, she is often not able to do so. We know one dumb lady who insists on feeding the squirrels peanuts (and often rancid ones at that) even after Pamela has explained that this is not safe fare for them. But of course I know not what has caused the swelling on the outside of her right cheek. Yesterday I watched her try to eat a grape for a long time before she was finally successful, and she usually is not able to eat nuts anymore.

Just for background, my wife has a serious condition herself called electromagnetic hypersensitivity that has almost killed her numerous times in the past. She needs to be away from almost all electrical stuff (especially any wireless devices, cell towers, cell phones, etc., but really anything using AC), and for the past four years has spent a large part of every day in isolated areas in or near where we live. The cemetery is the best place for her, and she has developed intimate connections to more animals than you could possibly count. She is like a living St. Francis or general animal whisperer.

Do any of you have any ideas to help, or is this likely the end of the road for our little friend? We don't know how to help or what to do. I would treasure any wisdom you could give us.

[Spanky]

:Welcome to TSB!

Do you happen to be familiar with Bot Fly warbles? If not Google that (Bot fly warble squirrel) and see if maybe that is what your wife's friend might be enduring. It is the right time of year for them to be present.

If it is a Bot Fly, typically they are mostly a nuisance and not a real threat to the squirrel's health. Eventually, after getting very large, the bot fly larvae will exit, the exit hole will seal up and fur grow back. In a few short weeks you'd never know the difference.

There are times when the squirrel simply has too many to remain healthy (typically 6+) or they warbles in located in areas that interfere with critical functions like eating or excretion.

Pictures are always extremely helpful in situations like this one! :flash

[Nancy in New York]

If you can get a photo that would help a lot.
To me this sounds as if it may be an issue with her teeth, especially with her
not being able to eat. :sadness

[island rehabber]

In the meantime the best things you can offer her are clean, fresh water and easy to eat foods like melon, (they love watermelon), avocado and even peanut butter within reason. Poor girlie.

[stevetheartist]

Thanks to all of you for your advice thus far. Pamela will seek to get some good close-up photos of her tomorrow with my 300mm lens. We made blenderized organic sunflower and walnut butter today, along with some apple butter, and she did not show up as normal. The other squirrels loved the fare, however, so we will try again tomorrow, and I will let you know what happens. I had never heard of bot flies until we had to have two of them removed from one of our two Irish setters. Ugh...sounds like something you would get in a jungle, but the vet did say they have been particularly troublesome this summer. So that is certainly possible, especially given the speed with which this thing developed. AGAIN, THANKS TO ALL OF YOU!!!

[SammysMom]

I had a female wild a couple of years ago who i had to feed soft food for a few weeks due to a facial abscess. This is also a possibility. Again, a pic would be great. Crushed nuts mixed with almond butter and or fruits and veggies were what i gave my wild.

[TubeDriver]

I have made boo balls for squirrels that had mouth/teeth issues. I use Henry's Wild Bites ground up, with some almonds ground up into the mix and then use unsweetened apple sauce as a binder. The Henry's blocks make this mix reasonably healthy, the nuts add flavor.

http://www.henryspets.com/wild-bites/

There are a number of possibilities. The best is that this is a bot and that they will exit soon. Other possibilities include an abscess and teeth issues that could require intervention. Making soft food available and water will really help her maintain her strength in the short term. Pictures would be great!

[stevetheartist]

Thanks once again to all of you for your advice. We certainly appreciate your wisdom. My wife could not find the squirrel either yesterday or the day before at the cemetery, so we don't know what is happening. She is heading there ASAP today armed with good and easy to eat food and a camera w/300 mm lens to try for some revealing photos that might help you to help us better. More when I know any more or have any images.

[Nancy in New York]

Thanks once again to all of you for your advice. We certainly appreciate your wisdom. My wife could not find the squirrel either yesterday or the day before at the cemetery, so we don't know what is happening. She is heading there ASAP today armed with good and easy to eat food and a camera w/300 mm lens to try for some revealing photos that might help you to help us better. More when I know any more or have any images.

Good luck!
Thank you for helping this little one! :hug

[sqrl luv]

Oh please let us know if she sees her! Good Luck!!!!

[stevetheartist]

I think all of you kind and knowledgeable people deserve an update on our attempts to help my wife's dear little friend with the swollen jaw. Pamela has not been able to find her ever since the first post and your helpful replies, though she has searched her hangouts at the cemetery for many hours on numerous days. I will still tell you if we learn anything more, but things don't look good right now. I am most grateful to learn about this site and hope to have other reasons to spend time here in the future. Thanks to all of you for being so gracious. I wish I had better news for you.

[island rehabber]

Thank you for updating us, even if the news is sad.
You don't need a reason to spend some more time here, though. Just come. :)

[TubeDriver]

Sometimes squirreks just vanish for no reason, often for months. Then one day they reappear! It is a mystery where and why they go but I hope your wife sees her old friend in the future.

[stevetheartist]

You all are such great people! How I wish we lived near enough some of you to share our love of God's creatures with you. So few people seem to grasp the intelligence and wonder of squirrels and other animals, and how they actually love interacting with humans who treat them well. Several of the ones who spend time with my wife would rather be with her than eat. If she puts food down for them and then leaves, these females will follow her for blocks and ignore the food just to be with her. Of course I feel the same way. If I had known a woman like Pamela existed, I would have walked from Michigan, where I was born, to her home in California to find her in my youth.

We still have seen no sign of our troubled squirrel, so unless Tube Driver is right, we have probably lost her. It seems the more creatures you love, the more often you have to share in the hurts and pain that befall them. Thanks for being such fine people! I hope to have some happier notes to leave here in the future.

[Rocky1]

Sometimes squirreks just vanish for no reason, often for months. Then one day they reappear! It is a mystery where and why they go but I hope your wife sees her old friend in the future.

Could not have said it better.

[island rehabber]

I am moving this thread out of Life-Threatening so it does not trigger emails to rehabbers and admins; I am still holding out hope that the little female will show up again. :)