Dermatophytoses

[MArehabber]

Does anyone have experience with dermatophytoses in gray squirrels? Based on what I've read, it's a fungal disease that can cause hair loss. What does it look like and how is it treated? I've got a rehab gray squirrel that started losing hair on his back and top of his head last week. Thanks

[SammysMom]

Haven never heard of it, but that doesn't mean anything. What is it about it that makes you think it is what he has? Is it possible that he has mange and could be treated with Revolution?

[Nancy in New York]

I did a quick search and found this.
http://thesquirrelboard.com/forums/showthread.php?39103-Is-this-Mange-Mites&highlight=dermatophytoses




I was curious about the alopecia angle and came across this article.
http://www.agriculture.purdue.edu/fnr/wildlife/newsletter/may05.html

Here is an interesting excerpt (at least I thought it was:) )

"While mange is commonly presumed to be the culprit, most hair loss in squirrels is caused by a variety of superficial fungal diseases generally termed dermatophytoses. Hair from squirrels infected with fungal agents is typically broken off at the skin, leaving a fine stubble of short hairs. Damp weather is thought to play a role in some fungal outbreaks. This past autumn was relatively wet for Indiana standards and may have contributed to the apparent observed increase of hair loss in squirrels this winter. Most animals will eventually gain an immune response and recover from the fungal infection without any apparent consequences.

Some hair loss in gray and flying squirrels is thought to be an inherited condition where the hair follicles are non-functional or absent, although studies confirming this have not been done. These squirrels have normal, but bare skin."

[MArehabber]

I started him on Ivermectin so am waiting to see if that works. The skin is smooth and light pink without any crusting or lesions so I'm thinking it's not mange. I started him on Ivermectin because a vet suggested it but she didn't do an exam or skin scrapings. I've never had a squirrel lose hair before so am kind of baffled as to what is happening. None of the other squirrels in his pen show any signs of hair loss.

[Nancy in New York]

I started him on Ivermectin so am waiting to see if that works. The skin is smooth and light pink without any crusting or lesions so I'm thinking it's not mange. I started him on Ivermectin because a vet suggested it but she didn't do an exam or skin scrapings. I've never had a squirrel lose hair before so am kind of baffled as to what is happening. None of the other squirrels in his pen show any signs of hair loss.

Did your vet give you the dosing for the Ivermectin?
How much did you dose, and was it topically, or orally?
Ivermectin is a VERY powerful drug, so you need to be VERY careful
when dosing.
How often were you told to dose?

[KathleenNYC]

Please let me know about this! I started a thread (http://thesquirrelboard.com/forums/showthread.php?52189-Bald-Spots-any-suggestions-please!) the other day hoping for help and no one seems to have any ideas??? and I am baffled. My little guy 4 years old has horrible hair loss. I tried the front-line and no change.
His diet is good, no itching or scratching and behavior is normal. Not a blemish to be seen on his bald skin. And it seems to be getting worse.
Is there any topical anti fungal that can be safely used on a squirrel?

http://thesquirrelboard.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=264938&stc=1

[Nancy in New York]

2 things off the top of my head.
Does he have a wooden nest box that he could be rubbing the fur off on.

Do you use dial hand soap? If so, do you pet him a lot?

Any different soaps or detergents?

[Nancy in New York]

Here's a link to some other cases on the board.

http://thesquirrelboard.com/forums/search.php?searchid=778607

[KathleenNYC]

Same soaps and detergents for us. I have read about the dial and detergents so I recently changed his detergent to Dreft Stage 1 Newborn Liquid Detergent, hoping it would get better... no luck, it seems to be getting worse.
He has a "jackie fleece cube" if he were rubbing it off on his branches wouldn't there be scratches? it is also in the same spots that he started molting in the beginning of the season, and the balding is even on both sides.
And he loves his cuddles but mostly on his belly and chest.
I am clueless???

[KathleenNYC]

Here's a link to some other cases on the board.

http://thesquirrelboard.com/forums/search.php?searchid=778607

when i click this it says Sorry - no matches. Please try some different terms.

[Nancy in New York]

when i click this it says Sorry - no matches. Please try some different terms.

Not sure why that link isn't working.
Do an advanced search at the top, type in Balding and then press search.
See if that helps.

[KathleenNYC]

thanks trying now.

[MArehabber]

Did your vet give you the dosing for the Ivermectin?
How much did you dose, and was it topically, or orally?
Ivermectin is a VERY powerful drug, so you need to be VERY careful
when dosing.
How often were you told to dose?

Thanks for your response. I got the Ivermectin from a veterinarian at Tufts Wildlife Clinic. The squirrel weights about 350g and I was told to give him 0.02cc orally every 7 days for three weeks. They drew it up in syringes for me.

[MArehabber]

2 things off the top of my head.
Does he have a wooden nest box that he could be rubbing the fur off on.

Do you use dial hand soap? If so, do you pet him a lot?

Any different soaps or detergents?

I have wooden next boxes in my pre-release pen so that's a possibility. I brought him back inside and don't have any wooden nest boxes in his cage so if that was causing it, it should clear up.

What about stress? I've had this guy since he was about 5 weeks old and he's always been very hyperactive, bouncing around the cage, etc. When he was about 6 weeks old I added two other grays to his cage and they seemed to get along fine. In the pre-release pen I added another group of 3 so there were 6 in total. The pen is large - 12x8x6 and there are plenty of nest boxes but I'm wondering if the new squirrels and new enclosure were too stressful for him? Can hair loss be due to stress?

[Nancy in New York]

Thanks for your response. I got the Ivermectin from a veterinarian at Tufts Wildlife Clinic. The squirrel weights about 350g and I was told to give him 0.02cc orally every 7 days for three weeks. They drew it up in syringes for me.

I would assume that a wildlife Clinic would know how to dose a
squirrel so I feel A LOT better. :thumbsup

My vet did the same thing (gave additional pre loaded syringes if needed)
for one of mine. She diluted it, but
then told me to apply topically to the back of the neck.
One application, and it worked.

How's your little one doing?

[MArehabber]

Please let me know about this! I started a thread (http://thesquirrelboard.com/forums/showthread.php?52189-Bald-Spots-any-suggestions-please!) the other day hoping for help and no one seems to have any ideas??? and I am baffled. My little guy 4 years old has horrible hair loss. I tried the front-line and no change.
His diet is good, no itching or scratching and behavior is normal. Not a blemish to be seen on his bald skin. And it seems to be getting worse.
Is there any topical anti fungal that can be safely used on a squirrel?

http://thesquirrelboard.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=264938&stc=1

That's really interesting. My squirrel is not itching or scratching either and the skin is smooth and light pink. That's why I don't think it's manage. I've been doing some online research and found a couple sites that recommend coconut oil to treat dermatophytoses. There's something called lauric acid (?) in the coconut oil that is supposed to kill fungal infections. I have no idea if these sites are legitimate so I'm proceeding with caution. I do have a friend who has done squirrel rehab for 15 years and she uses coconut oil in a homemade rodent block/nut recipe she makes for a non-releasable squirrel she's had for many years. I rubbed a small amount of coconut oil on one of my guy's bald spots yesterday so we'll see if that does anything.

[Anne]

Magna has an older squirrel that was almost totally bald. Dr. Emerson did a great deal of testing. Long story shortened-turns out he has food allergies! Have no idea why they started after he had several years under his belt.

[MArehabber]

I would assume that a wildlife Clinic would know how to dose a
squirrel so I feel A LOT better. :thumbsup

My vet did the same thing (gave additional pre loaded syringes if needed)
for one of mine. She diluted it, but
then told me to apply topically to the back of the neck.
One application, and it worked.

How's your little one doing?

His first dose of Ivermectin was one week ago. I have not seen any regrowth of hair since then. Second dose is due tomorrow. With your squirrel, what did the skin look like? His skin is smooth and pink - no crusting or scabbing like I see in pictures of mange.

[KathleenNYC]

I am still just not sure... :thinking
I put some coconut oil on him (not easy thing in the autumn:hissyfit!!!) Then I spent the weekend and I washed everything: in his cage (branches, cube, hammock, all the fleece; every bar and all the nooks and crannies; got rid of his chewy toys (bought all new ones); all hand soap dispensers in my house now contain dawn (blue); mopped every floor with dawn (even the wood...lol), cleaned all of the leather furniture with dawn; cleaned all counters and the table with dawn; cleaned all of our bedding in his infant detergent. oh and put a new bulb in his lamp...
And we now have new hair growth!!!!
Unfortunately, I still cant tell you if it was an irritant or jut the season changing:dono???
But we have beautiful new soft gray hair!!!

[SugarHill]

Use ionic silver; I bought some from squirrelnutrition.com

the stuff is amazing. I got a little bald boy about a month ago. NO FUR except his little head. (I'll try to attach a pic). He's growing himself a very handsome gray coat. I also used it on a squirrel last year that had bald patches and it helped him a bunch.

[SugarHill]

here he is...nothing wrong with his appetite! :Love_Icon:Love_Icon

[KathleenNYC]

He is sooooooo cute!
I am going to buy it and keep it on hand! Thanks

[Nancy in New York]

here he is...nothing wrong with his appetite! :Love_Icon:Love_Icon

Was this little one's left eye whitish?
I would almost guarantee this was a nutrition ailment. We have seen
little squirrels on the board with terrible thinning fur and sometimes their eyes
have that white cloudy appearance.
Once they get on the proper diet, both problems correct themselves.
Nice job on this little munchkin!

Such a cute little peanut by the way!!!!!!! :klunk

[Nancy in New York]

His first dose of Ivermectin was one week ago. I have not seen any regrowth of hair since then. Second dose is due tomorrow. With your squirrel, what did the skin look like? His skin is smooth and pink - no crusting or scabbing like I see in pictures of mange.

Here's some pictures of little Coral.
As you can see, the fur was getting really thin, nothing like your little one though.
She got a treatment of topical ivermectin from the vet, and that did the trick.
I copied and pasted this from another post of mine.



BUT look at her neck fur then. (excuse her tail, but you can still see the balding spot)

http://nmognoni.smugmug.com/photos/i-htHDmgM/0/M/i-htHDmgM-M.jpg (http://nmognoni.smugmug.com/Coral-October-2014/n-MMfXS/i-htHDmgM/A)

http://nmognoni.smugmug.com/photos/i-J7Jt9Cm/0/M/i-J7Jt9Cm-M.jpg (http://nmognoni.smugmug.com/Coral-October-2014/n-MMfXS/i-J7Jt9Cm/A)

AND NOW.....She's got Bedhead :dance :grin2

http://nmognoni.smugmug.com/photos/i-XGm2PFT/0/M/i-XGm2PFT-M.jpg (http://nmognoni.smugmug.com/Other/Coral-December-2014/n-ppN2k/i-XGm2PFT/A)

http://nmognoni.smugmug.com/photos/i-2Ztw7F2/0/M/i-2Ztw7F2-M.jpg (http://nmognoni.smugmug.com/Other/Coral-December-2014/n-ppN2k/i-2Ztw7F2/A)

[SugarHill]

I love Coral's squirrel bed head!!!! :Love_Icon:Love_Icon:Love_Icon
Yes, we assumed the whitish area was a scratch...but it could certainly be a nutritional deficiency. That's probably more likely. I don't know his back story, but I was surprised that such a young little bean would have that degree of fur loss- it can't happen overnight, and he was estimated about 5wks old when he was brought in.

Perhaps the lack of nutrition makes them more susceptible to dermatophytosis and fur loss. Last year I had one guy who ate like a king but still developed patches similar to Coral's. Then they'd grow in and appear somewhere else (?!). The ionic silver seemed to put a stop to it, along with feeding that guy the best of the best veggies and squirrel cakes, HHB, fruit pieces, you name it. I had to overwinter him and he got so handsome and "released himself" one day and ran off with a female released/wild who would come visit him out back. :shakehead If he's happy, I'm happy :Love_Icon

[squirrelsrule&bunniestoo]

Sorry, I'm just now seeing this thread. How's the squirrel doing now?

SugarHill, it looks like your squirrel had balding syndrome. It's a strange thing that red squirrels get quite often and no one knows the cause. Grey squirrels can get it as well on rare occasions. I've never heard of a fox squirrel, chipmunk, or flyer getting it. Animals with balding syndrome lose all their fur except on their face, feet, and tails. Their skin appears healthy and they aren't itchy. They regrow their fur 1-2 weeks after going bald usually. I had one that took 2 months to decide to regrow fur though. They usually don't have any issues other than being bald. So, the supplement you used likely had absolutely nothing to do with the fur regrowth, so I wouldn't try it on just any animal with thinning or missing fur.

How is Coral doing? The lesion does look a little like dermatophytosis (ring worm). I've seen it in a few squirrels at the wildlife center that were overcrowded. It usually occurs in situations of overcrowding or stress and usually multiple squirrels are affected, although the smallest one is usually the one with the worst lesions. You can put athlete foot cream on the bald areas to kill the fungus. If you are working with a vet, the best thing would be to get either Douxo Chlorohexidine PS shampoo for dogs and cats or KetoChlor shampoo for dogs and cats. Both of these should be lathered up on the squirrel and left to sit on for 5-10 minutes before rinsing. Might not be possible if the squirrel is super crazy, but it works great for both bacterial and fungal skin issues.