Odonata vs. MBD - should calcium be given?

[JLM27]

SOmeone on FB has a squirrel with odontoma who is now showing signs of MBD. Apparently she was advised not to give him calcium because of the odontoma. He lives too far from Dr. Emerson and is somewhat elderly, so surgery was not advised. What should she do? Give him calcium or not?

[PennyCash]

I am sure that someone else with more knowledge will come along soon.
In the meantime it would help them to have more information. Please be as specific as you can. Why they believe it is both? Do they have a vet? Age? If you can find out exactly what does this squirrel eat. Does it get at any sunlight? How long? How often? How long have they had the squirrel? The more information about care and history the better.
OK, I just reread and realized that this is on FB and you aren't a new member. It's late and I saw odontoma and had to check in since my girl just came out of her second sx today with Dr E for those evil things. I can only say that Dr. E said that they feel odontoma is some sort of diet deficiency. That sunlight is very important for calcium absorption.

[pappy1264]

I saw this, Jill. From my understanding with the odontoma, extra calcium is generally not recommended. But I also saw they said because he has fur loss on feet and longer nails, that means he has early stage MBD. I know he does not nor has he had any branches or anything to wear his nails down, so they would be a bit longer. And I have never heard bald feet as being a sign of MBD, Peanuts feet have been like that for about 3+ years now and I know others who are that way as well. Do you know who told her he had MBD based on those two things?

[TubeDriver]

I think it is generally thought that excess calcium may promote bone AND teeth growth so that could potentially be bad for squirrels with odentoma.

I am no expert with these conditions but this is what I think. MBD is an acute crisis and life threatening so in a case were both conditions are suspected (MBD and odetoma) I think you have to treat the MBD. If the initial treatment with calcium (first week of 500mg/day) does not help then it is probably not MBD. At that point, you could discontinue the calcium, I can't see a week of extra calcium having a great impact on odentoma but that is just my opinion.

Perhaps in a case were you have both odentoma and MBD, you could start the calcium treatment for the first week to get past the acute crisis and then taper the calcium down more rapidly (ie 150mg down each week instead of 50mg). This would slow the recovery from MBD but might minamize the potential negative impact on odentoma due to extended calcium supplimentation. A strict, proper diet (nuts only as treats) would be even more critical in this scenereo.

[JLM27]

Thank you for your replies. Pappy, no, but I will try to reassure her about MBD symptoms. Maybe the idea about calcium for a week is a good idea.