very ill squirrel! please help

[Angel Fish]

Now 'old squirrel' with the pox has just appeared again today (see my post under 'very hurt squirrel'). He is very dejected, hardly moving. His tumors have gotten bigger, and are now under his lower belly too. He is blinded in one eye. I am very worried, is there anything I can do? Can't imagine he will survive this. I think it difficult for him to walk.

We have put out special water for him, and an enormous quantity of shelled sunflower seed-- he is eating, which I presume is a good sign. Please, if anyone can help-- would be so very appreciated!

Again-- we are in Menlo Park, California-- around Stanford University.

[Angel Fish]

He's gone now-- presumably he managed to get up to his drey in our big oak tree in the backyard. I imagine he will come back same time again tomorrow-- if he needs antibiotics, would like to know how best to administer it to him.

Thanks--

[atlantasquirrelgirl]

Did you ever hear back from the rehabber that you contacted? If not, I'd suggest you start calling around to others. Most rehabbers have the facilities and drugs to help animals, and can probably help you help the squirrel.

[Kathy56]

My daughter lives in L.A. How close are you? She works for a vet and maybe could help or find someone who could.:grouphug

[Angel Fish]

We are in Northern California-- SF Bay Area. Have left email and phone message for rehabber practically next door. But haven't heard anything back yet. If your daughter has any contacts up here, would greatly appreciate it. Our sick squirrel seems to come back same time-ish every evening... so it might present an opportunity for us to help him in some way (antibiotics?)

Thanks!

[Gabe]

I didn't read your first thread so someone may have already told you that squirrel pox at this extreme is fatal.
It is also highly contagious to all the other squirrels in the area. Which is why the rehabbers may not be responding.
My advice would be to trap him and get him removed from the population. If you are not comfortable euthanizing him, then let him live out his last few weeks in the comfort and confines of your home.

[atlantasquirrelgirl]

Even if it does happen to be pox, a rehabber should at least give a courtesy response call. One of the postings in the other thread is correct, that email is not the best way to go in contacting rehabbers for urgent matters. Your rehabber may be unaware that you are looking for them. You need to call.

Here's one of many links to rehabbers in CA in the event you want to call somebody else. Can you get a picture?

http://www.tc.umn.edu/~devo0028/contactA.htm#ca

[Apple Corps]

Here is a link re squirrel pox - not always fatal:

http://www.michigan.gov/dnr/0,1607,7-153-10370_12150_12220-27274--,00.html

PM me your phone # if you would like to chat - I live in Fresno.

[Angel Fish]

Talked to a very kind rehabber last night. She recommends euthanasia for Old Squirrel-- he is so terribly infected. But I'm not sure whether to let nature take its course (who knows, he may recover?), or capture him and have him euthanized. Getting caged is apparently quite tramatizing to squirrels.

Worried about Old Squirrel's buddies in his drey-- don't want them more exposed than they already are... (pox is transmitted by biting insects, not sure it is known whether it is by mosquito/mite/flea?)

Of note: Squirrel pox isn't seen here in the Sf Bay Area. So I will notify US Fish and Wildlife, and Humane Society Wildlife. We took pics to prove it is the pox.

[ravenlaws32]

difficult resolution , and mostly contracted by most mosquitoes . but i msure it could by other lothsome insects ick . sometimes pox goes into remission but not high percentage .it is a difficult call . i would wory for the other fuzzies in the area thou and keep eye out.

[4skwerlz]

For what it's worth, if that poor squirrel showed up among my beloved crew of wildies, my heart would break, but I'd have to think of the health of the other guys too. I would trap him in a Hav-a-Hart trap (not always so traumatic if done right, and depending on the squirrel's personality) and take him to the local Wildlife Hospital. They would probably euthanize him. Poor little tyke. They try so hard to live. But what can you do?

The only possible idea I can think of would be if someone could keep him isolated in a very large cage and keep him fed and medicated with antibiotics for secondary infections, until he either passed away or got better. I don't know if this would guarantee the other wild guys didn't get it. There's a case study online where a rehabber cured a squirrel with pox using ABs and vitamins to build her immune system. She used strict procedures to isolate her from the other critters. Here is the link: http://www.squirrel-rehab.org/rehabinfo/fibroma.shtml

I'm curious to know what more experienced people on TSB think about this case.

[squirrelsrule&bunniestoo]

I would definetely get the little tyke out of the general squirrel population. Get him and check him out. If you say he is hardly able to walk and climb though, it sounds like it is has advanced too far. I think euthanasia, as hard as it is, may be the best choice for him. He cannot be leading a very good life if he can hardly move. Think of the pain he must be in. I would trap him and check him out. If you think he has any chance, you can keep him away from the other squirrels and safe from predators and let him try to recover and if he is really bad then I would take him somewhere to have him euthanized. Good luck, it is a tough situation.

[muffinsquirrel]

If the situation was reversed - if YOU were a squirrel that was so ill and in so much pain, with little to no hope of recovery, what would you want done? Would you want to be left in the wild to die slowly, or taken to a doctor for evaluation, and possibly euthanized, if there was no hope for you? Or, if there was no pain, just constant weakness and difficult to even get food, would you want to be left in the wild at the mercy of predators, or taken in and cared for, making your last days as pleasant as possible?

These are the questions I ask myself with each animal I rescue. I am very reluctant to euthanize any animal, or to keep one captive if it is able to make it on it's own, unless it shows that it does not want a captive life. I have released a few that I personally thought would be better off if I kept them, but they were so obviously unhappy that I realized that a short life in the wild would be better than a long one in captivity. I have also made a life-long committment to several that would never be able to exist in the wild. They are members of our family and seem very happy with their life.

The decision of what to do about an ill squirrel is never easy, and must be decided according to each case, and one that has a disease that could be spread to other squirrels is just that much harder. I am sure that I have made some wrong calls during my rehabbing, and will probably make quite a few more. But I can live with my decisions with no regrets, knowing that I did the best I knew for that particular squirrel. For me personally, quality of life is very important. I never want to be kept alive by machines, not knowing who I am, and unable to recognize and respond to those I care about. And I would not want to endure a life of pain with no hopes of improvement. So I look at each animal and ask myself 'What if it was me?'.

I hope you can find a resolution to this problem that you are comfortable with. I know it won't be easy, but we all support you in your decision.

muffinsquirrel

[Buddy'sMom]

Very wise words and well put, muffinsquirrel. :grouphug

Good luck with your very difficult decision, Angel Fish. :grouphug

[Sissy]

:goodpost Muffin

[Crazymunk]

Such very wise words Muffinquirrel! We went through the heartache of loosing 3 of our then 5 dogs in a year because of illnesses but If we had kept them alive it would have been to stop our pain not theirs.....Sorry folks but that to me is being cruel to them.............

[Angel Fish]

Thanks all for your advice, thoughts and concerns! Old Squirrel looked much better, amazingly, day before last. The tumors were abit reduced, and he was peppier than before. He came down, drank and ate alot. I made him a fruit salad, and put a very small amount of tetracycline in some peanut butter for him-- plus the walnuts, almonds-- etc.

I have waxed and wained on whether to capture him and have him euthanized. Am waiting to see how he is today... and if he is even better yet, than I will be glad I didn't intervene. Except, of course, I do worry about his pals.

Will post his doings if I see him-- (wasn't around yesterday to check on him).

Thanks again for all the warm hearts out there!

[atlantasquirrelgirl]

Great work, Angel Fish.

[ravenlaws32]

glad to hear good report so far , i know we are praying here for him .:grouphug

[Buddy'sMom]

:thumbsup :grouphug :grouphug

[Angel Fish]

update on Old Squirrel

Saw him this morning-- he is so much improved! Tumors have gone down dramatically, and he is perkier. He can scamper up his tree more easily. It looks like he will recover. But won't regain the use of his afflicted eye. Do believe he is one of, or at the top of, his squirrel hierarchy-- maybe that might have helped?

And haven't seen evidence of any others with the pox. His pal, a black squirrel we call Budda, had one pox on his hind leg, but that is reduced too, and he seems fine.

Hope none others are aflicted-- it is heart wrenching, they get so ill and dejected. Just pitiful to watch. And hopefully Old Squirrel will have an easy time adjusting to only the use of one eye.

Thanks again for all your support!

[Buddy'sMom]

Wow! That's amazing -- and wonderful -- news! :thumbsup I hope he continues to improve, and his buddy does too. Wild squirrels seem quite adaptable, so he will probably figure things out with one eye. :grouphug