Fenchurch
06-17-2016, 08:31 PM
Hi!
My friendliest wild squirrel has been having problems for about 6 months, but things seem to be getting really dire and I can't figure out what's going on. Really hoping someone might have an idea, even if it's just a hail mary. :/
She has significant fur loss on her back legs and her tail is almost bare, and she has become very thin and frail.
Problems started about 6-9 months ago--all squirrels in the area (about 30 at the time--about 50 now with the crop of babies) had terrible mange. She didn't have it like the others, just a small bald patch at the base of her tail. She was the most dominant female of the area and I think she had her own nest maybe. I dosed other wilds w/ ivermectin and the whole population bounced back fantastically. She refused the ivermectin each time, and her bald spot remained, I didn't think it was mange for her though, so I didn't worry too much. But shortly after then she started to decline. At first she seemed to have problems eating, and I thought there was a dental issue. I brought her soft foods 2x a day (ground nuts, avocado, watermelon) and she was able to eat those, and was hungry. She started eating solid foods after about a week (and was even able to crack nuts), and I thought she was on the mend. Then the cycle repeated about a month later, slow decline in ability to eat solids, soft food for about 10 days, then back on solids slowly. Now for the last month or two she's been mostly burying all of her food, but will eat a nut every now and then, but is total skin and bones--just a steady weight loss (despite there def being plenty of food in the area from people feeding them, and the summer vegetation).
Her current weight looks TERRIBLE. All other squirrels in the population look great, but she's just frail and balding and no longer the alpha. I can't get her to eat very much (she just wants to hoard) and I dust her nuts with calcium carbonate powder, on the off chance it is MBD (I know rare for wilds, but in a NYC park, so maybe?). Tried HHB picky and wild, as well as homemade versions, veggies, etc--they are all non-starters. She will only take small bites of avocado, bites of watermelon, and then in-shell hazelnuts for burying.
Any ideas, even long-shots, on how to help her would be SO appreciated--it's so horrible to watch her go through this and I'm really concerned that she doesn't have a ton of time if the weight loss continues. Could it be parasites or worms? Anything I should try?
Thank you SO much!!!!
My friendliest wild squirrel has been having problems for about 6 months, but things seem to be getting really dire and I can't figure out what's going on. Really hoping someone might have an idea, even if it's just a hail mary. :/
She has significant fur loss on her back legs and her tail is almost bare, and she has become very thin and frail.
Problems started about 6-9 months ago--all squirrels in the area (about 30 at the time--about 50 now with the crop of babies) had terrible mange. She didn't have it like the others, just a small bald patch at the base of her tail. She was the most dominant female of the area and I think she had her own nest maybe. I dosed other wilds w/ ivermectin and the whole population bounced back fantastically. She refused the ivermectin each time, and her bald spot remained, I didn't think it was mange for her though, so I didn't worry too much. But shortly after then she started to decline. At first she seemed to have problems eating, and I thought there was a dental issue. I brought her soft foods 2x a day (ground nuts, avocado, watermelon) and she was able to eat those, and was hungry. She started eating solid foods after about a week (and was even able to crack nuts), and I thought she was on the mend. Then the cycle repeated about a month later, slow decline in ability to eat solids, soft food for about 10 days, then back on solids slowly. Now for the last month or two she's been mostly burying all of her food, but will eat a nut every now and then, but is total skin and bones--just a steady weight loss (despite there def being plenty of food in the area from people feeding them, and the summer vegetation).
Her current weight looks TERRIBLE. All other squirrels in the population look great, but she's just frail and balding and no longer the alpha. I can't get her to eat very much (she just wants to hoard) and I dust her nuts with calcium carbonate powder, on the off chance it is MBD (I know rare for wilds, but in a NYC park, so maybe?). Tried HHB picky and wild, as well as homemade versions, veggies, etc--they are all non-starters. She will only take small bites of avocado, bites of watermelon, and then in-shell hazelnuts for burying.
Any ideas, even long-shots, on how to help her would be SO appreciated--it's so horrible to watch her go through this and I'm really concerned that she doesn't have a ton of time if the weight loss continues. Could it be parasites or worms? Anything I should try?
Thank you SO much!!!!