Injured Baby Questions

[Jen413]

Found my little guy on Sunday. Eyes were still closed. His face, nose, and head were bloody. It was almost sunset. We took him home and got him warmed, cleaned him up and started trying to rehydrating him. He had a small cut above his eye that had already dried. He had a large bruise type injury below his chin. He was sneezing pink but not much. I couldn't tell where exactly the bleeding was coming from. The next day his cheek was pretty swollen. He continued to sneeze pink for two days but it kept improving. I struggled getting him rehydrated because it was hard getting him to take anything. I got a little in him each time and tried about every 15 minutes. After two days he started doing better so I switched him to esbilac 4/1 and have slowly increased him. He didn't poop yesterday. I put him on 2/1 esbilac today and have him watered down apple juice and he pooped once today. So poop is one concern. The second is that bruise under his chin is gone but I'm worried about the skin where it was. I'm attaching photos. I don't have a picture of what the bruise looked like in the beginning just what the spot looks like now. It's white and sunken in. Any help would be appreciated!

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[Daisey007]

I have no idea what that could be...
Hopefully, someone will be by shortly that will be able to advise you.

Thank you for helping this little one... :Love_Icon

[Rhapsody]

The chin area looks as though the swelling may have been an abscess that ruptured and is now in need of treatment with Neosporin a few times a day....... if the squirrel does not improve over all medication maybe needed for infection.

[Jen413]

I think spot under the chin is where he was injured when he fell. Now that the blood as resolved it looks like that. It's kind of hard. I'll put some neosporin on it and see if it helps. I was just worried that maybe the tissue underneath had died and maybe it needed antibiotics. It doesn't seem to be bothering him.

[UDoWhat]

The chin area looks as though the swelling may have been an abscess that ruptured and is now in need of treatment with Neosporin a few times a day....... if the squirrel does not improve over all medication maybe needed for infection.

I agree with Rhapsody. It really does look like an abscess. I would start him on oral antibiotics as soon as possible. Check his teeth too to see if they are broken. Do you have a Vet that would see him??:Love_Icon

[Nancy in New York]

I think spot under the chin is where he was injured when he fell. Now that the blood as resolved it looks like that. It's kind of hard. I'll put some neosporin on it and see if it helps. I was just worried that maybe the tissue underneath had died and maybe it needed antibiotics. It doesn't seem to be bothering him.

Do you have any Clavamox (Animal Antibiotic( or Augmentin (Human Antibiotic), just to be prepared, in case. :thinking

[Jen413]

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It does look as though he broke the tip off one one of his teeth. It's still mostly there though. The only antibiotic I have is cefdinir 300 mg. When I found him the area that is white was a dark reddish blue. He was sneezing blood at that time. As the spot turned white like it looks now he stopped sneezing blood. Yesterday the white area was almost hollow in the middle. Almost like a crater. It had a harder feeling edge and the middle caved in. Now it feels less hollow. I don't know if I have a vet in the area that would see him.

[Jen413]

Wait, I just found some cephalexin 250 mg that was for my dog but it's dated 11/08. Don't suppose that's any good anymore though.

[DarkLies212]

How's this little one doing?

[Jen413]

He's doing perfect!! Pigging out on formula and going potty like normal. He's just starting to get a little more mobile. The small wound on his head has lost the scab and healed. Looks like there may be a scar. Waiting to see if the hair will grow back. The swelling in his cheek went down and is normal. The spot under his chin has continued to heal. I don't believe it was an abscess. When I got him it looked like he had been injured from the fall and maybe bled between the layers of skin? As the blood resolved it sunk in then turned white inside. After it turned white inside the outside layer of skin scabbed up too. He doesn't suck on his syringe so much as his licks it so the scab got wet and fell off. Inside was white (damp) scab that turned normal looking once it dried. It's really thin now compared to what it was. I never gave him any oral medication. I watched it very carefully and just didn't feel like it was anything other than a deep scab. I did but some antibiotic ointment on it after the scab fell off to protect it. My only concern now is is jaw doesn't seem to line up straight? Nothing bad that should prevent him from eating though. Also, his top teeth point more into his mouth than down to his bottom ones. But maybe that's just an age thing. It's been about 9/10 years since I raised my last once so I can't remember what theirs looked like when they were new. Thank you for checking up on him.

[DarkLies212]

He looks precious. When the teeth align, are they on top of each other? If not, he'll need them trimmed - sometimes this corrects itself with proper trimming, other times they'll need constant trimming for the rest of their life. Does he have anything hard to chew on?

[Jen413]

278040278041278042278043They do not align. They sit beside each other. I took a pic of this on 9/4 that I'm posting. This was right after his top teeth first started coming in. The other pictures are screen shots from a video I took this morning. He's a messy eater. He doesn't suck on the syringe but kind of licks from it. Sometimes he gets to sucking on nothing so I did the video to show his teeth when he was doing that. I bought rodent blocks about a week ago and he hasn't really shown any interest in them. He sometimes nibbles on his bear's ears or his blankets so I put a small stick in there the other day but he hasn't messed with it. I'm planning to build him a cage this weekend so I'll be able to put some more things for him to play with when he starts to play more. Right now he is mostly sleeping but just starting to want to check things out.

[DarkLies212]

:eek
Oh my goodness!! You're definitely going to have your hands full here.

With teeth like that, he most likely won't be able to chew/bite anything solid. Try cutting up the block in little tiny pieces as it might fit in his mouth better.

Have you trimmed teeth before? Those teeth are definitely going to need some trimming...possibly for the entirety of his life

[Jen413]

That's what I've been worried about since they came in long enough to curve. I felt like his top teeth have been the reason why he didn't actually suck the syringe too. I've raised two other babies myself and released them but it's been about 9 years since my last one. I didn't think the other two's teeth ever aligned and/or curved in like that though. I've been watching them and trying to search the forum to see if I saw anything similar. I've never trimmed teeth and the thought terrifies me!! I don't want to hurt him. I'll try to break the blocks down and see if that will work. I'm going to go look at some cages today so that I can try to put some branches in there for him. I hope they will correct themselves so I can release him. He's such a spunky boy and I hate the thought of him not being wild and free. Then again I'll admit that I wouldn't cry over him getting to be a permanent part of my family either. What in the world do I need to do about trimming his teeth? Guess I need to do some research!

[DarkLies212]

For trimming teeth, I use a brand new wire cutting tool like this:

https://www.fishingmegastore.com/hires/cjt/precision-wire-cutters.jpg

There's a guide on here somewhere that tells you where to trim for a healthy length, I'm just not sure where.

You'll want to burrito him, place something in his mouth to block his tongue and cheeks (I use a plastic chopstick), and very quickly (DON'T HESITATE! The tooth will split!) snip off the ends of the tooth. Do one at a time. This is MUCH easier with two people.

This section has a ton of info: http://thesquirrelboard.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?171-Malocclusions

Also, if the teeth aren't trimmed properly and there are multiple trimmings, an odontoma may form, which will require surgery to remove the entire tooth. Not trying to scare you, just prep you with the most amount of info possible!

[Jen413]

The more information I have the better prepared I can be. I'm going to try to search the forum some more to see if I can find the thread you're talking about. I don't know if there are any vets near me that would see him so I may try to see if I can find a rehabber around me with some experience to show me how to do this. Thank you so much for all of your help!! I may be back with some more questions after a while!!

[DarkLies212]

Be VERY careful asking other rehabbers to help you. I'd only ask ambiguous questions and wouldn't give out any information (block your number when calling if possible). If you can't find anyone, we may have some members nearish you who might be able to help!

[Jen413]

I was going to see if I could find from here to help me. I got home and was looking more at his teeth. He has one bottom tooth that has been longer than the other since I got him. It looks like his long tooth is cutting into his top gum now. This pic is the best I could get. It's not swollen just a dark spot.

Oh, and the last bit of that scab under his chin fell off!! Looks like he'll have a scar but looks great otherwise.

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[Mel1959]

I would definitely see if there is someone safe close by that could assist you with a teeth trimming the first time. I would be scared to do it by myself the first time, too. :eek