My Indian Palm Squirrel has not been eating since a few days and shaking.

[neeraj]

Hello, I am new to this forum please tell me what to do. My squirrel is not eating. She is sick. She is shaking today. She was not shaking until yesterday. I think she is shaking because she has not eaten anything for 5 days now. Please help me. I love her very much. I couldn't find any vet in my area. Please save my Squirrel. I donot want to loose her🙁😒😢😭.

[Mel1959]

What had she been eating? Do you think the shaking you are seeing could be a seizure? A drop of molasses, honey or corn syrup put into her mouth will help if she's having a seizure.

Have you examined her teeth to be sure they aren't too long? They can actually get long enough to go through the roof of their mouth. This would cause her to not want to eat.

Do you have access to babyfood? You might be able to coax her to eat some vegetable baby food from a syringe. Is she drinking any water? Maybe, offering some Esbilac puppy formula fed with a syringe would help.

Please check her teeth and upload a picture of her.

[Milo's Mom]

try getting some sugar into her...molasses rubbed on her gums, some sugar mixed in water (you'll have to get her to drink it)

[neeraj]

She was eating cerelac. That's baby food. Someone from a website advised me to feed her that. We also give her almond and Nuts and peanuts buetter and other leafy vegetables. She has not been eating for 4 days.

I give her sugared water. She drank it yesterday.She is not eating or drinking anything. I tried to force feed her but she refused to eat and spit everything out. I do not know what to do. i cannot stop m tears while wrting this. I visited some doctors but they said they treat dogs and cats only. In am unable to find a doctor for her.

Now she is not using her back legs and laying on her warm bottle. If i could give her some years from my life i would have given her :(.

[HRT4SQRLS]

How old is your baby?
I suspect this is Metabolic Bone Disease.
DO you have calcium carbonate? I don't know if you have this product. It is Tums. It is for heartburn and indigestion. Any product like this will work. You need a calcium source without Vitamin D.

[HRT4SQRLS]

http://thesquirrelboard.com/forums/showthread.php?32122-MBD-Treatment

Metabolic Bone Disease is caused by a diet that is deficient in calcium. When too many nuts are feed it leads to MBD. Calcium is leeched from the bones. The symptoms are seizures, hind end paralysis, brittle bones and pain.

Do you have a heating pad? A heating pad (ON LOW) under the bin would be soothing for the pain.
(The warm bottle will serve the same purpose.)

You don't have anything to lose by treating for MBD. It will not hurt your squirrel at all and it may well save their life.

You MUST get calcium into her NOW!

[neeraj]

I have a calcium tablet but it is with vitamin d. I couldnot find any tablet without vitamin d. Should i give that to her? She is 4 Months old.

[HRT4SQRLS]

I would crush the tablet and use it BUT just this first time. How many mg does the tablet have? After this tablet you need to get calcium carbonate WITHOUT Vitamin D. A little Vitamin D is good and they do need it to process the calcium BUT too much Vitamin D is toxic to rodents. Vitamin D is used as a rodenticide (rat poison) so you can see why you wouldn't want to megadose the Vitamin D. You will be megadosing the calcium to get the levels up. You want to spread the dose out over 24 hours. Don't give the entire tablet at one time.

You need to get some calcium rich foods into the diet. First, you need to discontinue the nuts. They are high in phosphorus. High phosphorus foods compete with calcium foods. The best foods have 2 parts of calcium to 1 part of phosphorus.


I think Palm squirrels are smaller than our grey squirrels. I just noticed that this is a 4 month old. This is a very young squirrel. YES, babies that have not received formula do get MBD. Can you get any type of puppy formula in India? This little one needs formula BUT if that's not possible calcium rich foods are needed. Try hydrating your baby. (1 quart warm water with 1 tablespoon of sugar and 1 teaspoon of salt). Dehydrated babies won't eat.

[HRT4SQRLS]

Was the baby fed with a syringe, bottle or dropper? Aspiration of liquids can lead to pneumonia. With Aspiration pneumonia you will hear clicking with every breath but the hind end paralysis does make me think this is MBD.

Squirrels need to eat a rodent (rat) block to get the calcium and minerals that they need. I'm not sure you have that in India.
There is a formula called Royal Canin baby dog formula that you might be able to get in India.

[HRT4SQRLS]

It sounds like your baby is critically ill at this point.

I feel these are the most important things you can do at this point.

(1) keep her warm
(2) keep her hydrated but do NOT aspirate (get fluid in the lungs)
(3) get calcium into her (be firm it must be done)
(4) try to find a puppy formula. You might try vanilla yogurt.

:grouphug to you and your baby.

[Ekorre]

You definitely need to get the right formula.

Here's the correct Esbilac in India (you want the powder, not the liquid): http://www.amazon.in/Esbilac%C2%AE-Powder-Milk-Replacer-Puppies/dp/B0002ASRZ8/ref=sr_1_2?s=pet-supplies&ie=UTF8&qid=1473516421&sr=1-2&keywords=Esbilac

If you can't get Esbilac, here's the Royal Canin powder in India:

http://www.amazon.in/Royal-Canin-Baby-Dog-Milk/dp/B00197UQ3O/ref=sr_1_1?s=pet-supplies&ie=UTF8&qid=1473516380&sr=1-1&keywords=royal+canin+puppy+milk

Please follow HRT4SQRLS's advice! The people on this board really know what they're talking about and can help you save that precious little squirrel. :Squirrel :Squirrel :Squirrel

[Mahak]

Hi All, Can someone please help me with the condition of my Indian palm squirrel. It is 4 years old and has stopped eating and drinking for last two days. It is also not moving as much it used to do earlier, just laying at one place, moves a little in 4-5 hrs. I think it is not able to move hind legs as well. Can someone please suggest how to treat him? There are no doctors for squirrel in my area. How can I make him recover? Is there a possibility that all this is happening due to over eating and its liver has failed?plz help

[CritterMom]

I gave an answer on the other post you started: https://thesquirrelboard.com/forums/showthread.php?68061-4-year-old-squirrel-not-eating-for-last-two-days-and-not-moving-Needs-help&p=1345943#post1345943