baby squirrel covered in paint!

[PossumMom]

Dear squirrel friends,
I got a six-week-old squirrel baby from our city animal shelter tonight and apart from a facial wound and head trauma, the poor baby is covered in paint. I have no information on what has happened to the poor girl and I'm also not sure what kind of paint it is. The paint does not come off with water and has already hardened on the fur. Has anybody suggestions how to get it off? I'm worried she might ingest the paint when she tries to clean herself. Any suggestions are highly appreciated.

[stepnstone]

Dear squirrel friends,
I got a six-week-old squirrel baby from our city animal shelter tonight and apart from a facial wound and head trauma, the poor baby is covered in paint. I have no information on what has happened to the poor girl and I'm also not sure what kind of paint it is. The paint does not come off with water and has already hardened on the fur. Has anybody suggestions how to get it off? I'm worried she might ingest the paint when she tries to clean herself. Any suggestions are highly appreciated.

I would try working in a little vegetable oil on a section and see if that will loosen it.
Might help to warm the oil first...

[Nancy in New York]

Dear squirrel friends,
I got a six-week-old squirrel baby from our city animal shelter tonight and apart from a facial wound and head trauma, the poor baby is covered in paint. I have no information on what has happened to the poor girl and I'm also not sure what kind of paint it is. The paint does not come off with water and has already hardened on the fur. Has anybody suggestions how to get it off? I'm worried she might ingest the paint when she tries to clean herself. Any suggestions are highly appreciated.

Oh this poor little baby. :(
Where in New York are you?

I wonder if a vet would have an answer to this one?
They must have seen this at some point. :shakehead

[Mel1959]

Oh no! Use a flea comb or fine tooth comb to try to work the paint out of the hair after applying the oil.

[island rehabber]

Yikes. I've never faced this dilemma but I would think that getting the paint away from mouth, eyes and ears first would be the most critical. The more it seeps into her pores the worst the damage could be.....poor sweet baby!! :(

[redwuff]

Any chance of taking dog clippers and gently clipping the hair at the skin.

[Mel1959]

Goo-Gone was also recommended in the Wild Mammal Babies book.

[redwuff]

I called TriState bird rescue in Delaware who handle chemical issues with birds. They are working on it. Can you send a picture of the baby along with any information to
enorris@tristatebird.org

[PossumMom]

I would try working in a little vegetable oil on a section and see if that will loosen it.
Might help to warm the oil first...


Thank you so much for the suggestion. I've used warm oil to get tanglefoot off birds. It's worth a try.

[PossumMom]

Oh this poor little baby. :(
Where in New York are you?

I wonder if a vet would have an answer to this one?
They must have seen this at some point. :shakehead

I'm in Manhattan. The little one will see the vet in the afternoon. I hope we can do something about the wound on her mouth. Her lower incisors are exposed. She has gone through a lot. She also has respiratory issues.

[PossumMom]

Goo-Gone was also recommended in the Wild Mammal Babies book.

Is this safe to use on the entire body?

[PossumMom]

I called TriState bird rescue in Delaware who handle chemical issues with birds. They are working on it. Can you send a picture of the baby along with any information to
enorris@tristatebird.org

Will do! Thank you so much! I'm going to show her to my local hardware store that sells a lot of paint. Maybe they will know what kind of paint this is.

[Nancy in New York]

I'm in Manhattan. The little one will see the vet in the afternoon. I hope we can do something about the wound on her mouth. Her lower incisors are exposed. She has gone through a lot. She also has respiratory issues.

Are you going to Dr. Anthony Pilny?
Good luck at the vets, please keep us posted.:hug

[redwuff]

Heard back from Tri-state bird rescue. They said the picture that I forwarded was really helpful, so any other pictures would be appreciated!

Question...are you sure it is paint, if so what kind if known?

Her suggestion was to shave the hair off and give it a bath in dawn. She also said that you do not want to use full strength dawn as it is very irritating.

Glad to see she is going to the vet.

[Mel1959]

Is this safe to use on the entire body?

The book does not say. It is the orange degreasing type.

[PossumMom]

UPDATE: I took the baby to my local hardware store and they confirmed that it looks like an oil-based paint. It actually reminds one of the kind of paint lamp posts are painted with here in the city. But apart from chemicals, they also had no idea how to get it off. At the vet, while under anaesthesia, we found out that his lower incisors had pierced through his lip, sothe upper part of his lower lip was inside his mouth. The vet did a great job reconstructing the lip and clipped away as much fur as possible. The skin is horribly red and inflamed where the paint got in contact with the skin and his breathing is labored. he must have aspirated blood when he got injured. The poor baby is in such bad shape, it breaks my heart. He, after the paint on the belly, came off we discovered it's a boy, is on meloxicam and orbax. I pray the meds will kick in and he will feel better soon.

[redwuff]

:grouphug:grouphug

[Mel1959]

I'll be praying for the little guy. He's incredibly cute! :Love_Icon

Did the vet recommend any topical ointment to help with the redness of his skin? Anyone have any recommendations?

[SammysMom]

:Love_Icon

[PossumMom]

I'll be praying for the little guy. He's incredibly cute! :Love_Icon

Did the vet recommend any topical ointment to help with the redness of his skin? Anyone have any recommendations?

She did not say anything. I'm putting Neosporin on it but thinking of changing maybe to SSD. The skin is open in several spots. It looks pretty horrible.

[PossumMom]

Here is a picture of him. You can't really see the bad spots though.
I have to go back to the vet tomorrow anyhow. I got two more babies in tonight, one has this kind of seizure when they are severely dehydrated and hypoglycemic (gave dextrose orally and SQ fluids) and the other one has a huge swelling on a joint of his hind leg. I hope it's "just" an abcess and no fracture. Never a dull moment... I will try to get a picture later.

Thank you all so much for your help! You are amazing!

[redwuff]

This boy needs a lot of TSB magic. Holding him and you in my thoughts and prayers:grouphug:Love_Icon:grouphug

[island rehabber]

The BF says Home Depot sells a water-based paint thinner by Kleen Strip that may work. Also acetone or nail polish remover.

[Mel1959]

She did not say anything. I'm putting Neosporin on it but thinking of changing maybe to SSD. The skin is open in several spots. It looks pretty horrible.

Ouch! I would think that would be very painful. Poor sweetie. :hug. If you have silvadene cream, that might be a good choice.

[redwuff]

How is this tough luck sweet sweet boy doing this a.m.:grouphug

[stosh2010]

Several chemical suggestions for paint removal may be irritating. Also acetone might really sting any open wounds or cuts. I would test all on myself ( on a small cut maybe) before exposing this little fuzz-head to a treatment that might add stress to an already stressful situation...IMHO

He is the cutest little guy--
GOD Bless you for being his SAVIOR---soooo many would look the other way...

PLEASE ----more pics of you new "son".



170

[island rehabber]

PossumMom is SUPER-BUSY so I'll take the liberty of updating her thread: this morning I drove down to pick up three adorable 5-wk old girls from her that had come from the Bronx (my beat) but ended up with her in Manhattan (Animal Control's typical efficiency :thinking). I had the pleasure of then transporting the little paint-covered boy and another injured baby to PossumMom's vet. Paint boy is adorable, and this morning he was bright-eyed and hopping around his carrier :dance. He is still blue/grey in places (even his little peepee!) and his skin is raw in other places, but he is in the best of hands. :Love_Icon PossumMom will pick them up later and hopefully we'll have another update.

In the meantime, I've got to get to know my precious three little girls here -- pix later in my thread (IR's Place Spring 2017 in the Nursery).

[stepnstone]

I personally would not use acetone, paint thinners, nail polish removers or anything of that nature. I used to work with acetone in the workplace, OSHA required us to wear goggles, mask and rubber gloves. Acetone on skin can be absorbed into the bloodstream and carried to the rest of the body, it can cause health issues and have effects on the central nervous system. Notable exposure has caused comas sometimes death, Acetone poisoning occurs when there’s more acetone in your body than the liver can break down.
This was referenced to humans, can't imagine what it could do to a squirrel....

[Milo's Mom]

I personally would not use acetone, paint thinners, nail polish removers or anything of that nature. I used to work with acetone in the workplace, OSHA required us to wear goggles, mask and rubber gloves. Acetone on skin can be absorbed into the bloodstream and carried to the rest of the body, it can cause health issues and have effects on the central nervous system. Notable exposure has caused comas sometimes death, Acetone poisoning occurs when there’s more acetone in your body than the liver can break down.
This was referenced to humans, can't imagine what it could do to a squirrel....

Wow! :eek
I used to soak my fingers in Acetone and acetone based nail polish remover for 40-50 minutes at a time to remove acrylic finger nails. That's how we were trained to do it in school. :thinking

Maybe that's what's wrong with me! :serene

[JLM27]

Do NOT soak your fingers in acetone. I recently burned my finger tips in acetone and 4 month later the skin iss till splitting open. It is a wicked dehydrator and chemically burns the skin.

[UDoWhat]

D
PossumMom is SUPER-BUSY so I'll take the liberty of updating her thread: this morning I drove down to pick up three adorable 5-wk old girls from her that had come from the Bronx (my beat) but ended up with her in Manhattan (Animal Control's typical efficiency :thinking). I had the pleasure of then transporting the little paint-covered boy and another injured baby to PossumMom's vet. Paint boy is adorable, and this morning he was bright-eyed and hopping around his carrier :dance. He is still blue/grey in places (even his little peepee!) and his skin is raw in other places, but he is in the best of hands. :Love_Icon PossumMom will pick them up later and hopefully we'll have another update.

In the meantime, I've got to get to know my precious three little girls here -- pix later in my thread (IR's Place Spring 2017 in the Nursery).

Thanks for the update. I was so happy to hear he is better. What a precious boy. :Love_Icon The staff at Tri-State Bird Rescue emailed us asking for an update on the baby squirrel and asked if we needed anything. They were very interested in this baby. I will update them tonight.

[PossumMom]

Hello everybody,

Our little paint boy is doing much better! He is very lively and has a ferocious appetite. I'm so happy with his progress! Most of the paint was clipped away and I will wait with the final paint removal until he is feeling better. I got the SSD ointment from my vet that I'm using now and hope his skin will heal fast.
Thank you all so much for your support! What a great group!

I will get a picture later. in the meantime a pic of my little possums from today. Their first dish with formula. At least they are considering to give it a try! :-)

[island rehabber]

Anyone remember this poor little painted boy? Well he is still with us, his name is Benjie (Benjamin Moore Squirrel), and I am babysitting him. :grin3

Benjie made a strong recovery from the horrible experience of being soaked in paint, but he never made it to the trees. The paint experience left him with chronic respiratory issues (he sneezes and wheezes) and he is maloccluded as well. Other than tooth trimmings and occasonial antibiotics for a cough, though, he is a happy healthy boy with the cutest shmoooooshy face you've ever seen. His mamma's building is being treated for mold this week and she thought it was best to get Benjie away from all that. So glad she thought of me :serene. I adore this affectionate, sweet, brave little boy! :Love_Icon

[Mialouise]

Oh my goodness! Just re-read the whole thread, what an amazing story. Poor sweet thing had such a rough start. It puts a big smile on my face to see him happy & healthy! What a beautiful guy he his.

[Chickenlegs]

Oh baby boy so good to see you again :Love_Icon

[stepnstone]

Benjie's not so little anymore, he looks great! :Love_Icon

[island rehabber]

Benjie's not so little anymore, he looks great! :Love_Icon

Oh he is a solid little chunky monk who loves to be squidged!




Do I have to give him back? :sadness

[Chirps]

Oh what a beautiful boy! This thread is so uplifting. :thankyou

[SammysMom]

Oh what a beautiful boy he has become...:Love_Icon