Miss Pancake is real stiff from her back legs seems sore

[misspancake]

Hey ya'all i need some help my Miss Pancake she seems to be real sore from the back legs she makes a moaning noise when moving around but seems to climb ok up me but not jumping real good. Im new to this and love her lots please help she eats veges and nuts and is indoors in a huge cage and is 9 months old iv had her since she was 2 days old. My wife is a vet tech and we just need some help thanks

[island rehabber]

Sorry your girl isn't well. The least troublesome thing could be that she fell or sprained something in her cage, and just needs some time to heal and feel better. The most troublesome thing could be that IF her diet is heavy on nuts and too light on veggies, she could have the beginnings of MBD. Metabolic Bone Disease (MBD) causes soreness, stiffness, and eventual paralysis in the back end. Can you tell us in more detail what she really eats on a daily basis -- what kids of veggies and how many nuts?

MBD at her age can be reversed but you'll need to begin the protocol immediately. :)

[misspancake]

Hello she eats shelled nuts like hazel nuts and walnuts and pecans we put in with her and romain lettuce and sugar snap peas and little bit of sweet potatoes and kiwi blue berry some strawberry's apples she eats the nuts alot more than her veges

[stepnstone]

Hello she eats shelled nuts like hazel nuts and walnuts and pecans we put in with her and romain lettuce and sugar snap peas and little bit of sweet potatoes and kiwi blue berry some strawberry's apples she eats the nuts alot more than her veges
With this as her diet your baby is showing the classic signs of Metabolic Bone Disease!
You need to start treatment immediately! Then you need to correct her diet. MBD cripples, MBD kills!

https://thesquirrelboard.com/forums/images/icons/icon1.png Emergency Treatment for MBD

Get calcium into the squirrel IMMEDIATELY, not later, not tomorrow, NOW. Delaying treatment can cause death or permanent paralysis.

You will need:

--Tums or calcium pills (any kind)
--a syringe, eyedropper, or spoon

Crush one Tums or calcium pill and add a little water or fruit juice. Use the syringe, eyedropper, or spoon to force-feed the mixture, a little at a time, until it is all gone. Feed a total of 600-800 mg of calcium, and spread it out through the day and night to keep his blood calcium levels as steady as possible.

If the squirrel is having seizures, weakness, or paralysis, the symptoms will usually improve within a few hours, but this does not mean the squirrel is cured. It will take many months to rebuild the calcium in the bones.

Long-Term Treatment for MBD

The next step to curing MBD is to fix the diet.

1. Remove ALL seeds, nuts, corn, and treats.

2. Follow the Healthy Diet For Pet Squirrels, which can be found at the top of the “Squirrel Nutrition” forum. (http://thesquirrelboard.com/forums/s...ad.php?t=16093 (http://thesquirrelboard.com/forums/showthread.php?t=16093)) Your squirrel MUST eat rodent block or squirrel blocks every day. If your squirrel doesn't like rodent blocks, you can try crushing them up with peanut butter or avocado temporarily. You can also make a tastier version of squirrel blocks using the recipe at the top of the Squirrel Nutrition forum.

3. In addition to the Healthy Diet, you will need to continue giving extra calcium every day for several weeks. Either use the syringe/eyedropper or you can try putting the calcium on a small piece of fruit.

Week 1: calcium = 500 mg per day
Week 2: calcium = 250 mg per day
Weeks 3-8: calcium = 100 mg per day

The cause of the acute symptoms—weakness, lethargy, seizures, paralysis—is a drop in blood calcium levels. If these symptoms return at any time, you will need to give another emergency dose of calcium.

More Tips
MBD causes brittle bones that break easily. Try to keep your squirrel away from high places, where he might jump and break a bone. Also, if he is in a tall cage, either place him in a smaller cage, or pad the bottom very well.

Heat is very soothing for a squirrel with MBD. A heating pad turned to low and placed so they cannot chew the pad or cord, or a rice buddy (a sock filled with dry rice/beans and microwaved for about 20 seconds) will work.

[island rehabber]

stepnstone is right. One or two nuts per day for captive squirrels -- almonds are far better than others -- is OK. Your girl is eating more nuts than anything else and this is the classic pattern for MBD, I'm afraid.

You CAN correct it, if you act now and you are consistent. We can help every step of the way -- please keep us posted!

[Nancy in New York]

MBD can be very painful. If you have her weight in grams we can dose infant ibuprofen.

Here's the feeding chart to help.
Read it carefully, you can't go wrong.
Do you offer her any sort of rodent block?

Here's a link to a block specifically made for squirrels.
All she would need is 2 a day along with healthy veggies and greens
from the chart below.

http://www.henryspets.com/squirrel-diet/

https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-WBwrFLT/0/O/i-WBwrFLT.jpg

[Nancy in New York]

Just posting this helpful infomation from another member.


I hope no one minds I went ahead and did a short piece on how to decipher how much elemental calcium is in any supplement, including the new Tums, which are no longer very clearly labeled IMO. (I spoke with yet another person today--TSB member--who's been dosing her MBD sq based on the assumption that TUMS EXTRA 750 contains 750 mg CA per tablet. Sq has only been getting around 200 mg/day. Luckily, sq is doing well.) Anyhow, hope someone finds this useful.

https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-BKvWmhQ/0/O/i-BKvWmhQ.jpg

https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-7FTvTvf/0/O/i-7FTvTvf.jpg

https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-DHmpGTD/0/O/i-DHmpGTD.jpg



Hi everyone,
Tums has changed some of their dosing and labeling. What it says on the label may NOT be what you think! Below is a sort of pictorial guide to the actual elemental calcium contained in the new Tums formulas. NOTE: People may have older versions of Tums, which might have different labeling/dosing, so check carefully and have them read the back label, including what the serving size is. The amount of elemental calcium listed on the back may well be for either ONE or TWO tablets.


https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-7R74jGn/0/O/i-7R74jGn.pngContains 200 mg calcium per tablet

https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-vFw8Dwj/0/O/i-vFw8Dwj.png Contains 300 mg calcium per tablet

https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-BNDrgf8/0/O/i-BNDrgf8.pngContains 400 mg calcium per tablet

Back label for Tums Regular:
https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-w9sxD8F/0/O/i-w9sxD8F.png


Back label for Tums Extra 750:
https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-HxwnHXC/0/O/i-HxwnHXC.png

Back label for Tums Ultra 1000:
https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-LpGz6WK/0/O/i-LpGz6WK.png

[misspancake]

Hey ya'all thanks so much i will do this immediately i love this little girl and dont want nothing bad to happen i will keep everyone informed what happens and hope all is well with her i just worry hope its not to late

[Lighten-Up]

Am I the only one who can't open the links above that Nancy in New York sent? It says invalid link when I click on it.

[Cubby]

Am I the only one who can't open the links above that Nancy in New York sent? It says invalid link when I click on it.
Yes, there's some problem with access permissions...when I click on the link for the original posts I get a message saying I don't have permission to access the page.

[Nancy in New York]

Am I the only one who can't open the links above that Nancy in New York sent? It says invalid link when I click on it.

So sorry, I will get that up within the hour.
Sorry :hug

[misspancake]

Hey ya'll just wanted to tell you thanks for the help Miss Pancake is doing very good she has been getting the tums and good food. She gets the nature blocks suggested and good vegetables. She gets nuts in the shell and is flying around now. Thanks again for all the help

[lennysmom]

So glad to hear that Miss Pancake is doing so much better!:dance A healthy diet is so key to these little ones doing well - just remember to limit shelled nuts to two a day. She is a very lucky girl to have fallen into the hands of someone willing to find out how to properly care for her and do what it takes to get her back on the right track.:hug