Squirt may have a back problem, may affect release?

[niapet]

Hi everyone. Squirt has recovered fully from her muscle relaxer overdose, however we have noticed she seems to have a lump on her back on the left side. While she was suffering from the overdoes we were scared she had injured her back. Its hard to see on any pictures but this is the best one. It can be felt by examination and is visible to the naked eye.

Squirt seems to be able to run and jump as well as any other squirrel so I'm not sure if this will be a problem? maybe it is a known type of condition in squirrels others have heard of? Any advice would be helpful. We want to release her in the back yard where she was found but this does concern me a bit. Any advice would be helpful.289739

It is hard to see but if you look closely you can see she has a slight lump on her left side near her shoulder.

[niapet]

I circled and cropped the area for clarity.

289740

[cava]

I see it, but I'm sorry I don't know what it is. Hematoma from a fall the day she had the MR, may be?

Someone else may have a better idea.

[niapet]

Yeah I was thinking that, maybe ill keep an eye on it and delay release another week. I have to be careful, squirt is such a sweet squirrel, I have to keep myself in check on finding rationalizations to keep her as a domestic squirrel...

[Lighten-Up]

I had a squirrel that I had released get a small bump right off its spine, it looked just like that, fully furred etc. Within days though, the bump grew and I realized it was an absess. It did then rupture and burst on its own, and healed up nicely weeks and weeks later.

I doubt that the squirrel in your care got an absess, but I mention it just in case.

[niapet]

Well it has been a few days and the bump is still there and there is no change, not bigger, not smaller. Squirt doesn't seem to be in pain but she does fall more often than i remember Imp[ doing at her age.. that could be conformation bias though. The other side of her ribs feel indented compared to Imp. Imps ribs feel normal on both sides and his spine is very straight. When I compare Squirt's spine to Imp's it seems to just be crooked. Im am definitely concerned it is something like scoliosis. This would not be a problem if we just kept her as a domestic squirrel, but I am worried if we release her she might not make it, may even fall from a tree and die, or gravely injure herself.

I have no problem keeping her if that is the right thing to do, but I dont want to keep her from living in the trees if that is possible for her. Any advice from other would be appreciated. Is there a window in which we need to release? Can she get too old for release or is it okay to keep her for another month to make shure everything is okay, and maybe give this time to either develop further or possibly heal?

[redwuff]

How old is she now. There are no hard and fast rules for release. Somethings to think about... If you release this fall, make sure it is time enough for her to get established before winter sets in. Depending on her age, you probably could over-winter with out much problem.

Is the bump soft or hard ?

[Mel1959]

Do you have a vet you can take Squirt to? An X-ray would be definitive about what's going on.

How old is squirt? I see you're in MA. I'm sure you would have time to release even if you held on to her longer. I didn't release my boys till they were over 7 mths old and they did fine.