Emergency Adult Squirrel Cycad Poisoning

[Treecat]

I ignorantly fed my 1 year old squirrel Cycad berries around 10 a.m. today. Around 4 p.m. he threw up.
I've been researching on the Internet and gave him water with charcoal - 2 ccs, and then about an hour later 5 ccs. He is responsive to my petting but it's uncomfortable. He has been hungry and eaten apple and Pecan.
I called Poison Control for Pets, and said it was a rat. They said a rodent has a membrane that makes them unable to vomit, so they think make he coughed it up, and may have gotten it into his lungs. They also said they would juat charge me 59.00 and then send me to the ve, not give me any suggestiona i could do myself. They would want him on IV fluids. How can a squirrel be kept on I've fluuds? Its 3 am now. The vet I would like to take him to isn't open and oestrogen answer the phone. The other exotic pet vet, stressed out the last squirrel we took there and it died in a short time...maybe 5 or 10 minutes. I don't know whether to take him to the vet or just try to make him as comfoable as I can at home and take suggestions for all you folks. Very sad and tired and worried.
My poor sweet, dear baby love. How stupid I have been.

[CritterMom]

Oh dear. These are highly poisonous. You really need to prepare yourself for the worst. At this point giving him just as much water as he will take orally is likely your only hope - to push the poison through the system and out as quickly as possible. Flavor the water with anything that makes him willing to drink it - sweeten with sugar, add fruit juice, etc.

Please post the area of TX where you live. We may have someone here who can recommend a good vet...

[CritterMom]

BTW, if he will eat I would let him - anything he eats will be diluting what is already in him.

They actually CAN vomit BTW. It isn't easy for them and it is a BAD sign because they have to be pretty ill but hopefully he got a lot of this out.

In addition to flooding him with oral fluids, help him pee - just like when he was a baby - by stroking his tummy in a downward motion and stimulating him. It may make him pee more than he normally would and every little bit helps.

[Treecat]

Hello, and thank you so much for your encouragement.
I know a vet in the area that I contacted but he is not an exotic pet vet and recommended Laxatone. So i gave him olive oil.
When he vomited he passed a lot of droppings several times but I haven't seen him pass stool again yet since.
He still has an appetite and is able to get around but his eyes loom reddish and distressed, & he wants to nap and be left alone because I've been bothering him so much in the night with forced fluids.
Read an article last night on NAC used as an anti-toxin in testing rodents that have been poisoned with rodenticide, and it increased he chance of survival, so I have been adding it is small quantities to his forced fluids. There is a vet open now, and I would like to know if he is getting better or worse but don't want one traumatized him with a strange place, strange people, needles and thermometer up the but. They say the sooner you take action against he toxins the higher the chance of survival. I don't know if his behavior is normal for poison and if he has beginnings of liver failure, & internal bleeding like they say it causes, or if he is pull out of it with rest, forced fluids and the NAC. If I hospitalized him they probably won't continue the NAC treatment, which need 2 more doses over the next 5 hours. He has eaten banana, pecan, & pumpkin seeds this morning, and his forced apple juice, water with salt and molasses. He is kind of restless. Glad to hear they can vomit. He doesn't sound like he has anything in his lungs. It gets confusing with all the different things people tell you. He is still peeing on his own.

[CritterMom]

OK, I did a quick read - we are on the same track - I was going to suggest that you start adding milk thistle to help detoxify his liver but that is basically what this is - am I right? You may want to look into adding the milk thistle after you have completed the round of treatment. It is pretty effective.

You are doing or have done (charcoal) everything they are recommending from what I can see. You don't have ultrasound or x-ray to look for organ failure but I am having trouble linking "organ failure" and a "pretty good appetite" together... I am so hoping that your fast action worked.

I would let him sleep in between hydration feedings but I would continue those. If he starts getting fussy about that, change things up - chill some and heat some and try both - you never know what will pique their interest. You can even freeze some and give him an "ice cube"...

[Treecat]

That was wonderful advice.
I called a vet at the Kendalia TX 300+ wildlife rescue, and he said to let him rest with peace and quiet instead of stressing him with the vet unless he started getting worse, but recommended I stop forcing oral fluids. I let him rest about couple of hours and went to give him fluids again. - after his nap, he is up licking himself, licking me, and stretched & yawned like he is comfortable! Praise YAHWEH! Looks like he is going to make it!!! :D
Our Eternal is so wonderful! YAY!!!

[PennyCash]

That was wonderful advice.
I called a vet at the Kendalia TX 300+ wildlife rescue, and he said to let him rest with peace and quiet instead of stressing him with the vet unless he started getting worse, but recommended I stop forcing oral fluids. I let him rest about couple of hours and went to give him fluids again. - after his nap, he is up licking himself, licking me, and stretched & yawned like he is comfortable! Praise YAHWEH! Looks like he is going to make it!!! :D
Our Eternal is so wonderful! YAY!!!

Thrilled he's doing better :dance
Depending on where you live in such a huge state I might be able to help with a compassionate, caring vet. Just shoot me a pm. I believe it's better to have one and not need it than to need and scramble to find one.

[CritterMom]

Oh, yay! That is wonderful news! We have seen this happen a number of times here at TSB with bad results but nobody recognized the problem and jumped on it in time like you did. Phew.

Take Penny Cash up on the offer - she is a lady who has gotten to know some vets! :grin2

And when things calm down I think you need to introduce us to this Squirrel With No Name and a pic or two would be nice...:poke:poke

[Toddy]

So glad he is feeling better! :woot I hope he continues to improve :Love_Icon

[Diggie's Friend]

Milk Thistle Seed extract (Oregon Wild Harvest extract notes 80 mg. in one capsule) Empty capsule contents onto computer paper and divide the amount into four equal parts, about 20 mg. each. (see the label you have for comparison and perhaps has different amt. in the capsule in order to divide it down to 20 mg.) Then add 1 Teaspoons of hot water to moisten the seed, and let steep like tea. Add this to soft food, or to a 2 Tsp. of Lowfat plain yogurt even better! Twice daily.

[Diggie's Friend]

Please presently consider contacting a Veterinarian by phone for a consultation for recommended treatment at least, as it is better to do so than not if you have a source you know you can trust from one of our members here.

Should the powdered capsule source you have contain say 100 mg. still divided it by 4 and given

two portions of (25 mg.) daily as noted.

Should more symptoms develop, going higher isn't going to hurt to double the dose to 50 mg twice a day. Try to give it by putting it into a plainyogurt 1/2 Tsp. a feeding, with activated powdered charcoal if you can't get that into your squirrel otherwise. LF plain yogurt is best, as higher sugar supports the uptake of many compounds including toxins.

1/2 Tsp. measure of dry oatmeal, then cooked according to directions, is a good choice to support moving the toxins out the bowel.

Their is a liquid source that is used in my diet at 25 mg. daily for prevention, which has the added advantage over powdered seed is that there is no further need to hydrate it. This Elixer of MTS contains organic vegetable glycerin and a 'low' level of ethanol which supports the compound getting into the liver quickly. Oregon Wild Harvest Milk Thisle Seed Elixer would be good to have on hand in case of accidental ingestion of toxins that can occur with normally healthy sources of food. (Available on amazon.com)

[Treecat]

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Ok, You wanted a name, here are pictures of my 1 year old "
Baby Heimer Love of 2 Squirrels!, AKA "Heimer" :)
will come through.

And here is the site with the information on NAC as a poison antecdote in case it comes in handy to help anyone else.

N-Acetyl Cysteine in the Management of Rodenticide Consumption
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4347107/




Oh, yay! That is wonderful news! We have seen this happen a number of times here at TSB with bad results but nobody recognized the problem and jumped on it in time like you did. Phew.

Take Penny Cash up on the offer - she is a lady who has gotten to know some vets! :grin2

And when things calm down I think you need to introduce us to this Squirrel With No Name and a pic or two would be nice...:poke:poke

[Treecat]

299522[ATTACH]299523

FYI:
Here are photos of the Cycad that made my baby sick.
Sago Palms are an xample of a Cycad and Re not really palms at all. Every part of the Cycad is toxic.
This is where I found out about the NAC as a poison antecdote:
N-Acetyl Cysteine in the Management of Rodenticide Consumption
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4347107/

[CritterMom]

LOL! Baby Heimer Love of 2 Squirrels!, AKA "Heimer"??? I see. Let me guess. "Two Squirrels" was his sire and "Heimer" is his barn name?

So Now we need the story of the mobile squirrel cage and why you have a 1 year old in the front seat without a car seat??:tap:tap:tap

[SammysMom]

LOL! Baby Heimer Love of 2 Squirrels!, AKA "Heimer"??? I see. Let me guess. "Two Squirrels" was his sire and "Heimer" is his barn name?

So Now we need the story of the mobile squirrel cage and why you have a 1 year old in the front seat without a car seat??:tap:tap:tap

:rofl4

[Mel1959]

How’s Heimer doing today?