Broken tail, causing pain, bleeding

[squirrel_peanut]

A week ago we took in a broken baby (whom we are affectionately calling Twitch). Among his many issues, his tail was broken at the base and had become necrotic. Half of it fell off a few days ago and we were allowing the rest to fall off naturally, however tonight he began chewing at it and it opened up a large wound. We have given Metacam and cleaned the wound with a 20:1 dilution of Betadine and applied Neosporin. Twitch also has neurological damage and has limited control of his limbs and small seizures. We are worried about further damage. Any advice would be helpful. Attaching pictures.

311180311181311182311180311181311182

[redwuff]

Ouch. You might try gabapentin for a week and see if you can break the pain/nerve pathway. Mostly, when tails like that go to our vet, he amputates. What type of neurological issues does he have?

[redwuff]

You might have to put a corset per se on to limit his ability to bend and reach his tail. Further damage is always a possibility.

[squirrel_peanut]

Ouch. You might try gabapentin for a week and see if you can break the pain/nerve pathway. Mostly, when tails like that go to our vet, he amputates. What type of neurological issues does he have?

He doesn’t have complete control of his limbs, is unable to stand on his own, and has small tremor seizures. We’ve seen a lot of improvement from him since he was brought in, however, so are hopeful.

[Diggie's Friend]

I read that in injury in this area can effect the entire nervous system; this may be why he has had balance issues.

I'm concerned about infection; perhaps an Antibiotic would be merited with the chewing damage he has done.

If you aren't a rehabber that can address this wound and what appears to be swelling, you will need to get him to a vet who can.

[squirrel_peanut]

I read that in injury in this area can effect the entire nervous system; this may be why he has had balance issues.

I'm concerned about infection; perhaps an Antibiotic would be merited with the chewing damage he has done.

If you aren't a rehabber that can address this wound and what appears to be swelling, you will need to get him to a vet who can.

Thank you for that info. He was on Septra and Metacam for 5 days. We will be taking him to the vet today to assess him overall and the tail more specifically. He has been completely ignoring his tail since the one night that he tried chewing it briefly. After we cleaned and applied Neosporin, he just stopped caring about it and went back to his normal self. I thought he would try to chew it it off or fuss with it, but he's been very unconcerned. Still going to the vet though.

Thank you for all your help and advice. We will keep you posted on his progress.:Love_Icon

[squirrel_peanut]

Just wanted to update that he went to the vet and got his tail amputated. He is doing great and seems happier without it.

Thank you again for all your help!

[TubeDriver]

I hope Twitch feels better! On a slightly different topic, some squirrels with seizure issues have appeared to do well with the addition of 1-2 almonds per day. This appeared to help reduce frequency of seizures. Almonds should only be given on top of a healthy diet based on rodent block and fresh veggies of course! Might be worth a try?