Diarrhea!

[whisperer]

I have a 8-9 week old squirrel, that has watery yellowish diarrhea again.
Since I have had him ( 3 weeks old), his stools have been always been soft with mucus . It would come out in long strands.
His 5 other brothers are fine no problems. They are getting Esbilac ( with probiotics) and cream.
Being a rehabber for the past 26 years I know the right amount to feed, etc. But his guy has really got me stumped.

Just about two weeks ago it turned watery and just running out of him. It was greenish with a little speck of blood, no smell.
I took him off formula and did the 24 hrs LRS with no change.

I started metronidazole. I am not sure if was still good, as I had gotten it from a kind rehabber( Gayle) and I have
had it for maybe 3 years, and not sure how old it was then. He got it BID for 7 days. (0.25)
His stool went back to the solid but soft stage.

Now again ( two days after completing the metronidazole) his is starting again with the profuse watery diarrhea.

I am wondering if this is Coxcidia now and not giardia.

Any thoughts???


Lisa

[redwuff]

Can you get a fecal done? I just had 2 six week old girls that had diarrhea for 3 weeks with me trying every thing under the sun. Was about to worm for coccidia but thought I would get a fecal done since I was going to the vet. Turned out it was struvite eggs and Panacur was the treatment. Two days later our misery ended.

By the way, the diarrhea looked like a cross betw overfeeding and coccidia. Was not either.

[redwuff]

Lisa, if your kids look like they have a fever, waste away before your eyes, have diarrhea so bad that there is almost no fecal material, just crusty around their bottoms, and are sick! Let us know, we have had this a few times and know how to treat it.

Don’t forget to hydrate your baby if diarrhea gets too bad.

[whisperer]

I will call my vet to see if he is willing to do a fecal. I hope I can get enough of it for testing.

The poop is not crusting, just flowing.

His appetite has been good, and running around the cage. Today he is a little quiet. Only took half his formula. Sleepy today.

[CritterMom]

I will call my vet to see if he is willing to do a fecal. I hope I can get enough of it for testing.

The poop is not crusting, just flowing.

His appetite has been good, and running around the cage. Today he is a little quiet. Only took half his formula. Sleepy today.

Hydrate, hydrate, if possible with plain water, or even water with a tiny bit of sugar to interest him. Give between feedings.

I would also try Pepto Bismol on him. If you give me his weight I can give an exact amount to give, but it will likely end up being just 2 or 3 drops. I always suggest giving the pepto, then watching the poop after giving it. When the pepto has gone all the way through his system, his poops will turn BLACK. Don't be alarmed, it is from the bismuth in the meds which is what makes it work and it is handy because you can tell when it has gone all the way through the digestive tract. Once the poops turn black, re-evaluate. Are they still a runny mess? Give another dose. Are they starting to thicken up but still pasty? Give about a half a dose. Are they firming to the point where they are actually forming poops? Hold off and see what happens at the next poop. This baby likely has some sort of parasite but sometimes their intestines just get all inflamed from the diarrhea itself going through them, and just get worse and worse the longer it goes on to where even if the original issue resolves, the diarrhea continues. Pepto will slow EVERYTHING down by actually helping to solidify the poop, and I can't tell you how many times what looked like terminal diarrhea resolved itself with a few drops of pepto bismol.

If your vet can do a fecal right away get the sample before you start this, but stopping this pronto so he can begin absorbing nutrients is very important. They do not have many reserves at this age.

[whisperer]

I brought a poop sample to the vet......... only to be told it is not enough, they gave me a container and said " you need to fill the spoon.

Do you think I can get him to go more now:tap

I gave up after 15 minutes. He is not happy with me.

I will have to try again later.

But he is running and playing now, and eating rodent chow.

[Javarat]

I have also been fighting diarrhea this season, like never before.
I have a suspicion the root culprit is changes to Esbilac.

My older ones finally firmed up when I swapped them to a 50/50 mix of Esbilac and Fox Valley 20/50.

My younger ones were flushing from full tummies to flat empty between feedings, with no retention, and gaining little or no weight.
Metro regained some intestinal retention, and water between feedings brought back their appetite...but the diarrhea continued.
I noted that their poop was getting more and more white, suggesting a lack of digestion. I was relying on Esbilac to reestablish biotics after the antibiotic, and it apparently was not doing it.
So i used Bene-bac once per day, and they have finally firmed up to toothpaste, and are gaining decent weight again.
Now just trying to get them old enough to move to the 50/50 mix without encountering constipation.

I am thinking this may be my last baby season on Esbilac for eyes closed... and I will move to Zoologic Milk Matrix 33/40 next year. One of mentors is using that with zero diarrhea this season.

[LaurenKimberly888]

Thank you for the post!
1st time squirrel-mom. I had to purchase my 2nd canister of the Esbilac a little over a week ago for my now 5-6 ish week trio. My runt immediately started with runny/foamy/yellow diarrhea but appeared to be the only one affected. Now the other 2 appear to have unusually dark poop.

Is it possible I got a bad batch? Or a change in the formula?

Any tips would be great!

Reading thru past Q and A... I have given the runt a few drops of pepto. But the improvements were only temporary and I’ve discontinued that. I was about to come in and ask when I read your post.

[whisperer]

I have also been fighting diarrhea this season, like never before.
I have a suspicion the root culprit is changes to Esbilac.

My older ones finally firmed up when I swapped them to a 50/50 mix of Esbilac and Fox Valley 20/50.

My younger ones were flushing from full tummies to flat empty between feedings, with no retention, and gaining little or no weight.
Metro regained some intestinal retention, and water between feedings brought back their appetite...but the diarrhea continued.
I noted that their poop was getting more and more white, suggesting a lack of digestion. I was relying on Esbilac to reestablish biotics after the antibiotic, and it apparently was not doing it.
So i used Bene-bac once per day, and they have finally firmed up to toothpaste, and are gaining decent weight again.
Now just trying to get them old enough to move to the 50/50 mix without encountering constipation.

I am thinking this may be my last baby season on Esbilac for eyes closed... and I will move to Zoologic Milk Matrix 33/40 next year. One of mentors is using that with zero diarrhea this season.


It may be it's your water and not the Esbilac. I do not believe the formula is the problem. Because the other litter mates are
fine. And have been since day 1.

[whisperer]

Ok....

Brought more stool sample to the vet (mostly watery), but it still was not enough to send out for testing. :tap

I could kick my self in the butt,:boohoo three months ago on Freecycle someone was looking for a microscope for butterflies.
I had a good one, and gave it to them. Now I wish I had it.

I explained to the Vet Assistant that I had given metronidazole for 7 days BID. And that the stool had improved. And after
stopping the watery diarrhea is back. He talked to the vet, and the Vet recommended flagyl again. He doesn't think it is
parasites as the others don't have it and would be showing signs of it by now. But thought it would help, since it started to help
before, maybe needed more time.

So I will be giving the Flagyl BID .

Another ???: When I was giving metronidazole (250mg) I gave 0.25ml BID. The Flagyl I have now is 100mg/ml.

Not being medical math smart, what would be the dose. I called the vet office, but the person is out to lunch.

[Milo's Mom]

What does the baby weigh? I don't think I saw it in any of your other posts.

You may also want to consider treating for coccidia with ponazuril or toltrazuril.

[whisperer]

Sorry I forgot to tell the weight.

He weights 260grams.

[Milo's Mom]

Sorry I forgot to tell the weight.

He weights 260grams.

dosing sent in PM

[whisperer]

dosing sent in PM

Thank you:blowkiss

[Wolfmom]

Lisa, if your kids look like they have a fever, waste away before your eyes, have diarrhea so bad that there is almost no fecal material, just crusty around their bottoms, and are sick! Let us know, we have had this a few times and know how to treat it.

Don’t forget to hydrate your baby if diarrhea gets too bad.

Please reach out