Inducing diarrhea to help stomach swelling?

[SqueakyBaby]

My chipmunk is slipping away I fear. She is not maintaining body heat well and is weak.
I found her 4 days ago cold, wet and moving very slowly and erratically across an open field. I think she's about 6 weeks old. Have been feeding esbilac, nuts, veggies, fruit etc. She's had a good appetite but I worry the food is causing a blockage and she cannot pass it for some reason. Her abdomen was slightly swollen and the dark hole was present when I found her, but its gotten worse. She was eliminating fine but hasn't for a while now. I'm worried all the food is causing a blockage in her intestines.

She is shivering on and off, and her jaw is trembling/teeth chattering occasionally. She is weak and seems "out of it". She did accept formula a short while ago but I think its because she's thirsty.

My question, what are your thoughts if I tried to induce mild diarrhea to see if it helps her clear the swelling in her insides? I don't want the swelling to burst her insides.
If I attempted to induce mild diarrhea, what could I use for this?
Any other advice is greatly appreciated. Thank you so much.

[Spanky]

I would try warm (very warm) water soaks to try to get her to go potty. Massaging their sides and belly also helps to move things along. Be sure to keep him warm and not let get cold during this process.

Have you reviewed the baby squirrel care? Is basically the same for chippies. Here is a link to that:
https://www.henryspets.com/1-caring-for-a-baby-squirrel/

In the other thread I see mention of feeding Esbilac, sunflower seeds, walnuts, banana, greens, carrot, other veg.

First stop the Esbilac and use the temporary goats milk formula. There is an (recently identified) issue with the Esbilac and small mammals like squirrels and chipmunks. Also, he is to young to be getting seeds and nuts already.

TEMPORARY GOAT'S MILK FORMULA:
3 parts goat’s milk
1 part heavy whipping cream
1 part vanilla yogurt

Formula will last 48 hours in refrigerator.

But until he poops, nothing but water. Feeding canned pumpkin (not pumpkin pie filling, juts plain canned pumpkin) can sometimes help move things along. But the warm water soaks first. If that works I would stick to water or pedialyte until that belly goes down.

I believe that is his anus, but regardless if you place some Vaseline over it it will help like the mineral oil but also if that is a bot fly, you will see the warble move the Vaseline so it can breath. And if you do see it moving, confirming that is a Bot Fly I would suggest it be removed by someone that has experience.

[SquirrelMamaLizzi]

You need to give that baby Pedialyte only for at least a few feedings! No food and definitely NO Esbilac!!!

[SqueakyBaby]

You need to give that baby Pedialyte only for at least a few feedings! No food and definitely NO Esbilac!!!

Thank you I have started giving only Pedialyte. She made it through the night but her abdomen/anus area is even more distended and swollen....I got some simethicone and mineral oil this morning and will be giving her some shortly along with another hot bath and belly massage. She peed this morning and her pee came out in spurts due to all the pressure :(

[Spanky]

Thank you I have started giving only Pedialyte. She made it through the night but her abdomen/anus area is even more distended and swollen....I got some simethicone and mineral oil this morning and will be giving her some shortly along with another hot bath and belly massage. She peed this morning and her pee came out in spurts due to all the pressure :(

Let us know if the bath soaks help / are productive.

Have you been able to determine for sure if this is her anus versus a bot? A bot that large you should be able to see the warble moving about in the hole. And a bot that large would pose a threat to such a small chipmunk.

I just want to make sure that the "giving" is referring to the simethicone. The recommendation from your other thread was to massage her anus and the area with mineral oil, not "give it":

"Will she let you massage the lump with something slippery like mineral oil to see if anything comes out."

[SqueakyBaby]

Let us know if the bath soaks help / are productive.

Have you been able to determine for sure if this is her anus versus a bot? A bot that large you should be able to see the warble moving about in the hole. And a bot that large would pose a threat to such a small chipmunk.

I just want to make sure that the "giving" is referring to the simethicone. The recommendation from your other thread was to massage her anus and the area with mineral oil, not "give it":

"Will she let you massage the lump with something slippery like mineral oil to see if anything comes out."


Yes don't worry, the mineral oil went on her rear, not internally! Though she did lick a little off her belly. I put mineral oil on her belly because its so swollen I want her skin to feel less tense.

The bath helped her to poop 3x!! Yay!! She is still Very distended and swollen, but surprisingly active and alert for small bursts. I gave her 2 little drops of simethicone. Now I only need to get her to drink more pedialyte; she's not interested and its hard to hold her still and safe to get the pedialyte inside her.

She's sleeping and resting by a hot water bottle right now as she was chilly to the touch. In a little bit I'll give her another warm bath and try to get more pedialyte in her.

I am 99.9% sure its not a bot fly. I see no movements in it and the opening is quite small compared to the swollen area. It now looks like a tumor; I will try to take a picture next time I give her a bath.

[SqueakyBaby]

Would a tiny bit of yogurt likely help activate her digestion, or just cause more of impacted bowels?? She is dehydrated and I am continuing to try to get her to drink pedialyte.
Edit; she just drank about 1/2 tsp of pedialyte.

[CritterMom]

Ugh. I hate to say all of this but...

First, the reason you see so few baby chippies here at TSB is because all of their little tragedies happen underground, where we never see them to help. No falling out of nests, etc. When baby chippies are found, it is usually the case that there is something wrong with them physically and their mama has pushed them out of the nest. It is so seldom that anyone is able to successfully raise one because they almost always have something way worse than the standard cold/dehydration/starvation wrong with them, and often it isn't even visible.

If this is not a bot - and if it was, I think you would be able to see TWO holes down there - one from the bot and the other one the anus - I fear that this little one was born with a hernia. It is a small "hole" in the abdominal lining that isn't dangerous in and of itself, but what can and often does happen is that a loop of the bowel pushes IN to the hole and gets clamped closed and the site becomes a blockage. It is the reason that hernias get surgically closed when found - to prevent that from happening.

[SqueakyBaby]

Ugh. I hate to say all of this but...

First, the reason you see so few baby chippies here at TSB is because all of their little tragedies happen underground, where we never see them to help. No falling out of nests, etc. When baby chippies are found, it is usually the case that there is something wrong with them physically and their mama has pushed them out of the nest. It is so seldom that anyone is able to successfully raise one because they almost always have something way worse than the standard cold/dehydration/starvation wrong with them, and often it isn't even visible.

If this is not a bot - and if it was, I think you would be able to see TWO holes down there - one from the bot and the other one the anus - I fear that this little one was born with a hernia. It is a small "hole" in the abdominal lining that isn't dangerous in and of itself, but what can and often does happen is that a loop of the bowel pushes IN to the hole and gets clamped closed and the site becomes a blockage. It is the reason that hernias get surgically closed when found - to prevent that from happening.


Its tough to hear but thank you for sharing this info, I think you are probably right that its a hernia, after googling pictures of rat hernias. Is it possible to perform surgery on an animal so small? If I found licensed rehabbers for her, is there much they can do for her?
She is a little more active and playful today but still weak and can't grip my arm with her claws to walk up like she was doing before

[CritterMom]

Its tough to hear but thank you for sharing this info, I think you are probably right that its a hernia, after googling pictures of rat hernias. Is it possible to perform surgery on an animal so small? If I found licensed rehabbers for her, is there much they can do for her?
She is a little more active and playful today but still weak and can't grip my arm with her claws to walk up like she was doing before

Well, they can do surgical repairs on rat hernias... The real issue is that she is compromised at this point which makes anesthesia very iffy. And it is something that a vet would need to do. Licensed rehabbers are not equipeed to do that and it is very likely they would simply euthanize.

If you can end up getting the poop out and the blockage resolved with soaks and gentle stroking so the digestive system was working again, it might give you some time to get her healthy and to perhaps find a vet for her.

I could be totally wrong here - just looking at pics and grabbing for every bit of info from the thousands of vet/zoo/wildlife shows I have spent my life watching...

[SqueakyBaby]

Well, they can do surgical repairs on rat hernias... The real issue is that she is compromised at this point which makes anesthesia very iffy. And it is something that a vet would need to do. Licensed rehabbers are not equipeed to do that and it is very likely they would simply euthanize.

If you can end up getting the poop out and the blockage resolved with soaks and gentle stroking so the digestive system was working again, it might give you some time to get her healthy and to perhaps find a vet for her.

I could be totally wrong here - just looking at pics and grabbing for every bit of info from the thousands of vet/zoo/wildlife shows I have spent my life watching...

Happy news, I brought the little chippie to a Rehabber, and she said its a bot fly larvae and it should be relatively easy to remove! If everything goes well I'll have her back in a day or so!

I will reference the immobile bowel techniques again in the future if I need to, thank you! I'm so grateful we don't seem to be dealing with an issue of that caliber!

[HRT4SQRLS]

Oh my, I’m so glad to hear that. That is the very FIRST bot I’ve seen on the rear end. I hope all goes well. It definitely has to come out.

You know, I was thinking about you at 3 or 4AM today. I do crazy things like that often. :grin2
I thought, why didn’t I have her put Vaseline over the hole. Bot larvae go crazy when you block the hole. You can see them move a lot. You would have known for sure.

[CritterMom]

Oh yay! I am SO GLAD I am wrong!!!

[SqueakyBaby]

Oh my, I’m so glad to hear that. That is the very FIRST bot I’ve seen on the rear end. I hope all goes well. It definitely has to come out.

You know, I was thinking about you at 3 or 4AM today. I do crazy things like that often. :grin2
I thought, why didn’t I have her put Vaseline over the hole. Bot larvae go crazy when you block the hole. You can see them move a lot. You would have known for sure.


Aw well the baby chippie and I are grateful for your positive random thoughts :D its been very educational to learn about bots, I will try the Vaseline in the future if I come across one again. I havent heard back from the Rehabber yet and am nervous just sending out positivity that it will go well!

[SqueakyBaby]

Oh yay! I am SO GLAD I am wrong!!!

Im so relieved too!! Fingers crossed the removal goes well!!