11 week old diarrhea and loosing weight

[Squirreldad112]

I have an 11 week old who iv had since just a few days old. Hes been happy and healthy always. Out of the blue his poops got soft and then turned into diarrhea basically like mucus. No change in diet. Hes was 320grams and has lost 19grams in weight. Have been feeding him esbilac 15ml 3-4 times a day. He doesn't want to eat anything. Anything I give him has to be forced. Hes on pepto now twice a day. He eats very little. Like 6-9ml twice a day since being sick. I heard about the new esbilac warning. Thinking i should order fox valley? It has been 6 days of him being sick. Never really has had intrest in his rodent blocks. He will drink water and or pedia lite but only a couple mills at a time. It's being reccomend to me to start him on some pumpkin. Iv also heard of yogurt? Just weird how he got sick all of a sudden and I dont want to lose him. Any help is greatly appreciated!

[HRT4SQRLS]

Welcome Squirreldad,
Because your baby has been on Esbilac we have to assume he has Metabolic Bone Disease.
I would start supplementing with calcium immediately.

https://thesquirrelboard.com/forums/showthread.php?32122-MBD-Treatment

Be very careful with him. His bones are fragile.

Just out of curiosity, does your can of Esbilac say, Made in the USA OR Crafted in the USA.

[CritterMom]

Yes, I do think you should start him on Fox Valley.

Look at your Esbilac can. Does the label show an American Flag and "Made in the US" or does it have a shield and say "Crafted in the US"?

Make certain you keep giving him additional hydration - you can give plain water by syringe (heat it like formula) - even if you have to give tiny amounts each time. Dehydration is the killer with diarrhea.

[HRT4SQRLS]

Until the Fox Valley arrives you can use this temporary formula.



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.

Goat’s Milk
This can be purchased at natural food stores such as Trader Joe’s and Whole Foods, and at most health food stores that sell groceries. It is a product for humans. Do not substitute commercial formula made for baby goats or other livestock sold at feed stores.

Goat’s milk is available fresh in a carton; evaporated in a can; and as a powdered milk. If you purchase either the evaporated or powdered versions, please blend them with water according to the package directions before using to make the formula.

Heavy Whipping Cream
This is found in small cartons in the grocery store near the coffee creamers and half and half. Regular heavy cream may be substituted if it is unavailable, but the heavy whipping cream has the highest fat content, and is preferred.

Yogurt
Yogurt has beneficial bacteria in it that soothes and settles digestion. Full fat yogurt is best, and a good choice that is very widely available is Stoneyfield Yobaby yogurt. However if it is unavailable, a low fat vanilla yogurt may be substituted. Avoid those that have artificial sweeteners in them. Vanilla and banana are both popular flavors, and the sweet taste of the yogurt helps to convince the baby to accept it.

[RemingtonS.]

It's made in the USA, not crafted. He's been on the same stuff since he was just a couple days old. He chews on his rodent block but isn't that crazy about them yet.

[Squirreldad112]

Will do. My wife just ordered the fox valley but it wont be here untill Friday. Should it just be plain water or the homemade pedialyte and how much? I'll check the can of esbilac when I get home. How about the pumpkin or yogurt path? Anything else I should be giving him? Also should I be trying to get home to eat his regular doses?

[HRT4SQRLS]

Anything different in the diet? Any suspect solid foods?

[HRT4SQRLS]

It's made in the USA, not crafted. He's been on the same stuff since he was just a couple days old. He chews on his rodent block but isn't that crazy about them yet.
I confused. Are we referring to the same squirrel?

[RemingtonS.]

Yes, I'm the wife who ordered the fox valley :)

[Squirreldad112]

Yes all the same squirrel. I do t know about MBD hes strong and uses his legs just time. Esbilac is all hes been on. No change in diet when he got sick. I'll pick up the ingredients for the replacement milk on my way home

[HRT4SQRLS]

Yes, I'm the wife who ordered the fox valley :)
:grin2 Thank you. Perfect explanation.

[Squirreldad112]

Should we be adding the calcium to the temporary goats milk? What kind of calcium should we get? Also should we be giving g him plain water or pedialyte?

[HRT4SQRLS]

What type of block did you introduce?

I would recommend these. They are usually well received. I have never had a squirrel accept the Henry’s baby blocks.

https://www.henryspets.com/picky-blocks-for-squirrels-flyers-rats-mice/

[RemingtonS.]

We've been giving him monkey biscuits from exotic nutrition. We went to a squirrel rehabilitator yesterday and they gave us zupreem blocks

[Squirreldad112]

Or mazuri blocks I'll have to ask

[HRT4SQRLS]

If your can says Made in the USA it is probably the older lots that appear to be OK. We can’t be certain though. I will say that babies on the BAD Esbilac are crashing long before 11 weeks. Maybe this isn’t MBD.

I can’t imagine why an 11 week old now has uncontrolled diarrhea. I have 3 eleven week old babies right now. They are eating like horses. They take 20-30cc of Fox Valley 20:50 twice a day. They are eating a lot of solid food.

Is this liquid diarrhea or soft poop?
Have you fed any acorns? Any outside foods? Mine are devouring oak branches.

You can give the Pedialyte while he has diarrhea. How long have you been giving the Pedialyte?

[HRT4SQRLS]

We don’t recommend the Exotic Nutrition foods. This is the ingredient list of their Monkey Biscuits. None of the first 5 ingredients are healthy for squirrels. The Zupreem monkey biscuits are much better.

Ingredients: ground corn, ground wheat, dehulled soybean meal, wheat middlings, animal fat preserved with bha, dry whey, corn gluten meal, dehydrated alfalfa meal, dried beet pulp, sucrose, fish meal, calcium carbonate, brewers dried yeast, salt, dicalcium phosphate, cyanocobalamin, riboflavin, dl-methionine, choline chloride, calcium pantothenate, nicotinic acid, folic acid, pyridoxine hydrochloride, thiamine, mononitrate, ascorbic acid, vitamin a acetate, cholecalciferol, l-lysine, menadione, dimethylpyrimidinol bisulfite (source of vitamin k), dl-alpha iodate, manganous oxide, copper sulfate, cobalt carbonate, zinc sulfate, zinc oxide.

Guaranteed Analysis: crude protein 15%, crude fat 5%, crude fiber 6%

[HRT4SQRLS]

I reread your initial post. Runny mucous poop.

[HRT4SQRLS]

I have heard that pumpkin is good for loose poop. I have never used it. Maybe someone with experience with it can sound in.

[Squirreldad112]

Liquid diarrhea. Hes just had a little pedialyte here and there over the last few days. I'll get him on it constantly now. Our rehaber mentioned pumpkin. Any thoughts? I gave him half a penut the second day he was sick to see if he would eat that. That's the only nut hes ever had though and he didnt eat it. Just chewed it up.

[HRT4SQRLS]

Yes, pumpkin is good. Did the rehabber mention how to give it?

[Squirreldad112]

I'm trying to contact them now. But your input on how to feed the pumpkin would also be appreciated

[HRT4SQRLS]

I just did a search of the board. It is recommended to give the plain canned pumpkin (not the pumpkin pie filling type). You might have to syringe feed it if he won’t willingly take it. Of course, to syringe feed it you would need to mash it and add water.

Because your squirrel is older, I would buy some fresh produce... sugar snap peas and kale.

At 11 weeks he is getting close to self weaning.

[Squirreldad112]

Ya this horrible timing for him to self wean. Our rehaber wasnt to wat a couple days to start the pumpkin and see if the medication started to work. I'm not sure exactly what it it. But it looks like pepto, pink in color. Should I be giving him pedialyte inbetween feedings of the new goat formula since hes eating so little? Like I said he usually eats 15ml but it's hard to get him to take more than 6mls now. I was pumped I got him to take 9mls this morning. Hes only been eating twice a day since hes been sick.

[Squirreldad112]

I called the market next to our house and they have stonyfield low fat organic, is that ok?

[Mel1959]

Yes, stoneyfield is what lots of folks use. Check in the baby food section for baby food that is a combination of pumpkin and veggies. It might be better accepted. If you can find a baby food version you can draw it up in a syringe and give it that way. Infant rice cereal added to the formula can also help solidify loose stool.

Pedialyte has a lot of salt, so you want to limit how much you give. There are bottled water sources that contain electrolytes that might be helpful.

[Squirreldad112]

I was just going to do homemade pedialyte, should I just do plain water instead?

[Squirreldad112]

Btw, our Esbilac had a shield that says certified in the USA...

[HRT4SQRLS]

Btw, our Esbilac had a shield that says certified in the USA...

OK, that’s not good. You need to start supplementing with calcium.

[HRT4SQRLS]

https://thesquirrelboard.com/forums/showthread.php?32122-MBD-Treatment

Give the smaller dose for baby squirrels. Be very careful. Your baby is fragile.

[HRT4SQRLS]

Btw, our Esbilac had a shield that says certified in the USA...

Crafted.... right?

[HRT4SQRLS]

Don’t assume the pink ‘stuff’ is Pepto unless you know. It might be an antibiotic... SMZ-TMP comes in a pink version.

[Squirreldad112]

Yes, sorry, says crafted with a shield. I made up some of the goat formula and he ate about 11ml. I think it's just our most recent can of esbilac that is the bad stuff. The first 2 cans I wish I still had to tell, but when I opened this one I could tell the color was different from the first 2 cans. What kind of calcium should I buy?

[HRT4SQRLS]

Good, I hope it was just the last can. IMO, the Esbilac has more issues than lack of usable calcium. Babies on it are getting serious diarrhea and Failure to Thrive. This is likely the cause of your babies issues right now.

You can use Tums as a calcium source. Don’t buy mint flavored Tums. A change of formula might be enough to stop the diarrhea.

I’m thrilled that he ate the Goat Milk formula. Sometimes they reject a new taste.

[Squirreldad112]

Ya I can definitely tell he still feels crappy. Prob from being so depleted and dehydrated. It took some convincing to get him to take the new goats milk but not as much as it has been lately. I was excited I was able to feed him that much. I'm going to try and give him a couple ml's of water inbetween feedings. Hopefully he does it again tonight. He ate the goat formula cold. Can I warm it up in the microwave? Also do I brake up the tums and add it to his formula? Thank you so much for the help!

[HRT4SQRLS]

Formula should always be fed warm. Microwave water in a coffee mug. Take a smaller container, like a baby food jar, with the formula and sit it in the warm water. The formula will warm.

I would crush the Tums. Add a small amount of water. Give one Tums over a 24 hr period. Do NOT give it all at one time. Syringe small doses until it is gone. I think you will see a rapid upswing in his over all attitude as far as well being.

[Squirreldad112]

Awsome thank you so much! I was losing hope. Your making me feel better about things. I know it could be alot of things, but given what we know about the esbilac and dehydration I'm feeling better about how this may turn out. I'll keep you posted. Im about to give him some plain water and see what he takes.

[HRT4SQRLS]

Awsome thank you so much! I was losing hope. Your making me feel better about things. I know it could be alot of things, but given what we know about the esbilac and dehydration I'm feeling better about how this may turn out. I'll keep you posted. Im about to give him some plain water and see what he takes.


Please do let us know. We are documenting these cases in an informal way. Let’s see how he does in a few days. We would like to see you vote in our poll regarding Esbilac. I will post a link later but let’s get your boy turned around first.

By the way, I don’t think I need to say this.... no more Esbilac.

[Squirreldad112]

Ok sounds good. So if this is the issue, how long should it take for his poop to turn back to at least a paste? Also given this is a new formula will it take a while for his tummy to get use to it anyway? I also just got him to take 1ml of plain water pretty easy.

[CritterMom]

Did you ever verify that you were in fact giving Pepto Bismol? Because if you aren't sure, it would be a good time to try some.

[Squirreldad112]

Its kaleinpecton. Probably not spelling that correctly. But I will give him some here in about 10min. I fed him at 215 and would like to try and fred him again little after 6pm

[Squirreldad112]

Lol Kaolin Pectin. If that doesn't work my rehaber wants to try Flagyl

[Squirreldad112]

Also he seems to be shedding. I notice fur on my shirt after I hold him like I didnt before. Is that just because hes sick and malnourished/ dehydrated?

[HRT4SQRLS]

The shedding/loss of fur is often directly related to poor nutrition. Hair loss and ‘kitten fur’ are indicators of a nutritional deficiency.

I am going to be optimistic. When he gets on the Fox Valley you should see his health turn around.
It won’t happen overnight but I believe it will happen.

[Diggie's Friend]

For those that aren't yet aware, there is another good source of non GMO, grass fed, whole fat organic yogurt available on the East coast and west coast. Maple Hill Creamery, that hails from Stuyvesant, N.Y. also produces a whole fat yogurt that contains 10g. of fat per cup; Stonyfield coming in a close 2nd.

But don't be passing on Stonyfield whole fat grass fed organic yogurt should the Maple Hill brand isn't available at a market near you, or vice versa, as either will lend good support to the temporary Goat Milk replacement formula recipe noted on the board. It is always good to have another good source to choose should the market be out of one or the other.

Bon appetite babies!!

https://maplehill.com/yogurt/

https://www.stonyfield.com/products/yogurt/smooth-creamy/whole-milk-plain-32oz

[Squirreldad112]

Loving all the replies! Thank you folks! So I know he needs to be hydrated to process his formula so I wanted to give him water inbetween feedings. But if he has to much water inbetween feedings will it continue to just run right through him? Should I just be giving him the goat formula? Is there enough water available in the goat recipe alone? I fed him the first feeding of goat formula and his yellow mucus poop at least looked like it had some body to it this time. Then right back to watery mucus the nest time he pooped. Cant help but think that's because I gave him 2ml of straight water 2hrs after the goat formula. What regimen should I be doing. Hes definitely malnourished and dehydrated I'm sure...

[HRT4SQRLS]

He is getting hydration from the formula. Go ahead and back off the water. See how he does tomorrow. You can give him hydration with Pedialyte as needed. It’s not unusual for a formula switch to cause loose poop. Let’s get through the formula switch and see how it goes.

[Squirreldad112]

Ok sounds good. Now as far as the tums all I could find is the fruit flavor ones... not mint. Are the fruit flavored ok or do I need to find plain ones?

[HRT4SQRLS]

Fruit flavor is perfect.

[island rehabber]

Fruit flavor is perfect.

Yep. Supposedly rodents hate any kind of mint, so I always steer away from it. :dono

[Squirreldad112]

Fed him 10.5mls this morning but he didnt want it. Seemed to be a little more spunky last night and wanted to play. Poops are still yellow mucus but not quite as watery, little more body to them. Some of it is almost white like undigested milk. My wife is going to give him his Kaolin Pectin this morning. Again before he got sick he was eating 15ml 4 times a day. With him only getting about 10mls a feeding now, should we still try to feed 4 times a day or 3 to take it easy? He definitely feels skinnier and the sides of his nose where his whiskers are, are sunkin in from either lack of nutrition or dehydration or both. Also I was looking at the poops in his cage and one of them had the tiniest bit of blood in it? Dont know if it's from him straining or just being sick. It wasnt alot to where you would think internal bleeding. When I cleaned him up this morning the paper was clean of any blood and that's the only time iv ever seen any.

[HRT4SQRLS]

Yes on the Kaolin Pectin. It is similar to Pepto Bismol.

I wouldn’t try to change too many things at one time. I would continue with the 4 feedings a day until he settles and then you can work towards 3 per day... then 2 per day. At his age he would be taking formula twice a day or even self weaned but he isn’t typical at the moment. Wait until he perks up and the diarrhea stops before any more changes.

You are medicating....Kaolin Pectin.
He is OFF the bad formula.
He is on a highly digestible formula (GM) for the time being.
He will be transitioned to FoxValley when appropriate.

Give him time and see how it works out. Give him hydration as needed for dehydration.

[Squirreldad112]

How do we know when he's dehydrated? I kinda feel like it's all the time since he has diarrhea? We will continue with 4 times a day feeding at the 10ml that I can get him to take down. Also, should we keep him on the GM for a few days or switch to the fox valley when it shows up tomorrow? Again, thank you so much for the help!!!

[RemingtonS.]

I gave Rem his medicine today, but he ended up just throwing it all up, it was really distressing. I put him back in his enclosure and he threw up again, let me pet him, then put himself to bed under his blanky. I was going to feed him in an hour. Should I not? Will he just throw everything up again??

[HRT4SQRLS]

I gave Rem his medicine today, but he ended up just throwing it all up, it was really distressing. I put him back in his enclosure and he threw up again, let me pet him, then put himself to bed under his blanky. I was going to feed him in an hour. Should I not? Will he just throw everything up again??

I don’t know if he will throw up again. You might want to wait an hour longer than usual to let his stomach settle. Poor baby.

[CritterMom]

What all exactly did you give him, and how much?

[RemingtonS.]

0.3 ml's of kaolin/pectin, I gave it to him in 1ml rounds 3 times over 10 minutes.

[Squirreldad112]

He didnt throw up his formula this morning. Could it be that the goat formula is to rich for his stomach right now? Should we try to feed him his formula, plain water or pedialyte?

[CritterMom]

OK, hang on. How much total kaopectate did you give? .3ml? Or 3ml? You have said both.

[RemingtonS.]

0.3, I forgot my decimal in front of the 1
He weighs 300 g

[CritterMom]

OK.

First, I know that kaopectate and pepto bismol work basically the same, but I ALWAYS recommend pepto. I had a lengthy discussion with a cousin of a friend who works on super premie human babies (neonatologist??) once about diarrhea. Yeah, I don't get a lot of invites. I was interested because of the squirrels, and he told me that they really prefer pepto because it is more effective and gentler. It may do nothing more than the kaopectate is doing but it also might...

When I see vomiting I usually back off, simplify things, and start again. In this case, at his next feeding, I would give him actual pedialyte or the homemade rehydration fluid that has the sugar and salt. Then watch him and make sure it stays down. You can even suck the rehydration fluid up in the same syringe as the pepto and give it all together. If it stays down, give him an hour and then slowly begin feeding again. I usually give about 50% what he would normally eat the first time, and monitor to make sure it stays down. Next feeding would be 75% of what he normally would eat.

Before you do that, though, can you tell me exactly what you are feeding - brands, amounts, ratios, etc.

[RemingtonS.]

We're doing the temporary goats milk formula from the first page of this thread with the 3-1-1 ratio. The goats milk is meyenburg from the grocery store, the yogurt is stoneybrook vanilla low fat, and the heavy whipping cream is alpenrose. My husband got him to eat 10 ml's this morning. We have fox valley 20/50 coming in tomorrow. We're feeding him with a syringe which he vehemently HATES since he's been sick. He won't drink on his own though, so it's force feed or nothing at all. When he vomited his medicine it looked all pink, and did not appear to contain the goat's milk formula from earlier.

[CritterMom]

We're doing the temporary goats milk formula from the first page of this thread with the 3-1-1 ratio. The goats milk is meyenburg from the grocery store, the yogurt is stoneybrook vanilla low fat, and the heavy whipping cream is alpenrose. My husband got him to eat 10 ml's this morning. We have fox valley 20/50 coming in tomorrow. We're feeding him with a syringe which he vehemently HATES since he's been sick. He won't drink on his own though, so it's force feed or nothing at all. When he vomited his medicine it looked all pink, and did not appear to contain the goat's milk formula from earlier.

OK. I still say let him sleep until his next feeding time, and just give him some rehydration. If all looks well an hour or so later and he hasn't vomited, make up a batch of your formula that is a little bit weaker - 1 part GM, and 1/2 part heavy cream and yogurt. Give him half of what he normally eats and no more. Before you begin to feed him, dip the tip of the syringe in honey, or a little sugar and let him figure out it is there and lick it off. Then get your formula nice and warm - warmer than you think it should be - and dip the syringe in the sweet stuff again before you put it in his mouth. Sometimes this helps get them going with their formula. If everything stays down. go ahead and mix your formula to the 3-1-1 ratio and feed 3/4 of his normal amount at the next scheduled feeding. Then up to the normal amount after that. Hopefully.

[CritterMom]

Hey...pink vomit...has he gotten any of the Tums yet? If so, how much, and how long before he threw up?

[RemingtonS.]

Hopefully this wasn't wrong, but I made a quarter cup of water with a pinch of sugar, a pinch of salt and a crushed up orange tums. I filled a 1cc syringe with .1ml of pepto, then filled the rest with the solution. I got him to drink the whole thing and it has been about ten minutes with no vomit.

[island rehabber]

Wouldn't the pink be the Peptol coming up?

[RemingtonS.]

That's what I figured

[CritterMom]

Wouldn't the pink be the Peptol coming up?

They aren't using pepto - they have kaopectate.

[RemingtonS.]

Still pink

[CritterMom]

Still pink

He is still vomiting?

[RemingtonS.]

No, he chewed on a couple different things for a few minutes then curled up next to me and conked out. I'm going to do a diluted version of his gm's formula in an hour. Wish us luck!

[CritterMom]

OK. Don't give him any more of the Tums tonight.

This is the second squirrel in the last week or so that has had colored vomit after Tums. The first one was a teeny baby and I thought that maybe the flavorings or colorings were too much for it due to age, but now I am wondering if Tums has made some sort of change. Had you given him any of the Tums BEFORE he started vomiting?

[RemingtonS.]

No, he didn't have tums before he vomited, just kaolin/pectin. I gave him tums later and he held it down fine.
I'm using pepto now instead

[Squirreldad112]

Did you mean 2 parts water, 1 part goats milk, 1/2 cream and 1/2 yogurt? Without the 2 parts water that mix seems even more rich being the ratio or cream and yogurt is higher?

[CritterMom]

Did you mean 2 parts water, 1 part goats milk, 1/2 cream and 1/2 yogurt? Without the 2 parts water that mix seems even more rich being the ratio or cream and yogurt is higher?

Water? You didn't mention water: "We're doing the temporary goats milk formula from the first page of this thread with the 3-1-1 ratio." I am trying to get you to make your normal formula with less cream and yogurt.

Are you using the dried goats milk?

[Squirreldad112]

No we are using goat milk from a carton. In your previous post you said 1 part GM, 1/2 cream and yogurt. So everything is the same for the formula mix just half the cream? Sorry for the confusion

[CritterMom]

No we are using goat milk from a carton. In your previous post you said 1 part GM, 1/2 cream and yogurt. So everything is the same for the formula mix just half the cream? Sorry for the confusion

I apologize. 3 parts gm, 1/2 part cream, 1/2 part yogurt. Phew.

[Squirreldad112]

So since about 1pm my wife gave him 1cc of the GM formula watered down with pedialyte/tums mix. He kept that down just fine. She gave him another 1cc of the same mix before I got home at 5pm. When I got home he was all squirrely and playing in his cage seeming to feel better. Before I left again I saw him standing on his hind legs with his front legs by his mouth as if he was chewing on something like they do a nut. He wasnt chewing on anything at all. He might be a little derffy from his fall as a pinky...Anyway I game him a zuprine block and little dude went to town on it!!! He has a hard time holding it, again I dont know if he just needs practice or if hes a little special? But that's the most intrest hes ever had in his blocks by far. I'm super excited about it and got a little hope back that he will make it through this. I'll update again when I feed him tonight. I'm going to make another batch of the weaker formula with a little pedialyte/tums water and try to get him to eat about 3-5ml's. Does that plan sound ok?

[Squirreldad112]

Another question. We recently set up a big old bird cage for Remington. It doesn't have a solid bottom so I used cardboard on the bottom and have changed it out as he poops and pees on it. Is the cardboard ok to use? If not what should I be using? Sorry for the off topic question. Just curious...

[Nancy in New York]

I'm going to make another batch of the weaker formula with a little pedialyte/tums water and try to get him to eat about 3-5ml's. Does that plan sound ok?

Never mix formula and pedialyte.
If you have to rehydrate, use the homemade rehydration fluid.
But don't mix the formula with rehydraton fluid of any kind.
Homemade Rehydration fluid • ¼ teaspoon salt • 1 ½ tablespoons sugar, molasses, or apple juice • 2 cups warm water

[Squirreldad112]

What I wound up doing before you responded was give him the hydration/tums mix, waited about an hr then fed him 3ml's of the weaker GM formula. He was feeling much better. Super spunkey and wanted to play. Slept through the night well and this morning it looked like he had some more firm dryed poop to his butt. Still not like it should be, but it's becoming a darker yellow now and has more body to it. Doesn't seem to be just wet light yellow mucus anymore. I fed him another 3ml's this morning before I left. My wife will be home all day with him. I'll have her do 5ml's once more with the weaker formula if she can, then go to full strength after his next feeding. I seem to be able to feed him a little easier because I have mechanic hands and his claws dont bother me when he started to squirm around. I'm hoping to get him back up to at least 10ml's soon. It's tough because hes definitely starting to self wean through this process.

[CritterMom]

What I wound up doing before you responded was give him the hydration/tums mix, waited about an hr then fed him 3ml's of the weaker GM formula. He was feeling much better. Super spunkey and wanted to play. Slept through the night well and this morning it looked like he had some more firm dryed poop to his butt. Still not like it should be, but it's becoming a darker yellow now and has more body to it. Doesn't seem to be just wet light yellow mucus anymore. I fed him another 3ml's this morning before I left. My wife will be home all day with him. I'll have her do 5ml's once more with the weaker formula if she can, then go to full strength after his next feeding. I seem to be able to feed him a little easier because I have mechanic hands and his claws dont bother me when he started to squirm around. I'm hoping to get him back up to at least 10ml's soon. It's tough because hes definitely starting to self wean through this process.

That is fine - Nancy meant not to mix a powdered formula with pedialyte instead of water. What you did is just right.

His dose for pepto should be .5cc. I know you gave him .1 last night - try the full dose and see if things continue to "tighten up" in the poop department.

[RemingtonS.]

We were told .1ml for every 100g, is that not the case anymore? We gave only .1ml to see if he would tolerate it or throw it up again. May I ask why .5ml?

[CritterMom]

I use the calculations for the kaopectate, as they are similar in dosing, from Wild Mammal Babies, which is sort of the rehabbers bible. They recommend .5ml for 250-500 gram squirrel. If you are concerned, give a little less, but .1ml isn't going to likely be enough to stop the diarrhea. I would give at least .3ml.

[RemingtonS.]

The .1ml was to see if he could keep it down, we've been doing. 3ml since. I was just curious because we're using pepto not kaopectate, and that one is a subsalicylate. I didn't want to help his diarrhea then wind up giving him liver damage.

[CritterMom]

I have found that IF it is going to work - if the animal doesn't have some sort of parasite or something, it doesn't take more than 2 or 3 doses.

[Squirreldad112]

Fox valley showed up today. Should we switch to that or keep him on the GM?

[Squirreldad112]

The last poop I cleaned up was definitely better in color. More yellow brown and again more body to it like thick snot, sorry I know that's gross. But about an hr after that he had a little leakage and it had a little blood in it again. Is this just from having diarrhea for so long and his insides are raw or something I need to be worried about with his stomach. His mood is much better and he played with my wife all day today.

[Nancy in New York]

Is your little one on any kind of Probiotic?
Many people swear by a product from Fox Valley called DIA-STAT.
If this continues you may want to give it a try.

https://www.henryspets.com/fox-valley-formulas/

[Squirreldad112]

No he is not. I switch to a weak mix of the fox valley last night and he kept down about 3ml. This morning his poop is basically clear almost looks like straight formula. This morning I got about 1ml down and he threw it up right away. Is he just really dehydrated? I have to leave for work for 2 hrs but will be back around 9. Does he need more tums? He seemed to be doing great yesterday and poops were getting better now this morning, not so much.

[CritterMom]

His poor little system.

If he was mine, I would keep him on the goats milk formula and try to get control of the diarrhea. He has way too many things going on in his GI tract right now. Goats milk is very digestible, which is why it is so universally used in homemade formulas. He needs that right now. Give him another day or two, and try to get those poops solid and then you can start a slow switchover.

[Squirreldad112]

I got him to take 2ml of 3:1 mix on the fox valley before I left. Poor little guy. I just dont get it. Poops were looking better yesterday and now this morning its almost clear. Maybe I'm giving him to much water in addition to weak formula. Should I go full strength when I get back home after I give him some homemade pedialyte/tums mix?

Just saw your previous reply. So no more pedialyte and tums. Just full strength GM in small doses

[Squirreldad112]

Poops are still yellow and creamy, kind of like thick snot, not to be gross, sorry. His energy is better today. Been feeding 5ml every 4 hrs. Hes down to 280 grams. How long does it take for there system to adjust to the formula? Or should we start considering he might have a viral or bacterial infection?