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View Full Version : Desperately want to help!



rottwlr2
10-19-2019, 09:41 AM
This squirrel - I call her Birch - as she lives in the hollow of a Birch tree about a half a block away, has something wrong and I have no idea what it is. I have never seen it before. Brief history - I have "known" this squirrel for about a year. I noticed her when walking by her yard and saw that she had a horrible case of mange. I successfully treated her last year and she fully recovered. She also started making her way to my yard (where I feed lots of squirrels) and I have kept an eye on her ever since. I noticed that she was starting to look a bit mangy again a few months ago but was reluctant to treat as it was baby season. She got progressively worse and along with hair loss and scabbing she developed this loose pouch on her abdomen. She looked really fat but she isn't....she is actually pretty thin now. Also, her nipples were very large and had blackish tips - then the tips turned more whitish. She developed more pouches of skin and hair doesn't grow on them. She did have a litter of babies though - I saw them on her tree. They looked healthy enough and a decent size but I have only seen them once. The pictures I am putting on here are before she developed a big pouch of "?" on her upper belly.

I don't believe these are abscesses as I have seen quite a few of those but I can't be sure. She has been moving pretty normally and has a very healthy appetite but I feel she is definitely getting worse and I fear she is failing and I don't want to lose her. I have wondered if this is some type of an infection but have no idea what kind it could be. I would like to try and dose her antibiotics - I have clavamox, ampicillin and baytril on hand....not sure if antibiotics will help her, not sure if she will tolerate the taste but desperate to try and help. Any ideas/suggestions are welcomed! Thanks.

HRT4SQRLS
10-19-2019, 12:01 PM
Poor girl. She does look rough. I think you need to treat her for mange right away. It looks like she was weaning the babies as she looks engorged with milk. There is a possibility that she has mastitis. You can treat her with the Clavamox in case it is mastitis. It is a common infection in nursing mothers.

Let us know what the mg of you Clavamox is and we can dose it. I see that you are up north so the squirrels are larger there. Because she is thin we could probably estimate her weigh at 1 and a half pounds. I’m also guessing that an adult Grey in Minnesota would probably go upwards of two pounds.

rottwlr2
10-19-2019, 12:42 PM
Yes, I will treat her for mange. I have a dose ready. The Clavamox I have is in 125 mg tablets (from our dog). Can I dose her both the Ivermectin and the Clavamox today if I see her? Sadly, she is usually here by now so I am worried. I am watching out for her.

HRT4SQRLS
10-19-2019, 03:19 PM
Yes, I will treat her for mange. I have a dose ready. The Clavamox I have is in 125 mg tablets (from our dog). Can I dose her both the Ivermectin and the Clavamox today if I see her? Sadly, she is usually here by now so I am worried. I am watching out for her.

Dose her with the ivermectin first. Be VERY careful with ivermectin. Too much is deadly.