My flier feels bad

[Cadillac3766]

*I have a flying squirrel that I have raised from only days old. Tater is 2 yr 11mths old and has been in great health,* never had to question anything about him.
The past few days he has been panting like he's having trouble breathing and he has will take a few steps and urinate then repeat.
I am at a loss! I haven't changed anything in his daily routine.
I really need help on this.

[RockyPops]

Bless his heart!

UTI maybe?

Keep checking back here....someone will help you!

Thanks for caring for your baby!

[RockyPops]

Also, will need his weight in case medicine is needed.

Or a photo of him next to an object like a coke can etc. So a weight can be estimated.

That works for larger grays sometimes but I don't know about flyers.

[HRT4SQRLS]

Can you tell us about the diet. Diet is critical for rodents so we like to address that first.
Maybe we can help figure this out.

[Rocky1]

I am not a rehabber, but these symptoms make me wish we had some information about the composition of the urine and maybe of the blood. For example, if this were a human, I would recommend using some urine test strips (looking for excess glucose and ketones - culprits of ketoacidosis which presents with heavy breathing and frequent urination) and getting electrolyte levels measured (looking for significant imbalances they body may be trying to correct via respiration and urination), and maybe a toxicology report. Ultimately, I am not a rehabber or vet, but I have taken some clinical chemistry. Ultimately, I defer to the others... I hope that someone finds this helpful, and that your squirrel recovers! Thank you for reaching out for help. Hopefully we will figure this out.

Edit: One more idea that would be easy to spot. If the squirrel's environment is way too warm and the squirrel is compensating by drinking way too much water, then maybe, that would lead to panting and excess urination? But if his/her environment is of normal temperature, or there is a range of options, this is probably not it. Is it safe to assume that there are no changes in the squirrel's diet or environment that brought this on, that you are aware of, and no other symptoms? I am guessing that if there were you would have said so.

[frankc]

Hi
Just chiming in. Is there any blood in the urine that you can see ?

[frankc]

Just chiming in. Is there any blood in the urine that you can see ?