Five year old female gray squirrel not eating and holding head down.

[girly]

My five year old captive female gray squirrel have been sick for weeks. I have taken her to the local vet several times about two weeks apart. He gives her intravenous fluids and an injection of baytril. He sends us home with a prescription of baytril I give her orally for up to two weeks. She does fine for a week or two but then slowly stops eating, becomes lethargic and holds her head down. She obviously feels bad. I take her back to the vet for the same treatment routine which helps for a while but the symptoms eventually return. We need to stop this vicious circle.

This squirrel has had lots of problems over her short life. I rescued her from a dog when she still had no fur. She had dental issues from the start. When she was a year or two old, she developed breathing problems with a bloody nose. Our local vets don't know a lot about squirrels and referred us to other vets out of town. We first took her to two different vets in the Memphis area who each pulled infected teeth. That didn't resolve problems she had as the breathing issue and nosebleeds would come and go. Eventually, we took her to a vet we were referred to who correctly diagnosed odentomas which are growths at the base of the teeth. He removed those and she has been fine until a couple of months ago.

Any advise or recommendations for treatment will be greatly appreciated. I love my squirrel and I'm scared I'm going to lose her.

[redwuff]

Welcome to TSB


You are certainly a loving devoted momma. Have you had any additional head X-rays taken lately? If the whole nerve root to the tooth has not been removed, the odontomas can return. That is a possibility.

And of course I need to talk about your sweethearts diet. Please list what you feed her and what she eats out of it.

We always love pictures!:grouphug

[CritterMom]

Have they been giving Baytril at each visit? It is a wonderful drug for what it works on but it is pretty narrow spectrum. If it is gonna work it works well and fast and thoroughly. I think you need a new drug or perhaps several new drugs taken together.

Has anyone done a head x-ray to make sure the odontoma surgical site isn't infected? If he is giving baytril he thinks there is an infection somewhere.

Can you tell if she isn't eating because she is in pain or not eating because she feels sick. The hunched, head down posture is normally a stomach ache but given the past odontoma issues I am not nearly so sure of that. Have you tried giving pain meds to see if that will allow her to eat? If they do then you are a lot closer to an answer. Squirrels can take infant ibuprophen - we can help you with dosing if you want to try that.

[RockyPops]

Thank you for taking such good care of your baby all this time!

What's her name?

Poor baby. I hope you can get answers you need. You've come to the right place for help.

[olorin19]

Have they been giving Baytril at each visit? It is a wonderful drug for what it works on but it is pretty narrow spectrum. If it is gonna work it works well and fast and thoroughly. I think you need a new drug or perhaps several new drugs taken together.

Has anyone done a head x-ray to make sure the odontoma surgical site isn't infected? If he is giving baytril he thinks there is an infection somewhere.

Can you tell if she isn't eating because she is in pain or not eating because she feels sick. The hunched, head down posture is normally a stomach ache but given the past odontoma issues I am not nearly so sure of that. Have you tried giving pain meds to see if that will allow her to eat? If they do then you are a lot closer to an answer. Squirrels can take infant ibuprophen - we can help you with dosing if you want to try that.

For what it is worth: I am with CritterMom on trying another med.

Back in 2016, my released squirrel Dustin had a severe abscess from a bite wound in his ankle joint. It took almost three months to get him all cleared up. He went through several courses of clavamox, but each time the infection returned. It finally took clindamycin to do the trick. (I had lots of help from TSB, especially HRT4SQRLS, and Dustin lived at least another two years!)

With that said, on another occasion with Dustin in 2017 and twice with another release Mookie, abscesses from wounds cleared right up with clavamox.

I am certainly not an expert, but I do wonder in this case (i.e. possible infection in the bone) whether clindamycin might be worth a shot.

[girly]

Welcome to TSB


You are certainly a loving devoted momma. Have you had any additional head X-rays taken lately? If the whole nerve root to the tooth has not been removed, the odontomas can return. That is a possibility.

And of course I need to talk about your sweethearts diet. Please list what you feed her and what she eats out of it.

We always love pictures!:grouphug

Thank you! I took her to the local vet Friday and he took x-rays and did a sonogram. He talked to a vet where her teeth with the odontomas were removed. There seems to be an infected tooth but it's on the bottom. The odontomas that were removed were on the top. They also determined that she has pneumonia. She got another injection of antibiotics and I'm taking her back Monday for yet another injection. The vet that removed her odontomas prescribed a compound solution to use with a nebulizer for breathing treatments but we haven't been able to find a pharmacist that has the ingredients, yet. I'll post updates tomorrow evening.

[girly]

Have they been giving Baytril at each visit? It is a wonderful drug for what it works on but it is pretty narrow spectrum. If it is gonna work it works well and fast and thoroughly. I think you need a new drug or perhaps several new drugs taken together.

Has anyone done a head x-ray to make sure the odontoma surgical site isn't infected? If he is giving baytril he thinks there is an infection somewhere.

Can you tell if she isn't eating because she is in pain or not eating because she feels sick. The hunched, head down posture is normally a stomach ache but given the past odontoma issues I am not nearly so sure of that. Have you tried giving pain meds to see if that will allow her to eat? If they do then you are a lot closer to an answer. Squirrels can take infant ibuprophen - we can help you with dosing if you want to try that.

I think you are right about the Baytril. She's had several rounds and although it helps temporarily, it doesn't knock it out completely. I'm taking her back to the vet tomorrow and I'll show him the thread of posts about her on this blog including yours. She has had pain medicine injections once, I believe. I would definitely like to have dosing information.

[girly]

For what it is worth: I am with CritterMom on trying another med.

Back in 2016, my released squirrel Dustin had a severe abscess from a bite wound in his ankle joint. It took almost three months to get him all cleared up. He went through several courses of clavamox, but each time the infection returned. It finally took clindamycin to do the trick. (I had lots of help from TSB, especially HRT4SQRLS, and Dustin lived at least another two years!)

With that said, on another occasion with Dustin in 2017 and twice with another release Mookie, abscesses from wounds cleared right up with clavamox.

I am certainly not an expert, but I do wonder in this case (i.e. possible infection in the bone) whether clindamycin might be worth a shot.

Thank you. I'll ask the vet about clindamycin. The Baytril isn't getting it done.

[CritterMom]

Thank you. I'll ask the vet about clindamycin. The Baytril isn't getting it done.

The vet is likely going to balk at the clindamycin - unfortunately it is listed as being not for rodents. It shouldn't be - we use it all the time and it is about the only thing that will deal with the deep bone infections - nothing else touches them.

[olorin19]

The vet is likely going to balk at the clindamycin - unfortunately it is listed as being not for rodents. It shouldn't be - we use it all the time and it is about the only thing that will deal with the deep bone infections - nothing else touches them.

My vet was reluctant to try clindamycin, but given as two rounds of clavamox had not done the trick, did agree and clindamycin finally took care of a severe abscess right in the ankle joint that had been there for over two months by then.

[HRT4SQRLS]

I just wanted to throw out some information about Clindamycin. We didn’t use Clindamycin for years because of the statement in our primary wildlife manual that said. Do not use Clindamycin for rodents. Squirrels are rodents, so of course, we didn’t use it. The statement is very misleading. It should have said, Do not use Clindamycin for specific rodents. There are some rodents that should not be given Clindamycin. Any rodent that is a hay eater like hamsters, guinea pigs, gerbil or rabbits (lagamorph) should not use Clindamycin because it is a narrow spectrum antibiotic. Narrow spectrum antibiotics will suppress a portion (Gram positive bacteria and anaerobes) of the GI flora. This will result in an imbalance of the GI flora and allow an overgrowth of Gram negative flora. In hay eating animals a balance of bacterial flora is critical. An imbalance of flora will result in deadly bloat.

Squirrels are not hay eaters and therefore are not affected in this way. After we finally got past this we started using Clindamycin. We have used it many times with great success. There are squirrels that are alive today because of Clindamycin. It has two huge advantages. It is excellent for anaerobic bacteria and it is a bone penetrator. Most antibiotics are ineffective for infections in the bone. All mucous membranes (respiratory tract, GI tract, urogenital) are colonized with anaerobic bacteria. Infections in proximity to a mucous membranes like the mouth should always include coverage for anaerobic bacteria. Baytril has no anaerobic coverage.

Our only regrets about Clindamycin is that we didn’t use it sooner. Squirrels died of mouth infections because we wouldn’t use it. Clavamox is an excellent antibiotic for mouth infections and it does have some coverage for anaerobes. When you need a bone penetrator you need Clindamycin.

Did the Fri X-rays show that the odontoma had regrown or is it clear? Odontoma can and will regrow if even the tiniest bit of germinal tissue is left after removal.

[redwuff]

I am very worried about the diagnosis for pneumonia also. I had a little downs dwarf that was diagnosed with pneumonia. He was put on two antibiotics for thirty days to treat it. My vet used Baytril and Clavamox.

Send me a pm if you can not get clindamyacin.

[girly]

I just wanted to throw out some information about Clindamycin. We didn’t use Clindamycin for years because of the statement in our primary wildlife manual that said. Do not use Clindamycin for rodents. Squirrels are rodents, so of course, we didn’t use it. The statement is very misleading. It should have said, Do not use Clindamycin for specific rodents. There are some rodents that should not be given Clindamycin. Any rodent that is a hay eater like hamsters, guinea pigs, gerbil or rabbits (lagamorph) should not use Clindamycin because it is a narrow spectrum antibiotic. Narrow spectrum antibiotics will suppress a portion (Gram positive bacteria and anaerobes) of the GI flora. This will result in an imbalance of the GI flora and allow an overgrowth of Gram negative flora. In hay eating animals a balance of bacterial flora is critical. An imbalance of flora will result in deadly bloat.

Squirrels are not hay eaters and therefore are not affected in this way. After we finally got past this we started using Clindamycin. We have used it many times with great success. There are squirrels that are alive today because of Clindamycin. It has two huge advantages. It is excellent for anaerobic bacteria and it is a bone penetrator. Most antibiotics are ineffective for infections in the bone. All mucous membranes (respiratory tract, GI tract, urogenital) are colonized with anaerobic bacteria. Infections in proximity to a mucous membranes like the mouth should always include coverage for anaerobic bacteria. Baytril has no anaerobic coverage.

Our only regrets about Clindamycin is that we didn’t use it sooner. Squirrels died of mouth infections because we wouldn’t use it. Clavamox is an excellent antibiotic for mouth infections and it does have some coverage for anaerobes. When you need a bone penetrator you need Clindamycin.

Did the Fri X-rays show that the odontoma had regrown or is it clear? Odontoma can and will regrow if even the tiniest bit of germinal tissue is left after removal.

Thank you so much for the information about antibiotics for squirrels. I'll pass it on to her vet. The x-rays didn't show any abnormalities in her mouth. Visual inspection showed some inflammation at a lower molar. The odontomas that were removed were from upper incisors. I think the problem is primarily pneumonia but using Clavamox or Clindamycin is a good approach. I'll take her back to the vet tomorrow.

[HRT4SQRLS]

Thank you so much for the information about antibiotics for squirrels. I'll pass it on to her vet. The x-rays didn't show any abnormalities in her mouth. Visual inspection showed some inflammation at a lower molar. The odontomas that were removed were from upper incisors. I think the problem is primarily pneumonia but using Clavamox or Clindamycin is a good approach. I'll take her back to the vet tomorrow.

If pneumonia seems to be the primary issue I wouldn’t use Clindamycin. The spectrum is too narrow. I was thinking more in terms of a tooth issue. Clavamox would be a good alternate for the pneumonia.

[girly]

The vet is likely going to balk at the clindamycin - unfortunately it is listed as being not for rodents. It shouldn't be - we use it all the time and it is about the only thing that will deal with the deep bone infections - nothing else touches them.

I've given him copies of the text of the messages I've gotten on this blog and he has been very receptive to the suggestions in them. He acknowledges that he wasn't taught about squirrels in veterinarian school and welcomes input from those with experience.

[girly]

If pneumonia seems to be the primary issue I wouldn’t use Clindamycin. The spectrum is too narrow. I was thinking more in terms of a tooth issue. Clavamox would be a good alternate for the pneumonia.

Do you recommend oral or injection?

[HRT4SQRLS]

Do you recommend oral or injection?

I always use oral antibiotics.

[girly]

An update on my squirrel Girly. A local vet finally diagnosed her with a reproductive system infection. After a few rounds of antibiotics, he recommended surgery. A couple of weeks ago, he performed a full hysterectomy. He'd done this many times and Girly recovered from the surgery and, until today, had become the lively playful pet I enjoyed before she had the odontomas removed months ago. Today, she is exhibiting the behavior I've seen so often. Lethargy, head down, not eating. I'm on my way back to the vet. Hoping not to have to make a 12 hour drive to the vet that removed the odontomas but that may need to be the next step. Anyone know a squirrel expert near northwest Alabama?

[Mel1959]

Maybe all that’s needed is another round of antibiotics or maybe a different one.

I know of a vet in Chattanooga, TN that sees squirrels. We have a wonderful member in Mississippi that’s a vet, she has worked on plenty of squirrels, but it’s not her “specialty”. I know of a rehabber in Memphis that may be able to offer some help with another vet in that state and the name of another TSB member in Alabama.

Send me a pm if any of these seem like viable possibilities and I will give you names and numbers.

I am a little confused about your comment about finding a vet since you have one that you are able to see. Are you asking in case this vet can’t get to the bottom of the problem?

[frankc]

I've given him copies of the text of the messages I've gotten on this blog and he has been very receptive to the suggestions in them. He acknowledges that he wasn't taught about squirrels in veterinarian school and welcomes input from those with experience.

Hi I hope this might help. In Feb, I finished classes at Tufts, I took training to become a rehabber. In discussion we were told that Tufts will advise and guide any licensed vet with questions no matter were they are. If he calls they should be a great help with any info he may need.

There contact info is

Cummings Veterinary Medical Center
Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University
200 Westboro Rd.
N. Grafton, MA 01536
508-839-5395

[girly]

Thank you. That should be very helpful.

[girly]

Hi I hope this might help. In Feb, I finished classes at Tufts, I took training to become a rehabber. In discussion we were told that Tufts will advise and guide any licensed vet with questions no matter were they are. If he calls they should be a great help with any info he may need.

There contact info is

Cummings Veterinary Medical Center
Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University
200 Westboro Rd.
N. Grafton, MA 01536
508-839-5395

Thank you! That should be very helpful. He has a lot of practical experience with wildlife but not so much formal education.