Poorly Grey Squirrel

[Crazy squirrel lady]

Hello, I am new to this forum. I am a registered grey squirrel owner in England. I rescued Cyril the squirrel when he was a tiny baby. He is now 5 years old and up the last few weeks he has been a healthy happy boy.
Cyril started looking under the weather and I had him to the vets, the vets suspected a chest infection and prescribed Baytril to put into his water. For the first few days he drank his water but has since avoided drinking and is hardly eating anything compared to his usual healthy self. He does not have a cough and has been back to the vets for a check up, where the vet stated he was on the mend. I am not convinced that he is on the mend as he is still not eating or drinking and is out of character - looking lethargic and appears to be breathing heavily. Can anyone give me some advice of what I can do, as taking him back to the vets is a stressful experience for him and also the vet has no experience of caring for grey squirrels? I am worried that I am going to lose him.

[island rehabber]

Hi, so sorry your boy is not well. Baytril is an excellent drug for upper respiratory issues, but to be honest I have never heard of it being administered in drinking water. Baytril tastes HORRENDOUS, and no one would drink their water after having Baytril in it a few times. If you tell us what the strength of the Baytril is, and what your squirrel weighs, we can figure out a dose that you can slip into the corner of him mouth with a syringe to make sure he gets the medicine.

[HRT4SQRLS]

Can you give some history about Cyril? Does he have cold like symptoms? What is his diet?

[Crazy squirrel lady]

Thank you for the responses. He has a fresh fruit salad on a morning which contains a mix of - sugar snap peas, plum, apricot, peach/nectarine, corn on the cob, cherries, apple and pear. He also has a seed mix containing pumpkin seeds, hemp, flax and sunflower seeds, trail mix which is a selection of dried tropical fruit and a selection of nuts in shell. He has had this diet all of his life and is usually happy grazing and hiding his nuts until the last few weeks. At the moment he is only nibbling small amounts.

He has no cold symptoms other than a rare sneeze. He is holding his head down, looking lethargic and needing lots of cuddles. He appears to be breathing quickly as his side's are rapidly going in and out.

The vets prescribed him 0.4 ml of Baytril to be put in to 50 ml of water for 10 days. He has hardly taken any of his medication and not surprising if it tastes horrendous.

I have just tried to weigh him but he is not cooperating for this at the moment. He is making a noise in have not heard before coming from his throat, this is like a clicking sound.

[Crazy squirrel lady]

Cyril weighed 650 grams 2 weeks ago.

[CritterMom]

Thank you for the responses. He has a fresh fruit salad on a morning which contains a mix of - sugar snap peas, plum, apricot, peach/nectarine, corn on the cob, cherries, apple and pear. He also has a seed mix containing pumpkin seeds, hemp, flax and sunflower seeds, trail mix which is a selection of dried tropical fruit and a selection of nuts in shell. He has had this diet all of his life and is usually happy grazing and hiding his nuts until the last few weeks. At the moment he is only nibbling small amounts.

He has no cold symptoms other than a rare sneeze. He is holding his head down, looking lethargic and needing lots of cuddles. He appears to be breathing quickly as his side's are rapidly going in and out.

The vets prescribed him 0.4 ml of Baytril to be put in to 50 ml of water for 10 days. He has hardly taken any of his medication and not surprising if it tastes horrendous.

I have just tried to weigh him but he is not cooperating for this at the moment. He is making a noise in have not heard before coming from his throat, this is like a clicking sound.


The items that I have highlighted are a recipe for metabolic bone disease due to their high phosphorus content. Flax seed is the HIGHEST natural form of phosphorus that you can find; the others are not far behind. In addition to the other issues, I can almost guarantee that this baby has MBD. Can you get your hands on a pure calcium source? Most of the pills for humans have a lot of vitamin D in them and this is NOT a good thing - you need straight calcium. Here in the US, Tums brand antacids are an excellent fast source. If you cannot locate a calcium only source, you can make calcium carbonate powder from boiled and then oven dried ground eggshells.

This needs to happen fast... like now. Please don't waste time beating yourself up - your VET didn't even know to go to the nutritional issue. It is probably 75% of the issues we see in captives. Just get some calcium while we work on the Baytril thing.

[HRT4SQRLS]

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

[CritterMom]

I assume the Baytril the vet gave you is a liquid? Is there ANY info on the container about the strength? Can you snap a pic of the bottle and it it up on the board?

[Crazy squirrel lady]

I have managed to get an initial dose of calcium into him and removed the foods highlighted. Thank you for your advice.

I'm struggling to get a clear picture of the Baytril bottle. The bottle says - 10x Baytril 2.5% Oral 0.4 ml in every 50 ml of drinking water.

[stepnstone]

A squirrel needs to be hydrated when taking ab's but putting it in his water is a resounding no!
I would not put Baytril in his drinking water, that's no way to treat a squirrel needing antibiotics.
Doing this will cause him to stop drinking his water which will result in dehydration.

[HRT4SQRLS]

Did the Baytril come in a bottle like this or did the vet aliquot it into a different bottle? If you have the original bottle I sure would love to see the back of the bottle to confirm the concentration. Based on the information I found, I believe the concentration is 25mg/ml but I would really like to confirm that.
If we can confirm that I can easily dose this for you.

313167

[HRT4SQRLS]

313168

I’m really struggling with this. I can’t find a concentration for this one. I really need to see the back of the bottle.

[TubeDriver]

HRT:

https://www.vmd.defra.gov.uk/productinformationdatabase/SPC_Documents/SPC_116025.DOCX

It is 25mg per ml.



313168

I’m really struggling with this. I can’t find a concentration for this one. I really need to see the back of the bottle.

[HRT4SQRLS]

Thanks Pete, that’s it.

[HRT4SQRLS]

Dosing sent.

[Crazy squirrel lady]

313168

I’m really struggling with this. I can’t find a concentration for this one. I really need to see the back of the bottle.


The bottle is just plain with no real information on it.


Cyril has had a couple of doses of calcium and I am pleased to say he is drinking his water today. Fingers crossed we are getting to the bottom of what is wrong with him.

[CritterMom]

Did you get the private message telling you how to dose the Baytril properly by mouth?

[Crazy squirrel lady]

Did you get the private message telling you how to dose the Baytril properly by mouth?

Yes, thank you. I have tried syringing a few drops of Baytril into him but he will not take it and forcing him into it is causing him too much distress. He has perked up a bit with the calcium, but is still not well.

[CritterMom]

It is absolutely awful tasting. Try this, because it will only work if you get it in there: Once you pull the meds up into the syringe and get it all measured out properly, wet the tip of the syringe and then dip it into table sugar - get a nice amount crusted on the tip. THEN zip it into the side of the mouth and push the plunger FAST. If there is something he absolutely loves, even if it is one of the things from the "don't feed" list, give him a teeny bit - a single sunflower seed, a bit of corn cob with a few kernels attached, whatever, as a reward. Hopefully between the two things, he will be able to tolerate it.

Are you still seeing heavy breathing? It could be pain - MBD is painful. If you can get your hands on some infant ibuprophen - it is normally a syrup in a little bottle with a dropper for babies - we can dose it for you. My squirrel likes baby ibuprophen so much I am waiting for him to start faking limps... It is usually really easy to give.

[Crazy squirrel lady]

It is absolutely awful tasting. Try this, because it will only work if you get it in there: Once you pull the meds up into the syringe and get it all measured out properly, wet the tip of the syringe and then dip it into table sugar - get a nice amount crusted on the tip. THEN zip it into the side of the mouth and push the plunger FAST. If there is something he absolutely loves, even if it is one of the things from the "don't feed" list, give him a teeny bit - a single sunflower seed, a bit of corn cob with a few kernels attached, whatever, as a reward. Hopefully between the two things, he will be able to tolerate it.

Are you still seeing heavy breathing? It could be pain - MBD is painful. If you can get your hands on some infant ibuprophen - it is normally a syrup in a little bottle with a dropper for babies - we can dose it for you. My squirrel likes baby ibuprophen so much I am waiting for him to start faking limps... It is usually really easy to give.

Hi, I am still not having any luck with the Baytril. I have got hold of some infant ibuprofen, please can you advise how much to give him.

[CritterMom]

Dosing sent by PM.

If he has issues with it, see if you can get any of the INFANT ibuprophen instead of the childrens. Infant is actually stronger to allow for a smaller dose.