Baby won’t nurse

[Snicker Bar]

I got a call last night to pick up a baby that was found on the ground under a tree. The finder called quickly and already was carefully trying warm him up, but he still felt very cold to me. Got him home and started working on him around 8 pm. He weighs 78g and doesn’t seem to have any outward signs of wounds or disease. Just was cold and slightly dehydrated. I got him warmed up and gave some sub q fluids. After a couple hours I tried the hydration fluid ( per recipe here) and he just wouldn’t attempt to suck. If I gently push a tiny bit, he would swallow, but not willfully. This went on all night ... :( By 4 am he had good skin “zip” so I attempted dilute Fox Valley; still no desire to nurse. Dipped the miracle nipple in molasses, no take. Just weak swallows if a tiny bit fills his mouth .

I’ve never had one act like this and I didn’t know, do you resort to tube feeding?? Or just patiently offer a drop at a time and wait for the swallows?? Any others I’ve had come along, even sick, injured , etc.. by the time they were warm and hydrated they were grabbing the nipple and syringe. He doesn’t seem neuro, or bloated . He made good pee and a little soft poo at 4:00 am. He’s curled up now like a peaceful, warm baby. I should try again now (8:00) but wanted to post this. What does this mean when they act like this??
I have feeding tubes small enough for puppies and kittens, but if he slowly swallows the full calculated dose ( about 4cc per feeding ?) do I just keep trying this way? I’m scared he will aspirate; I’m literally giving him like 0.1 /0.2 ml per swallow . Just getting worried here; lost a sweet baby last week ( possum “Hope) don’t want another death today :(

[CritterMom]

Try mixing up some FV full strength and heat it up a little more than usual. Also, you may want to use a piece of fleece to hold her while you try to feed and flop part of it over her eyes so she can't see you.

[Snicker Bar]

Just tried again and holding with warm fleece, same behavior. His eyes are still closed; it’s like he’s too “sleepy”?? Like a baby that won’t wake up? This time I added just a tiny bit of ultra boost , no change . Just a swallow here and there; just like a sleepy baby that won’t rouse to eat ?. So strange never seen this before.
Doe he look normal for 78 g? No teeth yet but fully furred except for tail:

314663
314664
314665

[CritterMom]

I would keep dropping it into his mouth a bit at a time. Divide his formula between two syringes and bring a cup of hot water so you can keep the syringe you aren't using in the water and switch back and forth between the syringes and keep the formula nice and warm. Hopefully the nutrition will eventually revive him to where he is willing to eat. He looks okay...

[Mel1959]

Marie, I’ve had this with baby squirrels and raccoons. It’s like their brains don’t respond to the stimulus of food. I think what you’re doing is exactly what you should be doing. Eventually they seem to take it because it becomes more familiar...and they’re probably starving.

Just the other day my little raccoon baby decided to refuse her bottle for no apparent reason. I loaded .02cc of white karo corn syrup into a syringe and gave it to her and within 5 mins she was ready to take her bottle. I’m not sure if this was a case of low blood sugar or what.

I know it’s a pain to feed drop by drop, so hopefully he’ll “learn” quickly that this new foreign thing that’s going in his mouth is his new source for food. :grin2

[Snicker Bar]

Ok, will just keep going like this, I hate tubes :(
He got the whole amount this last feeding. I just worried what this could mean, or if he’s going aspirate. Or if this was a sign of some fading baby thing like we see in kittens. I’ll just go very slow and try and avoid overfilling his mouth. If anything changes for the worse I’ll be back .

[TubeDriver]

I think just go drop by drop and hope his little brain wakes up and realizes this is mommas milk now.



Ok, will just keep going like this, I hate tubes :(
He got the whole amount this last feeding. I just worried what this could mean, or if he’s going aspirate. Or if this was a sign of some fading baby thing like we see in kittens. I’ll just go very slow and try and avoid overfilling his mouth. If anything changes for the worse I’ll be back .