Pneumonia

[guffythesquirrel]

Close to 4 days ago Guffy came into my life and this is my first time taking care of a squirrels so I may have fed him wrong because now I believe he has pneumonia. Looking back the first time I fed him he had a big aspiration which I thought was similar to a baby being burped but I was wrong. Like i said that was close to four days ago and that is also when the clicking in his chest started he doesn't seem to be fazed by it though being from what I can tell is 4-5 weeks old. He has healthy stool he is active. the only problem is over the past 2 days he has lost a little bit of weight nothing significant about 2-4 grams. I guess I came here to ask if he has pneumonia or if i am misdiagnosing? because i thought they die within 24 hours from pneumonia? also if it is pneumonia i have looked for all the recommended antibiotics couldn't find those and with the pandemic going on it is damn near impossible to get. the only thing I have is amoxicillin in 500 mg pills not too sure how I would dilute that for him but if anyone could help both Guffy and I would tremendously appreciate it.

[Javarat]

Close to 4 days ago Guffy came into my life and this is my first time taking care of a squirrels so I may have fed him wrong because now I believe he has pneumonia. Looking back the first time I fed him he had a big aspiration which I thought was similar to a baby being burped but I was wrong. Like i said that was close to four days ago and that is also when the clicking in his chest started he doesn't seem to be fazed by it though being from what I can tell is 4-5 weeks old. He has healthy stool he is active. the only problem is over the past 2 days he has lost a little bit of weight nothing significant about 2-4 grams. I guess I came here to ask if he has pneumonia or if i am misdiagnosing? because i thought they die within 24 hours from pneumonia? also if it is pneumonia i have looked for all the recommended antibiotics couldn't find those and with the pandemic going on it is damn near impossible to get. the only thing I have is amoxicillin in 500 mg pills not too sure how I would dilute that for him but if anyone could help both Guffy and I would tremendously appreciate it.At 4-5 weeks old his eyes will be closed and he will be almost totally covered in fur, except for maybe the bottom half of his stomach.

It sounds like you are saying that he has a constant clicking noise when breathing, and he is losing weight, instead of gaining weight.
Progression with pneumonia is different for every squirrel, mostly depending on their age and weight.

I am definitely going to recommend that you dose him with the 500mg amoxicillin.
I need to know how much he weighs in grams to send you dosing information.

[Duckman]

Can you also post a video of him breathing? It will help us figure out if he is aspirated or not.


Close to 4 days ago Guffy came into my life and this is my first time taking care of a squirrels so I may have fed him wrong because now I believe he has pneumonia. Looking back the first time I fed him he had a big aspiration which I thought was similar to a baby being burped but I was wrong. Like i said that was close to four days ago and that is also when the clicking in his chest started he doesn't seem to be fazed by it though being from what I can tell is 4-5 weeks old. He has healthy stool he is active. the only problem is over the past 2 days he has lost a little bit of weight nothing significant about 2-4 grams. I guess I came here to ask if he has pneumonia or if i am misdiagnosing? because i thought they die within 24 hours from pneumonia? also if it is pneumonia i have looked for all the recommended antibiotics couldn't find those and with the pandemic going on it is damn near impossible to get. the only thing I have is amoxicillin in 500 mg pills not too sure how I would dilute that for him but if anyone could help both Guffy and I would tremendously appreciate it.

[Javarat]

Guffythesquirrel.. I am checking back to see if you have posted his weight yet, so we can send you dosing information for the amoxicillin...

[guffythesquirrel]

At 4-5 weeks old his eyes will be closed and he will be almost totally covered in fur, except for maybe the bottom half of his stomach.

It sounds like you are saying that he has a constant clicking noise when breathing, and he is losing weight, instead of gaining weight.
Progression with pneumonia is different for every squirrel, mostly depending on their age and weight.

I am definitely going to recommend that you dose him with the 500mg amoxicillin.
I need to know how much he weighs in grams to send you dosing information.

Thank you for the response, he's 55 grams as of right now and he opens his eyes but he mostly keeps them closed and spot on for the fur yes lower stomach is still not completely covered. Is this a proper weight for him his highest weight was 58 weighed at night and now I weigh him every morning.

[Javarat]

Thank you for the response, he's 55 grams as of right now and he opens his eyes but he mostly keeps them closed and spot on for the fur yes lower stomach is still not completely covered. Is this a proper weight for him his highest weight was 58 weighed at night and now I weigh him every morning.If this is a grey squirrel, at 55 grams he is way underweight.
You should be feeding him 5% of his bodyweight (which would currently be 3ml) of formula every 3.5 to 4 hours... with about a 6 hour period at night.

I am sending you dosing instructions for the amoxicillin as a Private Message.
It will show up under Notifications in the upper right corner of this board.