Found a squirrel on it's belly, we have no idea how to help

[Latima]

We live in a small city in Mexico, where houses are right next to each other so there's no patios or backyards. There are wild squirrels running around the block, usually in trees and they move around by walking on the power cables. We don't really know where they live, we just see them around. We have a hibiscus tree in the front of our house and they always come and eat the flowers.

Two days ago we found a squirrel under the tree on it's belly, not really being able to move much. We brought it in because it was right in the curb so if anyone parked in front of our house they could run it over, plus there were fire ants around and they were probably attacking the squirrel.

We have no idea what kind of squirrel it is. Don't know if it's male or female or how old it is (but doesn't seem to be a baby). Seems to have a problem with balance and it's face is always tilted to the side and is kind of squinting her right eye. We don't know if it's blind or deaf because doesn't really respond to us moving or to noises.

We put it in a wood crate with cardboard on the bottom and on the top kind of as a lid so it wouldn't escape. We tried feeding it a couple of pecans, ignored them. Pistachios, ignored them. Filled a small container with water, tipped it over multiple times. It just seemed annoyed by us and was just scratching around trying to escape which we understand, so we left it alone in case we were the cause of stress (which we probably are). Came back a couple of hours later, it had escaped and we found it on it's belly again, inside our garage. We put it back in the crate.

Still moving around trying to escape, we tried giving it some water with a pipette and it worked a bit but not much, still number one priority was escaping. We tried releasing it to a tree because it seemed very stressed. The second we put it out a cat came over and was ready to take it. We shooed the cat away, put the squirrel back in the crate. We left it alone for the night.

Yesterday morning we found it on the floor again. It ate the bottom of the crate and escaped, but still is not able to walk around too much. We decided to create a temporary cage out of an old window AC box so there was more light and air coming in and it had more space to move. We put a tuna can as a bowl of water. Tried to give it a small piece of apple pear. Ignored it. One of the flowers from the tree, ignored it. It was just jumping around the new "cage" trying to escape. Because it has some vents on the sides, it grabs on to those to try to find an escape. We noticed there that it still has problems with balance, kind of has it's head tilted to the side, and tumbles a lot. The only good part about this was that sometimes it would find the water while throwing itself around the cage and drank a little bit, but we didn't like how it was constantly throwing itself around the cage.

I was worried about it injuring itself with the cage, so we put it back in the crate so we could make some mods to the cage so it wouldn't hurt itself. While it was back in the crate, I fed it an apple and it started eating! It ate about a 4th of a granny smith apple while inside the crate. When we were done we put it back in the "cage" and noticed it kind of jumped a bit, which it hadn't done before. We assume the apple gave it an energy boost but it turned out counterproductive as it started trying to escape more. Kind of throwing itself around the cage more, grabbing on to the sides, very stressed out trying to escape. Then I started seeing blood. It appears it hurt it's left hand and was bleeding a bit. So we put it back in the crate where it seems to be more calm, then put it inside the cage in case it escaped. Tried to give it more water with a pipette but it's not taking it. We put the tuna can with water inside again anyway. Left a few more pieces of apple, a carrot, and left it alone for the night.

This morning it seemed more calm, it's still eating the apple but didn't touch the carrot. The hand seems better, it uses it to grab the apple and doesn't look bloody anymore. The first part of the day was a bit calm just sitting there or taking naps not doing much kind of depressed. After midday it was escape time again. It's very desperately eating away the wood crate. It now has bold spots on the top of the head and also hear the nose. The ones on the head I believe happened yesterday while on the AC cage, the one on the nose happened today while trying to eat the wood crate away because they weren't there this morning. Because of this anxiety, we're thinking about releasing it again, but we're worried it's not ready yet.

There's no animal control here, or rehabilitators or anything. We tried calling the local animal health center in the city but they turned us away saying they only help cats and dogs, so we're on our own here.

What's wrong with it? How can we help? Is the apple okay? Should we feed it something else?

https://i.postimg.cc/Y9tRQbz7/File-5-16-20.jpg

[Mel1959]

Would you possibly be able to get your hands on some prednisone? It’s a prescription anti inflammatory steroid. It sounds like this little one took a fall and it has an injury to its head with some swelling. Someone on her can help you dose it if you find some and post the strength of the medicine.

Is the box covered with a blanket or sheet to help minimize stress? If not it should be and you should limit your interaction with it. There have been instances where a squirrels heart has stopped beating as a result of being scared or stressed.

Apple is fine for it, but it might also like greens (romaine lettuce, radicchio, cilantro), avocado (no skin or pit as they’re toxic), fresh coconut meat, Sugar snap peas, sweet potato, very small amount of fresh corn on the cob.

Check back often for guidance with this little one. Thank you for helping her..

[Scooterzmom]

That poor baby could have fallen as Mel said, or even been hit by a car. Whatever it is it could use the prednisone, or if you can't get that, maybe then some Meloxicam/Metacam. It will help also for the pain.

Thank you for caring and helping that poor little one.

[Latima]

Thank you for the quick response. I have a few questions.

After I posted I checked back on it because I left it trying to escape. I found the wood crate empty with a hole on the side. I searched for it on the floor and couldn't find it, then looked outside and found it on the street. I'm happy to report it seems to be in much better shape, it walks around like a normal squirrel except for the fact that it's head is still tilted to the the side, and it's still disoriented because it walks in circles. Is there a way we can check if it's blind? We think it might be, at least on one eye, the right one. I kind of took a glance at it while it was eating the crate and noticed a white spot on the right eye, kind of like cataracts? I tried to take a picture of it, but because it's always squinting on that eye it's hard to capture.

The box has not been covered, out of fear of suffocating it. Weather here is super humid and very hot right now. According to weather.com right now (11pm) it's 85°F but feels like 96°F. The crate is always in the shade, and there's a bit of an air flow on the garage, especially during the night. The only reason I check back on it is to make sure it hasn't escaped yet (and make sure it's still alive) but I will try to limit more our contact with it.

I'll try to see if I can get it to eat other things, I have avocados and cilantro so I'll try with those, otherwise we'll continue with the apples. We tried with lettuce on the first day but that day it didn't eat anything, it was too stressed out I think. How often and how much should we be feeding it? There's still a bit left of the apple but probably because escaping is priority. This afternoon it had a slice of apple that it had nibbled on in the morning and didn't want it. I got scared because I thought it got sicker, but then gave it a smaller piece from the fridge and ate it. Then gave it another piece, nibbled on it for a bit, then started eating the crate. Also I'm kind of worried about it not drinking water. I can't tell if it drinks out of the can of tuna, but when I try with the pipette it kind of gets annoyed and moves away. Should we try adding a bit of honey to the water to see if I can get it to drink it?

I checked on the medicine, seems like what they have at the pharmacy is 5mg tablets. I'll try to get it tomorrow.

Took a video of it while it was on the street, made it into a gif (https://postimg.cc/k29jXtNF/941ddb60).

[Chirps]

Hi! So glad you're caring for this poor squirrel. A few drops of honey in the water might encourage it to drink. What is the medicine at the pharmacy? Prednisone or Meloxicam/Metacam? The experts will need to know which one to help you dose it. They will PM you once they have the info.

The thing that jumps out at me on seeing the video is the big light or white patch on the left side of the head near the eye. Does that eye seem to have a cataract too?
EDIT: Never mind, I see in your still pic that it has a big white/grey patch on its cheek. It almost reminds me of an old animal, like an old dog going grey. Funny it's just that side.

Just keep checking back. Someone will help you as soon as they know what med you are able to get tomorrow. Or I guess later this morning? It's after 1 am here.

[Mel1959]

The head tilt and circling is a sign of head trauma either from a fall or being hit by a car/bike, etc.

It would be impossible to over feed this guy. If he doesn’t need to eat he won’t. Water is very important so it should always be available. A little sweetener might help. Placing some clean stones in the bottom of the dish/can the water is in will keep him from putting his nose too far under the water. A shallow dish is ideal for this.

Remember no avocado skin or pit, they’re toxic. Most squirrels love avocado.

[Latima]

The thing that jumps out at me on seeing the video is the big light or white patch on the left side of the head near the eye. Does that eye seem to have a cataract too?
EDIT: Never mind, I see in your still pic that it has a big white/grey patch on its cheek. It almost reminds me of an old animal, like an old dog going grey. Funny it's just that side.



Yup, it's a grey patch on it's cheek. It's on both sides, kind of like a beard. Does that mean it's an older squirrel? The left eye seems fine, no white spot anywhere I think.

Here's an image of the bad eye. It's always like this or just a tiny little bit more open than this, but never fully open. You can kind of see a white speck on the eyeball. It's really hard to see though. When we found it it was kind of sliding in the pavement when it tried to move, maybe it scratched it's eye?

https://i.postimg.cc/DwL0DY03/File-5-17-201.jpg

This morning we noticed he seems to be seeing better. He can now see the food and go right to it instead of kind of stumbling upon it.

Also, I posted this on reddit (which is how I found my way here) and I was told I should be extremely careful with it because it could be infected with a disease, likely parasitic. We don't really touch it (part because it's wild and not used to humans, part because I'm kind of scared of it) and we wash our hands after we've been around it. Is there anything else we should be careful about?

Update on the meds. I was able to get Prednisone tablets, 5mg. Box contains 20 tablets.

[Scooterzmom]

I you could find a heavy ceramic shallow bowl of some sort, e.g. like the ones we use for dogs, you could put some water into that. You mimght even want to put an ice cube or two in there. Another way to get him hydrated is to offer him some watermelon, cold, or even frozen grapes... any fruit that is juicy would help.

Let us know when you get the meds. You'll have to grind the tablets (we'll tell tyou how to make the solution for him, and we'll have to dose it for you.

[Latima]

I was able to get it to drink some water from the pipette this morning, and because it can see better now we trust that it will find the water bowl now. We cleaned the wood crate today because it was getting a bit stinky, and he's outsmarted us and almost escaped twice now. We're hoping to be able to release him soon, because he keeps eating away the crate to escape and we're not sure how much longer we can keep him in.

I got the meds this morning, Prednisone 5mg.

[Latima]

Update from this morning. We're concerned. He's looking super depressed now, yesterday he was very active eating away the crate to escape, today he's just curled up in a corner of the crate. I gave him a bit of apple, he didn't even finish his piece. I think because we blocked all of his hole attempts, he can't see a way out now so he's just very sad. Please please please I need instructions for the meds so I can release him as soon as possible. Thanks.

Prednisone, 5mg. Box with 20 tablets.

[Mel1959]

Your situation is far from ideal. Unless you have a cage to place him in and the ability to keep him for several days, I don’t know how you are going to be able to dose medication to him. Prednisone must be given 2 times a day for several days and then tapered off (2 times a day every other day for several days, then once a day for several days and once every other day over many more days). It’s not a “once and done” type medication.

Is this something you can do? How is his behavior as far as his circling and head tilt? Is there any improvement? Has he eaten any avocado or anything but apple? Have you observed what foods the wild squirrels eat and gathered any branches, flowers etc. that they eat to give to him?

I fear the stress of captivity may kill him if you can’t provide some other food sources and a cage instead of a crate/box.

[Chirps]

This isn't useful to his current condition but he appears to be a Mexican grey squirrel aka red bellied squirrel. The Wikipedia pics (few) have no grey on the cheeks, so either he's old or Mexican greys have odd color mutations like Eastern greys.


I am wondering if you can locate a cage, even borrow one? Even a big bird cage if nothing else?

[Mel1959]

Also, please put an old t shirt or rag in there for him so he has something soft to lay on and hide under. No towels though, because their toenails can get caught in the little loops.

[Mel1959]

What is the status of this little guy?

[Latima]

I tried feeding him some more that day and he was not eating too much. We've only seen them eat our hibiscus flowers (which he didn't eat much) and our neighbors have a chico zapote tree but it doesn't have any fruit right now for some reason. I left him to come and post and when I went back he had escaped once more. This time we were unable to locate him on the street, so we're hoping he was in better shape and able to move better and faster. We were having a hard time keeping him with us, he made a bunch of different holes in the crate, and he hurt himself too much while on the AC box the day we put him in it, which was kind of similar to a cage. I don't think we would have succeeded too much with the meds if we had to keep him for that long.

We feel like him escaping was the best for everyone. He was very anxious here, and was getting kind of depressed, him not wanting to eat was a red flag to us which is why we started getting concerned and wanted to release him as soon as possible.

I want to thank you all for your help, I wish I could have helped him more, but I feel like it would have been worse to keep him longer.

[Mel1959]

Thank you for helping him. I agree, if he was that stressed he likely could have injured himself more trying to escape or gotten himself so stressed that his heart could stop. Sometimes what we can do to help is very limited. :grouphug