wild squirrel has a bad eye

[MapleRidgesquirrel]

A wild squirrel named Sister showed up today with what looks like a corneal tear with drainage to her right eye. It has a dark cloudy appearance. I'm wondering if there is an antibiotic I can apply to a nut to try to help her heal or what you guys think is best for her. She lives in my neighbors yard and gets around fine so far. Thanks

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[RockyPops]

Poor baby! Thanks for helping her!

[Mel1959]

How does it look today? Most injuries heal on their own and don’t require antibiotics.

[MapleRidgesquirrel]

Hi , Im still hoping she shows up today. I didn't see her at all yesterday. I will get a new picture as soon as I see her. Thanks

[MapleRidgesquirrel]

Hi , I just saw Sister and her eye looks a little worse than the other day. She wouldn't come close to me and acted scared. She normally comes right up to me and takes treats out of my hand. I tossed her a hazelnut and she took it up a tree to eat. After eating the nut she went back to the neighbors yard. I will try to get a picture as soon as I am able to get close to her. Thanks

[Starfish]

My go-to would be polysporin eye drops but, if she’s wild and not approaching, I’m not sure how you would safely give it to her.

[MapleRidgesquirrel]

Sister came back this evening. The eye looks more cloudy and has a thin white drainage. It was hard to get a really good picture because the other wilds were chasing her. This picture isn't very detailed but its all I could get today. I will try again tomorrow. Thanks

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[Mel1959]

The white drainage is white tears. It’s an indication of pain. Is there any chance you can catch her? If not your antibiotic treatments would have to be limited to when you see her. Not an ideal situation, for sure.

Folks, what would the best antibiotic be for this condition? If an antibiotic is warranted? Something for pain would be wonderful, too, but it’s usually not suggested when they are out jumping around in the trees.

Thoughts folks?

[MapleRidgesquirrel]

If at all possible it would be more ideal to try to give her antibiotics on her nut treat. I currently do not have a place to put her. If needed I could arrange it but it would take a few days. I would have to buy a big enough cage for her and figure out where to keep her. I have 6 indoor cats. I have plain old amoxicillin and other antibiotics too. Thanks

[MapleRidgesquirrel]

Hi , I just checked out local pet store and they have a Feisty Ferret cage available. Should I get this or order a different one online? I can use a spare bedroom if needed to catch Sister for treatment. Thanks again.

[Mel1959]

If you want to treat her without capturing you can give it a shot. I’d recommend dosing the full daily dose at one time in case you only see her once a day.

What is the strength of you amoxicillin? Could someone dose the amoxicillin for this squirrel please?

[MapleRidgesquirrel]

I have amoxicillin 875 mg. Thanks

[MapleRidgesquirrel]

I also have augmentin 875 mg. thanks

[HRT4SQRLS]

I will send dosing in a PM. I will guesstimate the weight at 500g.

[HRT4SQRLS]

Dosing sent for Augmentin.

[MapleRidgesquirrel]

Hi , she just came by and I was able to give her a dose of augmentin on a pecan. Here is an updated picture of her eye today. Thanks for everything.


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[Mel1959]

Thank you, HRT for dosing the meds.

She will undoubtedly lose sight in that eye. Poor girl. I had a male yard squirrel that I believe was blind in one eye. He still seemed to get around ok, but I don’t know how he did at jumping.

Her eye doesn’t look good, but they are amazing healers so maybe some good nutrition will help. I’d offer her some Henrys picky eater or hazelnut blocks, fresh coconut, sugar snap peas, some avocado (no pit or skin) and a little fresh corn on the cob. She looks like she could benefit from the extra nutrition.

[MapleRidgesquirrel]

Hi , I was hoping the antibiotic would help but I guess its too far gone. I will for sure hand her a Henry's hazelnut block before anything else and try to get her to take avocado also. When I hand her a henrys block now she gives it back to me and I always give in and give her what she wants. She hands back the avocado also. I will just not offer anything else and hopefully she will eat it. She seems to avoid jumping right now. How many days should I give the antibiotic a try ?

[MapleRidgesquirrel]

I just ordered picky eaters Henrys blocks so hopefully she will like those.

[Mel1959]

Continue to dose the meds. I think they’re dosed for about 7 days. I wouldn’t give up hope yet. The medicine might do a world of good.

[MapleRidgesquirrel]

Should I give her some sort of probiotic too ?

[Mel1959]

It would be helpful, but not critical. I’m not sure how easy that will be to do. It’s suppose to be given one hour before or two hours after the meds. You could also put out a little yogurt and she’d get some that way, too.

[MapleRidgesquirrel]

Sister came by this morning. Her eye looks more white in color and smaller. Was able to give her the antibiotic. She ate coconut , avocado and a hazelnut. I'm waiting on the picky eaters blocks and will give those to her when they arrive. Hopefully it will get better still. Thanks

[HRT4SQRLS]

Your support is vital to her survival. She will surprise you with her outcome. Even if the eye withers away she should do fine with one eye. You just need to keep the infection from spreading. It’s a bad place.

I haven’t given up hope of saving the eye.

By the way, Sister is a wonderful name. My late beloved cat was named Sister. :)

[MapleRidgesquirrel]

Aww , I like the name Sister for a cat too. I will continue to look out for her daily and feed her nutritious treats. It's not really looking any better at this point. I will continue the antibiotic for another 3 days. How do we keep it from spreading to her other eye? That would be terrible. Thanks

[HRT4SQRLS]

It is likely due to an injury so I wouldn’t expect the infection to go to the other eye.

[MapleRidgesquirrel]

Sister came by this morning and I was able to give her the antibiotic along with avocado and coconut. I have a picture from this morning attached. When she came by this evening I noticed her eye had reddish brown drainage. The reddish brown drainage is new. Just wondering what you guys think about the drainage and the updated picture. Thanks

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[MapleRidgesquirrel]

Update on Sister : She is getting around great and was able to jump from tree limb to tree limb. Here is a picture from today . Thanks

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[HRT4SQRLS]

How did the brownish drainage look today? What we are actually doing is keeping the infection at bay so it doesn’t go systemic. Eye infections are usually treated topically and of course that isn’t possible in her case . If we can do that the eye will determine its own outcome. Hopefully it will heal and be viable. If not, it will dry up and the eye will close but Sister should be fine even with one eye.

Your intervention is giving her the best chance at recovery. Thank you. :grouphug

[MapleRidgesquirrel]

Today I didn't notice any drainage. The area under her eye appeared wet as if there was drainage at some point. I did notice that she was itching her eye some while she was visiting though. i hope this isn't a bad sign. Thanks

[MapleRidgesquirrel]

Sister came by today a few times. She seems to have more pep in her step. Her eye appears smaller and white in color. No drainage noted today. She is getting around great. She jumps from tree limb to tree limb without any problems. Will continue to monitor and take care of her. Thanks

[Mel1959]

That’s a great update. I’m glad she’s still able to get around ok. :dance

[RockyPops]

That's good news! Thank you for helping her and caring!

[MapleRidgesquirrel]

Update on Sister: Sister is finished with her antibiotic . Her eye is still white and smaller in size. There is no drainage noted. She gets around great so far. She doesn't like the Henrys picky eaters blocks. She will eat coconut and avocado so far. A picture of her from today is attached. Wondering if there are any thoughts about her eye or if she needs more antibiotics. Thanks

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[Mel1959]

It looks as though she has lost use of the eye. It doesn’t appear to be red and infected so I’m not sure antibiotics are in order. If she’s getting around ok then she appears to be adapting to her new way of life. Continuing to offer her nutritious foods will help her if she is challenged by only having one good eye.

[MapleRidgesquirrel]

I will continue to monitor and feed her nutritously daily. Thanks

[MapleRidgesquirrel]

Update: Sister came by today and her eye is changing colors once again. It appears to be turning bluish black at this point. She is still getting around great. Does anyone know what this color could indicate ? Thanks

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[Mel1959]

Maybe her eyesight is returning. I believe there have been posts on here where that happened when they received nutritious food. :dono:dono

[RockyPops]

Maybe her eyesight is returning. I believe there have been posts on here where that happened when they received nutritious food. :dono:dono


Wouldn't that be just wonderful! Her eye does look a lot better though.

[MapleRidgesquirrel]

That would be wonderful if her eyesight returned to normal. I will keep you guys updated. Thanks

[MapleRidgesquirrel]

Here is a picture of Sister's eye today. No drainage noted.

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[RockyPops]

Her eye appears so much better. Thank you mom!:dance

[HRT4SQRLS]

That looks awesome! :grin2

[MapleRidgesquirrel]

Update: Sister's eye still looks better than it did but not totally back to normal. The great news is that her tail hair is finally starting to grow back. Here are pictures from today. Thanks

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[HRT4SQRLS]

It might never look completely normal but it looks great. You did a great job with her. She looks awesome. She might have no vision or limited vision in the eye but she will do fine. My greatest concern was with the horrible infection that she had.

[MapleRidgesquirrel]

We will keep an eye on her and help her as needed. Thanks

[TubeDriver]

She looks so much better overall. :) Your AB and extra food probably made all the difference!:great:clap:dance