Need advice!! Baby/young squirrel possibly paralyzed?

[Slipper]

Yesterday morning we found my cat with a baby squirrel in her mouth and luckily saved her from my cat. Once we evaluated her it seemed she only have a hurt paw that we cleaned up and wrapped. But now we are realizing she has little to no movement from her waist down and is overall super weak. She is eating and drinking water as well as peeing and pooping but kinda seems uncontrollable? She’s holding on and was fine through the night but I can tell she isn’t feeling the best and need advice on what to do! Thanks!
-Slipper

[Mel1959]

She needs an antibiotic for the wound from the cat. Cat saliva is deadly to squirrels. See if you can locate Augmentin (human)/Clavamox (animal) or Ciproflaxin (human)/ Baytril (animal), or any other human antibiotic. It will just take one pill.

She probably has some inflammation around her spine or damage to her spine from the cat. If it’s inflammation the best drugs to treat it are gabapentin or prednisone. See if you can locate either of those. Someone on here will be able to help you with dosing once they know the strength of the medicine and a weight for the squirrel. If you can’t weigh her posting a picture of her next to an object will help to estimate her weight.

Infant ibuprofen will help with pain and can be dosed once you locate some and post the strength.

You say she’s eating. What is she eating?

[Slipper]

She will eat almonds and walnuts. After reading some other posts on here about Children’s Motrin (only thing we have on hand right now) I gave her a drop or two of it and it’s been a few hours and she’s seems to have perked up a bit now!
A few other things still worry me though... she only seems to pee when when she has pressure put on her stomach area, not on her own. She does poop on her own though.

[Slipper]

Hopefully this picture shows up

[Mel1959]

This baby is too small to be eating nuts and solid foods. She needs formula. You must make the homemade goats milk formula for her. The recipe is 3 parts fresh goats milk, 1part heavy whipping cream and 1 part full fat yogurt (vanillas fine). Fresh goats milk found in the refrigerated section is best but if you can’t find that you can use canned powder or canned concentrate, just reconstitute it per directions prior to mixing it with other ingredients. Ask the pharmacist for a 1cc syringe, no needle, to feed her with.

She must be stimulated to go to the bathroom. You say she’s pooping on her own but not peeing. Try using a tissue and gently rubbing it over her female parts to see if she will go. If she can’t it could be because of the spinal injury and you will need to express her bladder, otherwise it could burst. There are you tube videos that show how to do this.

Did you locate an antibiotic? Please call around to family and friends to see what you can locate.

Here is a link for squirrel care: https://www.henryspets.com/1-basic-setup/. Please read it.

[Javarat]

I cannot stress enough the advice that Mel gave... she needs some antibiotics!

Cat saliva has both pasteurella and streptococcus in it.
The pasteurella kills a squirrel in about 24 to 36 hours.
The streptococcus kills in about 4 to 5 days.
Once they cross the barrier into the lungs.. they die within hours.

If she got a hurt paw from the cat.. she definitely has cat bacteria in her.

She is probably lethargic because she is fighting the infection from the cat, trying not to die.

They will often 'perk up' after they get over the shock of an attack... but can then go downhill very fast.

I prefer to use Baytril and Clavamox (Amoxicillin Clavulanate) together.
You can get Baytril at any pet store that specializes in birds as a liquid called 'Enrofloxacin 10%' without a prescription.
You would need to search around with friends and family for Clavamox.. we need just one pill. Even an expired pill is better than nothing.

If you can get either or both of these drugs post what you found, and the squirrels weight in grams, and we can tell you how to dose the medicine.

On diet... she needs to mostly be drinking formula at this age, about 5 times per day.
As she is growing she needs TONS of calcium, which she is not getting from nuts or fruit.
Use the recipe for goats milk formula that Mel posted.. but also order some Fox Valley 20/50 from Amazon. (Not the Fox Valley 32/40)

Diet right now should be formula and rat blocks (Henry's Healthy or Mazuri).
No nuts at all. Nuts are high in phosphorus, which cancels out the calcium. Squirrels in the wild do not live on nuts.. they eat tree buds and pinecones.

After a week or two eating blocks, introduce some healthy vegetables, like broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, brussel sprouts.
Fruit is given in very small quantities, and nuts never at all until maybe one or two as a treat at 3 months or older.

[Javarat]

Time is the essence on getting the antibiotics into her.
Every hour delayed lowers her chance of survival.

If you cannot find any antibiotics, get her to a rehabber who has some, and be sure to tell them she needs antibiotics from a cat attack.

I would use just the goat milk recipe for now..
... and wait to order the Fox Valley 20/50 if she is still alive in a week.

At this point, with the way she is acting, without antibiotics, her odds are not good.

[Slipper]

I have found amoxicillin in my house 500g pull form does that work?
Headed out now to pick up formula ingredients for her as well as the animal antibiotics you suggested!
We have been helping her use the bathroom every so often.
We are doing everything we can to help her thank you all so much for your super super helpful advice!!!

[Scooterzmom]

Try to weigh her, so we can figure out the dosage of AB for you. Get yourself a small syringe - like for diabetics. Tell the pharmacy its for medication for a kitten - some of them don't like squirrels ;)

You could rub a little bit of syrup on her gums - corn syrup, or carb, or even maple syrup or honey - her blood sugar might be low and that too could contribute to her low energy or lethargy - and give her at least some water but Pedialyte would be better. Hydration is super important. If she's dehydrated it could be another reason why she doesn't pee. Make sure she's well hydrated before you start her on the formula. And Javarat is right, give her the goat formula for starters until you get the other.

[Mel1959]

Based on the picture compared to your hand she looks to be about 150-200gr.

[Slipper]

Should I give her some of the amoxicillin? If so how much?

[Mel1959]

I just sent you a private message with the dosing info. Private messages are accessed from the top of the forum under notifications.

[Slipper]

No pet stores around me had enrofloxacin. The only thing I have is amoxicillin.
I have all the ingredients now for her goats milk formula and will make some up for her.