7 yr old impacted real bad - WARNING: Graphic Image

[Scooterzmom]

My paraplegic little boy - who actually can move his rear legs, has feelings in them but can't hold up his weight on them, but normally defecates and urinates all on his own - had an infected boo-boo on his tail about 3 weeks back. He was put on Gabapentin, Metacam and Sulfatrim, with Benebac in between. However, although the treatment has been over for 4 days now, he has since been having trouble pooping and yesterday when I gave him his bath, he gave me some 20+++ poopies all in one shot! But, afterwards I noticed that his anal cavity is still full. I believe he is now impacted. :sadness I tried giving him some yogurt last night after his bowel movement and he took it eagerly. I also gave him an unshelled walnut covered in avocado-coconut oil. And .2cc of said oil by syringe.

However, today he still is impacted and it seems worse - must say husband forgot about the problem :( and gave him his normal veggies and fruit this afternoon. Now, tonight, my poor boy is horribly impacted and produced nothing but 5 or 6 very small poopies despite the massages and bath. His anal cavity is so enlarged I am afraid. He still pees normally, it seems, as I do find him with his tummy wet when he peed.

Vets who will see squirrels are terribly hard to find here and certainly none at night. In the meanwhile, does anyone have any suggestion for me to help him?

Has anyone ever used an enema on a squirrel in such a case? Would this kind of procedure put his life at risk? I'm talking tiny tubing and a very small quantity of ....? Would it be advisable to use a teeny bit of mineral oil or insert a tiny piece of glycerin suppository? Would liquid glycerin be ok or would glycerin in any form be toxic?

If we do that what would be the dosage?

Sorry for the graphic pic here but this shows how full his anal cavity seems to be. This was taken right after his bath tonight.

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[Scooterzmom]

Bump

[Mel1959]

Can you try an enema or a small amount of glycerin via syringe? My daughter used a baby enema on a young raccoon that was constipated. She got the information from a raccoon website. Glycerin is what they use in suppositories to relieve constipation.

[Scooterzmom]

Can you try an enema or a small amount of glycerin via syringe? My daughter used a baby enema on a young raccoon that was constipated. She got the information from a raccoon website. Glycerin is what they use in suppositories to relieve constipation.

Thanks Mel :)
So, if I understand you correctly liquid glycerin is ok? I have some liquid one here. For the suppositories I have to wait Til 10am for the dang pharmacy to open.
Just want to be sure. 😉

[CritterMom]

For neonate human infants:

https://www.slhd.nsw.gov.au/RPA/neonatal%5Ccontent/pdf/Medications_Neomed/Glycerol__Glycerine__ANMFv1.0_Full_20190520.pdf

[Scooterzmom]

Well, we ended up giving Victor an enema ; found the little syringe and canula at the local vet and they advised us to use a mix of 50:50 water and KY liquid.

It worked very well. But.. he still had some left in there. Since it was considerably better, we decided to wait til next day and gave him another. Again he passed some... lots of small ones this time and not nearly as much.

Now, if you feel the cavity, he seems to have like two round masses (llike balls, if you pardon me) in there, one on each side of the anus. That raised more questions for me. I feel so stupid havingn to ask that...

Do squirrels have anal glands?
Could it be possible that his testes have withdrawn all the day down there?

[Mel1959]

After doing a little research I came across an old TSB thread dated 2013 posted by Trooper about his male squirrel who was slightly impacted but had two round lumps by his rectum. After several folks chimed in it was determined that squirrels do have anal/scent glands and they can become enlarged and create difficulty in defecating. In this post a course of abs was suggested for any possible infection and also increasing roughage in the diet.

Maybe including pumpkin or prune juice in Victors diet would help keep him from getting impacted again. I’m not sure if a course of abs is in order but I suppose it wouldn’t hurt.

[SammysMom]

I have neen using molasses for constipated littles for a few years. Maybe try giving him molasses in water on a regular basis to soften up his stool.

[Scooterzmom]

After doing a little research I came across an old TSB thread dated 2013 posted by Trooper about his male squirrel who was slightly impacted but had two round lumps by his rectum. After several folks chimed in it was determined that squirrels do have anal/scent glands and they can become enlarged and create difficulty in defecating. In this post a course of abs was suggested for any possible infection and also increasing roughage in the diet.

Maybe including pumpkin or prune juice in Victors diet would help keep him from getting impacted again. I’m not sure if a course of abs is in order but I suppose it wouldn’t hurt.

I don't know if I should give him ABs again - he just finished a 10 day course of sulfatrim for the booboo on his tail. I even wondered if it was that and the other meds he took then (Gabapentin & Metacam) that could've caused his prob to begin with. But, I am glad to learn about the glands.

His diet is purty good usually. He gets lots of greens, eats most of them, some fruits, never more than 2 nuts in a day, and he gets his blocs - but now it's the 2018 and they all had been on the 2019 for a couple of years; the 2019 seemed to have more roughage. So I'm guessing there are a couple of possibilities here for his prob. So, I'll see if they have the 2019 back in stock, and I'm going to keep a close watch my boy's poops. I guess I could give him some baby oats & prunes cereal also.

Thanks mel.


Oh! He also gets some yogurt, every few days or so. Mr. Victor loves his yogurt.

[Charley Chuckles]

My CC had this issue on and off for a long time. He also had spinal issues which I'm sure caused this.
I use to give him very very small amounts of mineral oil. Molasses and pumpkin at times.
Finally Dr E removed his anal glands (sent glands) as Mel suggested.
When she did my poor boy was packed with old poop 😣
He was fine after that and it never happened again.

But I wound try other things first as surgery is always risky.

Prayers to that sweet heart 😍