2yr old serious pneumonia

[sqrlmom1]

Hi guys! First time poster here! I have a 2 year old, Eleanor Grace, who has pneumonia. I've got her on Baytril already. I'm seeing posts for Clavamox and SMZ. Im a veterinary technician and have access to both of these. I need to know which is better and dosing. Shes gotten very lethargic, not eating, and she has very rapid breathing. Hasnt eaten much at all for 3 days and can definitely tell she's gotten skinnier and very weak! She was propping herself up almost but now she's hanging herself halfway out of her house. Please help me!

[HRT4SQRLS]

Welcome. It is very unusual for a 2 year old squirrel to get pneumonia.
I’m SO glad you’re a vet tech. Can you get an X-ray of her head? This might be her teeth. Are you familiar with odontoma?

[sqrlmom1]

My vet looked in her mouth and didn't see anything. She has visceral sounds in her lungs. Vet thinks she might of aspirated on some food? Sometimes she eats pretty fast when my dog sits there and watches her eat. I could take her with me tomorrow and do an xray. Not familiar with odontoma. Would that make her breath very rapidly though? Like I'm talking real fast!

[HRT4SQRLS]

Odontoma are a bony growth at the root of the incisors. The bony growth continues to grow until it penetrates the sinuses. At that point you will see vague ‘cold like’ respiratory symptoms. This growth of the bony mass causes tissue trauma and a lot of pain. The rapid breathing could be from pain. Odontoma cause inflammation, pain and infection.

Do her teeth have a nice chiseled edge or are they blunt and squared off on the edge? Have you noticed vague respiratory symptoms before this? Have you seen any white tears in the eyes indicating pain?

This might not be tooth related at all but it’s always good to rule it out. We see it often on this board.

[CritterMom]

Hi guys! First time poster here! I have a 2 year old, Eleanor Grace, who has pneumonia. I've got her on Baytril already. I'm seeing posts for Clavamox and SMZ. Im a veterinary technician and have access to both of these. I need to know which is better and dosing. Shes gotten very lethargic, not eating, and she has very rapid breathing. Hasnt eaten much at all for 3 days and can definitely tell she's gotten skinnier and very weak! She was propping herself up almost but now she's hanging herself halfway out of her house. Please help me!

I would go with Baytril or Clavamox for A/P.

[HRT4SQRLS]

You might want to add Clavamox to the mix.
While Baytril is very effective for aspiration pneumonia in baby squirrels I haven’t seen it to be very effective in adults with pneumonia if this is indeed pneumonia.

If there is a tooth problem the Clavamox would be useful. The Baytril wouldn’t be effective at all if it’s a tooth problem. You could stack the antibiotics for greater coverage.