7wk Baby Squirrel Wheezing - Possible pneumonia

[HWilkinson]

Hey everyone! Looking for a little help here. First off I have called around my area to try and find a wildlife rescue that will take this little guy but most places are full or won't take squirrels. I picked up my little guy yesterday after watching him get carried out of the nest screaming by an adult squirrel. I waited a full 4 hours and watched the mother come and go and eventually just leave him there. He is injured in a few places (looks like bite marks from the adult squirrel (a rival male maybe?), I washed those with antiseptic and they are looking good this morning. Yesterday I got him warm with a heated water bottle, rehydrated with some pedialyte and got him to take a bit of Esbliac formula yesterday but he was wheezing pretty heavily and his nose was making clicking sounds.

He made it through the night but it a bit listless this morning and I am starting to lose hope, I know his chances are slim but want to do all I can to help him out. I am looking for dosage information for possibly giving him antibiotics. I have cipro. He is 145g. Any information/tips would be greatly appreciated!

P.S. Also he has lice, not as urgent but any suggestions on how I can clear those up?

[Spanky]

Are you near Lowell?
https://www.facebook.com/farmwildlife/?eid=ARA1xvMgozp4AJXj37QocOwoAivR0YY-4EHn1bnneg5dXkOUHyQM3ESzxB98bORlHmb8lgM4PnOPZzlI

We need to know what strength of the Cipro to dose.

Is he clicking with every breath?

Revolution (the plain selamectin not the plus or whatever) can treat lice... teh "kitten" version, just a single small drop on the back of hte neck, not the whole ampule.

Are you sure this is lice and not fly strike? If this is fly strike, you'll want to treat with Capguard (Nitenpyram - can be gotten at Tractor Supply). Let us know if you need to treat for fly strike and we'll provide instructions for the Capguard.

[HWilkinson]

[QUOTE=Spanky;1333599][FONT=comic sans ms]Are you near Lowell?
https://www.facebook.com/farmwildlife/?eid=ARA1xvMgozp4AJXj37QocOwoAivR0YY-4EHn1bnneg5dXkOUHyQM3ESzxB98bORlHmb8lgM4PnOPZzlI

We need to know what strength of the Cipro to dose. 500mg

Is he clicking with every breath? Yes, and it sounds bubbly. He also occasionally coughs.

Thanks for the tips on the bugs I will try and confirm that it is in fact lice.

[HWilkinson]

Also any ideas on how to accurately measure out a smaller amount of antibiotic from my 500mg tablet would be helpful!

[HWilkinson]

I also just found liquid Azithromysin (liquid) that I had leftover from my dogs. Although it expired in May so may not be good anymore.

[Rock Monkey]

Also any ideas on how to accurately measure out a smaller amount of antibiotic from my 500mg tablet would be helpful!

Spanky, or another Administrator, will give you precise instructions via private message regarding dosing. You might try sending him a PM to initiate the process.

[CritterMom]

Dosing for cipro sent via PM.

[HWilkinson]

Thank you CritterMom for your reply. Before I had the dosage info I ended up give .4 ml of Azithromycin after a lot of research cause I wasn't sure how to dose out the cipro and my little guy was fading fast. Unfortunately he has taken a turn for the worse. Should I continue him on the Azithromycin or should I switch him to Cipro? If I should switch to Cipro, when should I give it to him? If I should stay with the Azithromycin, how frequently should I dose?

Also, I am continuing to try and feed him but he is starting to refuse the formula and seems to just want to be left alone, I feel like this is a pretty bad sign and it breaks my heart but I am not sure he will make it through the night. Hoping just to keep him comfortable and pray the antibiotics do their job.

Thanks again everyone for your help, its been hard but at least I feel like I did my best to help this little guy out.

[CritterMom]

Honestly, Cipro knocks out upper respiratory issues and A/P faster than anything else. I would do a Hail Mary and dose him with it tonight.

[HWilkinson]

Unfortunately my little guy passed away. Thanks everyone for your help. I actually found another tiny pink baby who blew out of his nest today. After warming him up and placing him under the tree with some baby squirrel crying sounds, his mother came back for him. So glad I was able to save at least one squirrel!