Sick 1-2 year old wild female, guidance needed

[Direktor]

We have fed our neighborhood fox squirrels for 10+ years in South Pasadena, CA, luckily we do not have many (every 3-4 years) needing our care...

Today on our front sidewalk at 5p PST we found a female on her side, flies on her. When approached, she did not run, but then did when my wife's hand got within 1 inch of her. She ran, but not at 100% speed, and then hunkered down in bushes. She has no skeletal/muscular problems it seems. The clearest issue is either eye crust, or something similar. She has has 2-3 small patches of thin fur on her back. I'm attaching pics. The 'crust', or whatever it is, is hard. In the pic it looks soft and gooshy like larve, but it isn't.

We trapped her with little difficulty, and she is now inside from elements and predators in a cat carrier. She tends to stiffen up, seeming like a neuro issue, but could be from fear. We can give her gentle pets. She does not move.

She spent 3-4 hours on her side, rear legs lifted (again, seeming neuro-related), we covered her lightly for warmth in an air conditioned house. She barely moved in 3 hours. Most concerning is she did not close her eyes even slightly during this. I was convinced she was very close to death.

Just while I was checking on her, she had a burst of energy and escaped the carrier. I was overjoyed she got the gumption to do so.

But now she is back in, she is semi stiff, but seems alert-ish, if immobile.

We did not call animal control because based on her first presentation, we were almost certain she would be euthanized right away and we wanted to give her a chance overnight in a calm safe place.

Advice? If there is a rehabber in Los Angeles area we would gladly deliver her.

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[CritterMom]

Oh Lord. Those are fly eggs. They need to be gone as quickly as you can get rid of them - they will hatch into maggots and not to put too fine a point on it, bore into and eat the eyes and any other tissue they find. Rub away as many as you can with a damp q-tip and RUN to you local chain pet store to where they have the flea stuff and buy some CAPSTAR tablets: https://www.petco.com/shop/en/petcostore/product/capstar-flea-tablets-for-cats-2-25-lbs-count-of-6-3009318?cm_mmc=PSH-_-GGL-_-SPP-_-PME-_-PET-_-AQU-_-0-_-PM_GGL_FY20_SBU04_Supplies_BOPIS_NewCust_LIA-SMRT-_-0-_-0&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIxqaes9eo8gIVl2tvBB2zjwvOEAQYAiAB EgL_3fD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

Cat - Dog - doesn't matter - it is the same pill with the same amount of med. Cut the pill in quarters, dissolve one quarter in a tiny amount of water or juice and syringe or eyedropper it into her mouth. It works really fast - kills fleas, too, so you will see them dropping off of her, too. I would give the same dosage for a few days. It is virtually harmless as far as overdosing is concerned.

Fast, fast, fast. You don't want to think about what those things can do once they get inside the animal and eyes, nose, mouth and anus offer lots of places they can do that.

[Direktor]

Thank you! She's with us this morning and seemed to have had some walnuts and water. This AM the crust was mostly gone and we gently removed what remained. It was more yellow than before, somewhat sticky, and seemed deflated rather than individual sacs. We hope like heck that doesn't mean they've hatched. We replaced all bedding and did not see any maggots. We will get and administer CAPSTAR as soon as the store opens.

[Direktor]

Hit “reply” too soon.

This leaves me wondering though what the primary problem is…the fly eggs I doubt came first.

She has moments of normalcy…which makes me think her being immobile most of the time is her fear response and she’s just feeling super bad (bacterial infection? Viral infection?). We’re also starting to think she might be one of our regulars we feed, and that’s why her fear response is freezing rather than fleeing.

[CritterMom]

It has been terribly hot out there - this could be heat related. Push as many liquids on her as you can - water or water with a pinch of sugar or honey to taste better might help. And no, the flies were on her because she was somehow incapacitated from SOMETHING but we don't have enough info yet. Get her hydrated and de-maggoted and then see what she reveals.

[Direktor]

So we decided midday she was doing well enough that, at least my fear, that she would be euthanized by animal control was allayed and we took her to Pasadena Humane Society.

They do indeed do some squirrel rehabbing there, to our knowledge.

Hopefully she will not reveal any neurological problems and they will be able to nurse her back.

[Rock Monkey]

So we decided midday she was doing well enough that, at least my fear, that she would be euthanized by animal control was allayed and we took her to Pasadena Humane Society.


Did they promise you that they wouldn't euthanize her?