5 year old squirrel suddenly thin.

[HWilson]

I'm so sorry if this isn't appropriate to post in this forum, I just wanted to be extra cautious because I'm panicking a bit.

I have a five year old nonreleasable squirrel, Zoey. She was the first squirrel I ever raised, and I initially planned to release her, but realized something wasnt quite right with her as she got older, and it turns out she's deaf on top of possibly having some other problems that the only vet she's seen could only speculate on - her balance isn't great.

Since day one, everything I've done for her has come directly from spending hours and hours on this board. Her diet from formula to now has been excellent. For her entire adult life, she's had an appropriate number of Henry's blocks daily + foods listed as safe (and in the right amounts) on the healthy squirrel diet page of the Henry's site. Every toy, all the bedding/etc she's ever had have been things I've spent probably WAY too long confirming are safe. She lives in a three story critter nation cage full of safe toys, hanging nests, wood ramps, and large tree branches I cut and arrange for her every 5 or so days when I clean her cage.

She's been amazing, healthy, and happy for all of these years. As of about a month ago though, something has seemed off. She shed quite a bit of hair, which concerned me because EVERYTHING concerns me with her, but I tried to not worry too much for it since it looked just like the seasonal moulting my outdoor squirrels have this time of year, and it happened to her when she was a year old as well. As of yesterday, I noticed she was starting to look thin, so I bumped up her food a bit. As of today, she looks even more thin. Her hair hasn't fully moulted or fully grown back in the areas where it looks like it moulted either, although her fur is still shiny and healthy looking overall. Her eyes look great, no nasal discharge, teeth look normal, normal stool and urine.

She's ACTING great. She's acting completely normal. She's happy, active, curious, and doesn't seem any different. But I'm about to majorly panic here. I want to take her to the vet, but I'm not entirely sure what to do there. Where I live, whether or not I can even have her is some sort of a grey area. I've spoken to game and fish about her twice in the early days when I realized she wouldn't be releasable and I couldn't find a rehabber who would take her so decided I'd figure out how to do this right on my own, and one told me I could keep her no problem, the other told me it was a bit of a grey area and that he could draw me up a permit but warned me that doing so meant another game warden (there are three in my area, and they change fairly regularly) could see this record and may decide they didn't want me to have her. She's been to a local vet that sees wildlife once, and I've taken a few wild squirrels to them for care, but I'm terrified to take Zoey in because when I spoke to a tech there once about a wild squirrel who needed emergency care, she stressed that any wild animal I brought in to them would be released somewhere far away "just in case someone is keeping them as a pet," and I can't risk that with Zoey. She would die.

I don't really know what to do right now. I don't know where to go or where to start or if I should be panicking or what might be wrong. I'm willing to travel anywhere and do anything to get this sorted out, I just need some help figuring out what to do as I'm more or less falling apart trying to research this on my own.

I live in southeastern Wyoming, if anyone has a recommendation on a vet I may be able to take her to. Any help here would be much appreciated, thank you.

[redwuff]

Since you have had her for five years, and she seems to be a focal point of your life, I think your observations would be spot on..

Is she eating her food the way she has always eaten it, ie is she leaving crumbs now when before she would not. Any chance she is stashing it. Does she have times when she gains or loses weight? Have you looked to see if her teeth are ok?

The fact that her affect is so lively just doesn’t jive with her being sick. Any chance she could have a uti?

These are my ramblings. Don’t really have any idea of what could, if anything, be going on with your beautiful girl. Keep us posted. Could you post a picture of her?

[Mel1959]

I’m sorry to hear about your little girl losing weight.

You live in a tough area. I don’t have many contacts out west. I know that Colorado is a questionable state as it pertains to vets. I’ve reached out to a friend for help trying to locate a vet or rehabber with resources in your general area. I will post on this thread if I hear something.

In the meantime, is Zoey continuing to consume the same amount of food as always? This is the time of year that they tend to bulk up. Is she using more energy in play? Does she eat avocado or coconut chunks? Both are high in fat. Will she eat full fat yogurt?

Have you weighed her? I think it might be a good idea to weigh her every few days so you know for sure what she weighs. Jot it down….as well as any other changes you notice.

I hope others will have some ideas as to why she’s losing weight.

[TubeDriver]

Not sure what is going on here but I would be VERY careful about going to a vet if there is a chance they will take Zoey away.

Sometimes, it can be hard to judge weight when fur coat is changing. I would get an exact weight ASAP so you have an accurate baseline weight going forward.

[Diggie's Friend]

Does this happen to be a Fox Squirrel, an Eastern Gray squirrel, or is the squirrel the smaller North American Red Squirrel?

[Diggie's Friend]

Shedding is normal this time of year for all North American Tree squirrel species. Weight loss may be from parasites.

Though I can't guarantee that a member that used to live in Montana may know of a vet in this region, I can ask. In the meantime, I would encourage you to consider buying urine testing strips to see if any the values of the urine are off. "Mission testing strips" includes various urine tests that may help to isolate the issue that may be causing the weight loss of your squirrel. Amongst the tests included in the testing strips, are for UTI, high protein (indication of kidney disease), and urine pH.

https://www.amazon.com/Urine-Strips-Mission-Parameter-Urinalysis/dp/B01KMS7GKQ/ref=sr_1_10?crid=1E3I00C48JJ4R&dchild=1&keywords=uti+testing+strips&qid=1635283741&s=hpc&sprefix=uri+testing+strips%2Chpc%2C128&sr=1-10

Another potential cause of weight loss may be due to the annual occurance in the late summer into fall, when tree squirrels become more active. In the wild during this period of the year, tree squirrels consume up to 32% greater calories to support their need for fat reserves. In captivity, though they don't need the extra calories on account of the cold, if very active, they will. And though not to the same degree that wilds need more calories, in a long term diet study the squirrel on the diet each year was found to require an increase in calories. For though good weight from the diet was maintained over the rest of the year, during this period from last summer through fall, where the squirrel became more active, it was needful to increase both fats and protein to maintain the same healthy weight.

In the wild, tree squirrels obtain this source by pulling up tufts of grasses that they pull up and flip over to chew on the soil that surrounds the roots (geophagy). In captivity, to avoid using soil which contains bad bacteria, worms and worm eggs; providing a supplemental source of soil based organisms formulated for pets, lends vital support of digestion, reduction of calcium reducing anti-nutrients in their diet, and the fortifying their immune system of which over 70 % resides in their intestinal tract.

"Pet Flora" from Vitality Science" provides a source of healthy symbiotics. Add 1/64 Tsp. measure to moist food daily.

https://www.amazon.com/Vitality-Science-Pet-Flora-Gastrointestinal/dp/B005PJN2HO

[Mel1959]

I’m sending you a pm with a resource in Wyoming.