UTI or possibly dehydrated

[Hilbillygirl]

For 2 days now my 5 year old boy has been sleeping excessively. Last time it was because of a mouth infection which was cleared up with 14 days of baytril & confirmed by vet no visual mouth problems. He ate home made blocks yesterday after I coated them with peanut butter. I noticed when he was out of his cage this morning his urine was darker than normal, so i have been pumping pedialite into him. I also switched his water with pedialite, but hes passing up his water. Today he is not eating his picky blocks, nor any of his fresh veges but he will eat craisins. I have an unlimited supply of Baytril on hand and about 5 days worth of Bactrim. Wondering if I should start him on either, to be proactive and when to stop forcing the pedialite. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

[Scooterzmom]

Is there any way for you to recheck his mouth, again? Maybe you could tempt him with some juicy kind of fruit... apple, green grapes, watermelon.... something he would like but that could provide hydration. You might be lucky enough to find fome fresh cranberries at the supermarket at this time of year... that helps against UTIs. I'm just suggesting... hoping others will chime in soon.

Does he go loose in the house? any way he might have tasted something he shouldn't have?

[Mel1959]

Pedialyte should be given for no more than 24 hours due to the sodium content. Put plain water or sweeten some water slightly with honey and use that in his water bottle, not pedialyte.

Since you have dosed him in the past with Baytril and it was successful you could do so again. It’s always nice to know exactly what is going on before dosing with abs, but that’s not always possible…unless you have access to a vet. I don’t think a course of antibiotics will harm him and might help.

[Hilbillygirl]

No way he got into something. I watch him like a hawk. Got him up this morning for play time. He frolicked and he ate some picky blocks. I was told Its not wise to give antibiotics as a preventive measure. I switched his water dish up and put water in it. Seems like the only issue is the excessive sleeping but maybe its because its mating season and im freaking out for no reason. Im going to watch him and if things go south I will get him into the vet.

[Mel1959]

As I said, it’s always best to see a vet if one is accessible. However, if one doesn’t have access to a vet, I would err on the side of caution and wouldn’t hesitate to treat proactively with an antibiotic if I suspected something was wrong with my squirrel. There have been several instances on this board where a squirrel has passed within 24 hrs of noticing a problem. That’s not to say that any of them could have been saved with antibiotic treatment but squirrels are masters of hiding illness. Only you know your squirrel well enough to make that call.

[Diggie's Friend]

Since Antibiotics also destroy much of the good gut bacteria needed to digest food and comprises over 70% of the total of the body's immune system; adding a symbiotic (prebiotic and probiotic) when giving AB is advisable. Recommend for maintenance dose 1/64 Tsp. but higher when using AB to help prevent the decimation of the good bacteria in the gut.

https://vitalityscience.com/product/cat-probiotics/

[Diggie's Friend]

My friend's vet had them put their gray squirrel on Baytril for an extended time, said to load the pre/probiotics on heavy to support her digestion and health. I would think that 1/16 Tsp. would be fine for this purpose till after the squirrel has been off the Baytril for a week or so. These are mini teaspoons that support easpoons fractions, with the fraction measures imprinted on the handles.

that make it easy to support using fraction measures, for th
https://www.amazon.com/New-Star-Foodservice-42924-Stainless/dp/B00KH9PSNI/ref=sr_1_6?keywords=micro+measuring+spoons&qid=1640637161&sr=8-6