Please help me stabilize a 5 week old brown squirrel

[Mobilenurse]

Hello all and thank you for this web site. A week ago during a sever wind storm a baby brown squirrel as blown to the ground. I was called as a last resort. Wildlife refugees are beyond max. This is my first baby squirrel to try and help. Please forgive.my inexperience.

Day 1-Baby fell and had blood from nose for 3 days. As soon as I got him, I warmed, and slowly started to hydrate him.
Day 2-/seemed to not catch up on hydration. 5ml LRS SQ. No interest in food
Day 3- started eating espilac puppy powder. Made the mistake of gotten the goats powder mix. Feedings every 3 hrs dilution 1 to 3.
Day 3 found out despite what I read he needs stimulation to potty. Had gone pee and poo on own prior, most likely clothing and movement helped.
Day 4eating well weight started at 1.03 grams, we are at 1.14 grams. Has a bit of attitude. Got 20/50 fox formula in. Mixed 1:3 gave 1/4 new with old, next 1/2 new mild with old, feeding 3 3/4 new with old. Withing 12 hours on fox formula mix in 1:2.
Day 5- setback. Dehidrated, lethargic, decline. Started dilute apple juice d/c food, sq fluids repeated. No I'm. Prun juice. Took to vet, yellow diarrhea few times. Seemed to perk up.
Day 6- up and down, don't feel he is holding hydration despite sugar water, sq fluids, warm water soaks, proper heat (not moving off when hot)
Seems to do beat when tucked in my bra. 20/50 as given prior, felt he declined since changing formula. Always a great eater.
Day 6- lethargic, seems to rally with sugar water, Apple juice, or honey. Loves to be in bra, but sleeping always unless eating. Does root for more food. What giving 6cc at a time. Bw is 1.28gm.

Major concern- more vocal with his complaining voice.
Only very hard 1/2 rice grain sized poops 3 times today.
Lungs clear. No clicking, does breathe fast, maybe that's them..?...

I am at hour 12 of withholding food. Trying to get hydrated, and deobstipated. Nothing seems to be working. How do I get this lil guys intestine to clear out? Is it ok to start formula again with him having a really full of poo?

[CritterMom]

OK. Questions first.

Are you by any chance weighing him in ounces and not grams? A DIME weighs 3 grams.
Are his eyes open? Does he have fur? Have his ears sprung away from his head?
Can you take and attach a pic? It would help to know what type of baby we are dealing with, and "brown" isn't a squirrel type. :grin2

I think you are doing way too many things way too fast.

The Fox Valley is good formula but it is pretty robust and delicate babies take a while to transition onto it. Do you have the correct Esbilac puppy powder now - not the goats milk variety, just the regular? If so, I would got BACK to just that, mixed at 2 parts water to 1 part water. Everything needs to be warm - the formula should be 105 F to 108 F. The baby needs to be warm, and unless you have a fever, he needs more time in his container on his heating pad. The warmth allows them to digest properly - cool babies can't do that.

You say he is full of poops... Is his tummy distended? Is it hard like an air filled balloon? If not, he may not be pooping because he isn't getting enough food to have any left to poop out. This often happens when they first come in to care - they have been without food so long that their body uses every bit of it and there is no waste to poop.

The best way to get hydration into him is to give additional water IN BETWEEN scheduled feedings. That way he is still getting food, which has water as part of it's makeup, plus more water in between.

If you hold a just fed baby up in front of you by his armpits and let his body dangle down, his tummy should be teardrop shaped like a 1/3 to 1/2 filled WATER balloon - soft and squishy and never hard and not totally filled.

If you can verify his weight and the other questions I asked to help us determine what he is and how big and old he is we can also help with feeding amounts and frequency.

I would also keep him on the Esbilac puppy formula until he is totally fine and eating and pooping normally and then begin transitioning in the FV much more slowly later on.

Keep ALL formula powders in the freezer.

[Mobilenurse]

I have raised so many puppies and kittens. I thought this would be along the same lines. I am in awe of the art it is to help these guys survive and all of you who do such a fantastic job.

I say this because three things struck me in your reply. There is so much info out there, and so much of it is not what I see you guys, as professionals, saying to do. I am so glad I found you all and will not have to weed through the incorrect info via trial and error as I have been doing.

That being said, his belly is not bloated, or I do not feel it is. My concern was how hard and how little he had gone when I had him. When he pooped yellow diarrhea, I was so relieved, thinking I got over this hump. Six hours later, I was reminded of my father, who had the same problems, and when diarrhea came, we found out it was not because he was no longer constipated but because the liquid went around the impaction. I'm sorry, TMI. This is why I still worry that I have not gotten his bowls to work properly. My first rodeo, and I am all over the place trying to figure out why he seems to go up and down physiological speaking.

I am in the boondocks currently and have hit up five feed stores. No one has the nongoat formula. I planned to take him to the vet again today to get advice from a exotics, pocket pet vet I have worked with, but I am currently stuck in the country.

Once admin approves my profile, I will post pics.

This is what is eating me up, thinking I am missing something or doing something wrong. (I may be thinking it is because of constipation, but it easily could be because I do not have experience with these Lil guys and I work in critical medicine so I think the worst always.

He was hardly hanging on for 2+ days. The hen it started to feel like we had a rhythm; he seemed to have personality; he would scream when he was not with me or.woke up and realizeded, I was not who he thought was holding him. It may be my imagination, but he seems to do better when he is tucked under my bra. If in his setup, he will not move from heat despite heavy breathing and being very hot to the touch. I keep the heat source low and have many fleece blankets, along with a cooler side. He is too hot or cold when.in setup and does not move unless I move him. If I have left him for any time and do not check in on him, he seems to groan. I call it complaining, but I am learning new stuff by the minute, so I may easily be overreading. He appears to purr, or he has a happy noise. Am I crazy, or are they this way?

A week ago, he had teeth starting, eyes closed, no belly hair, the tail was poofed if scared, never raised. Ears have always been up and or up compared to kittens. When I first saw him, I thought four weeks because of the research I did on my way to get him. As I keep researching, there seemed to be a few different opinions on age, so I am excited to hear what you think. I was guessing we are close to or about five weeks old. That is until last night and too many online searches. 😬His first eye opened Wednesday second on Thursday. He has a bit more than peach fuzz on his belly. This developed in the last 1-2/days. The coat is much thicker this morning.

I read they need to move around for bones and muscles. He would explore a bit prior; now, he seems to circle more than anything. I watch videos of ones around the same age and he does not seem as active. That being said I still do not know what, if any long term effects he may have from his fall.

The last 12 hours I have been hydrating only. He rally's for feedings, but otherwise he is sleeping, normal..?...

I am sorry I have so.much nonsense to say. I am not a good writer, much better talking. I am going to refer back to your prior questions and will post answers after.

[McCarthy]

A few observations and suggestions from my end:

- I think you may micro-manage every detail you observe.

- I'd go back to feeding him formula as CritterMom suggested.

- I'd place him in a container with a no-shutoff heating pad under one side only. I think he is overheating.

- They eat and sleep for the most part at that age, so that is normal.

- Chances are he is still healing from the fall. When he was bleeding for 3 days he will need longer to recover. Let him rest as much as possible without handling him. Do NOT put any pressure on his lungs! He may have broken ribs from the fall. Keeping him in your bra may put too much pressure on him as well.

- What is his exact weight? Keep logging every day.

[Mobilenurse]

100% agree on micromanaging. I am so scared to mess up I am over analyzing. I just want to get him to the point that he is strong enough to go transition to the wildlife center so he can then back into nature. I don't want to mess up that part.

Took.picks. he was more active then I have ever seen.

Story on the bra... Sorry. So when I go h I had no head so I sat in front of a heater for hours sweating while he sat between my boobs coming out of shock. I am a travel nurse so when we are in the car or in the OR he is tucked between my boobs-he has a go to spot always- I wear a sports bra now. Prior I was tucking force, and still do. I have been off for the past 3 days. This is when he seemed to take a huge dip. Circling, shaking, weak, overheated always. He was in his setup more then me. All night and today he has been back with me and he is no longer groaning, he is moving well and is starving.

I am unable to get the correct powder until 4pm. What should I give him until? I mixed 20/50 1:2 and the puppy goat 1:2 then combined. Last night I stopped all formula until I was able to get goatmik and make the homemade. But I am worried I am adding one more thing in. I am at hour 11 of no formula, just rehydration.

I always test the liquid to feed him on inside of my wrist. Is this not a good assessment? How do I temp it when heating in hot water with syringe filled?

Never did between feeding hydration. You guys were the first I read this suggestion. How much and how often do feed him once you look at the pics and est his age. Thank you so much for the help. I am lost in the country with no exotic vets around.

Only scale I have is in pic I will post. His weight comes in at 0.12kg. So the 1.27g was correct.

When transitioning food, how much and long should it take to go to new food?

Pics coming. This is an up all night blog that depicts a crazy lady. I may be nuts, but my heart belongs to those who can't speak 💜

[CritterMom]

Our problem with the Goats Milk Esbilac has been rancidity - often it is rancid right from the store. I know that fresh goats milk goes bad way faster than cows milk - that may be why. But that doesn't mean YOUR container is bad. From what you said, he was doing ok on it and the problems, including the diarrhea, happened AFTER you transitioned to the FV. Is that correct? If so, I would begin feeding him the GME you have (KEEP THE POWDER IN THE FREEZER) again. He needs food.

I want to dig in more to his movement. Can he move okay? You said he doesn't move off the heat. Is he able to? You also mentioned circling. I am trying to determine whether he may have some neurological issues. He fell on his head. They always do - their heads are huge and heavy. You need to mess with the heating pad, which should be under the container, not IN it with him, until you don't have overheating issues. Turn it down, add more padding between the bottom of the container and the baby, etc.

He is also probably frightened and being alone is scary. He had siblings, a mama, and then he didn't. If you have time, just put your hand in there with him and cup it around his little body. You can also make him a sock buddy. Pour some uncooked rice in a sock, tie it closed, and nuke it until it is warm. Squish it around so there aren't hot spots and put it in with him to cuddle against. Check frequently and yank it out and reheat as needed. At this age, and he likely is right around 5 weeks, his only job is to eat, poop, pee and sleep. And the sleep part is really important; if you can get him comfy with a sock pal and your own hand in there every so often, he will sleep a lot better than he will being jostled around in your bra.

[CritterMom]

.12 kilograms is 120 grams. :grin2

Ideally, once you get him going, at his current weight he will be eating between 6ml and 8.5ml per feeding.

Just use the GME for now.

Feed him the low end if he will take it. Then start looking at his tummy in 3.5 to 4 hours. When the tummy has gone flat again, it is time to feed him again. If he still has some tummy paunch (remember my part filled water balloon reference), chech him every half hour until that has gone down. You never want to "top them off." Fill them up and let them digest all of it before you feed again. Mixing old formula left in the digestive tract with fresh formula will cause all of the formula in the system to go bad which causes gas and then bloat. Fill, empty, fill, empty. And yes, always potty before and after feedings. If he has been unfed for 12 hours he won't poop for a bit, but as long as that tummy goes down and flattens out he is ready for more food.

Petco/Petsmart - other chain pet stores often sell the regular puppy esbilac. Tractor Supply too. Do NOT buy any other product. The company that makes Esbilac makes one called Pet Lac. DON'T BUY IT.

And stop apologizing. You have never done this and are panicked. Like I would be in an ER... This is why we are here.

[Mobilenurse]

Trying to post pics then will feed and come back to further answer your questions. His movement last night was concerning because he was circling. I still do not know the extent of his head injury. X-ray was whole body and did not show any gross abnormalities. His bottom jaw was effected but he seems to be strong. The aspirate a nipple happened when he got aggressive with food 3 days ago. I had to retrieve with for forcepts and still have no clue how we both made it out without me causing his death or having a heart attack on my own. He is now fed with a modified curved tip syringe. I have ordered syringes with the long tips no nipple set to arrive tomorrow. I have also ordered better bedding.

He will have a full exotics get workup once we are out of the sticks 🤭 I think he is doing great all things considered. He just has a horrible fosterom who is clueless about his nutrition and stability... Sigh

[Mobilenurse]

He was happy as a clam to get 'real food'. After a very small less then rice size yellow orange poo. Put into setup. 15 min later he is breathing fast with abdominal effort. Put in my shirt and he has settled 😖 breathing slowed, moves to where he is comfortable and not grunting.

I have tried multiple times, multiple ways to upload photos and video. Nothing works. It just keeps spinning the little circle telling me to wait. I can send some other way, but have to get off phone so I can get my work done and get back to the suburbs.

Thank you so much for reading my drawn out unspell checked and incorrect punctuations. I have been up to long, only have my phone and the screen gets smaller every hour I am up.

On a positive note. One of his videos I did a bit ago he was moving like I have not seen him do.

I am giving 6 mo formula every 3-4 hours. Is this too much, or to often?

[McCarthy]

You are doing good, CritterMom said everything important, make sure to follow it all exactly. Feed him, give him rest, make him a sock with rice, arrange the container and heating pad as suggested.

Circling can be the result of overheating, pain or neuro issues. A video, uploaded to YouTube would help, if this happens again. If he continues to deal with neuro issues, you may have a NR on hands.

[CritterMom]

I am giving 6 mo formula every 3-4 hours. Is this too much, or to often?

As I said, let his tummy tell you if the feeding interval is good. If you hang him by his armpits in front of you, after you feed him the bottom will be round and his entire abdomen will be teardrop shaped with the round part at the bottom. If you look really close under good light (harder once they have fur) you can actually see the "milk line" in his tummy. Hold him up at about 3.5 hours and what do you see? If he is still round and the tummy still clearly has milk in it, nope, no food - check again in 30-45 minutes. If his tummy has flattened out, yup, he can eat.