Two female grey adult squirrels

[momest95]

They both have red swollen eyes, very lethargic no appetite look like they are dying. I have amoxicillin 400mg/5ml suspension, azithromycin 250mg 1 tab, polymyxin B sulfate and trimethoprim 10ml

[Spanky]

More information is needed IMO.

What is the backstory / history... antibiotics may or *may not* help. Are these NRs? Wild squirrels?

This could be an infection, a result of eating something they should not have (house plants, spoiled food, etc.), having been bitten (or stung) by an insect...

We'll also need to know how much they weigh to dose any medications... as well as the concentration of the trimethoprim (e.g. 40mg/5ml).

[momest95]

They are six years old litter mates, had them since two weeks old. They live in a big aviary against my house. Once they were weaned I contacted a rehabber for assistance in how to release they said they were to imprinted to release. They both got out several years ago due to the door being accidentally left open. They were over night but back the next morning. I feed them Henry’s healthy blocks but not exclusively. Walnuts, pecans, peanuts, avocado, kale, tomatoes.

They have no bite marks anywhere.

[momest95]

I don’t know how much they weigh and they are not currently on any medications nor have they been

[momest95]

I took them to the vet Saturday and they looked at them through the cage, but said they couldn’t do anything because they were not able to be handled. $135 per squirrel for that exam

[momest95]

Picture of eye

[momest95]

The other squirrel’s eyes look okay, and the squirrel with the bad eye is just the one eye other eye looks ok

[Mermer9]

Hi, can you give more information about when this started, the order it all happened, etc?
I noticed that you had an old post from June of 2020 where you mention some of the same symptoms. What happened then? What resolved and what did the vet say?

[momest95]

It has like a crust over it, tried rinsing with eye wash and I have put some Vetericyn with anti microbial ophthamalic gel on it.

[momest95]

Also I’m pretty sure she cannot see out of it.

[momest95]

They don’t have sores or missing fur anywhere on them. The only external is the one eye. They are both urinating and pooping normal.
But really sick the mere fact that I was able to get them in the portable cage and take them to vet. They will come to me when called for food or not and when I get in the aviary will climb all over me, but have not allowed me to pick them up since they were babies. They have been inside in the cage since Saturday afternoon. I cleaned there aviary thoroughly since they are out of it just in case there was something in it.

[momest95]

I never went to the vet until this past Saturday the eye cleared up on its own. It’s the same squirrel and same eye as before though.

[momest95]

And this time my other squirrel is sick too just doesn’t have the eye issue.

[momest95]

The eye started Friday just passed. Saturday I took them to the vet. Chip is the one with the red eye, Baby was pretty active on Saturday but I took her to the vet too, Chip was less stressed when they were together but Sunday (yesterday) Baby has gotten worse too just no eye problem

[Mermer9]

Bumping this so one of the experts can help you and your two.

[Charley Chuckles]

:bump

[Diggie's Friend]

Perchance. has there been any spraying of pesticides or herbicides in or around your property recently?

[momest95]

Perchance. has there been any spraying of pesticides or herbicides in or around your property recently?

No I don’t think so. They don’t leave there aviary

[momest95]

No I don’t think so. They don’t leave there aviary

Baby is back in the aviary, put her back in today she was going crazy in the cage inside. Needless to say she is back to normal. But Chip the one with the eye is still inside

[Diggie's Friend]

This kind of effect on the eye has been seen from wasp and yellow jacket stings; their stings have been known to be able to kill a squirrel.

Some kinds of wasps nest under eves and in trees; others in the ground, where they emerge in the warm months from a hole during the warmer months of the year

Should you see a hole in your yard, take care; do not disturb them during the day, they will come after you with a vengeance!

Wait till dark to get rid of them.

[Chirps]

:thinking This almost sounds like some sort of seasonal allergy, except that it's weird to only affect one eye. When you said you think she can't see out of that eye, are you saying she can't see due to this issue or you think she's actually blind in that eye? If you think she's blind in that eye maybe she banged/bumped/poked it on something (grasping at straws here) and it got irritated/injured. I don't really buy that myself though since they have all those whiskers and sensory hairs to warn them when they're close to something.

[Chirps]

They both have red swollen eyes, very lethargic no appetite look like they are dying. I have amoxicillin 400mg/5ml suspension, azithromycin 250mg 1 tab, polymyxin B sulfate and trimethoprim 10ml

Sorry, I'm a bit confused here. In later posts you said only one squirrel has the eye issue, and just one eye. So did Baby have swollen eyes that resolved on their own or is it just Chip?

[momest95]

:thinking This almost sounds like some sort of seasonal allergy, except that it's weird to only affect one eye. When you said you think she can't see out of that eye, are you saying she can't see due to this issue or you think she's actually blind in that eye? If you think she's blind in that eye maybe she banged/bumped/poked it on something (grasping at straws here) and it got irritated/injured. I don't really buy that myself though since they have all those whiskers and sensory hairs to warn them when they're close to something.

She definitely cannot see out of that eye, I’m going to upload a picture of it