Pet Squirrel regurgitating

[Emmdano]

My boy Riggs (12yr old grey) has been regurgitating for the past month, it started as white foam but now it is food he eats. He stopped eating Henry's blocks a few weeks ago and will only eat mealworms and fox valley/Ensure.
He had parasites in his poop so I gave him a treatment of pyrantel pamoate, the day after the 3rd treatment he was doing great then started doing bad again. I then did a treatment of ivermectin and after the 3rd day he was better again but then got worse. I read that regurgitating could from a blockage caused by a tapeworm so I gave him panacur yesterday but found out it wont treat common tapeworm, should I finsh the panacur treatment or switch to praziquantel?

[Mel1959]

Is he eating any type of vegetables or fruit? Only formula and mealworms?

I don’t think I’d treat him with any more dewormers till you know what’s going on with him. All of those drugs have to be processed by his body and it may not be such a good idea to push his kidneys and liver on the off chance that you think it might be a parasite. He’s on the older side for a squirrel. Have you taken him to the vet? There are a couple of them near you that are familiar with treating squirrels.

Dr. Zellner at Avian and Animal Hospital 727-877-1400

I believe Blue Pearl Animal Hospital also treats squirrels.

If this has been going on for a month he really should be seen by a vet so that you know exactly what the problem is.

[Emmdano]

He was eating his vegetables about 1 week ago. I called a few vets near me, but they don't see squirrels. I haven't tried Blue Pearl Animal Hospital yet.

[Emmdano]

One of my released squirrels just showed up with a worm hanging out his anus. 325625

[Tashahaven]

Are you SURE it’s a worm? and not a thin branch that got stuck to fur, (sap, spikes can easily do this)

How is your pet doing today?

What about what Mel said about Diet/Vet?

🙏🏻

[Emmdano]

It is definitely a worm. Riggs is doing better, no regurgitation and is eating blocks/veggies again. hopefully he keeps getting better, I consulted with a vet Monday that said I may have overdosed the ivermectin and to bring him in if he is not better in 24hrs.

[Emmdano]

Riggs health has gotten worse again, regurgitating and very lethargic. I dropped off a fecal sample for testing and made an appointment for Friday with the vet.

[Emmdano]

Fecal test came back negative for parasites. unfortunately his liver and kidneys are enlarged, vet said that it could possibly be cancer.

[CritterMom]

Oh, I am so sorry. But "could possibly" isn't a definitive diagnosis.

Did you get any meds for his vomiting syptoms?

[Emmdano]

He hasn't regurgitated since Wednesday. the vet prescribed antibiotics just in case it is an infection, he needs a sonogram to know if it is cancer or not and that is out of my budget for now.

[Diggie's Friend]

Acorns, and other nuts contain tannins, a natural deworming source, which the block does not contain in any significant levels.

Another natural dewormer and nutraceutical, is 'food grade' organic raw cold pressed pumpkin seed oil.

Pumpkin seed oil (food grade) has been found in research to lend significant liver, kidneys, and prostrate support (recommended by Urologists)

From upstate NY, "Ulli's" organic grown (food grade' "Styrian' pumpkin seed oil.

https://www.ullisoilmill.com/products/organic-cold-pressed-pumpkin-seed-oil (seed pdf nutritional study).

[SamtheSquirrel2018]

Fecal test came back negative for parasites. unfortunately his liver and kidneys are enlarged, vet said that it could possibly be cancer.

Hi Emmdano:
I am not trying to get between you and your Vet; I just have a couple of questions? How did you Vet determine that Riggs liver and kidneys are enlarged? Was this from an x-ray study or something else? Was any labwork performed such as a BUN, creatinine and urinalysis to help determine kidney issues or any liver function testing such as AST, ALT or Bilirubin? Is your Vet familiar with Squirrels? IF the kidneys and liver are enlarged, why is this a sign of "cancer" when the I am also confused as to the single differential diagnosis of cancer as a cause for presumed enlargement of what I assume are both kidneys and the liver. In reality, bilateral kidney enlargement is probably not a common as enlargement of one kidney but even so, the possible causes are many, including cancer. The same goes for liver enlargement in that there are many possible causes, including cancer!

One of my concerns is that if these "diagnoses" were made from an x-ray study; we do not really see the organs in detail! What we usually see on x-ray studies that represent the liver of kidneys are usually only a poorly defined lucent silhouettes (a light area) and little or nothing more than that! Yes, if these organs are massively enlarged we may be able to get a good idea from the x-ray of this but otherwise there are many variables that affect the apparent size of organs seen on x-ray studies, not the least of which are the limitations inherent in x-rays themselves! Also, the position of the animal when the films are taken and the distance of the animal's particular organ(s) of interest is from the film itself can significantly play a part in how the size of the organ appears on the films.

This, by the way is a very big concern in Veterinary medicine especially because unlike in human medicine, a Vet usually sees many difference species as patients. Their bodies are obviously different and internal organs often appear different on x-ray but can be normal for that particular species.

As an example, when the heart and the mediastinum is seen on a chest x-ray study of a Squirrel, the heart and the mediastinum (the mediastinum is the area in the center of the chest that contains the major blood vessels, the trachea, the esophagus and much more and is seen along with the heart as a single light area in the center of the chest), often appear enlarged because of the relatively narrow chest and the distance from the film and a number of our Squirrel Board members have had to deal with "diagnoses" that seemed clinically doubtful and for which expensive testing was also recommended for confirmation!

If the "determination that the liver and kidneys were enlarged came from x-ray films; do you have the digital films and can you post them? One last question, how is riggs doing today? Is he back to normal?

Regards,
SamtheSquirrel

[SamtheSquirrel2018]

I meant to capitalize Riggs at the end of my post and didn't do so! Sorry Riggs!
Regards,
SamtheSquirrel

[Emmdano]

I am not able to get him an x-ray or sonogram yet. he stopped eating solid foods again, so I am giving him oxbow critical care omnivore. I am going to start giving him RSO tomorrow for the pain and to help his liver if it is cancer.

[SamtheSquirrel2018]

I am not able to get him an x-ray or sonogram yet. he stopped eating solid foods again, so I am giving him oxbow critical care omnivore. I am going to start giving him RSO tomorrow for the pain and to help his liver if it is cancer.

Hi Emmdano:
It sounds like no x-ray studies were performed. One of my concerns mentioned in my recent post was that x-ray films can only give a general idea as to the size of an organ and often are misleading. I had assumed that an x-ray study had been done and somehow by that study it had been interpreted as showing enlarged kidneys and liver. Now from what you have said, it implies that an x-ray study was NOT performed and neither was an ultrasound although that was recommended. My question now is how did the "determination" of enlarged kidneys and liver come about if these organs were not seen on any imaging study.

When a Squirrel stops eating or does not eat with the same enthusiasm as before, one of the first things to be considered are dental issues. Odontomas are quite common and can very adversely affect eating. Did your Vet examine Riggs teeth?

When you say "RSO tomorrow," are you speaking of Rick Simpson Oil? IF so, this is a cannabinoid that contains a high concentration of THC, the psychoactive constituent of marijuana! This is formulated for PEOPLE, not little Squirrels! All bets are off if used in a tiny creature such as a Squirrel! This could potentially kill Riggs as you will be literally performing an experiment using a psychoactive substance that contains all of the constituents of marijuana including the THC and other cannabinoids along with a number of other chemicals that was formulated originally by a human for use on himself and is now used by other humans; NOT Squirrels! If the RSO that you speak of is not Rick Simpson, I apologize but I just wanted state my very serious concerns about using this substance on a Squirrel and wanted to send this out immediately with hopes that your would reconsider (again, if this is Rick Simpson Oil you are referring to).

Regards,
SamtheSquirrel

[Diggie's Friend]

I understand that this is very hard, and that you want to lend what support you can to your little buddy at this time. As aforementioned; with advanced age cancers may occur. Also, a blood test would be helpful. With squirrels that are weakened, it is a wiser choice to get some food into them as they can crash easily from stress of transport and handling.

If then cancer or organ failure, both promote pain which by itself dampens the appetite. This is a very detailed address; please read it through at least twice and copy and paste it to printed out so you can have it as a reference to the instructions it contains. It remains the choice of the owner to decide what they to accept and potentially put into play. These then are my suggestions as to lending support to getting calcium and food into your squirrel.

For reference: https://thesquirrelboard.com/forums/showthread.php?57666-Kidney-Disease-Info-Data-and-potential-treatments&p=1252411#post1252411

Rat research has confirmed that as rodents age kidneys lower in function resulting in the retention of more phosphorus, and the bones lower in their retention of calcium concurrent with age as well. End stage Kidney failure results in metabolic acidosis which promotes Metabolic failure. All other stages of kidney disease may be supported with a diet that is considerably higher in Calcium than phosphorus, up to about a (3:1) whole diet ratio for rodents.

https://thesquirrelboard.com/forums/showthread.php?57666-Kidney-Disease-Info-Data-and-potential-treatments&p=1252411#post1252411

Though mealworms are very high in Phosphorus and fat, your squirrel needs far more calcium than phosphorus at this age. r".

Unlike Calcium carbonate, Calcium citrate has been found to improve kidney function in rats in all stages of CKD up to, 'end stage' where metabolic acidosis occurs due to metabolic failure.

https://purebulk.com/products/calcium-citrate-usaure.Organic whole fat yogurt from, Trader Joes' is one source that is a good choice for this purpose.

For the present, it is still needful to get calcium into him while waiting for a lower volume source source of Calcium citrate to arrive. "Pure Bulk" is such a source (3rd party lab evaluation produced in the USA.) In the meantime, get a bottle of berry flavored tums as long as it doesn't have any artificial sugar in it it will be fine. Tums is very chalky, it come in flavors like berry that seems to be the most liked. You will need to pulverize the tablet to fine powder and divide it into portions that approx. are. equal according to the elemental content data, to supply about (75 - 100 mg.) elemental calcium to support r 4 to 5 separate feeding sessions spread out over both daytime and evening to allow him to digest the yogurt that it will be added to. Vital to dilute the mixture with sufficient water to the consistency of Kefir and make sure there are no clumps in it before pulling up the mixture into a 3 ml non-needle feeding syringe, that is the easiest to support for the purpose of feeding this way. Try the syringe to loosen it up a bit before using it to feed, as you don't want to shoot the mixture down the throat. Give it just into the lip behind his incisors in the open space taking care not to gag him on his tongue, slip just the tip into the side of his mouth. .

When your ready to feed, wrap your squirrel up, 'burrito' style, and place his lower back on your other arm or lap, with his upper body elevated so that he is nearly vertical. Begin by pushing just a tiny bit of the mixture into the side of his mouth, just behind his incisors. and pause for him to swallow it down well. Then switch to the front of his teeth and squeeze out some onto his teeth, where hopefully he will open up and accept it. From there he may get actively involved in grabbing the syringe and nursing on it as a baby does. Again go slow enough for him to swallow and catch a breath before pushing more.

With the calcium mixed into yogurt, he will also get protein and fats that he desperately needs. And though depending on his condition, this may only be palliative care; many squirrels have come around to wanting to eat again when given this same support.

This is a source of testing strips which may shed light on how the kidneys are doing. This is all the same best evaluated by your veterinarian. Each strip contains a number of test spots; in order to record them all before they expire; you will likely need to take a number of tests to support doing so. From there you could send the results to your vet to evaluate.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CC5WDT8Z/ref=sspa_dk_detail_1?psc=1&pd_rd_i=B0CC5WDT8Z&pd_rd_w=r9076&content-id=amzn1.sym.f734d1a2-0bf9-4a26-ad34-2e1b969a5a75&pf_rd_p=f734d1a2-0bf9-4a26-ad34-2e1b969a5a75&pf_rd_r=0AKA1Y15XFYNKBTN1K3M&pd_rd_wg=r6jBw&pd_rd_r=15ec71a2-840c-4494-9199-2fc47b5165e2&s=hpc&sp_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9kZXRhaWw