Veterinary care needed

[rkn]

Hey there!

I was hoping to get some names of potential veterinarians that will see squirrels here in the west - I am in Washington where I do not know of one. So maybe veterinarians in Idaho or Montana but we will travel where we need to for her care.

My five year old foxy is having some acute diarrhea and not eating, she is losing weight rapidly over the last couple days despite critical care, etc. I have fixed the diarrhea at the moment with some pepto but obviously something else going on since she won't eat. Her urine is normal this morning so not thinking UTI. She gets two Henry's blocks a day usually but won't even take those right now. Will only eat whole rosehips right now.

She hasn't been sick before so we are worried about her!

Thanks so much.

[Tashahaven]

To help us narrow down possible causes for the issues you are experiencing, can you answer a couple of questions? Be as DETAILED as possible, it’s better to have “too much” info, than not enough 🙂

1.) Please detail her COMPLETE diet. Foods, veggies, AND snacks/treats. How much, how often etc.

2.) can you provide a bit of background on your squirrel? How did he come into your life? Is he a non-releasable? If so why?

3.) What are the exact symptoms he is experiencing, and when did it start? You mentioned diarrhea…was this sudden onset, what is the consistency and frequency? (Gross I know…but helpful!) Is there a smell associated with it? What color?

4.) When did he start showing a lack of appetite? Have you tried offering softer foods or even formula?

5.) have you done a pinch test on him to see if he is dehydrated?

6.) Has there been any changes in his activity level or energy in the past weeks or months.

❤️🥰

[CritterMom]

Also, how obsessive about cleaning stashed food out of the cage are you? Veggies can all go bad, and the Henry's blocks contains NO preservatives so they need to be removed daily. I almost lost my little flying squirrel from a grungy old piece of a Henry's block.

Does he have access to outside?

[rkn]

Ah thank you for getting back to me! Would love all the help I can get.

1.) Please detail her COMPLETE diet. Foods, veggies, AND snacks/treats. How much, how often etc.

She is fed one Henry's healthy block in the morning and one in the evening, every day - which she eats immediately. She is also supplemented with Oxbow brand rodent block. She receives about 2-3 unshelled nuts a week e.g. walnuts, pecans, almonds, black walnuts. She is given treats on average every other day which include a single piece of dried, whole rosehips, dried elderberry, very small pieces of fresh veggies (usually squash, zucchini, lettuce, sweet potato, broccoli), assorted Oxbow brand rodent treats for urinary support, their cranberry rodent treat and their rodent immune support treat. I am very careful regarding her diet.

2.) Can you provide a bit of background on your squirrel? How did she come into your life? Is she a non-releasable? If so why?

Yes! She was found as a baby by a family in central WA and was raised solo by them and subsequently heavily imprinted - unreleasable. I connected with the family as I have a lot of animal experience and they opted to rehome her with me so I adopted her a little over five years ago now.

3.) What are the exact symptoms she is experiencing, and when did it start? You mentioned diarrhea…was this sudden onset, what is the consistency and frequency? (Gross I know…but helpful!) Is there a smell associated with it? What color? When did she start showing a lack of appetite? Have you tried offering softer foods or even formula?

Two weeks ago: I noticed that she was stashing her henry's blocks in the AM instead of eating them immediately which she sometimes has done in the past with the change of season. She continued to do this for a couple of days but of course would readily eat a nut. I came home one day and noticed that she didn't come out of her hammock to greet me. Ever since she will ONLY eat high-incentive foods like nuts or rose hips and refuses nearly anything else. I have gotten her to eat a couple bites of sweet potato but I am worried about MBD developing. I have been weighing her and she is dropping about 15g each day. I have offered mashes of soaked rodent block mixed with pumpkin, herbivore critical care, straight pumpkin - she is not interested. I do have other flavored critical care coming in the mail (the apple banana). I used to have Fox Valley formula but will need to order more if we go that route.

Diarrhea started just a couple days after her not coming out of her hammock. Sudden onset as I watched her have her first episode a few days after initial stashing of henry's blocks. It was very smelly, nearly liquid but some were paste consistency. It is light in color (tan) but skewing orange I think cause of the sweet potato. She was having just a few bouts each day. I am giving her pepto orally in the evening and her feces are now solid.

5.) Have you done a pinch test on her to see if she is dehydrated?

Yes, she is hydrated and thankfully still drinking normally. I change her water daily.

6.) Has there been any changes in her activity level or energy in the past weeks or months.

She normally runs on her wheel for a good portion of the day but she has not since signs started about two weeks ago. She was "normal" before this point for sure though.

Thank you!

[rkn]

Also, how obsessive about cleaning stashed food out of the cage are you? Veggies can all go bad, and the Henry's blocks contains NO preservatives so they need to be removed daily. I almost lost my little flying squirrel from a grungy old piece of a Henry's block.

Does he have access to outside?

I am fastidious with the cleaning of her enclosure but there could have very well been a small piece of Henry's that I missed early on. There are none now for sure though.

She does not have access to outside. Good question.

[CritterMom]

So this is not by way of a diagnosis but it could help.

They always suggest rice for loose stools - rice absorbs water and thus helps to dry up the stools. Pepto does the same thing with bismuth, a type of clay.

My former squirrel, Mister P, used to have mushy poops that were clearly related to hormones. His testicles would drop and get big and the boy would start leaving skid marks. Trying to give him pepto was a 3 ring circus - he was a big boy and very effective at registering his outrage. I offered him cooked rice and he looked at me like I had completely lost it.

Then one day I offered him a dry rice chex cereal and he LOVED it. Of course I needed to find out what all was in it and especially the ca : ph ratio, and lo and behold, rice chex are supplemented so that they are actually about 2.5 : 1 ca : ph. That is GREAT! As soon as he would start painting everything with brown stripes, I would give him a few rice chex and within a short time he would stop with the poops! And like I said, he loved them - more than nuts! They have plenty of carbs so they may not only help with the poops and let you stop the pepto, they will also help bring her weight up.

[CritterMom]

Oops - forgot: https://www.nutritionvalue.org/Cereal_%28General_Mills_Chex_Rice%29_57336000_nutr itional_value.html

[rkn]

That is great! I will pick some of those up tomorrow and offer them to her! Anything to get some calories in.

Thankfully she is not too bad with administration of the pepto, she does protest vocally though haha.

[rkn]

Just an update:

She is still losing weight each day despite offering her more variable food options. About 10 - 20 grams a day.

I started her on metronidazole three days ago but seeing no change in her behavior. She refuses all food except dried rosehips. I have started to force-feed her a little bit which she takes fine and has slowed the weight loss - Ensure, pureed sweet potato/squash and soaked rodent block. Also gave pedialyte last night. She loved the rice Chex you recommended (gave her several a few days ago) and now she won't touch them. She stashes the nuts I give her now which is very unlike her.

Her diarrhea had disappeared until this morning so that is not great news. She has spunk when I hold her but is weaker than usual and sleeping a lot.

Would love any veterinary recommendations in the area if you have any idea. I am in a part of the country that is strict with its wildlife of course.

Thanks!

[CritterMom]

You said that there was no contact with outdoors. Do you bring branches and stuff, or dirt from outside in to the cage?

The symptoms sound sort of like coccidiosis but it isn't something that just pops up in an indoor squirrel. It is passed by ingesting the feces of an animal that has it. So an infected dog or cat poops outside, and either the dirt makes it's way to her or perhaps a limb is picked up and brought inside and she access it that way. Or picked some outdoor veggies or wild foods and brought them in? If you had found her last week I wouldn't bat an eye but not after all this time. Could something like I describe happen? Do you have a dog or cat in the house?

The Metro wouldn't do anything for coccidiosis. You need this stuff: https://toltrazurilshop.com/products/toltrazuril-5-liquid-suspension?variant=47156044136747&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI0P2F4_SKggMV4fTICh1ngw3yEAQYAiAB EgIgifD_BwE

But like I said, it isn't going to spontaneously appear - there would need to be some way she got herself into the feces of an infected animal.

I will PM you the name of someone in Vancouver WA who may be able to help with a vet. Maybe.