Swollen belly and fish mouth breathing......help!

[Vetcowgirl]

My lil guy is 4wks old and has been doing amazing. I fed him 2 hours ago. He ate fine like always....had a nice poo...and went to sleep in his nuthut. The heating pad was on. Everything was fine like always. I ran to Walmart to grab a few groceries. I was gone maybe an hour. When I checked on him his stomach is swollen and he is doing the fish mouth breathing. I have no clue what has happened.....please help!

[Charley Chuckles]

:bump:bump
I'm bumping this thread I'm so sorry I don't know
What is the formula your feeding?
🙏

[SamtheSquirrel2018]

My lil guy is 4wks old and has been doing amazing. I fed him 2 hours ago. He ate fine like always....had a nice poo...and went to sleep in his nuthut. The heating pad was on. Everything was fine like always. I ran to Walmart to grab a few groceries. I was gone maybe an hour. When I checked on him his stomach is swollen and he is doing the fish mouth breathing. I have no clue what has happened.....please help!

Hello Vetcowgirl:
I'm so sorry about what happened with your Baby Squirrel and I apologize for you not yet having a response to your emergency thread! Thanks Charley chuckles for the Bump!

How is you little Squirrel doing now? I suspect that he may have aspirated formula that was regurgitated (Squirrels cannot actually vomit) but I cannot be certain. The "guppy" breathing or any mouth breathing is abnormal as Squirrels are obligate nose breathers (as are human infants) and while they are able to breath through their mouths, this is not easily done and they cannot just switch of as adult humans can and breath through their noses and then breath through their mouths and back again easily. Mouth breathing for a Squirrel is not well coordinated and I suspect that the swollen abdomen was caused by swallowed air from the mouth breathing. I hope he has recovered but one thing you could try with the idea that there was indeed and aspiration is to hold you Squirrel securely but NOT tightly upside down in your hand (or with both hands) while the baby is only a couple inches above your soft bed (in case he might become dislodged from your hold of him and fall) and GENTLY swing your arm(s) no more than you would if you were swinging your arms while walking. Use an arc of around 30 degrees. Do this 2-3 times at least at first and then hold him upright. Hopefully, again with the idea that he may have some aspirated formula remaining in his nose, breathing tubes or lungs; you will be able to help this drain out by the gentle force developed by you swinging arm.

While your Squirrel is then held upright (head up and tail down); you can then VERY GENTLY massage his swollen abdomen for 5-10 seconds with the goal of releasing some of the air trapped in his stomach. If you are going to do this, do it very gently as we do NOT want to force any of the stomach contents out and possibly aspirate again! With tiny animals; a swollen abdomen can significantly affect breathing by limiting the amount of movement the diaphragm has and this limits the amount of air exchange that takes place through the lungs! Also, if an aspiration has occurred as is my first impression, this is NOT the same as an aspiration pneumonia but may lead to this! Do you have any antibiotics available or can get any from family or friends? If so, please list those available and their strengths in milligrams. A current weight of your Squirrel is also essential as if antibiotics are going to be utilized, they must be dosed according to the Squirrel's weight.

Again, I apologize to you for this late response and I hope that your little Squirrel has improved on his own! I have had a few health issues and then foolishly returned to work and had kind of a "setback" and I have been away from TSB (and most everything else) for most of the past week.
Regards,
SamtheSquirrel