help me

[allenmssy]

my little baby is having some problems... hes about 6 to 7 weeks and he has problems with his behind... his behind scabbs over with poopoo.. it gets all swollen and red..i have to put his behind in water and wait till it loosens up for him to go to the bathroom.. i know its not right ... but after he sits in the water and he uses the bathroom his hole is extremly big...can someone please help me with advice.. i wish i could put pictures on here but everytime it tells me that they exceed the limit..but please help me and him out...
:dono

[squirrelsrule&bunniestoo]

What kind of formula are you feeding your baby? Is he eating any regular food? Has he been peeing ok? What color is his urine?

[4skwerlz]

my little baby is having some problems... hes about 6 to 7 weeks and he has problems with his behind... his behind scabbs over with poopoo.. it gets all swollen and red..i have to put his behind in water and wait till it loosens up for him to go to the bathroom.. i know its not right ... but after he sits in the water and he uses the bathroom his hole is extremly big...can someone please help me with advice.. i wish i could put pictures on here but everytime it tells me that they exceed the limit..but please help me and him out...
:dono

You need to resize your photo before you try to upload it. Do you know how to do that?

[hazel]

Does the rectum always appear large and open??

What is the consistency of the poop?? Liquid? Soft? Formed?

[allenmssy]

his pee is normal .. i am using puppy formula.... he doesnt eat solid food yet.. his poop is solid ..... i do not know how to resize the picture.. if you tell me i will post pictures so u can see..his behind looks like it scabbs over and im worried about him.. his rectum appears large.. after he uses the bathroom it is large and open but the next time i check on him its not open.... it gets large and hard like a scab.. other than his rectum he has no problems... do you think i need to change his formula.. i use esabilic puppy formula... i put 1 tsp of formula and 2 tsp of water and mix it up....

[squirrelsrule&bunniestoo]

Are you feeding him Esbilac puppy formula? That is the kind that most closely matches his mother's milk.
Is he dehydrated? You can pinch the skin on his shoulder blades gently to for a little tent and see how long it takes it to return to normal. If it returns in less than 2 seconds he is not dehydrated, if it takes longer than that he is dehydrated and needs fluids, which may be why he is having trouble pooping.

[allenmssy]

no hes not dehydrated.. and hes very active.. yes thats the formula that i use...

[hazel]

How solid is his poop? Squishable or actually hard?

[allenmssy]

its squishable but its in little pallets like it should be and its not really dark brown its more of a tanish color..

[squirrelsrule&bunniestoo]

It is normal for their poop to be lighter colored when they are on the Esbilac. It will switch to dark brown when he starts eating regular food.

[Secret Squirrel]

are you stimulating him to go to the bathroom ? pee and poop.

[Secret Squirrel]

Also is this something that has just started or is this ongoing?

[allenmssy]

i dont have to stimulate to pee anymore he does that on his own... to get him to poop i have to put him in water because his rectum seems like it scabs over.. its been going on now for about 5 days.. after the 2nd day it looked like it was getting better but now it is still going on so i know that something is not right...

[TexanSquirrel]

Could you paste a pic in a Word document and then upload that file? That would be an easy quick way to get a picture up.

[Secret Squirrel]

Hummmm...how much does he eat at meal time. How many times a day ?

I know it seems like alot of questions but it could be something simple. Have you changed the water you mix his formula with? As in spring water before and now tap water? Any changes like that can make his gut react. Or being sure you use soap and water to wash the syrings and nipples with after each feeding. Any soap residue can upset the gut too.
Just thinking out loud.

[hazel]

Did he take a spill 5 days ago? Do you think he's moving normally?
I'm concerned about the possibility of nerve damage, either that or an abnormally large colon (megacolon) because it sounds like the colon is overfilling. Whether this is happening because the colon is too large or because it's not emptying properly due to a spinal injury are my initial concerns.

Everything seemed completely normal prior to five days ago? What is his tail doing? Does he move it? How does he hold it?

In the mean time, it's important that you begin putting an antibiotic ointment cream on his bottom after each time you clean him.

I know that an awful lot of questions are being sent your way! You're doing a great job answering them all...thanks! :thumbsup

[allenmssy]

yeah.. he uses the bathroom.. he moves like a normal squirrel... he holds his tail and curls it like he should.. i dont think he has a spinal injury... what kind of ointment cream is best?? i called a vet and they said not to put neosportant on it... before this was happening his poop was normal.. all we did was change from pet ag to esablic formula and thats when this started happening... do you think that we need to make the formula stronger or go back to pet ag??? please tell me the best ointment cream so i can go out and by it.. i know that he doesnt have any broken bones.. he is was to jumpy.. he moves alot and he doesnt seem to be in pain thanks for helping us out.

[hazel]

Neosporin or Polysporin are FINE. They've been used on many a squirrel without causing problems. :) Look for an ointment rather than a cream. The greasy consistency will protect his skin better. Once his skin looks healthy you can then switch to vaseline if protection is still needed.

I'm glad to hear that he seems to be moving well!

OK. There's some formula confusion here. Esbilac is a brand of puppy formula made by a company called PetAg. PetAg's kitten formula is called KMR. They also have a formula called PetLac. Do you still have some of the old formula so that you can look at the label for the brand name? If it turns out that the old formula is acceptable, then yes, a switch back to the other brand might be the ticket here, since this has happened with the switch to Esbilac. Be sure to let us know the name of the old formula if you can!

[allenmssy]

ok thanks... im not sure with the name of te formula.... but i know that it was petAg.... i guess that i will try to switch him back to PetAg and see what happens... i have that ointment already.. Neosporin.. so i dont have to go buy it... i will keep a close eye on him and ckeck on him and make sure that its not scabbing over... thanks for the help...:thankyou

[hazel]

You're:Welcome . Please let us know the name of the old formula before you switch back to it, OK?

[allenmssy]

ok!!!