Chuck needs some more help ! Please !

[Squirrely Steve]

No, it's kind of hard to tell but his anal area is all swollen - behind the testicles.

Steve, get Chucky quieted down and get him on that warm wet cloth for a while, then try to work gently at the area with the cloth. If it has swollen shut you need to very gently by rubbing with the cloth open it up and see if you can work the poops out. Please don't panic - if he doesn;t want to cooperate, give him a bit and try again.

Yep its swollen you can feel the poop in there
I warm his poop area up with a warm wet wash cloth and been rubbing got about 4-5 min's in and now he is doing a little running
giving him and me a break going to try some more in about 5 min
Thanks

[Squirrely Steve]

We got one poop to come out
looks halfway normal
dang there is a lot of poop in him
gave him a break
will try some more

[CritterMom]

Steve, this might take a while, but it sounds like a good sign. If it wasn't for the swelling, I would figure that once the first came out it would "unblock" things, but since he is swollen I think you should keep soaking and working the area (gently) and see if you can empty the little guy out. Don't forget to give him some juice/water or even a little sugar water (to make it interesting enough to drink). Take your time.

[Squirrely Steve]

Dang not my kind of night
Rubbing my Squirrels butt
Praying for poop
no more poop yet
He just did the one.
must be a bunch in him
can tell it hurts him some
he drink 3 sringes of plain water
I dont think we have any fruit juice
I am looking

[Squirrely Steve]

Steve, this might take a while, but it sounds like a good sign. If it wasn't for the swelling, I would figure that once the first came out it would "unblock" things, but since he is swollen I think you should keep soaking and working the area (gently) and see if you can empty the little guy out. Don't forget to give him some juice/water or even a little sugar water (to make it interesting enough to drink). Take your time.

I will Critter Mom
I give him 5 min breaks then try again
Dang its getting close to sun going down chuck will want to go to bed.
He still sleeps above the fridge at least
Thanks so much for being here for us

[CritterMom]

OK, water is good.

Take your time. He got one poop out which tells us that his anus isn't completely swollen shut, so that is good. Soak, soak soak, and instead of rubbing the anus, which is getting sore, stroke his tummy (he will probably like this), stroking down toward the anus. Let him have some chow - fruits or veggies if he's interested. Then soak and stroke. You had something better to do on a Wednesday night?

Steve, I don't know that this is the problem, but since you can feel the poops in there I think emptying him is a good idea.

[Squirrely Steve]

Dang he just went into his night nest
only one poop
three sringes of water
dang not enough
should I keep after him and get him back out ?

[scoobysnack]

Hi Steve I have a message for you from a friend..

From PBluejay:

Did a little research for you, Steve. Unless I'm wrong (which I very well may be), I don't think what you're feeling is poop unless he's somehow herniated himself on both sides of the abdominal wall. Rodents have what's called "sebaceous glands" (oil secreting for scent marking), and they can get stopped up and filled with what's called "sebum" (a fatty secretion). According to one source, in rodents "At the end of the rectum a zone between the skin and the glandular mucous membrane contains numerous sebaceous glands, which could be called anal glands." And another source states. "Sebaceous adenomas [benign tumors] such as fibrosarcomas are locally invasive and may be difficult to remove. Sebaceous adenomas can become quite large and are filled with caseous [cheese-like] sebum, which should not be confused with pus."

Again, I may be totally off the mark here, but it's a possibility.

[Squirrely Steve]

OK, water is good.

Take your time. He got one poop out which tells us that his anus isn't completely swollen shut, so that is good. Soak, soak soak, and instead of rubbing the anus, which is getting sore, stroke his tummy (he will probably like this), stroking down toward the anus. Let him have some chow - fruits or veggies if he's interested. Then soak and stroke. You had something better to do on a Wednesday night?

Steve, I don't know that this is the problem, but since you can feel the poops in there I think emptying him is a good idea.

Dang he went to bed.
Do they have glands that swell up there ?
I will stroke on his belly if I can get him up.
Dang he ate a big pecan before he went to bed he had stashed by his night dog bone nest box.
I had a list of things better and more fun.
But Chuck takes the top Now
Dang he always does

[stosh2010]

Just a quick note to tell you Rama and I are Praying Chuck feels better real soon.

Stosh >>> Keeper of the KING

[scoobysnack]

Just an observation from the horse world that might or might not apply here. An impacted horse won't eat. If he's eating happily, I doubt he's overly constipated or stopped up.

Yes from what Jack sent, that gland IS there. Or at least that's how I'm reading it.

[CritterMom]

Let him rest a little while we ponder this.

Am I correct that this appeared between lunch today and now? Seems pretty fast for a sebaceous tumor I think.

Since emptying him of poop won't hurt him, you may also want to rub some mineral oil or some of the emu oil I sent you into the anal area. If he IS stopped up, it may lube things up a bit. I think I would at least do that - work some oil into the anal area - and give him another syringe or two of some sugar water.

Don't worry about the pecan!

[Squirrely Steve]

Hi Steve I have a message for you from a friend..

From PBluejay:

Did a little research for you, Steve. Unless I'm wrong (which I very well may be), I don't think what you're feeling is poop unless he's somehow herniated himself on both sides of the abdominal wall. Rodents have what's called "sebaceous glands" (oil secreting for scent marking), and they can get stopped up and filled with what's called "sebum" (a fatty secretion). According to one source, in rodents "At the end of the rectum a zone between the skin and the glandular mucous membrane contains numerous sebaceous glands, which could be called anal glands." And another source states. "Sebaceous adenomas [benign tumors] such as fibrosarcomas are locally invasive and may be difficult to remove. Sebaceous adenomas can become quite large and are filled with caseous [cheese-like] sebum, which should not be confused with pus."

Again, I may be totally off the mark here, but it's a possibility.

Hi scoobysnack and PBluejay:
Many Hugs thanks so much
Thanks so much for helping
Seems like overnight he swelled up or afternoon. ?
would these come on fast ?
any sugestions what to do ?
He went to bed should I get him up and keep working his belly and watch him ?
Thanks

[scoobysnack]

I just don't know Steve. My Chihuahua swelled up terribly in his anal glands one time. It seemed like it happened in minutes.

Maybe not a tumor, that was only one source. Could just be impacted with sebum. I would think that could seem fairly sudden.

[Squirrely Steve]

Let him rest a little while we ponder this.

Am I correct that this appeared between lunch today and now? Seems pretty fast for a sebaceous tumor I think.

Since emptying him of poop won't hurt him, you may also want to rub some mineral oil or some of the emu oil I sent you into the anal area. If he IS stopped up, it may lube things up a bit. I think I would at least do that - work some oil into the anal area - and give him another syringe or two of some sugar water.

Don't worry about the pecan!

Yes Since lunch time
I will let him rest for a little bit and find some oil and be back
thanks so much

[4skwerlz]

Rats don't have anal glands.

Only carnivores have them.

[scoobysnack]

I didn't say the rat had anal glands I said my chihuahua did. If you read the post I sent from PBJ you will see what we are talking about. I'm not going to repost it when you can read it just a few posts up.

I was comparing the two not saying they are the same. My point being if there is a blockage inflammation can occur very fast. Besides who is talking about rats? Chuck is a squirrel.

[4skwerlz]

I see the swelling. If Chuck is still eating, drinking, and acting fine, and in the absence of fever--or swelling, heat, redness or pain in the area--this is likely an allergic reaction of some kind, though in a strange area to be sure. Morels....don't feed those any more! Have a rehabber dose some Benedryl for Chuck and see how he is in the morning. Agree this is unlikely to be a poop backup, as feces would accumulate in the lower belly area and feel like a hard mass.

[CritterMom]

If it IS the sebaceous glands, can they be expressed?

I am still sticking with this:

Chuck recently ate a fair quantity of morels, wild mushrooms that Steve collected (you can see on his regular gray squirrel forum thread). By recently I mean yesterday I think. They are very seasonal and are NOT on his normal diet.

By Steve's own admission, the morels he ate made him a bit more, um, *regular* than usual.

A few bouts with nasty diarrhea would cause swelling, and normally forming poops after the diarrhea would have difficulty getting out past the swelling. Hence the oil.

What am I missing?

[scoobysnack]

If this is a simple inflammation then COLD compresses are what you want. New inflammation cold compresses, old injuries hot. If you are using anything warm I would stop doing that. I also wouldn't be rubbing him or using water on him. That will irritate him even more.

I totally missed the part about the morels. Entirely possible this is simply inflammation due to him being itchy from feces on his rectum.