Please help

[minnigirl]

Hi,

Iam a new member and need help with one of my pet wild squirell.

We have several wild squirrels that come to feed on our deck and One of the wild girl with a short tail can barely stand up/sit properly and eat. She keeps on falling and has no balance control. First it just looked like a sprained neck now she cant sit up. She comes down from her tree nest to eat in the morning and evenings but its so horrible to see her suffering. Its very sad to see the pain she takes to getdown and climb the tree or railings. I have contacted a widlife rehab in our area but havent heard from them yet.

Can anyone have any idea what this is and what causes it or what can i do ease her suffering. Please help.

Thanks

[Jackie in Tampa]

WEcome to TSB...
can you get pics or better, a video?
That will expedite the rehabbers responses.

Sorry to hear she is having problems, are you thinking vertigo, nuero, nutritional, car hit or spinal ????

Did you say she is able to eat?
This may help if medication is needed.

I hope the rehabber calls soon and can help diagnose her issues.
Good Luck

[astra]

Yes, as Jackie said - pictures, videos...

As far as I know (and was told, too) in majority of loss of balance cases rehabbers and wildlife centres put them down because they never fully recover from such injuries.
HOwever, some of them do recover to the point of being able to manage and live on their own, but ... since it's a lot of work, care, very slow recovery for an animal to remain at a center etc, they don't bother most of the time and just put them to sleep.
Especially, because it's hard to diagnose it. A lot of times head injuries don't have any visible bruises etc, all you can see is just external symptoms as you described. And when there are no obvious external injuries (bruises, scratches etc), centres and most rehabbers quickly assume that it's raccoon roundworm and put a squirrel down.
So, I am saying all that just so that, maybe, no need to rush with turning her over to a center or a rehabber whom you don't know...

If it's raccoon roundworm, it is deadly and there is nothing you could do.
But if it is a bad fall and a head trauma, or spinal bruise or something, depending on the severity of the trauma, they have a chance to recover.

I have a wild regular squirrel who, last Spring, was wobbly, falling over etc. Then, she disappeared for the whole summer, showed up back in the Fall much, much improved. You could still see that she is not 100%, but she is doing wonderfully and even chases others.

There are certain supplements, homeo remedies that often prove helpful for neuros (again ,depending on the severity and the kind of injury)...

So... let's see photos and videos if you can get them...

If it's just a bad injury, there are some people here who have some experience treating neuros and they can suggest homeo remedies and other supplements, where you can buy them and how to administer them.

[minnigirl]

Thanks Jackie & Astra for the quick replies. Good the rehab people didnt call. Will wait for some days to see if she makes any progress though its hard for me to see her struggle. She is small girl(hopefully 3yrs old) with a short tail. Looks like she had babies sometime back. Will surely try my best to get some pics & video by tomm. Does the racoon roundworm affect the neck first? b'cos there is one more healthy adult female with a neck problem.

Thanks for the wishes and advise. Hope she gets well soon.

[astra]

well, raccoon roundworm, from what I read, doesn't affect neck first.
It attacks internal organs, larva start traveling through blood stream, damaging internal organs. Eventually, it reaches the animal's brain and that's when neuro symptoms become visible. They usually are balance problems, circling, change in behaviour, sometimes, aggression with no reason, lethargy etc etc.
Most of the time these symptoms do not appear suddenly, but sort of gradually, increasingly worse.

What do you mean by neck?... do you see a tilt?... if it's a tilt, then, it's either a head trauma, or could be ear infection (some of the most common causes). Although, of course, neck issues cannot be ruled out completely.

If you are willing to buy some stuff for your wild fuzzers that might help them improve, people will be able to make suggestions.

[UDoWhat]

Hi, you are getting great advice from excellent members. If we can see video or pictures we could tell much better how to help you. If not, we will need to ask many questions to try to figure what might be the problem. Glad you found us.

[minnigirl]

Hi,

Thanks for all the advise. Happy iam here. So much of info. God bless all of u.

I think its a tilt. What will be the right medicine for her. She is ok otherwise except for the tilt. Both the girls have tilted necks. Will post pics & videos soon to be perfect.

Thanks again.

[minnigirl]

Hi Friends,

Here are some of shorty's videos. Feels like she is sligtly better today. She has found a new way to eat. She just sticks herself upside down and eats. Please advise. Thanks

[astra]

Hi Friends,

Here are some of shorty's videos. Feels like she is sligtly better today. She has found a new way to eat. She just sticks herself upside down and eats. Please advise. Thanks

Hi Minningirl,

there are no videos. Could you try again?...

[minnigirl]

Not able to upload the video. Will try again.

[minnigirl]

Hi,

Sorry guys. Still not able to upload the videos. Tried all possible ways - .zip, rar etc.

[astra]

you know what I think, not all options become available for new members. I don't know how much time it takes for them to become activated, but, I guess, it hasn't been long enough for you yet.
But, please, bear with it - I am sure, a few more days and you will have access to all options, including uploading of pics and videos.
You could also contact IR (Island Rehabber) who is the Administrator and can help you with that.

And, in the meantime, on http://www.chrissquirrelsandmore.com you can find Vetri-DMG that is often recommended for squirrels with neuro problems.
As far as I remember, she sells some other stuff that might help with neuro problems - just browse her site and you can ask her questions, too.

There is also a good member here - BHO - who has good experience with homeo remedies for neuros. She can give you suggestions which remedies you can get and how to give them. You can send her a private message: in the upper right corner in the top menu bar you can see Members List.
Click on it and all are listed in alphabetical order. You can find BHO, click on her name and choose "send a private message to BHO".

Again, since you are new, the option of private messages might not be available either yet, but try...

And, as I said, try contacting IR - she might be able to help you have those activated sooner.

Another thing - I could try and upload those for you (although, to be honest, I have never uploaded a video here, so I am new to that, too;-). I only uploaded photos). But if you want, you can e-mail me your videos and I will do my best ad_astra81@hotmail.com
Just put something in the subject line, so that if I see it in my Junk, I will know what it is.

[astra]

You know what, Minnigirl, it just occurred to me!
You can try and post your videos yourself if you have a Youtube or Photobucket account.
just upload it on YT and paste the link in the body of a message/post here - and that's it.

[minnigirl]

Thank u so much Astra for all the help and Info. Will try it out. Actually she didnt comedown today to eat so iam a bit worried. Hope all is well with her.

[astra]

Thank u so much Astra for all the help and Info. Will try it out. Actually she didnt comedown today to eat so iam a bit worried. Hope all is well with her.

My pleasure... I hope, you see her soon

[minnigirl]

My pleasure... I hope, you see her soon

Thanks dear

[minnigirl]

Hi,

Finally the videos. Thank a bunch astra. I did it through utube. Also i did see her getting into her tree house with struggle was not looking that good. Will wait to see more when she will come down for her dinner. The links :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gR6OsYmZkIM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ijtkeo-NyI8

please view and suggest me what is to be done.

Thanks.....