squirrel pox

[squirrelfriend]

photo from Gabe.

[hazel]

This seems like the logical place to post this info - hope it's noticed!

I'm a vet tech and my rehabber friend and I have each treated a squirrel with pox using Acyclovir suspension. Both squirrels recovered.

The rehabbers husband was a nurse and he suggested the drug. It's an anti-viral that is commonly used for chickenpox in children.

Last year I had a late spring baby boy. If I recall correctly, it was about a week after he arrived that he developed his first bump. One of the vets I worked with guessed at a dosage for him, which I gradually increased because he continued to develop fibromas although he never seemed to feel poorly. My friend said that her squirrel, a couple years prior, recovered more rapidly and that she had kept a record of it's treatment. She is about the busiest person I know, but I will remind her to look up that info and report to us what dosage she used.

The drug used to be quite pricey - my friend paid a fortune for it, but last year it was downright cheap.

Wish I had kept some records but I didn't. At the time I didn't realize how groundbreaking this was.

I'll let you know the dosage she used when I find out - and I'll try to do it this year!

[island rehabber]

[quote=hazel]This seems like the logical place to post this info - hope it's noticed!

I'm a vet tech and my rehabber friend and I have each treated a squirrel with pox using Acyclovir suspension. Both squirrels recovered.
/quote]

GREAT info, hazel! Does Acyclovir have any other names or forms we should know about?

[hazel]

acyclovir is the generic name for "Zovirax" which is a trade name.

It is used to shorten the duration of chicken pox, shingles and herpes in humans.

It is available in liquid suspension, capsules and tablets. I see that it is also available in an ointment and a cream.

My friend and I both used the suspension which is available only in a
200mg/5ml strength and is administered orally. The taste is not evil and giving it to the kids was not a big challenge.

Again, I will nudge my friend to find her records on the squirrel she treated.
Remember - the dosage that each of us gave our squirrels was a GUESS. To our knowledge, mixing acyclovir and poxy squirrels together was my friends own invention. We both felt that our squirrels were helped by the drug and both survived.

[Abacat]

Found this link about Squirrel Fibroma by Nonda Surratt:
http://www.squirrel-rehab.org/rehabinfo/fibroma.shtml

[SkwerlGirl]

That poor baby...

[Mountain Mama]

It is also used to treat herpes in humans, so if one of the squirrels has been naughty...

[TexanSquirrel]

Poor little squirrel.

[TexanSquirrel]

Has anyone gotten on PubMed and looked at some of the articles there?

[melodicsweetpea]

I'm so happy to have found out that Zovirax is a treatment for pox. Someone told me that it's incurable and fatal so Hazel's post has given me hope.

Here's my situation; I've got a poxy squirrel living in a nesting box in our backyard tree. Her poor little eyes are almost swollen shut and she really looks in a bad way. I've been putting out sunflower seeds twice a day so I know she's eating but she's quite a bit smaller than the others. She, of course is completely wild so I'm not sure how to administer meds to her.

Also, I know it's very contagious and she's has nest-mates. So what should I do about the others to make sure they don't get it?

Thanks.

[Mads]

When I had a outbreak here in CT of pox, my Fab 5, 3 had pretty good cases of pox. I did NOT medicate them. I did add a solid gold sea meal to almond butter on a spoon to boost the immune system, and I also used a shaklee product to make a tea, but I don't know that the squirrels even drank the water. I also used a white tea in water. I do know for sure though that they got the sea meal.

But the pox did run it's course, and they all healed up. I also had heard it was a death sentence for them and all in the yard, but that didn't happen, and with the Fab 5 being free roaming squirrels I didn't see a huge breakout.....as we sit here in CT in January, I have probably the most squirrels in this 10 town area! And they usually wake me up around 7:30 each and every morning....lol ( I now have Fab 5 Wannabe's that will take nuts from my hand)...

I did get some of the drug that is used to treat herpes. I didn't use it. I was nervous about doing so, and as it turned out, I was glad that I allowed their own immune systems to fight the pox.

That's my experience. I've posted many times with many u tube movies and photos, on my Fabulous five.....and it's here somewhere on these forums if anyone is interested. mjs mjs mjs mjs mjs

[4skwerlz]

I'm so happy to have found out that Zovirax is a treatment for pox. Someone told me that it's incurable and fatal so Hazel's post has given me hope.

Here's my situation; I've got a poxy squirrel living in a nesting box in our backyard tree. Her poor little eyes are almost swollen shut and she really looks in a bad way. I've been putting out sunflower seeds twice a day so I know she's eating but she's quite a bit smaller than the others. She, of course is completely wild so I'm not sure how to administer meds to her.

Also, I know it's very contagious and she's has nest-mates. So what should I do about the others to make sure they don't get it?

Thanks.

If her eyes are swollen shut, she will need to be trapped and treated to survive.

Please contact Jackie in Tampa. She and several other rehabbers on TSB have developed a comprehensive treatment for pox and have cured some very bad cases.

[Jackie in Tampa]

pictures please...we should be able to help diagnose from pictures. Only if you think that the sq is totally dibilitated should you try to help. If the sq cannot see, it will be easy to grab/snatch off tree! Lure him down with aromatic pecans! Wear gloves with all plans in ck...cage, vet,meds etc.
Good Luck
Healthy sqs will usually survive this virus.
let me edit that last statement
Healthy GREY sq will usually survive. From what we have read and discussed with others...REDS do not do as well!

[GeneralMakaveli]

Well yesterday I was outside doing something and I saw a squirrel but what got to me is the fact it was really small and he didnt run away when I got closer. Its eyes are all swollen so I captured it and put it in a cage. I looked on line to see what was wrong with it and didnt find anything but when I went out side a full grown health squirrel was trying to help it out of the cage. SO I let it out and it climbed up the true with the other squirrel. Now Im pretty sure it is blind but it seemed like the other squirrel is helping it I saw it again today and gave him some bread but my question is should I help it?

[mslyd]

Can a cat or dog get squirrel pox?

[Jackie in Tampa]

pox is species specific....so I have read.
Cattle have their own pox etc...

[tomcics]

Hi, does this squirrel's bump on face look like it could be pox? I have only seen this juvie twice, so not sure I can get more pics.

[Jackie in Tampa]

I am not an expert, I am not stating facts...
I am not a rehabber...I am not anyone specail, and so on...

but I cannot see well enough to say...
sqs fight and get abcesses often, so if just one bump, probably not.

In my experience ONLY, pox LESIONS seem to first appear on feet and genital areas and eyes first.
Pox is also commonly accompanied by mange...
If it were pox, and you decided to treat it, in my experiences, treating the mange is not advised...
but if you were not able to get the anti virals, you could treat for mange i guess...I have had a bad experience with ivermectin and pox...baby died with in an hour and so did an adult.
I stay ways from treating the mange, sqs are very compromised when they are pox positive. The virus, similar to chicken pox, can be survived by healthy wilds...however it stresses the hell out of them...so offer lots of food and aid their immune system with echinechia in your bird baths at the very least.
no seed either, it also stresses sqs..JMO!
nothing is fact in my post.

[BHO]

cant be 100% sure but looks like it is either an abscess or botfly.

If abscess, most definitely require some antibiotic like Sulfatrim in addition to some homeopathy like Hepar Sulphur. HTH

[Gems]

Hello Fellow Squirrel Lovers,
I'm trying to get a hold of Jackie from Tampa because I have a wild squirrel with pox. I read on one of the threads that she knows how to treat this awful virus. I've called around here in Michigan and I was told it's a hopeless thing to cure. My poor baby is missing one eye, has growths all around his ears, and is getting more of the growths around his one remaining eye. I'm heart broken. I need to help him immediately. Any help, and I would be eternally grateful. Thanks