As a wildlife rehabilitator and admin here, I can't live in denial anymore.
There IS a problem with FV and very young pinkies....LESS THAN 5 days old.

For whatever reason, rehabbers all over the country are having difficulty with FV 32/40, even when combined with Ultra Boost, not being digested by very young pinky squirrels. The stuff stays in their gut for hours and hours....the milk line never moves. I saw it in my little Robbie, who died. Nancy in NY had the same experience with a pinky red, who died. UDoWhat had a similar experience and reported to me that others in her area were baffled by the same syndrome in their neonates on FV.

First off: if you are NOT rehabbing squirrels younger than 5 days old please do not panic about this. In fact, all of my six came in at about a week old or older, except Robbie, and they have been on FV and Ultra Boost and are doing GREAT. This is strictly a neonate issue, which most of you will not encounter.

I haven't spoken to Nick at FV yet, but I will. In the meantime, should you get in a very young pinky, it would be wise to start him on the Goat's milk formula and transition to FV at around 10 days old, to be on the safe side. (10 days is when the umbilical stump typically falls off. )

I welcome comments, corrections and suggestions to this thread; this is an ongoing discussion about an extremely serious issue and we need everyone's input.


IR