SO WEIRD

[thundersquirrel]

diarrhea.......ugh ok this situation just got a lot more complicated

the younger female fox squirrel (who i am nicknaming Sleepy cause she falls asleep IMMEDIATELY after feeding) has two buttholes.

yeah, this is weird. TWO BUTTHOLES. no kidding.

(just to catch some of you up, she's about six weeks old and has had diarrhea since we got her)

we decided dip her entire bottom half into warm water today because she was starting to really stink. we cleaned the area as usual, and what do we find?

she has her little vagina (the bump) then she has her little rectum (the small hole beneath it) and THEN she has a BIGGER hole beneath THAT. it is not natural. we think it's either a birth defect or an injury that never closed, it just healed and is now acting as a second anus. it is NOT bloody, but it IS giving her major issues with her feces.

i mean, how do we HANDLE this? she's not showing other signs of sickness, in fact she's quite springy. do we get it surgically fixed? we can't just leave it, it's obviously causing her discomfort. every time we pull her out of there, she's got more poop caked around down there.
this is the strangest thing!

[thundersquirrel]

umm....does anybody have anything to say?

[CliffordandDaisy'sDad]

Lila, don't you guys have a vet you can take her too?

My opinion is it's time for a doctor to take a look.

[thundersquirrel]

no, i'm sorry, we don't have a vet that we can take her to, and even if we had the time on the day before easter to drive out of town to see one that might be willing to see her, we couldn't afford the treatment and possible surgery that she may need to undergo, and neither could Friends of Wildlife.

i guess if no one has anything to say, we'll just have to discuss this with our local rehabbers (who at the moment aren't picking up their phones). i'm sorry to say that euthanasia is a possibility. if we can't get this fixed then we certainly can't release her, and i don't know if my parents are willing to have a squirrel as a pet, even though i would be all too willing in the current situation. sleepy is a sweetheart, and she would make a wonderful pet.

so, knowing that, NOW does anyone have anything to say? at all? i'm freaking out here cause i don't want sleepy to literally be put to sleep.

[muffinsquirrel]

I don't think anyone really knows what to say! Since I'm not there to really see what's going on, I'll just have to try guessing.

Perhaps she has an abcess there, for whatever reason. Try cleaning it well - warm baths, peroxide, etc. Get a magnifying glass and see if you can see anything stuck in the wound - if so, try to remove the foreign object. I don't remember if you have her on antibiotics, but if not, then get her started. Keep it cleaned out two or three times a day, make sure the surrounding tissue is healthy, and keep your fingers crossed. I have no idea if you could pack the wound with gauze, or even if it would help, but it sounds like you are running out of options, and may want to keep it in mind to try. Meantime, keep her quiet and warm and isolated.

Good luck to you - wish I could be more help.

muffinsquirrel

'Some of my best friends are squirrels'

[MissDolittle]

Wow, I'm speechless here too. I had the strangest animals coming in last year.
I had conjoined birds, an opossum that didn't grow, was a dwarf, and another
opossum that was born with 3 legs and 4 feet, a paralyzed fox squirrel... I don't
even want to mention the injuries...

I called my rehabber and asked about Sleepy, she hasn't heard of anything like
that either. I hope she's going to make it, poor baby..and poor you too.

[thundersquirrel]

we got hold of a rehabber. she's coming at 4. i'll let you all know what she thinks.

i don't think i could let them euthanize her. i'd end up stealing her and forever wiping her bum off. cause really, she's an ideal candidate for release, it's just her bottom that will be an issue, and even with that, it's only a problem when she needs to poop.

we might be able to sucher (sp?) it. we think it would cost less, and if we find a really nice vet :search then maybe they'll give us a discount.....

arrrgh. i'll report back after 4.

[Stephanie K Zon]

Honey I can help you with $20.00 dollars amonth is you can get a vet to help you, Belive me I know how you feel but I have heard of weirder things in life. so have faith. Stephanie

[island rehabber]

Thundersquirrel -- any news about Sleepy?

[thundersquirrel]

ooooook.....

the rehabber came to see us. she brought an antibiotic (thank GOD!) and she assessed the situation.

i guess what's happening is, the poop is actually coming out of the right hole, which is a big relief because re-routing her feces would have been almost impossible. she has a bite in between her rectum and vagina, which my mother and i thought was actually her anus, but after an uncomfortably close inspection we saw that there were two holes very close together, as if two front teeth had made them.

we aren't sure how she got the bite, but we're a little more reassured now. we flushed it out, and there are no maggots as far as we can tell, and the antibiotic should take the swelling down enough for her to poop somewhat normally.
just gotta wait and see what happens.
HaPPy EaStEr!!!

[Squirrelly]

:easter2 What a relief! Please keep us posted on her progress.

[island rehabber]

I'm so glad it wasn't a deformity of some kind....the antibiotics should put her in good shape -- I'll add her to my prayers tonight!