Possible odontoma, new member!

[squirrelgirl338]

First of all, I am brand new to the board, so I'm very sorry if I'm posting in the wrong place or violating any rules.

Also, I am NOT a licensed rehabber, unfortunately, but my husband and I have both volunteered at one of our two local Wildlife Rescue Clinic, as well as raised and released a squirrel (Kelvin) we found at 5 weeks two summers ago (please, no lectures, we had no choice as a tornado hit our area and both of our WRCs were overflowing with helpless babies-he would have been put down if we had taken him in).

I am hoping to find a local rehabber on this board who can help us, as we have a bit of an odd issue we're dealing with at the moment. A friend of a friend got in contact with me Tuesday evening, after a baby squirrel (not a baby, I guess, probably 8 to 9 weeks old-now called Newton) followed her home and jumped on her shoulder. She tried several times to shoo him away, and get him to crawl up one of her huge trees in her yard, but he kept climbing into her lap. Very odd behavior for a wild baby squirrel, so my husband and I headed over.

I noticed right away that Newton had pretty severe milk burn on his nose and mouth, as if someone inexperienced had tried to syringe feed him, and basically failed. I thought that would probably explain his friendly behavior, too. As soon as I held him, I heard a faint wheezing and saw a slight amount of discharge from his nose, so I initially surmised that he had contracted aspiration pneumonia from his previous "parents."

We had Kelvin's old release cage handy (4x3x2), so we took him home for the evening to observe him-I know at this time of year, our local rescues are either almost full or past capacity, so with him being even slightly ill, I figured the chances of him being immediately put down at a rescue were pretty good. We hung out with him for a bit, and tried to feed him sweet potatoes, avocado, and the like-but he didn't seem interested. By the time Kelvin was his age, we were basically wrestling food out of his hands!

Yesterday, I tried to give Newton rodent block, but he was totally disinterested, and I was worried about MBD not knowing how long he had been "on his own," so I tried formula-and boy did he suck that down quick! It was then that I noticed his head was a little bit oddly shaped (his nose comes down from his head almost in the shape of a parrot beak), and he didn't yet have his top teeth. I didn't think much of it-because he was running around and being super active and playful.

Our obvious plan when we took him in was to observe him, hopefully get his pneumonia under control (if it was even pneumonia), wean him (if necessary) and teach him to fear humans (and dogs-he tried to JUMP ONTO my friend's German Shepherd!), and release him by my friend's apartment. However, while I was researching non-antibiotic treatment options, I stumbled upon a post about odontoma, and then I started to worry.

I'm afraid all of the signs are there-the wheezing, the runny nose, the mild trouble breathing, the lack of top teeth, the head shape, and the disinterest in solid food. And I am absolutely terrified. We have (anonymously) called several small animal specialists in our area (including our specialist for our 3 dogs, who studied small animal internal medicine), and we can't find anyone who treats squirrels. I'm so scared to take him somewhere that will snatch him from us right away because we aren't permitted, and I know if I take him to one of our WRCs, that will be a death sentence for him. I have read about odontoma surgery, but it seems super invasive and risky, and I highly doubt we can find someone within 300 miles that will do it. I know the University of Missouri Columbia has a great animal clinic, but I don't know that they can even legally treat him. Cost isn't necessarily a factor-we have been saving for a down payment on a house, but that can wait if it means saving this little guy's life. Does anyone have any ideas? We are more than willing to keep him long term, or forever, if that's what it takes, and if we are able to secure a permit-but in a perfect world, he could be treated, stabilized, and (re) released. If anyone has any ideas or input, I would really appreciate your thoughts.

Thanks for reading!
-Jill and Adam (and Newton (and Kelvin and Pierre and Gomez and Beans))

[Bravo]

First off, , you're in the right area, and you're waaay ahead of most first-time posters with your experience. Unfortunately that also means recognizing what the situation is for this little one.

I'm not sure who may be in your area, however if you can give us some time, and as other members here read this, one may have further information or be able to directly assist.

[squirrelgirl338]

First off, , you're in the right area, and you're waaay ahead of most first-time posters with your experience. Unfortunately that also means recognizing what the situation is for this little one.

I'm not sure who may be in your area, however if you can give us some time, and as other members here read this, one may have further information or be able to directly assist.

Thank you so much for the welcome! I really appreciate your kind words. I'm hoping that I'm totally wrong (that happens a lot), so I'm keeping my fingers crossed...we'll see! Thanks again.

[CritterMom]

Lets begin at the beginning. Can you take the best photos showing the abnormalities you can and out them up so we can see them?

Odontoma is usually associated with some kind of trauma that has caused the teeth to rock forward and backward in the jaw - an impact as a baby when falling face first from the nest will do it, as will chewing cage bars later. But it is cumulative and usually shows up much later - when the animal is several years old.

This little one certainly may have had her teeth broken off at some point, poor little thing.

Have you rehydrated her? If not, do so.

Have you attempted antibiotics?

You are indeed right about odontoma surgery being invasive. There are only a few vets in the country that do it with any regularity. But that may not be the issue here.

[squirrelgirl338]

You are indeed right about odontoma surgery being invasive. There are only a few vets in the country that do it with any regularity. But that may not be the issue here.

PRAYING that you are right, and that it isn't the issue! We haven't tried antibiotics-I'm too scared to call the vet and ask for them and have Newton confiscated-so that's why I was initially trying to go the non-medicinal route. I've honestly been contemplating getting a permit/license for a while, but after doing tons of research last night online, I can't seem to find any information about Missouri's laws. Going to try to call our local agent today. I'm at work now, I'll take and upload photos as soon as I get home!

[UDoWhat]

Hi and to TSB. Thank you for taking this sweet little one in. He needs your help.
Pictures would be great when you can get them. Can you see the inside of his mouth? I, too, am thinking he seems young for an odontoma but maybe.?? I am wondering he if fell from his nest? Often they can sustain a cracked palate from a fall. Or simply have injured his teeth in the fall and now his teeth are not growing in properly. That happens often. Pictures will help us see what is going on here.

[CritterMom]

The attached Huffington Post article shows a truly ingenious method for holding a squirrel's mouth open to trim teeth - and it may be of some help to you both trying to investigate and in possibly getting some pics we can see: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/alison...b_5791862.html

[squirrelgirl338]

This was amazing! This person is a genius. Thank you so much!

[squirrelgirl338]

So, here are the best photos we could get...now that we're really able to see inside of his mouth, it's pretty obvious that his top gums are swollen/irritated, and his bottom teeth are pretty long



Hopefully these work! The tongue one I had to include because it was too cute not to.

Let me know what you guys think...

[squirrelgirl338]

Hi and to TSB. Thank you for taking this sweet little one in. He needs your help.
Pictures would be great when you can get them. Can you see the inside of his mouth? I, too, am thinking he seems young for an odontoma but maybe.?? I am wondering he if fell from his nest? Often they can sustain a cracked palate from a fall. Or simply have injured his teeth in the fall and now his teeth are not growing in properly. That happens often. Pictures will help us see what is going on here.

Thank you for your reply! We'll see what we can deduce from the photos...

[CritterMom]

Are his top teeth pushed back from where they should be? I can see them behind the paperclip thingie I think.

[squirrelgirl338]

Are his top teeth pushed back from where they should be? I can see them behind the paperclip thingie I think.

I noticed that too when we uploaded the photos! At first, I thought it may just be a stray piece of apple, but he does have a tiny left tooth growing in WAY back there. No sign of the top right tooth, though.

[Nancy in New York]

I noticed that too CM. Here's a better look.

[Nancy in New York]

I am also reposting the photo of his head. You mentioned the shape.
I wonder if he had some sort of head trauma, but I'm curious why this
would still be noticeable if it were just swelling.
BUT I do agree with you, this is quite pronounced.
What formula are you feeding.
You should keep him on formula as long as he will take it. This is your
best insurance against MBD.
He sure is adorable!
I'm SO glad he found his way to you!

[squirrelgirl338]

I am also reposting the photo of his head. You mentioned the shape.
I wonder if he had some sort of head trauma, but I'm curious why this
would still be noticeable if it were just swelling.
BUT I do agree with you, this is quite pronounced.
What formula are you feeding.
You should keep him on formula as long as he will take it. This is your
best insurance against MBD.
He sure is adorable!
I'm SO glad he found his way to you!

I know! His poor little peanut head definitely looks like he fell on it
But he is so freaking cute!

And we are just using Esbilac. I've heard good and bad things about it, but our other squirrel, Kelvin, did amazing on it! Newton seems to go totally nuts for it (no pun intended ), so I will for sure keep giving it to him! I'm about to head to the store to see if I can find a softer/smaller syringe since his poor little gums are swollen on top. Is there anything else anyone suggests or anything I can add to it? I've read on some forums that coconut oil is good to give them-but that weirds me out a bit since it's something they would probably never come across in the wild.

I should also add that we're coming up on 48 hours with him, and I haven't seen any poops yet-I'll keep my eyes peeled for those, too. He's for sure old enough to be going on his own, I would think.

[CritterMom]

OK, my bet is that when he fell from the nest he broke those top teeth off - or one of them - the other one is still hanging back there. The top teeth are the "holders" - they actually spread open slightly and act like prongs to hold hard food - the lower teeth are used to skritch their way into the hard food. Baby can't hold anything because there are no more holders so his lower teeth are not being used and so overgrowing.

The sniffly stuff is likely some sinus damage from the initial accident and it is also possible that the lower teeth are beginning to pierce the roof of the mouth. Mouths being dirty places, that can become infected.

The thing that bothers me the worst right now is that top tooth back where it is.

First, this all probably hurts. He can have some infant ibuprophen - it will make everything not hurt as much and may help with feeding him. If you post his weight we can help you dose it appropriately. They LOVE the taste of this stuff.

Is he getting formula? He is young enough for it. Esbilac powdered puppy formula with probiotics is what you want - available at most chain pet stores and Tractor Supply (best price).

The lower teeth will need to be trimmed. We have some threads about doing this - gonna have to try to find them. You need a top quality hardened steel clipper to do this - http://www.squirrelsandmore.com/reha...h-cutters.html Low quality clippers can shatter the tooth instead of trim it off.

Do you have any antibiotics? Not animal necessarily - I mean anything left over from the humans, too. If so, please list them.

[squirrelgirl338]

OK, my bet is that when he fell from the nest he broke those top teeth off - or one of them - the other one is still hanging back there. The top teeth are the "holders" - they actually spread open slightly and act like prongs to hold hard food - the lower teeth are used to skritch their way into the hard food. Baby can't hold anything because there are no more holders so his lower teeth are not being used and so overgrowing.

The sniffly stuff is likely some sinus damage from the initial accident and it is also possible that the lower teeth are beginning to pierce the roof of the mouth. Mouths being dirty places, that can become infected.

The thing that bothers me the worst right now is that top tooth back where it is.

First, this all probably hurts. He can have some infant ibuprophen - it will make everything not hurt as much and may help with feeding him. If you post his weight we can help you dose it appropriately. They LOVE the taste of this stuff.

Is he getting formula? He is young enough for it. Esbilac powdered puppy formula with probiotics is what you want - available at most chain pet stores and Tractor Supply (best price).

The lower teeth will need to be trimmed. We have some threads about doing this - gonna have to try to find them. You need a top quality hardened steel clipper to do this - http://www.squirrelsandmore.com/reha...h-cutters.html Low quality clippers can shatter the tooth instead of trim it off.

Do you have any antibiotics? Not animal necessarily - I mean anything left over from the humans, too. If so, please list them.

CM, this all makes totally perfect sense. He tries to grab everything with his little hands, and then it just falls out of his mouth. Poor baby. I've gotten him to lick/nibble peanut butter and yogurt off of my fingers, so I do know that he has an appetite! We've been giving him Esbilac, so thank goodness we're on the right track there. I will run to CVS/Walgreens in a bit so I can grab some baby ibuprofen and hopefully a scale, too! I'll also go hunt for some old antibiotics we might have laying around.

I am so freaked about trimming his tiny teeth, but I know it has to be done. Maybe that will be a job for my husband

I'll get back to you in a bit!

[CritterMom]

CM, this all makes totally perfect sense. He tries to grab everything with his little hands, and then it just falls out of his mouth. Poor baby. I've gotten him to lick/nibble peanut butter and yogurt off of my fingers, so I do know that he has an appetite! We've been giving him Esbilac, so thank goodness we're on the right track there. I will run to CVS/Walgreens in a bit so I can grab some baby ibuprofen and hopefully a scale, too! I'll also go hunt for some old antibiotics we might have laying around.

I am so freaked about trimming his tiny teeth, but I know it has to be done. Maybe that will be a job for my husband

I'll get back to you in a bit!

Scales are available cheap at places like Target and Walmart and Bed Bath and Beyond - the digital gram scales are popular to use with dieting and relatively cheap. Ounces and grams is best - and get the biggest platform they have (wiggly squirrels).

[squirrelgirl338]

Scales are available cheap at places like Target and Walmart and Bed Bath and Beyond - the digital gram scales are popular to use with dieting and relatively cheap. Ounces and grams is best - and get the biggest platform they have (wiggly squirrels).

Great! As soon as the dogs are fed, I will head out for supplies! I should have just grabbed my mom's food scale when I was over there yesterday. Good thing I saved my 20% BBB coupon this time! I'm going to guess he's right around 100 grams...going to guess 103 on the nose since 3 is my lucky number. We'll see how right I am in a little bit!

[squirrelgirl338]

Good news! 1. Newton ate dinner, 2. I remembered to weigh him before feeding him (!) and 3. I don't work at a carnival guessing weights for a living! He is a healthy 145 grams, so I fed him his formula tonight (put in 15 CCs, he probably ate about 10) with some crushed up rodent block in a dish. He LOVED it! Given his weight, what should I give him ibuprofen wise? Also, my instinct now is to feed him until his heart's content-but I should probably be feeding him twice a day-how much do y'all think? I really wish he could nibble solids (he was trying for an apple when I came home), but I think I'm limited to formula and crushed rodent block for now (and unsalted peanut butter for treats!).