hey everyone
remember the problem squirrel i was talking about? our young female fox squirrel has two places for feces to exit from. it was a while ago that i mentioned this, and i figured i'd update you all. plus, now i have a picture!
things are.....undecided on her. at this point it's likely that she'll need surgery or she'll be euthanized unless by some miracle this fistula (a puncture that connects to a hollow organ, in this case her large intestine) heals on it's own. this is unlikely because it seems to have already healed without closing.
we've been giving her anti-biotics, because there's a lot of swelling around the area, and unfortunately we still aren't sure which opening is her anus and which opening is the fistula.
we took her to the vet, who gave us advice but refused to perform surgery on her. the vet also thought she was a boy, cause the swelling could be testicles (but i think it's a girl for sure, when we first got her there was no doubt in my mind, and i can sex a squirrel SO good, i just know it's a girl, besides the swelling is in the wrong place to be a boy). anyway, we're taking her to a different vet tomorrow morning, hopefully this one will be more knowledgeable.
*sigh* basically, it doesn't look good. we clean the area regularly, and she can still poop, but sometimes she'll have a blockage down there that we have to remove, and even though we use warm water and a gentle touch it's obviously painful to her. she is, in all other aspects, a perfect squirrel. that's why we really want to save her.
right, on to the picture! it's pretty blurry, but hopefully you can make it out. this is her back end; we've got the vagina (i STILL say it's a girl darnit!), behind which is the swelling, if you can tell. then beneath the vagina there's an opening, and then a smaller swell, and beneath the swell (very hard to see ) is yet another opening. the main purpose of showing you all this is to get your opinion on which is the anus and which is the fistula. any other comments are welcome, though.
thanks!