fell & knocked unconscious

[clover]

my 4.5 month old lost traction and fell about 4-5 feet yesterday, knocking herself unconscious. after some rest, she got up and moved around a bit, ate a small amount and went to sleep. she moved a bit clumsily.

this morning, she is keeping her eyes half open and her ears are laying down. she got out of her hammock to eat a little- but not very much. when she stands on her back legs, she is wobbly.

she has no broken bones, and no areas that are tender, but her behavior and balance are off. there are no vets in my area that will see her. has anyone had a similar experience? any advice? i am absolutely heartbroken.

[Nancy in New York]

my 4.5 month old lost traction and fell about 4-5 feet yesterday, knocking herself unconscious. after some rest, she got up and moved around a bit, ate a small amount and went to sleep. she moved a bit clumsily.

this morning, she is keeping her eyes half open and her ears are laying down. she got out of her hammock to eat a little- but not very much. when she stands on her back legs, she is wobbly.

she has no broken bones, and no areas that are tender, but her behavior and balance are off. there are no vets in my area that will see her. has anyone had a similar experience? any advice? i am absolutely heartbroken.

What state do you live in and what city.
We may have a member that can direct you to a safe vet.
IF you don't want to post this on the board, send me a pm.
I would keep her in a smaller container so that she doesn't suffer another fall.

What did she fall on to?
What is her diet like, meaning can you list everything that she actually eats.
Did you witness this fall?

[clover]

i live in pearland, texas.

right now she is in her cage, sleeping in her hammock. she only comes out occasionally. she doesn’t seem to have any trouble moving around, she just seems a bit off balance when she stands in her hind legs to eat.

she fell directly onto a hard wood floor. she was jumping onto a shelf that she likes to lay on, and must have miscalculated, because she only caught on with her front feet. she could not get traction and slipped backwards. i saw it happen and immediately ran to her. she was lying still on the floor. i picked her up and held her, checking for injuries. she snapped to after about 30-45 seconds. when she came to, she didn’t want to be held, so i put her in her cage. her movements were a little clumsy. she went to her hammock and laid down. she came down to eat a little & returns to her hammock.

her diet normally consists of healthy blocks & lots of veggies. mostly two types of lettuce, cauliflower, broccoli, red cabbage, carrots & a few blueberries. occasionally apple slices & maybe a strawberry. she doesn’t really like strawberries though. i keep a bowl of sunburst brand mouse & rat food in their cage at all times, but they prefer fresh veggies. i give them two or three nuts each day- almonds, pecans, walnuts or hazelnuts.

since her fall, she has eaten a bit of cauliflower, some dried carrots, a few kernels of corn, a few sunflower seeds & a few pumpkin seeds. i tried to entice her with a walnut yesterday, and while she took it, she had trouble holding it to eat & abandoned it. i tried giving her an almond today, but she wasn’t interested. i’ve mostly been able to get her to eat by hoisting her hammock slowly to the top of her cage & offering food to her through the bars.

[HRT4SQRLS]

Attachment 296702
Is this the food you give? I really hate to say this but that is NOT a good food for squirrels. It is mostly a fortified seed mix. This seed mix with the 2 or 3 nuts she gets per day is entirely too much phosphorus in the diet. More than likely she is calcium deficient and in the early stages of Metabolic Bone Disease. There isn't enough calcium in the veggies to offset the high phosphorus in the diet.

You have nothing to lose... I would start the Metabolic Bone Disease protocol today.
She might be suffering a concussion from the fail and she is at a huge risk for broken bones due to bone thinning.

[clover]

that is the food i give them- the only things they seem to eat from it are the sunflower seeds... still seeds though. sunburst is the 2nd type of food i’ve tried giving them- the first brand was mostly pellets and they didn’t eat much of that either.

i will start them both on mbd protocol TODAY.

i forgot to mention- i do use henry’s squirrel vitamins also. i sprinkle it on their veggies once a day.

[HRT4SQRLS]

https://thesquirrelboard.com/forums/...-MBD-Treatment

Squirrels with MBD are at risk for falls. Because she has fallen I could handle her gently due to possible bone fractures or brain injury. You really have nothing to lose be giving her supplemental calcium. It might save her life of this is indeed MBD.

I wouldn't give her any more nuts right now. I would buy a rodent block like Mazuri or Henrys Healthy blocks. The reason I say Mazuri is because it's one you could buy today at a pet retailer. She will not eat it as is. It would need to be ground into powder, mixed with Apple baby food or yogurt and formed into balls. We can direct you to some recipes. Some either freeze the balls or bake them for a short time. Squirrels are more likely to take the rodent blocks like this than straight from the bag.

[HRT4SQRLS]

Yes, unfortunately the sunflower seeds are bad as are the nuts. The problem with a mix like that is that they will cherry pick out the seeds and junk and anything healthy in the mix (if there is anything healthy) they will leave.

Be very gentle with her. I hope you see some improvement soon. I'm sure she needs calcium but there might also be injuries that aren't visible.

[island rehabber]

I would offer her some heat, too -- either a heating pad just under the part of her cage where she sleeps, or a rice buddy to curl up with. MBD, and falling, hurts.

[clover]

i have henry’s healthy blocks- they get those daily. i will make sure to continue those, and start the protocol. she gets sunlight daily, and the “hammock” that i refer to her sleeping in is actually a knit cap, so i can’t really get a heating pad in to her.

i’ve read somewhere that tums can be good for a quick calcium dosage- though i don’t know how much to give.

i do have ebsilac & some fv formula- do you think it would be a good idea to try and give her some of that?.

in the last hour or so, she has opened her ears back up, and her eyes seem to be a bit more full. i opened the cage to get my other squirrel, and she came out of her hammock seeming to want out of her cage. i took her out for just a sec for a once over and quick cuddle, but did not let her go free. she didn’t want to go back in her cage, but i made her. she is back in her hammock, semi sleeping.

[clover]

i just saw the post about the rice buddy- i will do this now!

[island rehabber]

i just saw the post about the rice buddy- i will do this now!

Make sure you scrunch it around after heating, in case there are "hot spots".

[CritterMom]

i have henry’s healthy blocks- they get those daily. i will make sure to continue those, and start the protocol. she gets sunlight daily, and the “hammock” that i refer to her sleeping in is actually a knit cap, so i can’t really get a heating pad in to her.

i’ve read somewhere that tums can be good for a quick calcium dosage- though i don’t know how much to give.

i do have ebsilac & some fv formula- do you think it would be a good idea to try and give her some of that?.

in the last hour or so, she has opened her ears back up, and her eyes seem to be a bit more full. i opened the cage to get my other squirrel, and she came out of her hammock seeming to want out of her cage. i took her out for just a sec for a once over and quick cuddle, but did not let her go free. she didn’t want to go back in her cage, but i made her. she is back in her hammock, semi sleeping.

So this squirrel eats the Henry's Blocks normally? And you use the rat food for a treat? How many Henry's per day?

[clover]

they get 2 healthy blocks a piece each morning. the mouse/rat food is put in a bowl in their cage in the afternoon, it stays there until the next morning- when i dump it. they don’t eat very much of it. they wake at 7am, i give them them healthy blocks first thing. i put fresh mouse/rat food in around 3pm. they go to sleep at 7pm each night. i give them veggies throughout the day & a big “meal’” coated in henry’s vitamins between 5.30-6pm.

[HRT4SQRLS]

That changes everything. Do they actually eat the Henrys blocks?

[clover]

i put the rice buddy in with her, but she didn’t like it- she got out & went to the other hammock. i scrunched it around to even out hot spots & double covered it, but she didn’t like it.

she seems to be a tad more active and her eyes are more open. she came down out of her hammock to eat some cauliflower & broccoli- not much, but a little. she seems a bit less wobbly than before- not steady, but less wobbly.

[clover]

they eat the healthy blocks each morning- i sometimes find a quarter of one leftover, but they start their day with those. i try and give them to them first thing, since i know they are good for them, and they are hungry first thing so they are more likely to eat them all.

[HRT4SQRLS]

OK, I see. In that case I would not treat for MBD but I would discontinue the Sunburst Rat food. A pinch once or twice a week might be OK as a treat but I definitely would not offer a bowl of it. I wouldn't give 2-3 nuts per day either. I would give one per day.

Maybe others can sound in but I would not sprinkle Henrys vitamins/minerals on the food either. These are concentrated vitamins and minerals to be used when making the HHB's at home. IMO, they shouldn't be used for sprinkling on the food. Sprinkling a little calcium carbonate on the food is OK but I wouldn't use the vitamin mix. Oversupplementation can be a problem also.

As an abundance of caution it is OK to give Tums for a couple days as a 'just in case' because of the seed mix.

[CritterMom]

So we know she fell. It was observed. Infant ibuprophen IS an anti-inflammatory and I would say it is highly likely that any injury from the fall would have caused some inflammaton. She probably hurts.

They can take INFANT IBUPROPHEN. Make sure it is ibuprophen, not acetaminophen. It is flavored and many of them like it so dosing is easy. We dose by weight. If you can get some, get a 1cc syringe to dose with, and get her weight it will certainly make her feel a little better and if the wobbliness you are seeing is from perhaps a nerve getting pressed on by swelling from the fall, the anti-inflammatory properties may actually help a little.

[stepnstone]

So we know she fell. It was observed. Infant ibuprophen IS an anti-inflammatory and I would say it is highly likely that any injury from the fall would have caused some inflammaton. She probably hurts.

They can take INFANT IBUPROPHEN. Make sure it is ibuprophen, not acetaminophen. It is flavored and many of them like it so dosing is easy. We dose by weight. If you can get some, get a 1cc syringe to dose with, and get her weight it will certainly make her feel a little better and if the wobbliness you are seeing is from perhaps a nerve getting pressed on by swelling from the fall, the anti-inflammatory properties may actually help a little.

CritterMom
Considering "fell & knocked unconscious" = concussion, pain management would have been my first call.
With any concussion an anti-inflammatory to reduce/control swelling is absolutely necessary.

[Nancy in New York]

Maybe others can sound in but I would not sprinkle Henrys vitamins/minerals on the food either. These are concentrated vitamins and minerals to be used when making the HHB's at home. IMO, they shouldn't be used for sprinkling on the food. Sprinkling a little calcium carbonate on the food is OK but I wouldn't use the vitamin mix. Oversupplementation can be a problem also.

When I have Owena (seizure squirrel) here,
I put calcium carbonate and healthy vita-mins from Henry's
in a zip lock bag and added almonds to lightly coat them.
She would get ~5-8 daily for her seizures.

On the vita-min package it says:
Dosage:
For adult squirrels, 1 g (1/4 tsp.) per day.
1 package (33 g) equals a 1 month supply of viatmins/minerals.
Daily nutrition shake for adult animals that cannot eat solid foods 1 g (1/4 tsp) Vita-Mins 1-2 tbs yogurt or baby food. 2 tsp Henry's Protein Powder.

For my other squirrels that eat their block well, I don't give supplements.