Problems squirrel crying shaking head, think something in ears or early infection

[PLOK]

Teeth are perfect. Found him at about 2 weeks old. Found entire nest on ground. Baby was very cold and dehydrated. Worked around the clock and he was thriving. Now about 1 year old. Very healthy, active. He was eating well all good then one day out of blue he started to shake head crying and chattering. I thought maybe something crawled into his ear. About 20 min later he just stopped as if nothing wrong. Then yesterday it happened again only this time very frequent together. As if he had a moment of peace then he's shaking his head around again. He then gets quiet, balls up and closes his eyes. I can tell hes in pain.

[PLOK]

It's illegal to provide help to a squirrel in the state much less having in your home. I need to find a vet that will not take him, or report me. I didn't expect to keep him.Tried to release him but he won't leave he stays right by our side, no matter what. Even build him a 10 x 10 totally enclosed area outside with a waterfall hibiscus trees ropes it's a dream. He wouldn't even move out there unless we were there with him. We would sit for hours to get him to go outside and play but as soon as we leave he just cries at the gate. After months of this we finally decided he's just here to stay. He lives inside with us. We now use the outside cage just for play time. My point is he has bonded with us, and we with him. Need a vet that won't take him away.

[PLOK]

Will get him the Meloxicam or Baby Ibuprofen now. Keeping him on his 100 mg. Tums every 4 hours. I have a question ... do I give him 100 mg every 4 hours around the clock? Or total a 500 mg "per day" in 100 mg doses every 4 hours. (When 500mg achieved stop and resume again next day for another 500mg)

[PLOK]

Don't think he was neurologically compromised when I found him. But as he's grown I've found that he's not a very good climber when it comes to trees. He does great in his cage. I just assumed because he didn't have a lot of experience with trees that maybe that's a learned trait. I'm not sure, this is my first ball game with squirrels. I've done dogs and birds for over 30 years extensively, but never squirrels.

[Diggie's Friend]

Does he his claw in the ear like the is something in it? Take a sniff to check if it has an odor; if so likely an ear infection.

Read through this tutorial; find a Vet you already know to do.

https://www.wikihow.com/Treat-Ear-Infections-in-Rats

[PLOK]

No odor, checked both ears.. they look normal. No inflammation or redness. When he's not hurting I can actually touch his ears. I'm going to try to get a swab with a Q-tip and look at with my microscope. Want to see if there's any tiny parasites, although I will only be able to see a surface sample. I need a vet to go in to look deeper.

[CritterMom]

Will get him the Meloxicam or Baby Ibuprofen now. Keeping him on his 100 mg. Tums every 4 hours. I have a question ... do I give him 100 mg every 4 hours around the clock? Or total a 500 mg "per day" in 100 mg doses every 4 hours. (When 500mg achieved stop and resume again next day for another 500mg)

Divide up 500mg per day so you are getting it into him with relative regularity (you don't need to get up in the middle of the night).

You may not be getting 500mg a day into him. Where it says "500mg" on the front of the Tums bottle, it is the size of the tablet, not the amount of calcium in it (very confusing). Turn the bottle around and somewhere on the back label it will tell you how much ELEMENTAL CALCIUM it has per dose. Then check the dosage size. The elemental calcium number is the one you want to use when calculating your 500 mg per day.

For example, I have a bottle of "Ultra 1000 Strength" Tropical Fruit Tums. One might think those tabs have 1000mg of calcium in them. Nope. 400mg elemental calcium. So read your back label!

[LR]

Giving him the tums/calcium "per day" as you related is fine. Have you gotten the baby style ibuprofen yet? If you post his weight here someone can dose it for you.

[Diggie's Friend]

http://ratguide.com/health/basics/si...in_in_rats.php

http://ratguide.com/health/auricle_e...yrinthitis.php

[HRT4SQRLS]

PLOK, I found an exotic vet for you in Houston. This vet is safe. Several members have used this vet for squirrels. I will send the information in a Private Message.

[cava]

You rock HRT4SQRLS!

[PLOK]

Sage is 1.7 lbs

[PLOK]

HRT4SQURLS THANK YOU SOOOOOO MUCH! You don't know how much this means to me.

[SammysMom]

HRT4SQURLS THANK YOU SOOOOOO MUCH! You don't know how much this means to me.

HRT is the best! THe beautiful thing about TSB is that we DO know how much it means to you. Many of us have been in your position and we are all relieved that you now have a plan!

[PLOK]

Until I can get Sage to the vet how much of the baby ibuprofen should I give him and how often for 1.7 lb. I just want to keep him comfortable.

[HRT4SQRLS]

Let me find my notes and I'll give you the info.

[HRT4SQRLS]

Ibuprofen dosing sent.

[PLOK]

Thank you everyone so much for all your advise. After doing further detailed research with Lee from Henry's Pets, we came to the conclusion that it was not MBD. We believe it to be a reaction to flea meds put on the dogs living in the house hold. This hypothesis could be
verified by the time of the first occurrence and the application of advantage II on the dogs. Other occurrences coincided with Sage and the dogs being near one another. I hope this information helps other who might encounter similar symptoms.

[TubeDriver]

Sorry to hear this but glad you identified the issue. This experience can now be shared with other members, potentially helping squirrels in the future. Did your squirrel get over the symptoms and recover?

Thank you everyone so much for all your advise. After doing further detailed research with Lee from Henry's Pets, we came to the conclusion that it was not MBD. We believe it to be a reaction to flea meds put on the dogs living in the house hold. This hypothesis could be
verified by the time of the first occurrence and the application of advantage II on the dogs. Other occurrences coincided with Sage and the dogs being near one another. I hope this information helps other who might encounter similar symptoms.