New rehabbed of two 3 week eastern grey squirrels!

[Tmstrat]

Hello everyone!
This is now my second post since my first was in a panic after possible aspiration of one of the two babies. I’ve recently needed to become a rehabber when Zanos and Zebula were found Friday in my yard. Zanos was cut up a little from what I think were my cats. Zebula was brought to me an hour later in my 12 yo weimeraners mouth, thankfully unharmed! I quickly got them warm and cleaned up and began the research. Other than the scratches they were both in good health and so I tried to find the mom using the chirp sound babies make. Called numerous wildlife numbers without any help and decided to care for them on my own with a release when they reach the right age. I never knew that these little squirrels could tug on my heart strings so much but I’m thoroughly invested in there wellbeing and look forward to watching them hit milestones!

[TubeDriver]

Hi, I did not realize they were cat caught. Cat saliva is deadly to squirrels, it VERY often leads to systemic bacterial infection that can be life threatening. Most rehabbers here will start Cipro prophylactic ASAP on any squirrel that has been injured by a cat. I would probably consider a 5-7 day course for the cat caught squirrel and keep a VERY close eye on the dog caught squirrel.

Is there any redness, swelling, and/or discharge at the point of the scratches from the cat?

Hello everyone!
This is now my second post since my first was in a panic after possible aspiration of one of the two babies. I’ve recently needed to become a rehabber when Zanos and Zebula were found Friday in my yard. Zanos was cut up a little from what I think were my cats. Zebula was brought to me an hour later in my 12 yo weimeraners mouth, thankfully unharmed! I quickly got them warm and cleaned up and began the research. Other than the scratches they were both in good health and so I tried to find the mom using the chirp sound babies make. Called numerous wildlife numbers without any help and decided to care for them on my own with a release when they reach the right age. I never knew that these little squirrels could tug on my heart strings so much but I’m thoroughly invested in there wellbeing and look forward to watching them hit milestones!

[Tmstrat]

All the scratches are already healed. They were very small and superficial looking. I’m not even sure they were from my cat I just assumed they were cause my cats were outside near one. I can show a pic so you can see. But they haven’t showed any signs of issue. But if I should start the flox please let me know. They are 65g and 58g.

[Tmstrat]

[redwuff]

Beautiful babies. I would start antibiotics.

[TubeDriver]

Well, the safe thing to do is start Cipro. They do look very chubby (one is bigger than the other) and healthy and cute. If I suspected a possible cat attack, I would start AB before I saw any symptoms, not wait till they started. But you may get different opinions on this.

Make sure to wipe off their little milky mouths after feeding, the dried formula can cause some skin irritation and hair-loss around their mouths if left on.

They are lucky they ended up in caring hands!

[Tmstrat]

Ok, I will start the Cipro. I knew someone would comment on the milk stache lol. I cleaned them after I took the pic, I read about milk burn so they get a nice wet clothe bath after every feeding. What would be the dosing for Cipro with there weight at 65g and 58g? Thanks again.

[TubeDriver]

I figured you probably already knew that but hopefully in the future, someone less experienced will see this thread and learn something new. We just need to know what strength the Cipro is (250mg or 500mg....etc).

Ok, I will start the Cipro. I knew someone would comment on the milk stache lol. I cleaned them after I took the pic, I read about milk burn so they get a nice wet clothe bath after every feeding. What would be the dosing for Cipro with there weight at 65g and 58g? Thanks again.

[Tmstrat]

It is 500mg.

[TubeDriver]

PM sent.

It is 500mg.

[TubeDriver]

I am copying a post from our member HRT4SQYRL about cat injuries and Cipro:

"We alway think that Baytril/Ciprofloxacin is the go-to antibiotic for cat bites because of Pasteurella that is usual flora in a cats mouth. Pasteurella is very sensitive to many antibiotics including Baytril. The problem is that this is just ONE of the organisms in a cats mouth. I have no doubt that you killed the Pasteurella but what you didn’t kill is the anaerobes and Streptococcus that also reside in cat saliva. This is why we shouldn’t treat head/neck and face wounds on squirrels with Baytril or Ciprofloxacin. It just doesn’t have proper coverage for oral organisms. Of course squirrels don’t carry Pasteurella in their mouth, but they do have Strep and anaerobes. Baytril has no coverage for anaerobes and very poor coverage for Streptococcus.

A better choice for cat bites is Clavamox. A puncture wound on the chest is always problematic. The incomplete coverage with the Baytril allowed the ‘other’ organism to progress. The close proximity to the chest cavity likely caused the infection to break through into the pleural cavity or cause sepsis. They won’t last long if that happens."

So it sounds like Clavamox woul be better than the old standard goto Cipro.

[TubeDriver]

So the consensus is that since they were rescued last Friday (7 days ago) they probably should just finish up the full Cipro trial (5-7 days) and NOT switch over to Clavamox at this point. Just keep a VERY close eye on them for any signs of increasing infection (swelling, redness, pus, lethargy, loss of appetite etc). If an infection does pop up, let us know ASAP and we can help.