Diastat

[Sir Rodney]

Hello, squirrelly friends.

I have a beautiful ~7 week old female fox squirrel, Rosa Dulce, given to me two weeks ago by a friend who knew I had successfully raised a baby squirrel before (Sir Rodney, Knight of the Order Rodentia).

Rosa is doing well, gaining weight on her Esbilac (dry, probiotic) formula. I recently started changing her over to Fox Valley 20/50 -- today we are at 50/50 plus 1 or 2 Picky Eater Henry's rodent blocks, which she gnaws on, eating some. She weighs 205g. I've been giving her ~12 to 14ccs at each of her four feedings per day. She has a good appetite. Since the beginning last dark Momma stool, she has had soft-ish stools. Her stools were starting to firm up a little, but still soft. She occasionally would have a well-formed golden nugget, but that's the exception rather than the rule.

So, I decided to give the FV Diastat a try for one feeding today in the afternoon. Yikes! She had the worst diarrhea yet tonight, smearing it everywhere, poor darling! I thought this preparation was supposed to firm her up. I'm now concerned! Have I made a terrible mistake? What can I do now?

[Spanky]

Hello, squirrelly friends.

I have a beautiful ~7 week old female fox squirrel, Rosa Dulce, given to me two weeks ago by a friend who knew I had successfully raised a baby squirrel before (Sir Rodney, Knight of the Order Rodentia).

Rosa is doing well, gaining weight on her Esbilac (dry, probiotic) formula. I recently started changing her over to Fox Valley 20/50 -- today we are at 50/50 plus 1 or 2 Picky Eater Henry's rodent blocks, which she gnaws on, eating some. She weighs 205g. I've been giving her ~12 to 14ccs at each of her four feedings per day. She has a good appetite. Since the beginning last dark Momma stool, she has had soft-ish stools. Her stools were starting to firm up a little, but still soft. She occasionally would have a well-formed golden nugget, but that's the exception rather than the rule.

So, I decided to give the FV Diastat a try for one feeding today in the afternoon. Yikes! She had the worst diarrhea yet tonight, smearing it everywhere, poor darling! I thought this preparation was supposed to firm her up. I'm now concerned! Have I made a terrible mistake? What can I do now?

Giving the Diastat was not a mistake and should not have caused her diarrhea to worsen. It is great stuff and I use it often.

We have been getting reports this season of similar loose / soft stools with Esbilac, but at this point it is anecdotal. Can you share the expiration date of your can of Esbilac? There may be a pattern. Is the opened Esbilac (powder) being stored in the the freezer (or fridge). The prepared Esbilac (liquid) should not be re-warmed (do no reuse previously warmed formula as that can cause loose stools. Adding heavy cream can also cause loose stools in many babies.

Transitioning to FV 20/50 should improve her situation (same storage and use rules as Esbilac).

Keep us posted..

[Sir Rodney]

Thank you so very much! The expiration date is 2/2021, and I store it in the freezer. It is very clumpy and difficult to get into solution -- I've had to sift, sieve and smoosh with a spoon just to get it into solution. I do not recall it ever being that bad in the past. The FV is much smoother and easier to get into solution. Should I just go directly to FV tomorrow, without transitioning through the 3/4 FV and 1/4 Esbilac? My poor darling little girl certainly deserves a nice healthy throughput. But I fear there may be something wrong with the Diastat, because it was so much worse after 6 hours of giving it. Her stools on the Esbilac and on the mix with FV were soft but reasonable. This was outright diarrhea.

[Sir Rodney]

Update: This morning, little Rosa is doing well, eagerly took all 13 ccs of straight FV 20/50, and, most importantly, gave me some golden nuggets. Whew! She's energetic and playful again, not muted, miserable and dribbling like last night. So thank you very much!

I don't want to implicate the Diastat if it is completely innocent, so can you tell me how long it normally takes to work in your babies? Last night, at your recommendation, I read about the recent diarrhea/soft stool issues with Esbilac. I also read, in a different thread, that the formula had been changed and PetAg now has a different formula for wildlife that is hard to find, creating difficulties for people trying to help babies. Fox Valley takes a few days to arrive, leaving the goats' milk/cream/full fat yogurt option as possibly the best available immediate stopgap measure. I hope the word gets out quickly. Thank you again! TSB is a wonderful resource.

[Spanky]

I don't want to implicate the Diastat if it is completely innocent, so can you tell me how long it normally takes to work in your babies?

I'd have to caveat that it all depends on the condition of the baby which also determines how many feedings I give the Diastat... but generally it is 12 to 24 hours and things are good.. not always great, but usually at least good and improving.

I do not believe this is on the label, but I keep the Diastat (and Electrostat) stored in my freezer just like powdered formula. I love the Diastat and it has saved quite a few babies for me...

[Sir Rodney]

Great, thank you! Then, it appears to be that perhaps the Diastat might have saved her, then and the Esbilac might be at fault.

One thing -- the FV 20/50 package says it needs to be mixed with warm water, and some here say it needs hot water and blenders to thoroughly dissolve. In order to settle bubbles, I tried mixing it up with room temperature or slightly warm water with a spoon half hour ahead, keeping it in the frig, and then heating it up to use. However, it became very foamy! Some here recommend letting it sit in the frig for a while for bubbles to settle and the stuff to be thoroughly incorporated into the water. It then needs to be rewarmed -- is this problematic? Should it be made up fresh each feeding? This foamy business is unacceptable. How do you prepare yours?

Thank you again!!

[Spanky]

I personally use hot water... the hottest my tap produces which is about 180 - 185 degrees (Fahrenheit).. and a "blender bottle":

https://www.amazon.com/Blender-Bottl...NsaWNrPXRydWU=

I give it 100 shakes.. stopping part way through to open the lid and relieve some of the pressure (I have had the top pop open from the pressure, presumably gases being released). Then I leave it on the countertop for about 30 minutes and shake some more and then put it in the fridge. It is in the fridge about 6 hours and I will shake it every so often (not as "rigorous" on this schedule, but if I happen to open the fridge it gets shaken). It gets shaken more at each feeding.

I do not make it up each feeding, I usually make what I expect is enough for 36 hours. It needs to sit (IMO) for a few hours to thoroughly dissolve and mix up.

Rewarming is problematic. Once refrigerated only what gets fed should be warmed, anything warmed not fed should be tossed. For warming I use an insulated cup with the hottest tap water my tap produces in which I place the filled syringes (nipples attached) to warm up in that cup... multiple syringes (and multiple cups if I am feeding many)... any formula (syringes) warmed but unused get tossed.... never heat up formula then put back in the fridge to use later, that will only cause problems.

[Sir Rodney]

Thank you, thank you, thank you!! This is wonderful information. I had been making enough Esbilac for 24 hours and refrigerating it, then rewarming the feeding amount in a tiny jar in a little dish of hot water and loading from there. I was concerned that making it with hot water and then rewarming a feeding amount was problematic. It seemed impossible to address all concerns of solubility, bubbles, and re-warming hazards simultaneously, a real conundrum. You have resolved that for me, thank you again!

[Spanky]

Thank you, thank you, thank you!! This is wonderful information. I had been making enough Esbilac for 24 hours and refrigerating it, then rewarming the feeding amount in a tiny jar in a little dish of hot water and loading from there. I was concerned that making it with hot water and then rewarming a feeding amount was problematic. It seemed impossible to address all concerns of solubility, bubbles, and re-warming hazards simultaneously, a real conundrum. You have resolved that for me, thank you again!

I am glad it was helpful... please keep us updated on your baby's progress!

[Sir Rodney]

Will do! I'd post pics but my attempt to upload a cuteness-overload shot failed. Maybe she was just too adorable for the uploader to handle, I don't know... on a scale of one to ten, she's eleven.

[Sir Rodney]

Oh, by the way, I discovered that sieving the frothy formula effectively skims out the foam, so if it is not possible to let it sit for a long time before having to use it, this is an effective approach.