Advice needed

[Mel1959]

History: I released two squirrels for another rehabber about 6-8 weeks ago. These two spent about 4 weeks in my RC while they matured. I never handled them. They live in a nest box above the RC.

About 2 weeks ago we noticed the little girl in a head down position and barely able to climb the tree. I captured her and put her in a small cage. Dr. E was out for a few days so I took her to another vet. Costly mistake. The vet said she had a broken top tooth and removed that part. She prescribed metacam and SMZ and said she would get better. On the xrays, which I sent to HRT and Dr. E, we noticed a very white area around her intestines. No one knew what it was. She also was doing some raspy breathing that sounded funny. I knew before I could move forward with her I had to have Dr. E evaluate her, at least to know what was going on with her tooth.

Fast forward: I took her to Dr. E last Friday and she did new xrays and tests. She discovered that she has a ruptured spleen with some bleeding which has subsided but must be reabsorbed. She also has some type of injury to her lungs which is causing the raspy breathing. Both of these injuries are quite painful so she prescribed a very low dose of prednisone, some antibiotic/dex nose drops and told me to continue with the oral antibiotic. It could take a month for her to recover

Here is the problem: She isn't willing to eat on her own. She seems depressed about being inside in the cage. She stays in her cube until I coax her out to feed her some mashed avocado mixed with baby food and a pinch of Henrys vitamins. I’ve also tried mixing ground nuts with a little almond butter and honey which she nibbled on but didn’t munch down like you’d expect. This morning she was willing to eat a few things when I held them for her but I don’t know how to get her to willingly come out of her cube and eat on her own. We go through an oral feeding syringe daily as she bites it and renders it useless. Any ideas on what to do to encourage her to eat on her own?

A couple of times I’ve taken her small cage outside and placed the small cage, with her in it, in the RC so she can smell and see her brother and she perks right up. She climbs on the cage but unfortunately begins to chew the cage wire, so I don’t leave her out there long.

[Ozzy2019]

Great info on back story. How is her spending amd teeth. Unfortunately I dont see the question.

She definately cat chew the bars or hardware cloth.

Will she eat henerys healthy blocks?. That jas all the calcium amd vitamins in it.

Is it her tooth that is makeing it where she cant eat?

How long have you had her?

Do you know how she injured her spleen? Was it a fall, okay or maybe they need seperate but close by cages to acclimate to outside before you release them.

With her diet I worry that she will get metabolic bone disease also on top of what she is dealing with.

Has she been back to the vet ? 2 reasons I ask. Is her spleen getting better? Second question about the vet. How is her tooth that tje first vet trimmed.

Sincerely mary rizner

[Mel1959]

Thank you, Ozzy, for responding. You might have missed that I’ve had her in the house for about 2 weeks. The vet is assuming she fell from a tree because of the types of injuries sustained. No doubt she hit branches on her way down.

I know chewing on the cage isn’t good. My point with sharing how she acts when she goes outside in her cage is to show the contrast to how she acts while inside in her cage. Her brother is released and in the trees....they are not sharing a cage.

The first vet didn’t trim her tooth, she removed the broken part. The remaining portion of the tooth is still under the gum line. I just had her at the vet on Friday of last week. No, she hasn’t made a return trip as there’s nothing more the vet can do. It’s a matter of time for her to heal.

Her inability to choose to eat on her own does not seem to be due to her tooth injury as she is happy to chew on the feeding syringe as well as chew food items when they are held for her to grasp. She is no doubt upset about being contained in the house in a small cage that limits her movement. I have offered Henrys picky eater blocks and she bites them while throwing her head side to side and dispersing the block all over the floor. She is not a happy camper.

The reason I asked for advice about feeding was to see if others that had taken in a wild squirrel might have some helpful hints to encourage her to eat on her own. She is for all intents and purposes.....wild. She would gladly bite my finger, in between teeth chatters, if I get it too close to her mouth!

[tgramsey]

I posted a very similar question 2 weeks ago. My first released squirrel ever - from 4.5 years ago - showed up with a fractued leg. He still has a few weeks of recovery to go. Not only was/is he pissed off living in a cage, he won't eat veggies, boo balls, or blocks. Here's what I'm doing to cram in some nourishment in:

--Started out with Henry's vitamins/protein in apple juice and in a variety of baby food fruit. Worked for a bit, but he started resisting. It's a lot of powder.
--Lately, he surprised me by drinking a little FV via syringe. I use a long nipple to get it deep into the side of his mouth. I dilute only 1:1 or 1:1.5. He will only tolerate it for so long and I want to get in as much nutrition as I can. The thickness also helps because he has to smack a bit and can't just let it dribble out.
--I also dust fruit, avocado, and nuts in either Henry's vitamins, protein, calcium or FV powder.
--I bought some calcium/magnesium liquid online and give him a 1/4 teaspoon of that a day. It's orange flavored and he likes the taste.

I rotate his cage with fresh veggies every day: Endive, broccoli, tomatoes, zucchini, dandelion, sugar snaps, kale, aragula, bok choy. I think, at best, he ate 1/4 of a cherry tomato and one single bite of zucchini so far. Period.

Good luck. I've tried a lot (A LOT) of options and these few tricks are the only things working. I hope something here helps.

[Mel1959]

I posted a very similar question 2 weeks ago. My first released squirrel ever - from 4.5 years ago - showed up with a fractued leg. He still has a few weeks of recovery to go. Not only was/is he pissed off living in a cage, he won't eat veggies, boo balls, or blocks. Here's what I'm doing to cram in some nourishment in:

--Started out with Henry's vitamins/protein in apple juice and in a variety of baby food fruit. Worked for a bit, but he started resisting. It's a lot of powder.
--Lately, he surprised me by drinking a little FV via syringe. I use a long nipple to get it deep into the side of his mouth. I dilute only 1:1 or 1:1.5. He will only tolerate it for so long and I want to get in as much nutrition as I can. The thickness also helps because he has to smack a bit and can't just let it dribble out.
--I also dust fruit, avocado, and nuts in either Henry's vitamins, protein, calcium or FV powder.
--I bought some calcium/magnesium liquid online and give him a 1/4 teaspoon of that a day. It's orange flavored and he likes the taste.

I rotate his cage with fresh veggies every day: Endive, broccoli, tomatoes, zucchini, dandelion, sugar snaps, kale, aragula, bok choy. I think, at best, he ate 1/4 of a cherry tomato and one single bite of zucchini so far. Period.

Good luck. I've tried a lot (A LOT) of options and these few tricks are the only things working. I hope something here helps.

Since you’re in a similar situation I’ll share what I’m doing. I mash fresh avocado then add some veggie/fruit combo baby food and 1/4 tsp Henrys vitamins. Then I thin it with a little water. I make enough for the day which is two feedings. She seems to like it well enough, just hates being held to feed. It’s going well enough since I have to give her medicine twice a day, but that’s not going to continue for too much longer and I’d prefer to not have to handle her.

Maybe this is why they were so skinny and small when I got them. They were in a small RC with a lot of other squirrels which is why I took them. They ate fine once they were in my very large RC and had room to run around.

[BigNibbler]

Mel, some time ago I discovered that by using a branch ( your job is to select the right gauge and species ), to approach the difficult subject with, you can overcome that biting action. The branch is basically her friend. It is not a predator and is something generally familiar to her.
IF she attacks it, in a disposition inspired by you, or her frustration, she will attack in in one of two ways.
Suddenly or continuously.
Continuously means she is chewing and getting her frustration out while also in your proximity, getting more comfortable with you.
You can shorten the branch each session, of course.
IF she does it suddenly, she may find some discomfort in doing so. It is hard and not going to just accept her staccato tooth attack.

I had a very seriously injured little guy with massive abscesses, that needed attention. One was on his chest below his neck making climbing impossible as the abscess kept his arms from grabbing the tree. The other was on his hip, totally preventing his leg function.
Within a day or so, once he was captive, I used the branch technique to overcome his biting reflect for me.

He had a full recovery eventually. But he had to let me slice open and off massive amounts of putrid flesh and had to take meds.

I think your friend needs a lot of TLC now. I would give her treats she wants to eat, like nuts out of shells. Almonds are the best. Slice them, or buy the slices in Trader joes. You can put them in a jar and shake them up with some Calcium D3, powder, a pinch for a fine coating.
Give her plenty of time to heal, both emotionally and physically.

Maybe, put the small cage inside the release cage, and keep the release in the release cage to keep both in close contact .
Have to try a few things see what works best.

[tgramsey]

Thanks - I tried baby food and Henry's watered down, but not with avocado - will give it a shot. He doesn't like to be held either, but I have to get him out at least twice a day. I wrap him up and give him a lot of cuddling and scratching between every bite. He loves a warm rag wiped acorss his face to clean him up between bites, too - helps calm him.

Since you’re in a similar situation I’ll share what I’m doing. I mash fresh avocado then add some veggie/fruit combo baby food and 1/4 tsp Henrys vitamins. Then I thin it with a little water. I make enough for the day which is two feedings. She seems to like it well enough, just hates being held to feed. It’s going well enough since I have to give her medicine twice a day, but that’s not going to continue for too much longer and I’d prefer to not have to handle her.

Maybe this is why they were so skinny and small when I got them. They were in a small RC with a lot of other squirrels which is why I took them. They ate fine once they were in my very large RC and had room to run around.

[Mel1959]

Thanks - I tried baby food and Henry's watered down, but not with avocado - will give it a shot. He doesn't like to be held either, but I have to get him out at least twice a day. I wrap him up and give him a lot of cuddling and scratching between every bite. He loves a warm rag wiped acorss his face to clean him up between bites, too - helps calm him.

I had to chuckle....these guys are like two peas in a pod. I also give nice head strokes even some under arm scratches being careful to watch for her mouth to bite. Mine also loves the warm wash cloth. She actually bites it, grabs it and holds on to it. Too funny!

[tgramsey]

Now if they would just eat peas in pods! Yeah, he really loves chest scratches, but like you, I have to watch him. He shuts his eyes and gets sooooo comfy. Then all of a sudden, he snaps. I imagine him thinking, "Wait. What am I doing!? I'm wild now. I can't just sit here and get scratched like a common house pet." Then looks for the closest finger to bite. I've escaped so far.

[Lighten-Up]

The only thought I have is a suggestion to try homeopathy. I know that not everyone believes in homeopathy and I respect whether you do or don't, but since I don't know, I will relay the following:

Arnica montana homeopathy, the little sugar pills, in my opinion would be an awesome support to her. They are indicated where there is trauma from falls and injuries. It is my thinking that this energetic addition to what you are already doing, might really help her emotionally/energetically, and get her over her slump. It could make her feel better in her emotional body so that she regains the interest to eat on her own.

I am not an expert in homeopathy, I've been using it on myself and just used it on Corwynn for an issue he developed and he responded beautifully. You can use homeopathy in conjunction with medications, just not accupuncture.

Since I didn't think I'd be able to get a squirrel to let a pill dissolve under it's tongue for 5 minutes, I dissolved the pill in water, shook the bottle per recommendation and then put a small amount in a little dish and asked him to put his lips on it. It just has to touch a mucus membrane and it gets absorbed. At first Corwynn wouldn't mouth it (he looked at me and said seriously, this looks like boring water, so I rubbed it on his anus area because he is still in the RC and friendly with me; but I'm sure you could get creative as to how to get it on her. My next visit I put my finger in the dish and he put his mouth over my finger, this worked too. I would dunk a nut in it if I had too. Technically you are not supposed to give it within 15 minutes of food, and you are not supposed to touch the water, but if that is the only way to get it to them, it is ok. After the first two doses, he happily stuck his mouth in the water. Maybe he knew this was helping him.

If you decide to try this, you should see an improvement within a day. If it is the right remedy it works fast. Depending on the strength you choose depends on how often to give it, and you stop giving it as soon as you see the improvement you need. It can be just one dose, or several days.

If you are interested, I'm happy to answer more questions as I haven't explained everything. I just wanted to offer this avenue. I wish you the best