Results 1 to 10 of 10

Thread: Female Squirrel ? Prolapse

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Oct 2020
    Location
    Virginia
    Posts
    6
    Thanked: 0

    Default Female Squirrel ? Prolapse

    Hello everyone,

    I am new to this board and looking for help. Someone I've spoken to recently recommended that I come here and post about the situation. There are squirrels that visit my yard. I've discovered that a female (that I can reasonably estimate to be 8-9 months old) has what I suspect is a prolapse but if so I can't be sure of what type. She doesn't lift her tail all the way up so I don't feel that I can see well enough to absolutely tell. She's still eating, drinking, running (FAST at times), climbing, etc. I don't know about her defecating and urinating abilities. I'm afraid if this condition continues she won't survive. I'm looking for a Vet and Rehabber that would be willing to try to treat her condition and care for her. I want her to have a chance for survival if any way possible. If there's a financial concern on her care I can help with at least some of the cost if needed. I haven't tried to catch her yet. I would like to have the best plan possible established for her before I start trying to catch her. I'm attaching some photos that was captured from outside video cameras (that I set up for the purpose of getting better views of the problem) over the last few days that I hope helps. The last 2 photos at the bottom are the most recent. Also, if anyone can tell for sure what type of a prolapse this is (if a prolapse) and can let me know it would be VERY much appreciated. I'll be watching this thread and for pm's closely for responses (if any) to my post.

    I'm REALLY worried about her and will HIGHLY appreciate any help with her.

    Sincerely,
    Dee Dee
    Attached Images Attached Images  

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Dec 2015
    Location
    East coast of Florida
    Posts
    9,781
    Thanked: 12707

    Default Re: Female Squirrel ? Prolapse

    It’s hard to tell from the photos, but it looks like she might be in estrus. I see you’re in Virginia and I have no knowledge about when the mating cycles run for for your area. I’m in Florida and the squirrels mate year around here. I could be way off base here, so I hope others that are more familiar will chime in.

  3. Serious fuzzy thank you's to Mel1959 from:

    Dee Dee (10-29-2020)

  4. #3
    Join Date
    Oct 2020
    Location
    Virginia
    Posts
    6
    Thanked: 0

    Default Re: Female Squirrel ? Prolapse

    Quote Originally Posted by Mel1959 View Post
    It’s hard to tell from the photos, but it looks like she might be in estrus. I see you’re in Virginia and I have no knowledge about when the mating cycles run for for your area. I’m in Florida and the squirrels mate year around here. I could be way off base here, so I hope others that are more familiar will chime in.
    Mel1959, thank you so much for responding. I also questioned if she was in heat/estrus when I first saw it for a few seconds from a distance. I've never witnessed estrus in squirrels and only heats in small (approx. 10 to 15 pound) dogs so with the limited view that I got that day I thought it may be a swollen Vulva. After researching estrus in squirrels (with only finding limited and varying information and a VERY limited amount of photos) and after watching it's progression in size and the amount of protrusion via video cameras I set up over the following days I became suspicious that it may be a prolapse instead. It's been 10 days since I first saw it. Also, I've not seen a much older male approach her or follow her when he visits. There's also an older female along with another approximate January/February born female that's also visiting and I've not seen any of this happening with either of them during this time frame. I do know that the older Female had a litter in approximately January/February and another litter in approximately early July.

    I'll try to capture some other photos and post them today to see if those might be more helpful to determine what is going on.

    Thanks so much again,
    Dee Dee

  5. #4
    Join Date
    Oct 2011
    Location
    Florida
    Posts
    11,423
    Thanked: 12751

    Default Re: Female Squirrel ? Prolapse

    I also think this is estrus. The vulva of squirrels does protrude more than you would think. It’s such a pronounced protrusion that female squirrels are often misidentified as males when they are in fact female. We seem to have a lot of female squirrels that are tagged with names like Moose, Ralph, etc. on this board.

    The bright red is making this more visible and it’s probably inflammation from mating. If the inflammation causes the urine flow to be limited an infection could cause problems. You could actually treat this squirrel with antibiotics in the wild if it becomes a problem.

  6. 3 TSBers pass along the fuzzy thanks to HRT4SQRLS:

    Dee Dee (10-29-2020), Mel1959 (10-29-2020), stepnstone (10-29-2020)

  7. #5
    Join Date
    Oct 2020
    Location
    Virginia
    Posts
    6
    Thanked: 0

    Default Re: Female Squirrel ? Prolapse

    HRT4SQRLS, Thank you so much for also responding to my post. I apologize that I didn't reply earlier today when I first saw your response but right after seeing it something unexpected happened that caused my reply to have to be put on hold. I'm a bit confused about estrus/heat in squirrels. Can you tell me how long they normally stay in estrus/heat and swollen before breeding, during and after? It was 10 days ago that I saw her swollen/inflammation with a protrusion and starting 3 or 4 days ago protrusion and swelling has gotten worse. During the 10 days I haven't seen any males show any interest in her while here and haven't seen any new males in the area during this time.

    At what point do you think that infection should be considered and treated? If it would be okay with you I would greatly appreciate it if you could pm me regarding this and for discussing other related questions I have.

    I hoped to get better photos today but it's raining and the wind is up so I may not get any today.

    Thanks so much again!

    Sincerely,
    Dee Dee

  8. #6
    Join Date
    Dec 2015
    Location
    East coast of Florida
    Posts
    9,781
    Thanked: 12707

    Default Re: Female Squirrel ? Prolapse

    From what I’ve witnessed the vulva begins to swell prior to the onset of being actively pursued. Pursuit can last for several days. Once inseminated the vulva doesn’t immediately return to normal size. I’m not sure how long it actually takes for the swollen appearance to dissipate. After a successful mate the male will ejaculate a sperm plug to prevent any other males from mating with her.

    I do know of a squirrel that got an infection from the mating process that settled in her uterus which required a hysterectomy. Obviously, UTI’s can also occur this way.

    I’m don’t know how long it should take for her to return to normal.

    Have you located any antibiotics, human or animal, in case she needs to be treated? Ciproflaxin is a common antibiotic given to women for UTI’s. The equivalent for animals is Baytril. We will need a strength of the medicine and a full body photo of the squirrel to estimate the weight.

  9. Serious fuzzy thank you's to Mel1959 from:

    Dee Dee (10-29-2020)

  10. #7
    Join Date
    Oct 2020
    Location
    Virginia
    Posts
    6
    Thanked: 0

    Default Re: Female Squirrel ? Prolapse

    Mel1959, Thanks so much for the detailed information!

    Re treatment: If it would be okay with you I would greatly appreciate it if you could pm me regarding this and for discussing other related questions I have.

    I was able to capture a pic from a video from yesterday evening visit when she was standing. The white part on it is light reflecting off of it.
    Name:  Squirrel - Female - approx 8 to 9 months- #5I.jpg
Views: 334
Size:  75.3 KB

    This one below is afterwards when she had hopped across the railing and had landed for a second. Sorry but this one is from more of a distance and not as clear but I wanted to show it here because of how far it hangs down in this view.
    Name:  Squirrel - Female - approx 8 to 9 months- #5H.jpg
Views: 175
Size:  46.5 KB

    and today when she was stepping down (which can be compared to top 4 photos in my first post which was captured about 5/6 days ago.) The pics below are showing mostly the right side, and the top of it. I'm suspecting that MAYBE the swelling has gone down some since yesterday when comparing it to the above 1st photo or it's just her positional change making it appear that way. I will have to check videos tomorrow.

    Name:  Squirrel - Female - approx 8 to 9 months- #5F.jpg
Views: 209
Size:  56.9 KB
    Name:  Squirrel - Female - approx 8 to 9 months- #5E.jpg
Views: 202
Size:  56.8 KB

    Thank you so much again!

    Dee Dee

  11. #8
    Join Date
    Dec 2015
    Location
    East coast of Florida
    Posts
    9,781
    Thanked: 12707

    Default Re: Female Squirrel ? Prolapse

    At this point I don’t think there’d be any reason to not treat with an antibiotic. It’s not going to hurt her, except for maybe some gastrointestinal issues. What antibiotics can you locate? Human or animal will do. Post what you can find and the strength and we’ll get HRT4SQRLS to tell us how she dosed her wild with antibiotics.

    I don’t recollect any of the females I’ve seen in estrus have a vulva that is that red.

  12. Serious fuzzy thank you's to Mel1959 from:

    Dee Dee (10-29-2020)

  13. #9
    Join Date
    Oct 2020
    Location
    Virginia
    Posts
    6
    Thanked: 0

    Default Re: Female Squirrel ? Prolapse

    Quote Originally Posted by Mel1959 View Post
    At this point I don’t think there’d be any reason to not treat with an antibiotic. It’s not going to hurt her, except for maybe some gastrointestinal issues. What antibiotics can you locate? Human or animal will do. Post what you can find and the strength and we’ll get HRT4SQRLS to tell us how she dosed her wild with antibiotics.

    I don’t recollect any of the females I’ve seen in estrus have a vulva that is that red.
    Not at all saying it's not estrus (with or without infection) but through my recent research (and owning many female animals throughout my life) I have never seen a vulva so red which was another reason I suspected a prolapse instead.

    Re treatment: If it would be okay with you or HRT4SQRLS I would greatly appreciate it if either of you could pm me regarding this and for discussing other related questions I have. (If you would rather not please let me know.) If I lived in Florida right now dealing with this situation would be SO MUCH easier.

    Thank you so much for all your time in trying to help.
    Sincerely,
    Dee Dee

  14. #10
    Join Date
    Oct 2020
    Location
    Virginia
    Posts
    6
    Thanked: 0

    Default Re: Female Squirrel ? Prolapse

    I just realized something that I should correct. Earlier when I said "only dogs" I should have also included the many Persian cats I owned, bred and showed. But not wild animals.

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •