Sudden Upper Respiratory, Gasping

[ILovePeanut]

Hey all. I haven't been on here in a long time, but I'm back again for some much needed advice.

My squirrel peanut (about to be 8 years old) has always been sick off and on since she was a baby (she had serious head trauma/seizures as she fell out of a tree).

She usually gets some mild colds which are treated by an exotics vet and she gets over them quickly. We recently moved and are very far from an exotics vet (3-4 hours). I have called endlessly to find a new vet for her but no one will see squirrels in this area, and the local small exotics vet is closed down. Yesterday I came home from shopping and she was sneezing violently and suddenly. She had a lot of discharge from her nose and seemed dumpy.

I started Baytril. This morning she seemed a bit better, but suddenly took a dive tonight. I went to give her 3rd dose of baytril and when I picked her up she was gasping and open mouth breathing, though still walking around.

I currently have her set up in a nebulizer. What else can I do? I have several types of antibiotics and medications on hand. Please advise.

[Spanky]

Hey all. I haven't been on here in a long time, but I'm back again for some much needed advice.

My squirrel peanut (about to be 8 years old) has always been sick off and on since she was a baby (she had serious head trauma/seizures as she fell out of a tree).

She usually gets some mild colds which are treated by an exotics vet and she gets over them quickly. We recently moved and are very far from an exotics vet (3-4 hours). I have called endlessly to find a new vet for her but no one will see squirrels in this area, and the local small exotics vet is closed down. Yesterday I came home from shopping and she was sneezing violently and suddenly. She had a lot of discharge from her nose and seemed dumpy.

I started Baytril. This morning she seemed a bit better, but suddenly took a dive tonight. I went to give her 3rd dose of baytril and when I picked her up she was gasping and open mouth breathing, though still walking around.

I currently have her set up in a nebulizer. What else can I do? I have several types of antibiotics and medications on hand. Please advise.

I will PM dosing for Benadryl if you like to try that as an antihistamine to help dry up the snoogies.

While Baytril is typically effective for these URI's (even though it would not be expected to be as effective as experience has proved) sometimes it takes a different medication (instead of or stacked with) to clear things up. If she has received Baytril on and off over the years, it would also be the buggers are building up resistance to the Baytril.

If you care to provide more detail on your location, members may be able to assist in directing you to known squirrel friendly vets that may be closer.

Let us know if there is any improvement this morning.

[Mel1959]

I have a list of many squirrel friendly vets throughout Florida if you need one.

[ILovePeanut]

I have a list of many squirrel friendly vets throughout Florida if you need one.

Yes please! That would be wonderful. Thank you!