2 12 years old, became pretty lathargic 4-5 days and breathing thru mouth some

[mattb]

From what I read this may be pneumonia. I have some Baytril ordered from a bird place but it won't be here till next week. When we raised our 3 babies I was concerned about aspiration and pneumonia. Not sure that is what is going on now, but seems like similar symptoms. Sleeps in her house all day, seems to be opening and closing mouth regularly and yawning some. I guess mouth breathing. Sometimes when I hold her she is shaking, not always but sometimes. She makes a popping sound sometime when she breathes, but I don't hear a regular click. We worked hard to keep this runt alive. She was slow released but only made it outside for about 4 weeks before she was near dead and we decided to give her a home. She is now 2 1/2, can't jump much and has only half a tail. My daughter is a Dr and I could maybe get some human meds, but doseage will be an issue. Thanks for your help. I want to keep her going.

[CritterMom]

If your daughter could get you either Cipro or amoxicillin clavulanate - you would only need one pill of either.

Then, if you can provide us with the squirrel's weight, preferably in grams but we can do the math is we need to, and the size in milligrams of the antibiotic you get - both are available in different sizes - one of us can give you very precise directions to dilute and dose the human size med appropriately for your squirrel.

You WILL need a 1ml syringe with clear markings to do all of this.

[mattb]

I have amox-clav pills on hand but I can text her to see if she will get me one pill. Does it sound like pneumonia? Surprised, but she may be prone to lung stuff, she is small and was never real healthy.
I can weigh her.

thanks for your promptness

mb

[mattb]

My amoxclav bottle says 875-125 mg. I assume 125 mg pills

matt

[mattb]

She is 380 grams.

I am going to get a syringe will check in in a bit.

matt

[CritterMom]

I sent you the dosing by PM. Once you have gotten the first dose in, come back and give us some info on her background, diet, where and how she lives, etc.

[mattb]

Here is the background story on Rupert and his brother and sister we raised over 2 years ago. Rupert has had the first dose of amoxclav. thanks so much for this forum.


https://thesquirrelboard.com/forums/...3-little-grays

Any advice on probiotic doseage after amoxclav med?

[SammysMom]

Can you post a picture of Rupert? Has his tail always been short?
If possible, offering a heating pad set on lowin a spot where he can't reach to chew it might be comforting.

[mattb]

Ruperts tail was chewed off twice while she was outside. She was attacked in her house twice in a week and each time part of her tail was chewed off. Not sure if this picture will appear or if it is the right one. Th peic showed up and the part of the tail with no hair dropped off.

[SammysMom]

Poor sweetie... what is her every day diet?

[mattb]

This is the story of our rescues and the runt and her life and feeding today. I've tried to accomodate most everything I've read

https://thesquirrelboard.com/forums/...3-little-grays

[mattb]

I've done 3 treatments with the Amox-Clav. Rupe is still mouth breathing and no energy. When I get her out she stays out for a few minutes and gets her medicine. Pretty much stays in her box the rest of the time. Hoping to see some improvement in a day or two. Not eating much except fresh corn. 3-4 pieces a day. I cut the cob into 1 inch pieces. As long as she is eating it, I will keep giving it to her.

[CritterMom]

I read through your old thread. Is she eating the henry's blocks, and if so, how many a day? You do know how bad corn is for them, right? I would rather see her eating something else - even if you got a bottle of Ensure - the meal replacement shakes for people - and offered her some of that - try warming it.

[mattb]

This is fresh corn, not field corn. Is that still not good for squirrels? She picks around on maybe one block a day. I try to give her all types of foods since she never eats much of any one kind. Usually corn is 1 piece about an inch long per day. Only the last 4-5 days I have been giving her as much as she will eat. I've been worried about hydration and figured corn would give her moisture, too. Would she want the ensure like a baby? Should I try formula like we did the first 6-8 weeks? With a syringe? I welcome all info and tips.

thanks

[CritterMom]

It doesn't matter where the corn comes from - it isn't pesticides or anything like that that is the issue. Due to the enormous amount of phosphorus as compared to calcium in corn, it leaches calcium from the bones of the animal, causing metabolic bone disease, a huge problem for captive squirrels.

I would continue the meds, but I would also do the following immediately. Begin the MBD treatment. You need plain calcium without added D (they need D but not in the high quantities that are put in human supplements). The fastest way to get your hands on it now is Tums - the tablets you take for indigestion. Get the fruit flavored tablets and absolutely use the store brand if you have it. You want TABLETS not gummies and get a fruit flavor, not peppermint.

https://thesquirrelboard.com/forums/...-MBD-Treatment

When you get the Tums please let us know what the strength is so we can advise how much to give daily.

And PLEASE order some Henry's blocks: https://henryspets.com/squirrel-blocks/ The Picky blocks and the Walnut are very popular. They should be stored in the freezer. She should be consuming 2-3 a day. They are designed to prevent and help resolve MBD and provide all of the vitamins and minerals they need.

Yes, by all means try giving her formula, as long as you have stored it in the freezer (it goes rancid at room temp in a fairly short time). Otherwse, buy new or try the ensure in a pinch. Try heating it and using a syringe, if not, see if she will lap it off a dish.

This may be unrelated to what she is going through or it may be a big part of the problem but regardless, it is an issue. Any time I see "corn" I worry - it is SO bad for them and they love it SO much...

[mattb]

Thanks for the info. I will try to modify her diet as you have reccomended. This morning she came out for quite awhile and ate a variety of foods I put in for her. I have picky blocks and hazelnut blocks. Henris mix and I found another food mix I ordered a few days ago that should be here in a couple days. I'll dig out what it is and post in a follow up. I did buy tums a couple days ago. I should mase them up? I will ty Ensure in a saucer to see how she does. My wife has chocolate on hand, is that OK. Should I just try it? Should I get some vanilla? I have tried to give her every food option I can, hoping she will get a variety of nutrients and vitamins.

thanks

[mattb]

My tums are 1000 mg calcium. I crushed up 2 and mixed with a big tablespoon of peanut butter. Put some on a picky bloc and some on a hazelnut block. Some on a rat pellet and some on a pecan. She took the pecan and looked like she was going to eat it in her house. I pulled out all other food and just left the blocs and pellet with peanut butter on them. I will either get vanilla insure today or pick up the formula mix we had for when the quirrels were babies. It was a dry puppy formula reccomended here. I think they also do a premix, which with only one squirrel is probably enough. I used to mix a batch as needed and keep it in the frig. She is more active and checking out anything going on instead of just hiding in her box. She is still mouth breathing and a small cough evry now and then.

[mattb]

https://www.kaytee.com/all-products/...ntal-mouse-rat

This is the other food I just got. I have henri's blocs, exotic nutrition complete squirrel food and hope to get her into this more than the other foods she eats. I also got some mixed salad fixins that includes cabbage and other greenery. I'll cut down corn to just a small taste every day and maybe she will eat more of these other foods.

[SammysMom]

If you look at the back of the Tums bottle, it will show how much "elemental calcium". Best to mix the tums with water and syringe it into her mouth. One whole Tums all at once and then one Tums stretched out over each 24 hours.

[mattb]

The tums had a 1000 for the calcium listed. To be honest I am not too concerned with this at the moment. There are too many other things I am changing and concerned with. I am dosing twice a day with the amoxclav. I think we are seeing some improvement. Definitely she is more active.

That dose is so small, I wonder if it is sufficient. .12 ml amounts to a couple drops it seems to me. I am filling to the black seal of the plunger to measurement line of .12. That isn't much.

All the food has been withdrawn, except a bowl with Exotic Nutrition squirrel mix. She has never done more than pick at this. I have given her picky blocks and hazelnut blocks. She had nothing to do with them for the first couple days. Yesterday she finally got interested in the picky blocks. I microwave for 5 seconds or so and she is eating 4 of more per day. I have walnut blocks coming today along with the calcium powder Henrys sells. I hope a bit of the powder on the picky block will fool her and she will continue to eat the blocks and get additiional calcium. I have the different pellets which so far she hasn't been interested in. I would sure like to find some kind of flavoring that would make some of this other stuff appealing. She has quit eating romaine lettuce which was our go to for green stuff and I have pulled fresh corn, allowing only a piece of cob about 1/2 inch wide cut in half. This as a treat and maybe a piece of pecan twice a day. Anybody have any tips for something to season up pellets so she would be interested in them? Walnut extract or anything similar??? Is there a limit to how many blocks she should be allowed? Probably 4-6 is where she seems to be.

I am thankful for this board and the advice and help I've got here.

mattb