Young Chipmunk - had 5 days without much improvement

[bl8rchk]

It's wednesday evening. Last Saturday morning, we found a chipmunk running circles in a road. There was a cat nearby that no longer seemed interested in it. He was wet and pretty easy to catch. We took him, got him cleaned up and put him in a box with some peanuts for the night. We saw no injuries. The next morning he seemed good so we tried to let him go. He ran in circles squeaking. Not one consistent circle, just not really taking off. We put him back in his box and I started calling wildlife rehabbers. Either they didn't answer or their voicemail said they were full. So we decided to try and help him. Got a hamster cage and some critter food (seeds and nuts) and some bowls. The next morning, I was giving him water + sugar and salt and realized he was trying to nurse the dropper and he's probably young. His ears are open so I'm guessing 3-5 weeks? We got ebsilac puppy formula and fruit for him.

He's so sleepy all the time. Everything I've read says he should be able to maintain his body heat at this point but he isn't. I'll get him out to give him some formula and he doesn't want to wake up and stops at about 2ml and falls asleep every time. He'll eat a little strawberry and blueberry and fall asleep. He only grabbed 1 piece of corn from the critter food. I haven't seen him drink in his water at all. Any amount of effort and he falls asleep where he is. Sometimes shivering. He's always cold in the morning. Now that he's closer I can see he isn't getting around well, he falls over a lot. I think one of his front feet is messed up. Although he does use both of them to try to hold his fruit. I thought it was neurological but it looks more like limping.

What can we do different? Why is he so sleepy? Should I try formula more often? We want to help him!

PS - I do have a video of him walking but I'm not sure how to post it

[olorin19]

I have no experience with chipmunks, but this link will take you to all threads here with ‘baby chipmunk’ in their title.

Until you get a reply from someone with experience, you might look around here -

https://thesquirrelboard.com/forums/...archid=2583929

[Centerline]

I'm not one of the experts, but if he has any wounds from the cat, he will need an antibiotic. Start thinking about that for when one of the experts gets back to you.

[TubeDriver]

Centerline is 100% correct. If these injuries were a result of a cat attack, he needs to be on antibiotics. Cipro, clavamox or Doxycycline are all possible ABs. Usually a single pill is enough for a full course of treatment. See if you or any friends or family members have an unused pill or two. If so we can help with exact dosing prep/directions.

In the meantime, keep him warm and make sure that he has access to water (tiny bowl or saucer). You can give him formula using a small paint brush if you don't have a 1ml or similar small syringe. You can offer him some nuts or rodent block if you have any. If he feels cold, place a heating pad on low under half his container so he crawl off if he gets too hot. He does not look very young in the photo, he might be a young adult?

[bl8rchk]

Centerline is 100% correct. If these injuries were a result of a cat attack, he needs to be on antibiotics. Cipro, clavamox or Doxycycline are all possible ABs. Usually a single pill is enough for a full course of treatment. See if you or any friends or family members have an unused pill or two. If so we can help with exact dosing prep/directions.

Thank you for the advice. He doesn’t have any wounds from the cat.

However, I’ve been reading and reading and think he might have pneumonia, maybe. I know for a fact the first few times I gave him water I was feeding him on his back and some came out of his nose. When he’s curled up tight and I’m holding him snug (trying to warm him up) I hear clicking. I thought it was a chewing sound. But, he doesn’t do it all the time. If that’s the case, would I be looking for the same antibiotics or something different? How do I get it if no one has leftovers?

[TubeDriver]

If there was a cat nearby when you caught him, I would suspect a a cat injury. These injuries can be hard to see, sometimes just very small (but deep) punctures type injuries. But the treatment is largely the same for both cat attacks and AP. Cipro would be my first choice because it is fast acting. However, with AP, the clicking should be constant and not erratic. If you hear it some of the time but not all of the time it is probably not AP. But I would start AB in any case. Check with friends, family to see if anyone has any extra AB pills. Another option would be to continue call rehabbers to see if anyone can take him.

Thank you for the advice. He doesn’t have any wounds from the cat.

However, I’ve been reading and reading and think he might have pneumonia, maybe. I know for a fact the first few times I gave him water I was feeding him on his back and some came out of his nose. When he’s curled up tight and I’m holding him snug (trying to warm him up) I hear clicking. I thought it was a chewing sound. But, he doesn’t do it all the time. If that’s the case, would I be looking for the same antibiotics or something different? How do I get it if no one has leftovers?

[TubeDriver]

How is this little one doing? Were you able to find any ABs?