Possible UTI and white powdery urine

[Bane]

Hey any help would be greatly appreciated, I've followed this board for years as a lifeline for my little guy. Bane is an almost 4yrs old grey squirrel. Recently he started acting very lethargic and slept more than usual. Also started having difficulty peeing, seemed to have to be pushing and only comes out drop by drop. I have also sometimes found white powder in his urine (pic attached, having issues with video upload though. that larger piece in the image is food, not a super large chunk of powder btw) and can watch him push out little white pieces of the powder when he pees sometimes.

I have Cipro on hand (250mg tabs) and have removed nuts from the diet for now. normal diet is 2 Henrys Healthy blocks a day and some fruit. Now I am sticking to just the blocks for these past 3 days (that's when I noticed the symptoms) along with fruits like watermelon and red leaf lettuce to keep hydration up. Also some cranberries but hit or miss on how he feels toward them any given day.

He weighs 477g, yesterday and today his energy level seems much better and he still eats and drinks but still noticing the issues with peeing and some powder. Also ANY help on getting him to take meds would be great! I'm so worried about my little guy...

[CritterMom]

Are you currently doing any kind of MBD treatment that involves giving calcium over and above what is in his blocks?

I can calculate the dilution and dosage for the Cipro easily, and as long as you have a 1cc or smaller syringe (no needle) you can give him the meds in the CORRECT amount for his weight. As far as taking his meds, there is really only one way of he is resistant - throw a blanket over him, burrito him so he can't take off, put the syringe in his mouth (easiest if you slide it in one side or the other, parallel with his cheek) and push the plunger. Dipping the tip of the syringe in something sweet like syrup or honey right before you put it in his mouth may help with the taste. Sprinkling things on food, etc., is not an effective way to dose - you need to get the meds IN the squirrel for them to help.

If you have no access to a vet, treating for a UTI and evaluating what changes or doesn't is a fair way to narrow things down.

The Henry's blocks are a good start, but the diet needs some further tweaking. He should be eating fewer fruits and more veggies, and probably way fewer nuts. I see that you are restricting it now, but when you go back to his full diet, think about changing exactly what that is going to be. He will probably be in a bit of a snit, but he can learn the new diet (eventually) just like the former diet.

I will send you the dilution/dosing for the cipro by PM. Remember, PLEASE. nothing larger than a 1cc syringe, even if you have to purchase one. The amounts of the dose are too small to adequately measure in a larger syringe.

[CritterMom]

Dosing sent by PM

[Bane]

[QUOTE=CritterMom;1361634]Are you currently doing any kind of MBD treatment that involves giving calcium over and above what is in his blocks?

Thank you for the advice, not doing any sort of MBD treatment above the blocks. He has not shown any signs of MBD and has been on blocks 2x daily for his entire adult life as I knew that was a serious risk.

Yea i was hoping to avoid the dreaded burrito... but its worth making him a bit cranky.

Any veggie suggestions outside red leaf lettuce, occasional small avocado piece, and cucumber? (things he currently eats and usually likes)

[CritterMom]

[QUOTE=Bane;1361637]

Are you currently doing any kind of MBD treatment that involves giving calcium over and above what is in his blocks?

Thank you for the advice, not doing any sort of MBD treatment above the blocks. He has not shown any signs of MBD and has been on blocks 2x daily for his entire adult life as I knew that was a serious risk.

Yea i was hoping to avoid the dreaded burrito... but its worth making him a bit cranky.

Any veggie suggestions outside red leaf lettuce, occasional small avocado piece, and cucumber? (things he currently eats and usually likes)

[Spanky]

I have Cipro on hand (250mg tabs) and have removed nuts from the diet for now. normal diet is 2 Henrys Healthy blocks a day and some fruit,

How many nuts were in his diet per day before they were removed?

What about veggies, what percent of his diet is veggies?

[CritterMom]

My first squirrel was a bruiser - he was close to two pounds (he could have eaten Bane and it wouldn't leave a lump!) and burritoing him was a no go - if he got loose he could legitimately kick my butt, so I came up with what I laughingly refer to as Benign Mashing. I have a memory foam topper on my bed so it is squishy. I would put him on the bed and coming at him from behind, I would toss a blanket on his back, use one hand to "mash" him down on the bed, then lean over and slip the syringe tip in and push it as fast as possible. I would then just lift up the mashing hand and run into my walk in closet to hide for a minute or two! I found that Benign Mashing was way faster and more effective - from blanket drop to running into the closet was probably less than 5 seconds, where burritoing takes longer.

It is too bad that Covid killed the grocery salad bar, because that was a wonderful way to try different kinds of veggies without a huge financial commitment. They all have their likes and dislikes. I think that sugar snap peas are an excellent "gateway" food - they almost all LOVE them - gotta be fat ones and don't even think about bringing home those stupid flat snow peas. They aren't the best thing nutritionally, but they can get them used to actually TRYING green stuff. My guy likes romaine lettuce, kale, the PEEL only from zucchini, baby carrots (babies only, no big carrots, sorry), he gets a couple little cubes of cooked sweet potato.. You just want to try different things and see what sticks, and be willing to throw it away uneaten dozens of times before maybe, maybe, he tries it - and LIKES it!

Before you try new dark leafy greens, do a google search that goes "Is (whatever the food, say swiss chard) high in oxylates?" Many are - the swiss chard is, spinach is, and those can cause kidney and urinary tract issues. You can't tell by looking - kale is a dark green vegetable and even looks a little like spinach or chard, but it is NOT high in oxylates. So you eant to make sure he is eating the RIGHT dark leafy greens, especially with whatever is happening to him now.