Odd bathroom behavior. Should I be worried?

[Maddie]

Hello again,

Ive observed some odd bathroom behavior for the last day and half. Perhaps it's just me being over worrisome, but I thought it didn't hurt to ask. My girl, Ziggy, is a few days away from being 5 months old. When I'm home she will spend the day with me doing chores, playing, and naturally chasing her when she picks up something she is not allowed to have. Very sweet, very mellow (for a squirrel). I'm preparing to leave for a few days and have been doing laundry and deep cleaning my room. Ziggy, who has never done this prior, has been peeing in the oddest of places. On a stack of clean cloths, on a blanket, on my desk, on a bookshelf, by a window. I don't understand it. Ever since she could 'go' on her own she has been doing her business in the corner of her sleep cage almost ritually. At first I thought she was just agitated because of the vacuum and me switching out her nesting blanket, but when I woke her up from her nap earlier this evening I noticed she actually peed a little on her blanket and it was yellow with a stronger oder. That is very abnormal. She has never peed where she has slept before. And even more she has been peeing in smaller amounts more frequently. Something else I noticed, she's been running out of my/our room to go sit in the living room. She'll just sit for a bit until I go get her. Then she'll hop back on and do the same thing a few minutes later. This has happens at least 3 times in the last 48 hours.

About her health background: She has a large outside cage that she is in a minimal of 4 hours a day and a maximum of 8 where she runs/plays and gets her energy out. I think she is a bit on the chubby side, but she's a little small for her age body wise. I'm almost positive this is due to her state when I first took her into my care at a younger age. She was very under weight, very dehydrated, and very lethargic, but that changed with in a few days time. Sometimes, when she spends a long time outside her eyes get a little red almost like allergies, but this is normal for her.

Her diet: She eats a healthy diet of mostly fresh vegetables and fortified rodent block: broccoli, carrots, snap peas, green beans, squash, zucchini, tomatoes, red lettuce, asian purple lettuce, green lettuce, and garden greens, rarely cauliflower. She receives a very very small tangerine (smaller than a chicken egg) or cumquat or small piece of pomegranate once a day. Every other day she'll receive a 'all natural rodent apple triscuit' that contains a good amount of calcium and no vitamin D/corn/seeds/or peanuts, this came recommended by a veternarian professor specializing in small mammals. I switched to these about two weeks ago. I give her one of these triscuits if and only if she receives a nut to counter the phosphate in take. She has access to water at her leisure via bottle. The amount she drinks fluctuates. When she seems to be stressed or constipated, I add a very small amount of pedialyte to her outside water to help.

Has anyone had similar issues or know of a reason why? I'm worried she has a bladder issue of some sort.

[farrelli]

What kind of rodent block?

She may have a UTI, but some sqs tend to pee in a lot of places. You could see if she likes cranberries, many do and they're in season, or at least real cranberry juice, not that Ocean Spray crap. The frequency and the odor lend themselves toward a UTI, as does the unusual behavior. She may need antibiotics. Do you have any? We can tell you how to dose them if you have the right stuff. Baytril and Cipro are optimal.

[Maddie]

What kind of rodent block?

She may have a UTI, but some sqs tend to pee in a lot of places. You could see if she likes cranberries, many do and they're in season, or at least real cranberry juice, not that Ocean Spray crap. The frequency and the odor lend themselves toward a UTI, as does the unusual behavior. She may need antibiotics. Do you have any? We can tell you how to dose them if you have the right stuff. Baytril and Cipro are optimal.

I've tried a variety of pellets, but the only one she seemed to really enjoy eating is the Kaytee Forti Diet Pro Health. I know it's not the best, but it beat her attempting to hide food so she wouldn't have to eat the pellets.

Luckily I live in a very fruitful (no pun intended) area, so I can pick up some cranberry juice at the farmer's market first thing in the morning. I don't have any animal specific antibiotics on me. However, I can wait 5 days for the vet clinic near me to open back up. It's technically a clinic with in a vet school and doesn't take non-emergency appointments during finals. They specialize in small mammals both exotic and non.

Would you suggest trying the cranberry juice and seeing if there's a change over the next five days?

[Maddie]

Her privates seem normal, not red or swollen and no pain when I push on her lower abdomen. Nor does she look like she's straining when going to the bathroom, it's just very sudden and unexpected. I can usually tell before she goes. I'm doing everything I normally do when checking a baby for a UTI, but squirrels are very different lol.

Is it possible she senses I'm leaving and is angry at me? Everywhere she has peed is somewhere she knows she's not allowed to play. She's also been unusually attached through out the day. I know it seems crazy, but I had a dog when I was growing up that would do something similar like hide things or pee somewhere I'd see. This is the first time I'm leaving her for more than two days.

[farrelli]

Cranberry juice or cranberries can't hurt.

It doesn't have to be an animal AB. Most of what we dose here is human. Cipro is human and perfect for this. Very commonly prescribed.