Vomiting, help!

[CritterMom]

If she wants to eat it should be fine, if she feels bad she may not be up to it. Remember they are just like people they sometimes have upset tummies too. I would give her a whole seedless grape or strawberry or some fresh or dried cranberries they are not acidic, relatively easy on them and provide some hydration. The cranberries are great for them just like us.

Be careful with the grapes especially if she is having gagging issues, the little part in the middle that would have seeds if they produced them can be a choking hazard as can the peel. I always peel and pit grapes. The moisture in them is great now though.

I would do a top to bottom hunt everywhere. If she is free range it is very possible she ingested something and it could even be an old nut from one of her stashes. You need to crash the place...

[Nancy in New York]

I just this second heard on the Today Show........watch your animals during the holiday.
FOIL can cause blockage.
Did you find the wrapping from the Hershey Kiss?

[CritterMom]

You earlier said her poops were normal. Have you seen her poop since the vomiting started? Can you hunt for fresh ones if not? If you have poop AND vomiting it is not as likely to be a blockage, since you have things coming out both ends. Vomiting with NO poop is indicative of a blockage issue, as the food will only go down so far and then if it is stopped, it begins to "back up" as vomit.

[SammysMom]

I don't have much to add to the great advice you are getting. I will just say that where there is vomiting there is dehydration. The fact that she looks more "fluffy" may mean she is dehydrated. Offer her water often and if it helps to add a tiny bit of sugar that won't hurt. She obviously likes sugar, what with the Hershey's kiss and all. Many prayers for her recovery. What are the "triscuits" you mention?

[Nancy in New York]

CritterMom and SammysMom are BOTH excellent rehabbers and give great advice.
Just wanted to throw this out, not to cause alarm.
Yes hydration is key when vomiting is present, good catch!
This came from another member a while back.


a complete blockage you will see no poop.
surgery would be required.

if you see poops, there may be a partial blockage,
but you will be able to give oral liquids because we know it is not adding to the issue of being blocked/backed up.

[Maddie]

It's possible she ingested foil. She had chewed through the wrapper instead of pulling it off. However, she pooped right before or during the first vomit. I'll be on the look out for more poops. I checked her for dehydration, no tenting. We're giving water with a little honey.

What would we do if the foil is blocking her digestive tract?


I feel absolutely horrible about this, I don't want her to be in pain. Especially if it's something that could've been prevented.

[CritterMom]

I would actually be more afraid of her eating tinsel or the foil wrapping paper which is really made of plastic. Real foil like on a hershey's kiss crumbles and flattens down and would be a lot more likely to be pooped out than that stuff tinsel and wrapping paper are made of now.

Is she still vomiting?

Unfortunately the only way to relieve a blockage is surgically, so let's hope this is passing - literally.

[Maddie]

She's been eating. I gave her a tomato, she ate two blocks, and 2 snap pea pods. She hasn't thrown up since the last post. She seems her normal self, but she seems like the squirrel that won't act sick unless she's very sick. Her stomach bloat is gone. We're still waiting to see if any new poops have arrived. We just cleaned her cage because we were having a hard time telling if there were old poops or new. So we will be able to tell shortly, hopefully.

Thank you all so much for your help. I feel very supported here and it really helps so much knowing that other people are here for us and Ziggy. It means so so much. Thank you.

[Maddie]

We have poop! I have never been so happy to see a poop in all my life!!

[CritterMom]

LOL!

It sounds like she is beginning to feel better. My vote is that she ate something she shouldn't. One would think they wouldn't eat rancid, bad food, but unfortunately that isn't necessarily so. Considering the fact they my squirrel would rather eat the buttons on the TV remote than anything else in the world, I am no longer surprised at this. As I said before, crash her environment, and make sure she doesn't have the opportunity to build food stashes that can go bad.

[Maddie]

LOL!

It sounds like she is beginning to feel better. My vote is that she ate something she shouldn't. One would think they wouldn't eat rancid, bad food, but unfortunately that isn't necessarily so. Considering the fact they my squirrel would rather eat the buttons on the TV remote than anything else in the world, I am no longer surprised at this. As I said before, crash her environment, and make sure she doesn't have the opportunity to build food stashes that can go bad.

I know how that is, this one ate an eraser I posted about a while back. To her dismay, she watched us ransack her sleep and outdoor cage. She attempted to get back by peeing on Ben, her papa squirrel.

Hopefully this means the end of the vomiting, but if it continues I will get a fecal float test done. I will just make sure that I bring the sample and not the squirrel. I have been checking her poop for pin worms, tape worm segments, and hook worms, but haven't seen any yet.

[TubeDriver]

That is great news! Was the size, appearance and quantity of the poop all normal? At the very least, we can rule out COMPLETE blockage since this has been going on for over 36 hours.


Continue to keep her hydrated. I would not think that a small amount of chocolate would lead to this type of vomiting.

If she was able to get into a drawer for the Herseys Kiss, she could have gotten into other stuff nearby. I would check the surrounding area and look for chew marks on things like soap, and containers, etc etc.

She is a cutie, I hope she gets over this fast.

We have poop! I have never been so happy to see a poop in all my life!!

[Maddie]

It seemed normal, not as dark as normal, but she didn't have too much to eat this morning and lots of liquids.

I agree, I think that she might've gotten into my roommate's plants while she was on holiday and just not made a mess. This is also where the hershey's kisses were. So a parasite is now a bigger possibility. I'll continue to monitor and hydrate. We just went to the store and got new veggies in case the old ones were making her ill for some reason. We just cleaned both water bottles and are about to wash her nesting blankets. We're going to be incredibly thorough.

I'll keep y'all updated and most likely ask oodles of more questions.

Once again, thank you all so much.

[SammysMom]

Ah yes...I remember the eraser! Sammy has stolen more chocolate than I care to admit and lived to tell the tale. You really want to see what kind of plants your roommate has. MANY houseplants are toxic to squirrels. So very happy that the little garbage disposal is feeling better...

[CritterMom]

It seemed normal, not as dark as normal, but she didn't have too much to eat this morning and lots of liquids.

I agree, I think that she might've gotten into my roommate's plants while she was on holiday and just not made a mess. This is also where the hershey's kisses were. So a parasite is now a bigger possibility. I'll continue to monitor and hydrate. We just went to the store and got new veggies in case the old ones were making her ill for some reason. We just cleaned both water bottles and are about to wash her nesting blankets. We're going to be incredibly thorough.

I'll keep y'all updated and most likely ask oodles of more questions.

Once again, thank you all so much.

I am a plant person - you can barely hack your way through my house - and I have studied them for decades. The VAST MAJORITY of the plants that are sold as houseplants are toxic to some degree. Some cause what you saw, some cause death. To survive indoors, plants need to be from the tropics because we cannot provide them the temperature fluctuations they would need to survive inside. Tropical plants use toxicity as protection almost universally.

[Maddie]

Update **Warning I will post a couple poop pictures**

So far no more throw up. She's been eating and very very happy to be receiving more fruit than usual. We gave her cranberries and raspberries. She goes threw periods of normal hyperactive and slow I'm tired and want to cuddle. I've launched a poop investigation and have pictures (sorry everyone). I can't tell if what I'm seeing is worm segments or raspberry seeds. Also, the quantity and size are much different than her previous poops, I'm not sure if that's do to the increase of fruit or not.

The pile on the right happened all with in a couple minutes and spread out, the one on the left is her usual pile that we picked up (with gloves) from her outside cage while cleaning.

If anyone has dealt with intestinal parasites before and could tell me if there are signs here, please do!

[Maddie]

Once again, I'm sorry about the content of these photos.

[Annabelle's papa]

We have poop! I have never been so happy to see a poop in all my life!!

I can't give an Experienced Authoritative reply, but (except for what appears to be some small Foreign specks,) that "sample" looks great. And I know you're relieved to see something from your little fuzzer. I keep up with all of my animals eliminations, it is a very good way to keep up with their Health. Especially our little Flyer, Annabelle!

[TubeDriver]

Not sure what those white specks are? They could be something she ate or tapeworm segments.

The best way to find out would be to do a fecal test. If it is just something she ate, those white specs should not appear again. If she has has these specs in her poops fairly regularly than it could be a parasite.

In the short term, frequent poops, urinating and eating without any vomiting is what we want.

It that happens, then the next step might be a fecal exam or at least keep an eye on her poops.