Confused

[Mybabypeanut]

I just got off the phone with my vet. She too want to hold off on RX BUT she wants me to give her the cal/d3 combo that I have been giving her.

Im so baffled.. Yes give d3 No dont give D3 could kill her. Do I continue with the 50 IU of d3 and the 125mg of cal? or do I stick with the HHB and see what happens.....arggggg this is such a confusing place to be.

She is up scampering and exploring everywhere. She still wont climb, still cannot hold her food for long. I put her up in 30 minutes for her afternoon nappy and lunch. No seizure in 3 days but its always on day 4 that she has one. So should I give her cal/D3 every 3 days? Thats 50 iu x 3days a week= 150 iu per week. Would that be safe? This is so scary. I would never forgive myself if I injured her in any way.

[Mybabypeanut]

****update*****

sHE DRANK WATER TODAY for the first time. She also ate 1/2 a block so far today a 8 ml of formula and LOTS of water. Happy Happy Day!!! Still no veggies but the days not over yet. Everyday she surprises me with something new. I think she is improving a lot. Especially since I took her OFF the Goat Milk Esbilac that Petco reccomended and taking away all nuts. I will give her a half a nut next week as a REALLY special treat and a blackberry which she LOVES. Thats her fave next to her HHB! Thank goodness for Leigh at Henrys and Lori for so much personal guidence. I would not be this far without them. Bless YOU all

And for anybody wanting to go down this road. Know it been 24/7 for me for 3 weeks. Im dedicated to her but if I wasnt I think I would not know about her seizures. She is never out of my sight except sometimes when in nest box but even then I put my hand in a check her breathing I think she is learning to trust herself more now and growing in confidence each day. Things she could not do in the big scary world where she was so far behind in learning and feeding herself and having seizures all alone. She was smart enough to come to me for help.

[Spanky]

So you switched from GME to Esbilac powder with the prebiotics/probiotics, is that correct? If yes, how long ago was that switch made?

[Mybabypeanut]

So you switched from GME to Esbilac powder with the prebiotics/probiotics, is that correct? If yes, how long ago was that switch made?

I changed her to 1/2 GME and 1/2 Esbilac. She wont touch it if its just esbilac.

Day 4 brought another seizure. I gave her molasses and I held her during and after close to me speaking peacefully. She came out after 30 seonds of so and went back to sleep. Then yesterday am I gave her the cal/d3 combo that usually gets her up and going. It had no affect on her yesterday. She stayed
in bed all day. She would come to the edge of her sleeping nest with her eyes open but not come out farther. I have added a fleece baby blanket that is soooo soft. Now if I could get that in adult size I would probably stay in bed all day too!! She was only interested in eating 1/2 a block and her formula only. Its as if we have gone all the way back to where we began and all the progress is mute. She had three GREAT days. I have her on a solid schedule to lessen stress. She will not eat veggies or anything unless I hold it for her. Ive had people say she is 6 months old. How did she survive in the wild with all these issues. Baffling.

Should I give her the calcium/d3 combo every other day and see if that works? Put her on rx or just let her have seizures every 4 days? Its so strange. This was a milder seizure. Its all so confusing and baffling.

Also, she seems to shred most of the block. Its about 1/2 and 1/2. She eats half and the rest hits the floor.

Also, after a seizure she goes sound asleep to the point that nothing wakes her. I was able to look at her teeth. Her bottom 2 look correct but her top two are barely rupturing the gum. They are about 1/4 inch long and squared off. Is that normal? I tried to google and I don't think its normal. She has her deer antler, maple trees, bark, ect and chews on it all.

Also, should I add a cuttle bone? I read its a good idea. I think she would chew it up. My turtle loves them and I have a lot of them.

Today she is up, out, scampering and playing. Crawling all over me like crazy. She ate 10 ml formula, 1/2 a block, and a slivered almond for breakfast. She has had no treat for at least 10 days except for a piece of apple. First nut in forever and she loved it.

Thank you all for any ideas you have to keep my baby seizure free. Bless you all..

[Mybabypeanut]

She had a seizure on 4/26 and then I think she may have had another during the night a few days later. I say that because she sleeps all day after having a seizure and she did that about 5 days ago. She usually crys out for me when she has one. Yesterday in the am she wasnt acting right. Looked like she just didnt feel good and didnt want to get out of her nesting box. When I picked her up in her baby blacket she cried a little but then fell asleep on my chest stretched out. Leigh and I thought lazy squirrel day maybe. Her schedule is up in the am, eat breakfast one clock and 10mk formula, run around for 2 hours. Then goes in her 2 story ferret encosure. I put a block, veggies chopped tiney and mixed with yogurt, CKaytee blocks, a tiney piece of fruit and a tiney sliver of almond. And a bowl of water. She usually takes the blocks and hides them, eats a little yogurt, hates anything green, maybe a small piece of fruit maybe some water. She chews on her barks, runs around the trees a bit and goes to sleep till nighttime. I let her out then and she plays for a few hours then goes into her nest box with another small plate of veggies that she rarely touches.
Again, yesterday didnt want to get up. Around noon I heard her cry out and when I got to her she was having a seizure. She was stretched out, eyes wide, frozen in place. It takes about 30 seconds for it to pass. Once it does I dipped her nipple in mollasses twice and she drank about 5 ml's of apple/water. I held her close until she curled up in her ball and she stayed in nest box all day.
This morning she was up at 9am and ready to go.. She will not come to me and wont let me pick her up. If I sit with her she runs all over me but not catch her. She drank about 5ml of formula and a little bit of a block and then off again. She sits on the back of the couch runs behind us but not catch. She will run across the floor and look back to see if we are "chasing" her. Is this a game? Is she playing? Its really frustrating because she has not had her nap all day. She may have slept some on the couch but thats it. She prances, struts and scampers everywhere all day long the day after a seizure day.
My vet is offer to put her on seiure meds. Should I? My dog once had grand mall sp? seizures and they were horrid. Thunder or firecrackers set that off. Peanuts is much milder then that but has much more often. Every four days. Vet has offered liquid calcium and liquid vit d also but Im terribly afraid to put her on that too.
Im baffeled and confused. What should I do?

[Mybabypeanut]

Everytime I write a long email I hit submit and it says Im not logged on and I lose everything. I do log on and its very frustrating.

Im here because Peanut had another seizure yesterday. Every 4 days still. My vet has offered meds, liquid calcium and liquid vit D. I dont know what to do. Nobody has replied to my latest emails. Can someone please, pleaase help me.
Also, she sleeps all day after seizure. The next day (today) she gets up at 9 am and goes all day long. Every other day I put her up after two hours to eat lunch and take a nap till evening. Tonight she wont let me near enough to pick her up. Its almost like a game, She willl run all over me, or run on the couch jump off and look back to see if Im going to chase her. Im pooped from playing that game. I think she thinks its funny!! Im worried she isnt napping. Tomorrow she will probably go back to her schedule. She should be exhausted by now....I am!! Its time for her bedtime and she isnt going to her nest box even.
So is this normal her running around with no nap for a day after seizure? What should I do about seizures? rx route, liq d route, or nothing route>

[island rehabber]

mybabypeanut, I am sorry that your squirrel is having these issues. I also have a 2-yr-old NR who gets seizures due to head trauma as a newborn; I never know when they are going to happen.
There really isn't anything you can do to stop them, from what I understand. What I would do if I were you is to improve her diet as much as you possibly can (tough love), make sure she is always in a safe environment, and keep careful logs of her seizures for future reference. Another rehabber suggested to me that injectable valium can be very helpful if you need to bring her out of a very very bad seizure.....but that is not an easy drug to get.

[Kristi S]

IR, I've wondered before why you don't have your squirrel on meds for her seizures. MBP, if I were you I would definitely follow up with your vet and try to find one that works. There are many available besides injectable valium, which doesn't sound like it would be appropriate for Peanut anyway.

I don't think vitamin D will help, and over time it could cause other problems.

Everytime I write a long email I hit submit and it says Im not logged on and I lose everything. I do log on and its very frustrating.

I've gotten in the habit of copying the whole post (Ctrl-A, Ctrl-C) almost every time I write to avoid just that! It is frustrating to lose a long post!

[CritterMom]

Guys, not about seizures but your posts. When you log in to the site and put in your password, there is a little box that asks "remember me" or something to that effect. Check the box and your posts won't time out and disappear anymore.

[island rehabber]

IR, I've wondered before why you don't have your squirrel on meds for her seizures. MBP, if I were you I would definitely follow up with your vet and try to find one that works.

She doesn't have them often enough to warrant constant medicating.
However in MBP's case they seem to be fairly regular -- every 4 days? -- and in a case like that I would look for an Rx solution.

[Kristi S]

Guys, not about seizures but your posts. When you log in to the site and put in your password, there is a little box that asks "remember me" or something to that effect. Check the box and your posts won't time out and disappear anymore.

Gee, I thought I'd checked that, but evidently not! Thanks for the tip!


IR - Makes sense! I'm glad your little sweetie doesn't have them often.

[Mybabypeanut]

She had another seizure yesterday. That was only a 3 days between seizures. She slept the rest of the day. This whole week she has had spells of seeming to not know who i am. When I give her the morning formula a block she dives back into her sleeping nest. I dont want her to stay in there all the time. before this week she got out of enclosure time every day.....except seizure days She would run and scamper and sit in the living room...we are in the den...she would play catch me if you can and if I did she would squeel very loudly like she was terrified of me. Not today I put her in her 2 story enclosure and if I try to touch her she squeels. She went from sweet, docil lap squirrel to wild ...you cant catch me...the night after her last seizure. Is this permanent behaviour? I dont thik it good for her to stay in the enclosure all day either but she wont let me catch her now of she has her normal play time out of the enclosure.

[lennysmom]

She had another seizure yesterday. That was only a 3 days between seizures. She slept the rest of the day. This whole week she has had spells of seeming to not know who i am. When I give her the morning formula a block she dives back into her sleeping nest. I dont want her to stay in there all the time. before this week she got out of enclosure time every day.....except seizure days She would run and scamper and sit in the living room...we are in the den...she would play catch me if you can and if I did she would squeel very loudly like she was terrified of me. Not today I put her in her 2 story enclosure and if I try to touch her she squeels. She went from sweet, docil lap squirrel to wild ...you cant catch me...the night after her last seizure. Is this permanent behaviour? I dont thik it good for her to stay in the enclosure all day either but she wont let me catch her now of she has her normal play time out of the enclosure.

Poor little Peanut - I can't imagine how confused and disoriented she must be after those awful seizures. I wonder if she's in pain after her seizures and that is why she doesn't like to be touched.

At six months old, it is perfectly normal behavior for them not to want to go back in the cage after playtime. What I try to do is make going back in the cage a positive experience by giving my fuzzers a treat that they really like once they are back inside and then I shut the door. You may have to bribe her the first few times to get her back to the cage with a treat. My squee have all LOVED avocado, but the only time that they get avocado is after playtime when they get back in their cage. That way they have something good to associate getting back in the cage with - I have had great success with this method for the most part. She defiantly needs her out of cage play time for exercise and enrichment. Hope you can find something that works for her.

[Mybabypeanut]

Sorry for the upcoming caps but I NEED HELP!!!! My baby has had TWO seizures today both before 2pm. I dont know what to do. Day before yesterday she was running around, playing and scampering. Then yesterday she didnt want to get out of the nest box ALL day. She ate ---good---but only in bed...would come to the edge with eyes open but just lay there. This morning I tried to slowly wake her to eat. I lifted her slowly out...she ate 10ml of formula and BOOM seizure. ******This is the same formula since day one. the esbilac 1 scoop...esbilac goat milk 1 scoop...4 scoops bottled water....1/2 to 1 scoop whipping cream**** Once seizing I gave her 4 dips of mollases on the end of miracle nipple and held her for about 30 minutes until she decided to get up. She stretched and yawned so I put her in her enclosure. I wanted her to have some excersize though so after an hour I lifted her out and put on floor of play room. She at 5ml of formula with tip of mollasses and within 60 deconds BOOM another seizure. I scooped her up again..wrapped snuggly in towel and she is in my lap now, sleeping with no interest in leaving. Her eyes say she does not feel good....when they are open.
Leigh says take off formula and put on Henrys formula which I can do later tday. I have tried EVERYthING. Stopped things, added things....everything that everyone has said to do or not do.
My vet has offered seizure medicine. Is it time to go that route? We have gone from once every 4 days to multiple seizures after only 2 days. She usually cried out bfore having one but today no cries. Her breathing seems ok. She isnt breathing hard. Her heart rate seems a little racey but closer to normal. She is sound asleep now and after seizures in the past she has alway slept away the day. they complelty ezhaust her...and scare me to pieces. PLEASE I NEED HELP. Leigh says to get a CONSULT with a SPECIALIST that someone here can give me information to locate. Please someone let me know who i need to call and asap if possible. thank you and bless you in advance for your help.
She is sound asleep back in nest box now.....Im so baffeled.

[Kristi S]

My vet has offered seizure medicine. Is it time to go that route?

YES! It's not a diet thing. It would take a very bad diet for a substantial amount of time to give ongoing seizures. It's a neurological problem, and you need to treat it with meds. You don't need a specialist, your regular vet will be fine. Phenobarbital is usually the first line of defense in animals. Sometimes it takes a few tries to get a medication that works, but there are plenty out there. Part of it depends on the kind of seizures. You have an epileptic squirrel, and have to treat her as such.

[island rehabber]

I agree that medication is the right thing to do at this point. Seizure activity this often is dangerous as it taxes her system unbearably -- we need to do something to at least reduce the severity of the seizures or their frequency. Do you have a vet who will treat her? We can look back and see who we've got in your part of the country.....hang in there!

[TubeDriver]

I agree that medication is the right thing to do at this point. Seizure activity this often is dangerous as it taxes her system unbearably -- we need to do something to at least reduce the severity of the seizures or their frequency. Do you have a vet who will treat her? We can look back and see who we've got in your part of the country.....hang in there!

This^^^^

[Kristi S]

I agree that medication is the right thing to do at this point. Seizure activity this often is dangerous as it taxes her system unbearably -- we need to do something to at least reduce the severity of the seizures or their frequency. Do you have a vet who will treat her? We can look back and see who we've got in your part of the country.....hang in there!

She has a vet willing to medicate, from what i understand.

[island rehabber]

I've been assured that a member in her area is working on finding a safe vet for her!