post mortem inquiry

[Auburndrgn]

Hi. My 2 year old flying squirrel, Peanut, passed away suddenly this morning. It broke my heart. We acquired her when my cat brought her into our bedroom at 3am -- she had hair, but could not yet see, so we estimated her at about 4 weeks old at the time. I hand raised her, and she seemed quite healthy until this morning. She was eating and drinking fine last night, but I noticed this morning she was up and running around in full daylight which is unusual for her. I went to give her a treat and noticed that she was being a bit clumsy, and at some point during the night she had knocked her water bottle off of her cage. I quickly got her a bit of re-hydration solution in a syringe just to be safe, and she drank a bit. She was still trying to run around frantically in her cage though, and trying to run in her wodent wheel (which is her absolute favorite activity) but couldn't quite get it to work right. I though maybe something frightened her so I picked her up -- she was a little cooler than normal, but she didn't try to bite so I don't think she was frightened in any way. I took her out and put her in her pouch to help warm her up and offered her a small bit of apple. She is normally very greedy for treats and is actually a little on the chubby side, but she wouldn't touch it. I tried all of her favorites and she wouldn't eat. Her poop was normal, soft, and abundant, and she did pee -- though she did both in the pouch which is NOT normal for her. She wouldn't settle down, just kept turning around in circles in her pouch as fast as she could manage and then she stuck her head out and died as I was petting and trying to calm her. All of this was within about an hour. I am racking my brain to try to understand what happened -- if you have any idea... it would help to know. Nothing has changed in her cage in 2 years except the addition of the wodent wheel a month ago. She runs free around the living room pretty regularly, but unfortunately I was not able to bring her out to play for the 2 days prior to this. I have slowly been switching from guinea pig food to the deluxe squirrel diet from exotic nutrition -- she didn't like the pellets, and tended to just pick out the treats so I was trying different pellets. She has always had a calcium source to nibble on in her cage. We examined her body for any bite marks, or anything unusual -- no pests, no spider or mosquito bites, her fur was thick and healthy. No discharge anywhere. No swelling anywhere. Her eyes were clear. I just don't understand. Please help.

[stosh2010]

I wish I had some answers...I don't.
Just know that I feel for your loss. ( I have lost a few...)
Soon...other, more knowledgeable members will post their thoughts...

[Shewhosweptforest]

Oh this is heartbreaking....I am soooo sorry you have my deepest sympathy...it's so unfair I can't imagine what could have caused this...I don't have flyers so I don't know much about them....you said she seemed clumsy...could she have fallen and hit her head when the water bottle fell? This does seem bizarre.....I have read here where flyers do sometimes have seizures and die suddenly I will pm a few flyer people and see if they can come and help you figure this out...I know it must be eating away at you along with your grief from losing her...the not knowing is horrible

[SammysMom]

Godspeed little girl...

What did she eat besides the guinea pig food and what was in the "deluxe squirrel food"? did she eat mealworms or chicken or anything else that was a source of protein?

[HRT4SQRLS]

Hi auburndrgn

I'm really sorry about your baby. I have 3 flyers so I know how you loved your Peanut.
You mentioned the calcium so I assume that you're aware of squirrels need for calcium and Metabolic Bone Disease. You mentioned changing to the exotic nutrition food from the guinea pig food. Unfortunately the guinea pig food isn't great for flyers. Guinea pigs have a different type of digestion. They are primarily grass/hay eaters. Many of the GP foods are made from ground Timothy or alfalfa hay as the primary ingredient. Some of the others are primarily seeds and nuts. Flying squirrels are not grass/hay eaters. They are omnivores so they eat plants and meat. In nature they eat insects. We feed mealworms or WaxWorms and other sources of protein like chicken.

Diet is very often the cause of illness and death in squirrels. A diet too high in phosphorus containing foods (like nuts, corn and seeds) and too low in calcium will cause a critical imbalance in these 2 minerals. Calcium will be leeched out of the bones. Flyers are so delicate and their bones so tiny that an imbalanced diet can lead to serious issues fairly fast. Symptoms of MBD are seizures, hind end paralysis and death. These are end stage symptoms but long before obvious symptoms are seen the dietary imbalance is slowly eroding the bones and causing other metabolic issues.

I'm really not familiar with the food from Exotic Nutrition. I have researched it before but I can't speak about it with any real 'data based' knowledge. I know it is highly promoted as a good food for flyers. My personal opinion is that it has too many nuts. From their site, they say... . Includes walnuts, pecans, pistachios, almonds, dried fruits and high-protein pellets. That's a LOT of nuts. I don't know how they have balanced the calcium requirements. I would certainly HOPE that they have added the needed minerals and vitamins but I just don't know.

We always mention diet because it seems to be the number one cause of illness and death BUT I will say that there is another issue related to flyers. There is a phenomenon in flyers that is associated with 'sudden death' that is NOT associated with diet. It has been researched. There is a thread on the National Flying Squirrel Association board about this issue. There has been an ongoing study where these 'sudden death' flyers are necropsied. As far as I know, a definitive cause has not been determined.

I'm just giving some of the causes that can lead to death in flyers. As far as your Peanut, I can't say with any certainty.
What I do know is that you have a broken heart from the loss of your friend and I'm truly sorry about that.

[Nancy in New York]

You mentioned the only thing new in her cage the last month was a wodent wheel.
Did she chew on the wheel? If so, what is it made out of?
I'm not familiar with flyers or their chewing habits, though I know reds, and
greys will chew plastic. (if that's what your wheel is made out of)
Is there anything coated with PVC in the cage?

[Nancy in New York]

Oh this is heartbreaking....I am soooo sorry you have my deepest sympathy...it's so unfair I can't imagine what could have caused this...I don't have flyers so I don't know much about them....you said she seemed clumsy...could she have fallen and hit her head when the water bottle fell? This does seem bizarre.....I have read here where flyers do sometimes have seizures and die suddenly I will pm a few flyer people and see if they can come and help you figure this out...I know it must be eating away at you along with your grief from losing her...the not knowing is horrible

Hmmmmmmm the water bottle falling!
You may be onto something here Sweeper!

[Skul]

I'm thinking MBD, right along with H4S. Hi, Patti.

[pappy1264]

The lack of protein in her diet stands out. Guinea pig food is for herbivores (gp's) but flyers need meat (ie mealworms, waxworms, chicken for protein. Yogurt is another source). Sadly, it sounds as if her diet was very lacking in what a flyer needs. Where did you read to feed her guinea pig food? Flyers also seem to be more susceptible to seizure disorders, and am wondering if that is what was going on.

[Mommaluvy]

Oh this is heartbreaking....I am soooo sorry you have my deepest sympathy...it's so unfair I can't imagine what could have caused this...I don't have flyers so I don't know much about them....you said she seemed clumsy...could she have fallen and hit her head when the water bottle fell? This does seem bizarre.....I have read here where flyers do sometimes have seizures and die suddenly I will pm a few flyer people and see if they can come and help you figure this out...I know it must be eating away at you along with your grief from losing her...the not knowing is horrible

When reading her discription and the circling.. I thought of head trauma also.
I did not catch the part about the water bottle.

I would suspect that it was a fall.

I also thought maybe she got into something running around the room free.. But if she had not been out in two days then I would "assume" that ruled out poisoning.

I am really suspecting a fall.