Sarcoptic Mange desperate situation

[CritterMom]

May I ask why you are so certain he doesn't have pox? I know you have it down there; I helped someone this winter with some poxy Boston park squirrels (not the Common). I have never seen big lumps and bumps with mange - this looks like he has pox which compromised his immune system and allowed the mange to get it's teeth into him. If he was one of "mine" I would be treating him for both. Acyclovir works with pox. If you are interested in trying, let me know.

[astra]

ivermectin is very potent and accumulates in the system, so piling doses without a break may become toxic.

As for Revolution, it is normally applied topically.

I recall a while back that someone said it was safe to give Revolution orally, but then it was scratched because it turned out it was dangerous and toxic to give it orally.
So, the standard protocol for Revolution is topical application. And it has to be applied on skin directly (not just fur). So, if it is possible to hold this little guy, part his fur between his shoulders and put a drop of Revolution - wonderful.

Also, Rev. and ivermectin should not be mixed, as far as I remember. So, a break is still needed before Rev. can be applied. I do not remember how long the break should be, but I'd think that at least a week.

If, indeed, someone has tried using Rev. orally and it has been proven that giving Rev. orally is totally safe - wonderful. But if there is no proof that it is safe orally, then, personally, after that situation when I was told it was safe, then, it wasn't etc. etc., I would not risk it. Just imo.

But if it is pox, then - CrMom's suggestion may help very much.

[missPixy]

I would agree with CritterMom that his bumps and lumps look much more like pox than any case of mange. And keep in mind that when there is an underlying health condition, the immune system is compromised and allows demodex mites to proliferate. when the immune system is working as designed, the normal few demodex mites that are always in the fur follicles are kept at very low numbers.

[SquirrelSense]

Thank You Island Rehabber & Tubedriver. I am so angry at this disease!!!! They surely look like a set of new eggs and or bites. Especially with the white crusts! I know what you mean re killing his drey mites, but these lumps/acne...not oozing blisters are almost a repeat performance of the initial outbreak! I'm feel SO bad for him and defeated. It's a roller coaster for sure. His attitude and pep is up then suddenly his skin looks like he had a diet skin clogging of pizza!
The worst part is is does not look fungle with the specific crater lumps, it's not along his lymph tract either. It's head/back torso. It does not look to be oozing pustules or cancer since it's going in phases. I almost want to declare he has a new cropped resistant mite that has chosen our toughest squirrel to pick on!!!

Today would be his Ivermectin day in 3 hours. If you think I should even try a 1/2 rice grain size of Ivermectin, Don't have the the other meds) I will, otherwise I'll let it go till nest week.
I do fear if this ramps up again we might loose him to these blood sucking freaks! Damn Winks! Just want to see him gain fur and weight, loose this skins horror and stop regrowing these eruptions and crusts. He's the Mount Vesuvious of skin mite/diseases. It is possible for arachnids to become immune to drugs.
I truly am hesitant to give him dose 4 as today is his 'Wed' dose day. Well, if you think I should risk vampire bugs or treat him at 5:30 EST tonight.. Please weigh in ASAP🙏🙏🙏😿😿🐿💜🐿 and thank you for loving lil Winks.we sure do

[SquirrelSense]

Winks looked great yesterday. Of COARSE we lost land line, Internet and wifi till today 5 min after writing you.

Have the feeling there is an issue with Winky getting 'inflammations' which puff up those mite bites and re-irritate his skin. Island Rehabber & Tubedriver, since day one Winky has had thses semi-common reddish balding patches over his brows others get, (mainly males), that come and go during seasons in the park. Could be allergies or reaction to chemicals they put down. They get bad.. Then seem to recede .. almost go away.

Yesterday Mr.Winks' energy and appetite were the best yet. He ate, ate, ate. 3 hours. (Often in a rush I forget to put all the ingredients in the food down.. I do add org nutrit. yeast, probiotics etc, many other boosters by the way. His nutrition has made a world of difference.. recall he can not crack most nuts or other food and incisors get long so he's always been small. The incident that left him one eye blind and quasi lock-jawed has been since he was a wee one. I am guessing a big chomp in a dog mouth)

I was elbow and belly down on the grass 1-2 inches next to him over a coarse of afternoon/eve. He ran to me ASAP as soon as I called for him and he ran across the lawn to me. At first he was so fast and determined I wasn't sure it was him!. The lumps we discussed 2 days ago have 'flattened out' again (?) and crusts seemed much less.. Perhaps they get irritated systemically??? Chemically? He is one big immune mystery. No time to get pics but his self defensive 'stop annoying me you lil juv boys' was in full Winks piss off mood! Heaven tamed one as a gentle payback by torpedoing him on the way to his water bowl at 7:30 pm! Good to see!

Sorry I was down. BTW... He did NOT receive any extra meds! No Ivermectin.
He does visit other dreys so there are ops for him to get these mitey mites bites again. Thought I'd throw that out there. He's a 'travlin' man and like to visit his gals.

[Nancy in New York]

May I ask why you are so certain he doesn't have pox? I know you have it down there; I helped someone this winter with some poxy Boston park squirrels (not the Common). I have never seen big lumps and bumps with mange - this looks like he has pox which compromised his immune system and allowed the mange to get it's teeth into him. If he was one of "mine" I would be treating him for both. Acyclovir works with pox. If you are interested in trying, let me know.

I would agree with CritterMom that his bumps and lumps look much more like pox than any case of mange. And keep in mind that when there is an underlying health condition, the immune system is compromised and allows demodex mites to proliferate. when the immune system is working as designed, the normal few demodex mites that are always in the fur follicles are kept at very low numbers.

Exactly!

[TubeDriver]

Hi Bostonsquirrelygirl,

I am keeping my fingers crossed for Winky, he is one tough old squirrel!

I think you were right to hold off on any more ivermectin at this point. It takes about 12 days for all of a dose of ivermectin to be metabolized in the liver and excreted in fecal matter. So his system will continue to have therapeutic levels for several more days at least.

I agree with Critermom that this might be some mixture of Pox and Mange. The ivermectin should knock down the Mange at this point, so I would continue to support him with food and water! But a trial of acyclovir might help him if he does have Pox? I think you mentioned that one of Winky's daughters (Binky?) had Pox? If so, that would make me more suspicious of Winky also having Pox since it is apparently present in that area.

Winky

[SquirrelSense]

Hi all. I actually am not SURE that the pox babe Binky was Wink's. The willow is 35 feet high if not more. There are at LEAST 3 preg/and or nursing moms competing for the 'goddess' spot atop the tree. Bess has been in a knot hole the past 2.5 years or LONGER! Odd for one female to stay put without alt nests for safety ... But she is sight impaired.. Super gentle and easily bullied for the biggest girl in the park. Now looking at her nipples she looks like they are just starting get to be suckled. She is HUGE.. Filled with milk and this one babe was at least 3-4 weeks.. Fluffy tail. It was her reaction that startled me, perhaps I overthought it fearing the worst, but she may have just panicked hearing this terrified badly hurt babe. Bess has NO signs of Pox. No others do anyone alive or dead I've seen. Near or anywhere

I just reviewed all 300 plus films and pics from start of his weakness in Winky in March .. Full winter coat getting a but 'mangy' the think skin over what we're always areas of his brows that got pink seasonally to now. I carefully studied each infest symptom, each minute issue in behavior to physical symptom and only that one 'acne' lumpy thick classic leathery skin over his left eye ...outbreak after the extreme hair and weight loss and was in phase 2. The disease was SO classic. Thinning hair, then weak, skinny, suddenly skin and bones, shakes, .. No abscesses whatsoever. Suddenly as he scratched the hell out of the raw skin in the moist rainy cold, his move to the out of park tree... I believe he started infecting these egg lumps and got ghostly thin. The white crusts were like a page out of fox sarc pox. Whoe, crusty, dry think wrinkled skin that looked like rocks in Nain covered on the coast of Maine. Thanking my dates the past 2 days his appetite is outstanding... self defense etc. Last few days white crusts almost gone. Zero lumps.. Just flat! Even that hot red rash over the left eye is now white.. Healing! flesh finally.

Please help me keep monitoring him. I know this is an urgent post section but I DO consider Winks teetering from the edge of the world to the edge of the Rainbow bridge urgent.

Again... His reaction to Ivermectin really followed a classic mange attack followed by hatching buggers on those tubules.. the timing was spot on.. and able to see the egg sacks then those biting bastards seem to be getting killed by the following doses and hair back, big appetite etc.. We may have done it. I too am perplexed but I do think maybe this is a combo of fungle infection, poisoning from the park 'rat and plant treatments' his own allergies and infection.. Only because the pox we've seen is quick to kill healthier and don't look like this. But I'm not sure at all either. Just my gut and knowing the park and him so well.
When I see the effort the UK us putting into pox research.. How to box and send specimins etc... Scotland, UK, I'm embarrassed how little we are doing.

If these lumps reacur or any other new or repeat issues, you know I'll post ASAP.

Don't give up on us💜🐿💜🌰🐿🌰

[stepnstone]

I have never seen big lumps and bumps with mange -
this looks like he has pox which compromised his immune system and allowed the
mange to get it's teeth into him. If he was one of "mine" I would be treating him for
both. Acyclovir works with pox.

.................................................. ...............

[SquirrelSense]

I am trying to recall if it was Miss Pixie, Critter Mom... But I now have a huge decision and need your help. On the tiny screen again so I can not see who, but Simone offered to help me treat Winks with aclovir. I have never seen pox go up and down like this. The best I have ever seen is less than 50% success with pox in the best of captive rehab situations with careful food and fluids.

I am more than willing to medicate him but as far as timing around the ivermectin. Firstly, has ANYONE seen pox eruptions fill and flatten like this before! Never in my experience do they just go away, they generally fill... get worse, but not this.

I am not sure when or how much to give him around the ivermectin or if I should continue that as well.

Would anyone please help mentor me if you really think think this is pox and the meds won't kill my boy.

Whomever would like to help me get him the med will purchase but would like to have a mentor buddy since he clearly had mange too.

Feel free to private massage me xoxo.

[TubeDriver]

Send Crittermom a PM, she has acylovir and experience with it. CM would be a great resource in this situation! Without some lab confirmation, it is hard to know with 100% certainty exactly what is going on with Winky. I am no Pox expert but here is what I think: if Winky is really recovering great and all his symptoms are starting to subside, then I might be inclined to wait a bit. But if some of his symptoms are not heading in the right direction than I would be more inclined to try something else (acylovir and possibly even a course of AB?). I don't believe there are any serious interactions bewteen ivermectin and acyclovir.

Winks

I am trying to recall if it was Miss Pixie, Critter Mom... But I now have a huge decision and need your help. On the tiny screen again so I can not see who, but Simone offered to help me treat Winks with aclovir. I have never seen pox go up and down like this. The best I have ever seen is less than 50% success with pox in the best of captive rehab situations with careful food and fluids.

I am more than willing to medicate him but as far as timing around the ivermectin. Firstly, has ANYONE seen pox eruptions fill and flatten like this before! Never in my experience do they just go away, they generally fill... get worse, but not this.

I am not sure when or how much to give him around the ivermectin or if I should continue that as well.

Would anyone please help mentor me if you really think think this is pox and the meds won't kill my boy.

Whomever would like to help me get him the med will purchase but would like to have a mentor buddy since he clearly had mange too.

Feel free to private massage me xoxo.

[SquirrelSense]

Must run out to get supplies... Winks was great again.. Still skinny as HELL but ate non stop after finding me ASAP in a crown of thousands for BU Grad at the BPG yesterday!! Amazing lik guy. Thousands of humans taking selfies and my 2.5 OZ squirrel finds me for Din Din!!!!


Xoxo

[SquirrelSense]

My fear is that now that the Ivermectin has knocked out the initial sarc, then eggs and larvae creating the blisters, poor Mr, Winks is unable to grow a full coat. The ever present and classic demod. mange is splitting his regrow th off. He was getting up to 1 1/4 patches that are now stubble. Still no bumps, blisters, hunger is telling me his system craves the ability to 'get better' but food, supplements are just not enough. Once again in the worst days.. Weekend tourism, school vaca, bird feeding galore.. This lil wonder boy finds me in clouds of thousands of animals and humans. We want him to live and he is fighting for it!


Will try to put up a side by side of his long hair patch next to today's over the next 11 hours.

So there is is. I think he is now battling the ordinary mites and or fung anc the one thing this little engine that he needs is a coat! He was always small, but fur on his face and tiny tail stump are not enough. He needs a sweater, shawl, booties!!

Let's get that fur growing back and won't break off. This seems like a new unpleasant side effect of his immune deficiency. :-(


Never giving up on him! Thank you all.

[SquirrelSense]

To beat to update very much... Just wanted to send out a message to let you ALL know how valuable .. how many times daily, minute to minute, thanks are being sent out to you all. My dearest squirrel family.. When my own illness makes me feel I can't get up for me, all
I need to get going for my squirrely babes... I really-read your supportive messages and drag my whining self up to get to work in my 'science lab/kitchen' to concoct up the desperately needed food and nutrients for Winks, make some extra healing food for over nursed moms, orphans or maybe stop some other issue in the weaker kids.

You give me the strength to do it. Some of you have personally traced out when I was in a total loss.. it blows me away!
I adore you all for your support. I feel neglectful listing names because you've all taken time, thought, heard felt time to care.

Will update Winks pics and latest when I don't feel so chemo yuck myself .. hopefully by 11 am today

Just had to send this out xo

Xoxo

[SquirrelSense]

Very much looking forward to extra meds coming to treat Winks. Last images worthy posting from Saturday. The white 'spots' are where the crusty scabs were but are totally flatt. He has grown patches of fur.. Mostly arms, legs, a bit on the back but breaks after 1 inch. He has tufts of white fur inner arms and thighs but really no redriwth on his tummy or mech and shoulders.

His appetite and spunk for self protection is excellent. Not the frightened starving gut from March. He can stil do better through!

Here is later at pics
https://goo.gl/photos/pNESKGRvNCt8Ax7R6

[SquirrelSense]

Sorry last update was running out.. again re spell mess. Just have to hope you can follow. Must post such hopefulness today. Winks has me in tears of joy and pride today. Some prolonged periods I thought some periods were just too horrid, was hoping always, but unsure we would live to see enough real healthy changed to see an end to all the pain. The horrid bright pink 'burn' looking patch where I am sure the original borrowing mites took hold would inflame and subside until Winks would rub the itching larvae, then the terrible feeling of new skin that was also so dry, rashes. That and other reopening areas shredded and sloughed off in shards. All our hard work, adding more probiotics to let his sick intestines absorb the oils and nutrients have created healthy skin to grow actual 'fur coat' in the shelf-like pattern instead of wisps of no significant coverage. The past week he has eaten like a lottery winner with 24 hour room service from the 4 Seasons across the street. If there is any way you can enlarge today's images note the thick 'toupe' starting to grow over that formerly hot pink angry patch or raw skin just waiting for a scrap infection, and never seeming to heal over his left eye! If you look at the shoulder skin.. It is dark... has oils instead of cracking dead skin and most beautiful of all, fuzzy white FUR!!! White and sme other spring camouflage fuzzy soft leg, chest, even some tummy, shoulder, and neck furry warmth. I was sure if we did not get a few dry days the combination of molds, allergens, moisture, creating a fungus environment would never give him the break his skin needed. Freezing, moisture.. Even a snow storm at his worst during the first Ivermectin doses. This entire week and bumps have almost disappeared, no more white crusts, and attitude and spunk to spare! If I am 1/2 an hour late he is running to me with whatever rods and cones are left in his good eye.. he hears, smells or sees me like a babe knows his mom. Never pushed away by the tens of 6-10 week old truly aggressive lil boys. He stays put and protects his custom grub balls of yum yum!! If a dog or hawk does run the crowd up a tree trunk he makes sure he is at eye level so we can see him and he continues to chow down! You have to look back to beginning of Maybor end of April to truly appreciate this striking positive turn.

Love you Squirrel Board. I am praying anyone facing a long fight like I am going through, know we are all here praying for the best for your beautiful babes. There are days that seem so black, but this is a place of real advise, brainstorming, experience and caring beyond belief. To any seeing these you might think, what a sick lik guy, but recall the blind eye, tiny frame and 4x bobbed tail! Remember his skeletal images from fur covered with a couple numbs in March to deadly thin, hairless, shaking and grinding his teeth in agony by April.. falling off his feet he was so weak. I know he is still siceptable.. he is wild and been through Hell but each day he is not just surviving.. he is thriving.

All of you fighting for your babes Hang in there.. Me and Winks are fighting back one day at a time..
https://goo.gl/photos/tyv8CT93Dpx6WGss8

[island rehabber]

Excellent update -- go Winks!! All your hard work is paying off, BSG -- good job!
I'm thinking you no longer see those bumps that we were so worried about, right?

[SquirrelSense]

I would love to post a long update of the last few grueling weeks, but the moral is keep trying.

Winks won the fight! He is thin, (but always was a skinny scrappy alpha),.. His beautiful coat is smooth and nary a lump or bump, just the tiniest spot quickly healing over his left eye where it looked like his scalp was missing 2 weeks ago!

I hope this animation works. Posting a chronology of this horrid set of sarcoptic mange, malnutrition and recovery with the help of TSB

All of you involved in Winks care, emergency meds from CM, all the wonderful rehabbers, admins, friends...all of your wonderful advise and support has made this tough alpha male king of the park once again.

Love to all of you.

Take note of the images after Winks is drinking off the edge of the pond as those are the latest.

Love to my wonderful Squirrel Board Heroes!
https://goo.gl/photos/XVNPGZYV7s16Tp8V9

[TubeDriver]