Need Squirrel Vet in my area for possible concussion

[tree bunny]

I have a 4.5 year old Fox squirrel. He's had an overnight change in behavior. It started July 9th. Won't come to me, not wanting to be touched, seems to not know me. He's eating and Pooping so I don't think it's from eating something bad. He seems confused. He's had a concussion before, almost died from it. I had a Vet very close by, just 3 blocks. He was a squirrel Rehabber but died 6 months after saving my squirrels life. I suspect a minor concussion again. It's been a full 4 days with some minor improvement. I do have some left over Dexamethasone from last concussion. I'm trying to give that. He's a very large and strong squirrel. He would fare better if he could have a shot of steroid rather than hit and miss of him taking it in his food. Can anyone direct me to a Vet that can treat squirrels in the Dallas Texas Metro area? I've had no luck finding one and the Grapevine Wildlife E.R. Hospital is too far away and they do not have much experience with squirrels. Does anyone know of a Vet or qualified person who could visit my home to treat him?

[SammysMom]

Are you certain it is an injury and not a shift in hormones? Are his testicles enlarged by chance?

[tree bunny]

I'm not certain it's an injury as he was fine the evening before then different the next morning. Too abrupt to blame hormones. Although, when you ask if his testicles are enlarged I must admit it does seem so. Plus he seems to be somewhat preoccupied with his penis.

[SammysMom]

Oh believe me, it happens overnight! My Sammy has gone from sweet to BIG JERK in the hours between 10pm and 7am... Keep an eye on him and see what you think...

[HRT4SQRLS]

It also might be relevant to review the diet. What does he eat?
Most of the problems we see on this board are related to diet.

[tree bunny]

But he's not acting like a jerk. He's acting like he does not feel well. laying very still, high out of reach, closing his eyes as anything would when they don't feel well. his behavior reminds me of his past concussion, only not life threatening this time. If he's in pain for any reason are there any over the counter products I can use safely? I do not see this as diet related.

[HRT4SQRLS]

I do not see this as diet related.

OK, I'll assume that you researched the diet and are feeding a healthy diet.
(BUT, if the diet is heavy on seeds and nuts, it is definitely related.)


I find it odd that your squirrel would have TWO concussions. They are quite skilled at jumping/climbing and only rarely fall unless something else is wrong.

[redwuff]

HRT4SQRLS. IS RIGHT, THIS COULD BE DIET RELATED. What has his diet been. Adult Squirrels are one of the hardest critters to feed a healthy diet.

[tree bunny]

Yes, it is very challenging to meet adult squirrel nutritional requirements. I worry over it every day. He has no nut stash. But, I don't want to go on and on about diet. This morning, 7/13, he is improved. He's not 100% but I am feeling more hopeful that this will pass. To answer the concern about the concussions, My Vet in 2013 who saved his life told me squirrels get concussions very easily. He was a squirrel rehabber for 25 years. Because squirrels move so fast, he said it is very common for them to get concussions as they are moving so fast and are not always able to stop in time before they collide with something. The reason my Johnny got his concussion in 2013, and I can only surmise this is how it happened, he was able to jump on the ceiling fan blades in his room. I caught him doing it a few times and actually took a video of him twirling around on it. Of course, the fan was not running, just to make that clear. His room has a vaulted ceiling and the ceiling fan was low enough for him to jump to from the top of his cage. Now I can only guess that he fell and hit his head on a metal cage or wood ladder. It just so happened that day the city was here trimming trees away from the electric lines and I believe he must have freaked out from the noise. When I got him to the Vet, the first question before even examining him was "did he fall?". On examination, his pupils were fixed and dilated. He spent the day at the Vet. getting doses of Dexamethasone and Baytril to cover all bases because he also had a temp of 106 which is abnormal. When I visited him, he did not recognize me probably because he was pretty much blind as we all know how it is when we go to the eye doctor and have our pupils dilated. He charged me when I tried to pet him because he did not recognize me. Now, this time, I at first assumed he ate something bad so I gave him Baytril twice. After observing him more, it started to register that he was having similar symptoms as he had with his concussion in 2013. Acting like he didn't know me, attacking my hands when trying to touch him, retreating to his bed, wanting to be left alone. So I decided to switch to the Dexamethasone. Today is day number 5. He's only gotten about 3 doses. Whether or not that is responsible for the gradual improvement or just time and rest, I don't know. But he is reacting to everything around him as if he's seen it for the first time. He can run around his room well. He has "Katwalks" on the walls to run, jump and leap all around the room. They are carpeted and he's been getting his claws caught on things very easily for awhile. Maybe he caught a nail while running and it caused him to fall. I'll never know why this happened. The first concussion was a freak accident. He now has a special ceiling fan with the blades enclosed and it's higher than the other one. He went outside this morning and acted like it was all new. He tried to play a bit and did some grunting, the beautiful grunting noises he makes that I love so much! This morning I finally found a Vet practice that can handle adult squirrels, 4 Vets at the same clinic. I'm so happy to find them! So, my initial plea for asking if anyone knew of a Vet in my area is no longer of concern. Plus, I looked at his testicles again this morning and decided they are no bigger than usual. He's just a very well endowed boy. I've been praying very hard. Johnny is the Love of my Life! Thank you all for taking the time to offer advice. God Bless The Squirrel Board!

[CritterMom]

You may not want to go on and on about diet but given that it is the first, second and third most common issue here, and that we have helped a whole boatload of people in this area - many of them people not knowing they HAD troubles, I do encourage you to share. We have had more than our fair share of folks who get p*ssed off that they came to ask about trimming toenails because they are getting caught in things and get asked about diet...until it turns out that diet IS the issue, and the snagging nails are in fact a first sign of MBD (not strong enough anymore to thoroughly pick the feet up) and that we managed to catch it BEFORE it turned into paralysis and seizures.

You have an entire board of people with a lot of experience who want to give you help and advise for free. Who DOES that? We do. Use the resource!

[HRT4SQRLS]

I'm glad you found a vet. Not everyone has that resource so when you find a good one it's a wonderful thing.

Just for future reference, Baytril is a really bad choice of antibiotics on any animal when you suspect a head injury. The fluoroquinolone drugs like Baytril lower the seizure threshold and can actually cause seizures in those prone to them or those with a traumatic head injury. With this history, I would never use this antibiotic.

As CritterMom stated, it costs you nothing to receive advice from the rehabbers here. We do it for one reason, just like you, we LOVE squirrels and really love sharing our experience with others.

[tree bunny]

CritterMom, thank you for pointing out the snagging nail issue as a first sign of MBD. He's such a healthy, energetic, happy squirrel all the time. He's beautiful, fur is smooth and shiny and his tail is perfect. I've been cutting his nails to try to keep them from snagging but thought perhaps it's either just sometimes the nails don't clip off smooth or some of his blankets are more prone to him getting snagged on them. I will definitely take this seriously. I believe it's possible to get Calcium injections from a Vet in emergencies? If so, I may opt to do this. What would you suggest I give him to dramatically increase his Calcium load? Something palatable I hope because he is quite picky. Can MBD cause these withdrawn, confusion like symptoms or simulate a concussion? I know there are a lot of people who REALLY don't know how to feed a squirrel. I'm not one of those. He only eats organic fruits; blueberries, blackberries, apples, plums, pomegranates, figs, persimmons, pears. Occ mushroom, sweet potatoes, romaine lettuce, fresh corn, fresh garbanzo beans. From the yard he gets seasonal food such as roses, rose hips, maple wings, new hackberry leaves, cedar elm seeds, crape myrtle seeds, occ dandelion leaves. Just off the top of my head. He really doesn't like veggies. Cauliflower rarely. I can never get him to eat sugar snap peas, green beans, kale, chard, endive, carrots etc... I at least don't feed processed food like pizza, popcorn, chips or anything like that. He has a Manu block but I rarely see him bite a piece off. I buy chinchilla sticks fortified with calcium. He has never eaten rodent blocks or zupreem monkey biscuits he despises them. Won't eat Henry's blocks. I guess it's possible MBD could be starting. He does drive me crazy trying to get him to eat whats good for him. I go to the grocery store and worry more about his food than mine. So there, you have a general synopsis of his diet. Please advise on this. Thank you!

[tree bunny]

I just bought some almonds in the shell which he loves. I haven't had any for awhile, the Hines Nut co. here in Dallas has been out of them. I buy bulk for outside squirrels too. Since they have the most Calcium of all the nuts, I gave him one to eat and he stashed a second one. I removed all food and gave a dish of peanut butter with 1/2 Ultra Rolaids tablet crushed and mixed into the peanut butter. That 1/2 tablet will provide 500mg of Calcium. I pray he eats it because he does not like peanut butter or rarely eats a peanut. I'm discontinuing the Dexamethasone and focusing on the Calcium.

[HRT4SQRLS]

Here is a link to the Metabolic Bone Disease protocol.

http://thesquirrelboard.com/forums/s...-MBD-Treatment

We FORCE feed the calcium (Tums) as explained in the protocol. We don't give them the option not to take it. Some squirrels actually like the fruit flavored Tums. We use Tums because they don't have Vitamin D. We megadose the calcium but you don't want to do that with Vitamin D because it is used as a rodenticide. Many other calcium supplements have Vitamin D so the Tums are best.

Getting squirrels to eat rodent block can be a challenge if they didn't grow up eating it. The problem is that captive, pet squirrels can't balance their diet like they can in nature. Vegetables and fruit just don't supply enough calcium and that's why the block is so important. Unfortunately, it will take tough love as far as the block. You might try the Picky eater block supplied by Henry's. The base is pecans so it would be the block that he would most likely eat. 1-2 blocks per day would supply all the vitamins and minerals necessary when fed with a healthy diet.

As far as your question, could these vague symptoms be caused by MBD... The answer is a BIG HUGE YES!!! MBD causes pain so they begin to slow down and the activity level decreases due to pain. These are the early symptoms. They are more prone to falls when the have MBD so falls can certainly occur. Eventually it will progress to seizures, paralysis and death.

[HRT4SQRLS]

I would buy the Tums. I wouldn't count on him eating the PB mix. I would crush a Tums and add water until it is slightly watery but not a huge amount of water. You should syringe feed the Tums water. You spread the dose out over a 24 hr period so it's not a large amount with each dose.

The protocol explains what you need to do. You are correct in that almonds are the best nuts as far as calcium: phosphorus ratio but they are still a negative calcium food. I would hold off on the nuts for now. If I remember right almonds are 1 part calcium to 4 parts phosphorus. Mammals need foods that are 2:1 calcium: phosphorus. The body will attempt to achieve the 2:1 ratio by pulling calcium from the bones. This is what causes the MBD.

[Rocky1]

I wish I had the connections help out here. Instead, the best I can do is point to previous threads where a squirrel with a concussion recovered. Perhaps reading about the steps taken to nurse them back to health would be helpful, http://thesquirrelboard.com/forums/s...kick-s-Success Wish I could do more.

[CritterMom]

Yes, and we need to get this beautiful boy on the Henry's blocks eventually. He may like the Picky blocks, and manipulating when he gets fed what can help with balky block eaters, too. They are specifically designed to prevent and combat MBD and I would consider them part of the protocol.

Order a bag or two of the picky blocks and get a bag of the calcium carbonate powder when you order. If need be, you can do some messing around with the blocks - I have to grind them and use them as a base with some other ingredients and bake the whole mess for my little flying squirrel - he won't eat them as is.

If indeed this IS MBD I don't believe it has gotten terribly bad yet since you aren't seeing any really overt signs. Ha! I picked the toenails getting caught analogy from a grab bag of symptoms of this damnable condition - glad I chose that one! If it is NOT MBD the calcium won't hurt.

As I am sure you know, he is getting more fruit and less veggies than he needs. It can be really hard to work on diet with them - they will KICK YOUR BUTT! Sometimes LACK of variety is the way to go - he gets a couple Henrys blocks, some greens, maybe some beans or snap peas and that is that. If he actually gets hungry he has some nice choices there, and they will eventually eat! But you may need to try a lot of tricks. BTW, presentation counts. Kale in big chunks? HATE. Kale cut into long, skinny strings? AWESOME!!! Try opening a pea pod or two. We will help with tricks.

Almonds are about 1:2 - exactly upside down from the ideal you are hunting. They - and hazelnuts, which are about the same, are the "least bad" of the available nuts. But I would hold off on them for now - and doing so will help push him toward the blocks (which have nuts in them).

[tree bunny]

I have tried Henry's Picky Blocks before when he was younger. He hated them. So here is where we are so far. Last night we got a liquid Calcium Citrate (600mg), with Magnesium Citrate (300mg) and Vitamin D3 (400IU). Serving size is 15ml. Well, we had planned to add it to his water but it's chalky and he won't go for that. So we decided we HAD to get it into him with a syringe. 15ml is too much to force feed so I opted to just do 1/6th which would at least give him 100mg in just 2.5cc. Sounds doable. Well the problem with Johnny is that you can't hold him. You can't catch him, he's VERY large...at least 3 pounds maybe 4. He's extremely strong, even not feeling well. Had the same problem catching him when he had his concussion. Even the Vet had trouble and he got loose in the exam room and was very traumatic for him and ME!!! So we tried to manhandle him last night, tore up his whole room trying to get him cuz he could find a way out of any grasp. We gave up. I felt so bad for traumatizing him and I was traumatized as well and so GUILTY!!! This morning I had the idea to put the doors back on his cage and lock him up before getting out. We bought a cage and tried to grab him with a pillow case to shove him in the cage. We failed. No Vet will make a house call. No Vet will talk to us on the phone. So we traumatized him again this morning. But he did perk up and went into his outside cage and seemed more like himself and also crawled onto my shoulder. I'm going to order Henry's picky blocks again. Give very few choices for food providing higher calcium foods such as mustard greens etc... plus the blocks. We ordered Calcium drops for his water that are unflavored and CLEAR. not some chalky white stuff. What squirrel would voluntarily drink that? So the plan is to just observe, let him rest and try to act like things are more normal around the house. My freaking out can be sensed by him. At least now we have a transport cage and a Vet. I am exhausted! Dealing with this stress for 6 days! We know what to do, it's just so difficult to catch him and that is the one thing I wish I had help with and wish someone could just do it for me.

[DarkLies212]

Have you tried using rescue remedy on him to calm him down?

[tree bunny]

Update on Johnny: I got him to Vet on Friday July 15. He was sedated, blood work drawn, X-rays taken, Nails trimmed, Given sub-Q fluids, Penicillin, Metacam and Calcium injections. X-rays shows normal Bone Density so MBD is NOT the problem. Lab work got messed up because Vet hemolyzed the sample (bad venipuncture) and now Lab is saying insufficient sample for doing any Chemistries. I'm FURIOUS! His Xray was read by a Radiologist. He has a large mass in the abdomen that is pushing his organs upwards. Radiologist feels it is Visceral Fat but an Ultrasound and probable Biopsy is needed. Plus now blood work must be redone. I'm pretty angry. It has been a VERY stressful 8-9 days and Johnny is so traumatized by being captured and now I have to do it again!!! I've lost his trust. Has anyone ever heard of this happening? He's not an obese squirrel. Even the Vet commented that he's just a large framed boy with some abdominal and chin fat. He weighs 2.75 pounds. Anyone ever have their squirrel undergo abdominal surgery?