10 - 12 week old with pox

[gardenjewel]

Hi all,
I have a little one with what I think is pox. Heres the story. I picked him up at my rehabber to foster raise and he was sick with squirrelly sniffels. About a week after i got him I took him to the vet because he was feeling worse and he had a lot of snot coming from his nose. We put him on clavamox and a shot of steriods. This really helped him start to feel better. Any way that same night i finally investigated a crusty growth on his shoulder that seemed to be getting bigger. It didnt look right and I thought abscess....maybe this was why he felt so bad. About two days later I noticed a growth on his finger on that same side. Right about then the growth on his shoulder fell off. I thought great hes healing. Then the growth on his toe which looked very sore fell off. I thought great hes gonna be perfect. Unfortuantly, about a week later i noticed another growth on two of his toes. They grew fast lasted about a week or so then fell off. Now i have a sinking feeling...... Three nights ago this normally loving boy all of a sudden wanted nothing to do with me. I noticed a growth on his nose. All the growths have looked sore but i think this one is especially tender.He has been refusing his milkies and cranky to his cage mate. I gave some ibuprofen which seemed to help a great deal...he had his milk and was playing again.
I know if this is pox it is catchy but he has been with this girl since i picked him up and she has shown no signs. they both are very distressed when i put them alone into different cages. I figured if she was going to catch it she would have already had it.
I have been trying to get a pic ....but it has been very difficult. now he wont let me touch him, but the next time i medicate i will get a pic. The growths are crusty grayish and very attached to the skin and dry...not a scab. the margins are red and look sore.They grow rapidly by mostly gaining in height. Fall off after a week or two. Skin underneath is red and hairless.
Anyway my main question about this little one is: in a couple weeks I was going to take these little ones back to the rehabber for release( I live in central alabama)......so should he be released where he was found or should i overwinter him? I would normally over winter in a giant release cage outside, however i wont do that with him. I wouldnt want to risk infecting the squirrels here. so he would have to be inside.
What are your thoughts on what to do with this little one assuming he has pox?
Thanks,
Julia

[gardenjewel]

Also if i return to rehabber they will not be able to treat or give this little one the individual attention will need due to large numbers of critters they care for.... especially if he has no obvious growths at the time.

[Rhapsody]

I suggest you keep a little longer, if you can, so he can have extra time to recover and get strength back...... by then it will be Winter and he will need a nice warm place to stay until Spring.

[gardenjewel]

Thats what i figured.
Here is a pic of him. ...hard to tell its crusty from this angle. Its also the smallest growth hes had.


does this look enough like early stage pox to start treatment?

Thanks,
Julia

[island rehabber]

Pox IS contagious, so watch the little girl carefully. her immune system may fight it off, or not.
I would begin treatment immediately if he were mine. A rehabber pal has had excellent results with Tamiflu on pox....if you can get a vet to prescribe it.

[gardenjewel]

Ya, too late! i believe i just saw a pox on his cage mate toes. .
I have a tamiflu tablet. what would be the dosage? Would you recommend tamiflu over acyclovir?
Thanks,
Julia

[island rehabber]

Ya, too late! i believe i just saw a pox on his cage mate toes. .
I have a tamiflu tablet. what would be the dosage? Would you recommend tamiflu over acyclovir?
Thanks,
Julia

OK here's what my friend and TSB member, I Love Lucy, did recently with a pox baby:

Grind up the tablet as fine as possible.
Take 1/8 teaspoon of powder and add 2cc water
Dose .1ml twice a day for three weeks.

She ALSO had the squirrel on Baytril for the first week, which she believes may have prevented secondary infections.

[gardenjewel]

ok thanks. I will try this with both squirrelies.
Julia

[gardenjewel]

Ok. My Tamiflu is a 75 mg caplet. So its already powdered. But 75 mg doesn't seem right for 1/8 of teaspoon.what I mean is 75 mg is about 1/8 of a teaspoon already. You don't happen to know how many mg her tablet was?
thanks

[gardenjewel]

still hoping for dosing instructions?

[Nancy in New York]

CritterMom has had excellent results with acyclovir, reach out to her.
I will post the page about Tamiflu from the WMB book.

I've never dosed this before.

[island rehabber]

gardenjewel, my apologies --- had a crazy day at work today and never got a chance to check in on TSB. (Never turned on my computer, in fact!) Did you start either of the drugs, Tamiflu or acyclovir? I can give you our member I Love Lucy's phone number and you can get more specifics from her about the Tamiflu.....

[gardenjewel]

Thanks a bunch. no I havent started either. I have been hoping to hear back from vet about the acyclovir. I will ask vet one more time...i will show him the statement about it in wmb. By the way I am an idiot I have wmb......i should have looked it up myself!
Thanks!
Julia

[kcassidy]

Hi,

I'm dealing with my 4 Pox Squirrel of the 2016 season. The first 3 I got in the Spring were too far gone and didn't make it. Now I have a Fall baby who has it. I've got her on Acyclivor and I'm waiting for my Immune Booster to arrive (it should have been here 8 days ago, but thats another story).

I'm also putting triple antibiotic ointment on all of the Pox spots and also on the ones around here eyes and mouth, but the face one is the triple antibiotic ointment for eyes. The one I use on the rest of their body is what I buy from the drug store.

if you need support feel free to get in touch it is an absolutely HORRIBLE HORRIBLE disease.