Little Neuro not Responding to Solid Foods...

[mel_la_fee]

Hey Guys,

Been a while since I’ve posted anything. I’ve had my hands super busy with my new little neuro. For those of you who want to know her backstory, you can check out my last post here: http://thesquirrelboard.com/forums/s...t=#post1186436

That was well over 2 months ago, and my little grey is still with us. With any luck I will be able to get some kinds of video or pictures up soon. So far, it’s been quite a journey. She’s learning to walk a little better now, but she’s still very ataxic; she always leans to the left and after just a few seconds winds up on her side before struggling to right herself and move forward again. It’s a little better than the donuts she used to get stuck in (we’ve been doing light ‘physical therapy’ with her), but we still have a ways to go and I’m really not sure what her overall mobility capabilities will turn out to be in the end.

She also has severe malocclusion and we’ve had to have her teeth ground down a couple times already (none of her front teeth meet where they should and one tooth actually grows back toward the roof/back of her mouth). Our vet is working with us to figure out what our options are. Thus far he’s had to put her down every time he works on her, and none of us feel comfortable with that being the case on such a frequent basis. To make matters worse, she refuses to acknowledge solid foods, which might at least help her wear down the teeth that aren’t turned backwards. Therein lies the crux of my real problem…

She’s approximately 16-17 weeks old now, and has no interest in solid foods at all. We don’t really have any difficulty in fitting her formula feedings into our schedule or anything, but because of her jaw, her ‘lean’, and overall wobbly-sometimes unpredictable nature, it’s next to impossible to ensure she isn’t aspirating any formula ever. To make matters even worse, she has a slight but distinctive slant to her muzzle and face, which makes me suspect there’s some deviation with her septum or possibly more (though I’m not at all very familiar with squirrel skull structure or how that might impact feeding).
Anyway, there are some days when feeding her goes fine and just as one would expect, and other days where she seems to have regressed mentally, seemingly forgetting how the syringe works and, despite out best efforts, she sometimes sucks on the nipple hard enough to draw up more fluid than I’m comfortable with her taking at a time. I’ve worked with her to get her to lick it from the tip to avoid this but, as I said, there are whole days when she refuses to eat this way (she still has nursing ‘comas’).

I recognize that with her teeth growing in the way they do, some foods are not very good options for her. At this point though, I’ve offered her every conceivable food I can think of that ’should’ in theory be edible for her and she shows no interest at all. I leave Henry’s Healthy blocks in her cage and she just climbs over and pees on them (offering them by hand just results in an upturned nose as if I'm crazy!). Honestly, I wouldn’t worry about her slowed development in this area so much if it weren’t for the fact that she’s already come down with a mild case of pneumonia, which we are treating with antibiotics and prescription nebulizing treatments every 12 hours. I just can’t help but feel that eating primarily solid foods (or ANY, really) would be a lot safer for her- even if some formula feedings are still necessary in order to meet her nutrition needs for the next however long (oh- interestingly, we have seen her lick the tip of her water bottle on occasion- so, while I wouldn’t count on her being able to get all her fluid this way initially, it does mean there’s some hope of her figuring out how to hydrate herself eventually).

She’s an absolute doll, and I love her to pieces. And in all other respects she shows a lot of growth and improvement, surprising just about everyone considering the seizures and non-responsiveness of just 2 months ago. This morning she was jumping around like a drunken, but spry little monkey, so I think she’s just about over her initial bout of illness… I just get worried sick that she’s going to end up struggling with respiratory issues again if we can’t work out a better method for feeding her.

Has anyone with a little neuro ever dealt with this kind of issue before? Any suggestions? Am I perhaps expecting a little too much at this stage of her development? We’re taking her for her 6th (yes, 6th!) visit to the vet for a check up later this week, so if there’s anything I should be asking him about, please let me know.

Thanks all! I know I can be very wordy, but I appreciate anyone who reads this/any advice you can give me.

[CritterMom]

Aw. poor baby.

Have you tried grinding up one of the HHBs and mixing it with formula? I would start with mostly formula and just a little block "powder" and offer it warm in tiny amounts on the end of a spoon. I often give my big boy a treat - we call it his "oatmeal" which is a blend of HHBs and formula at about the same texture as oatmeal. He loves it. I think the secret may be starting with almost all formula and going really slow adding in the block.

If she begins to like that mess, she may take to the solid HHBs sinces he will already be familiar with the taste.

[mel_la_fee]

Oh my gosh... You know, that is exactly what I was going to try next! Hopefully it works. I feel like even partially solid food would be beneficial at this point.

I'll let you know how it goes!

[czarina]

I had a little precious girl called Loofy.
She had all of your baby's problems, and some more.

I have to go play with my guys for a bit, and then I will come back and tell you some of the things that worked for us.

[czarina]

If you are interested, Loofy's thread started out as :
"Little Louise and Ruby"..
There is some info about her there, and a few pictures.
I have tons of more pictures, and lots of videos, too.

The girls names changed, over time, to Loofy and Rosie!.

[mel_la_fee]

If you are interested, Loofy's thread started out as :
"Little Louise and Ruby"..
There is some info about her there, and a few pictures.
I have tons of more pictures, and lots of videos, too.

The girls names changed, over time, to Loofy and Rosie!.

The thread was easy to find and I must say, your effort and diligence are inspiring! I can't imagine how overwhelmed I would feel at the prospect of dealing with one that had such issues so young... I don't know what kind of difference age plays in terms of how they heal from brain trauma; whether they recover better at 5 weeks vs 1 or vice versa (it probably has to deal more with the extent of the damage, I imagine), but caring for one like my little Cleo at 1 or 2 weeks would be mildly terrifying for me. I think I'd worry myself sick.

My sister (who has taken care of feeding while I'm at work) has maintained that she thinks our little girl has some blindness on one side, but I really think the issue has more to do with her general inability to orient herself where she wants to go/do things. As in, I think she can see us and her environment, but she doesn't respond appropriately on her left side. If you hold the syringe to that side of her face, she leans sideways and reaches forward with her right hand instead of outward with her left- which tells me that she can see it's there, but she hasn't mastered turning her head all the way and reaching with the correct arm.

I only got part way through the thread, but I look forward to seeing more & learning from your experiences

[czarina]

You should probably also read the thread:
" Loofy has passed away". There is alot of info in there,too.

After I responded to your thread last night, I did something I have been needing to do, but just couldn't bring myself to it.

I went back and read my little Loofy's threads, and I looked at every picture and video. I have of her. I haven't been able to look at anything Loofy, without crying, since she passed away. So, I try not to think about her, as a way of coping. I know this is not healthy.

I had a huge, cathartic cry last night. It was good I looked at all her pictures and videos. She was something else. A very sassy little squirrel. Who was very much loved, and gave her whole heart to us.

I think I will be doing better now.
I'll see if I can get someone here to post some pictures and videos, so you can see some of the things I did, that really helped her.
We did a lot of both occupational and physical therapy and it really helped her a lot.

I will be very glad to share with you and help you in any way I can.

[Mel1959]

God bless moms (and dads) of neuro squirrels. I know it must be very challenging and stressful to watch and help your little ones. . You all are my heroes. . Im not sure how you do it!

But....the feeding dilemma I might be able to help with. I have a dwarf squirrel who is very, very picky when it comes to eating solid foods. I also had the same concerns about aspiration pneumonia, as it happened a couple of times. Joey is about 16 mths old now and I feed him formula still, but never by itself. I mix some of his formula with all different types of babyfood and feed it in a syringe. I will also take an assortment of fresh vegetables, much like what you would offer a normal squirrel (sugar snap peas, kale, squash, pumpkin, green beans, mushrooms etc.) and steam/boil them with a small amount of water till VERY soft and then put them in the blender and purée them, adding liquid as needed, so that it is soupy enough to flow through a syringe. Because Joey doesn't eat a lot at any one time I take the soupy vegetables and fill an ice cube tray and then freeze it. When they are frozen I pop them out and keep the cubes in a ziplock bag in the freezer and take out only what I need.

I also do what someone else suggested and grind up HHBs and take a spoonful of that and put just enough boiling water over it to soften it without it being too soupy and then mix that with baby food or formula. The thicker texture helps it from being aspirated. Dwarf squirrels have a thicker tongue and tend to have difficulty swallowing so this thicker texture seems to help.

Because I want to cover all the bases nutritionally, I also give him babyfood chicken or turkey (per my vets advice) so he can get some extra protein. I mix it with the babyfood one time a day and he loves it.

Sometimes I will mix some pecan or vanilla flavored Ensure into the babyfood with or without formula just to change the taste a little. I also freeze the Ensure in the cube tray because the opened bottle will go bad before he finishes it, if I didn't.

I have been feeding Joey this way for over 6 mths and he has regained all the weight he lost when he was really sick at Easter time.

I should also add that I have always added Fox Valley Ultraboost to his formula, as well as a small amount of Henrys protein powder and vitamins. He consumes so little food at one time that I want it to be as nutritionally chocked full of vitamins as is possible, without overdoing it.

I hope this helps.