Mange?

[Marzipan]

Hello People,

Please bear with me, it is my first post.
Back in september I rescued an orphaned squirrel that was about 10 weeks old. Sadly, we do not have those great wildlife organizations in Quebec like the US does. I tried giving him to the animal shelter but they told me that they would most likely put him down.
I fed him twice a day and let him sleep in my isolated shed at night. Now that winter is here and it gets up to -30C here, I bought a nice cage and placed him inside my house. He is allowed to roam freely around the room from 8am to 7pm and then it is bed time. I plan on releasing him in the spring.

He is about 4 months old now. A few days ago I saw that he had a tiny wound between his shoulder blades. However, instead of healing up, it increased in size. Now two days later I spotted two more of these scabs. He also scratches himself like crazy. He did not loose any fur yet but I find that his fur reduced in the facial area. I attached pictures of his face and ears so you guys can be the judge.

I researched a bit and came across two solutions.
1) The horse worm treatment or 2) "Revolution" drops

Before I treat anything, I want to confirm that it is indeed the mange. If it yes, which of those two treatment approaches are more safe? From reading I gathered that Revolution is highly preferred. However, those drops are not sold in Canada. Can I just use regular kitten flea drops? I would like to start treatment before it gets bad.

I have attached several pictures of his scab, fur and his face.

https://imgur.com/a/7wV8i

Please let me know what you experts think! Thank you so much and happy holidays

[CritterMom]

His face and nose do not look like mange to me. Usually you would see problems on the ears first because they are bare. But something is going on.

No to other flea preps. I greatly prefer Revolution since it treats a number of different issues in addition to mange. Check www.joespetmeds.com for Revolution in the puppy/kitten 5 lb size. It ships from Australia - takes about a week. We cannot get Revolution (BTW they will call it "Stronghold" - but it is the same stuff made by the same company) in the US without a prescription either but we can order it from this place.

While you wait, go to the drug store and get some 10% povidone iodine - the brand name is Betadyne but by all means if they have a generic get that. It will be in the wound care stuff. Dilute 20 drops in 1/4 cup water and use the mixture to wipe down any areas that have the scabbing - saturate the wounds well and just leave it - no rinsing. It doesn't hurt and even if they lick it won't hurt them. Do that at least twice a day. It is anti-bacterial and anti-fungal so it will take care of all kinds of things that are not parasite issues - and that may be the issue here.

[Marzipan]

His face and nose do not look like mange to me. Usually you would see problems on the ears first because they are bare. But something is going on.

No to other flea preps. I greatly prefer Revolution since it treats a number of different issues in addition to mange. Check www.joespetmeds.com for Revolution in the puppy/kitten 5 lb size. It ships from Australia - takes about a week. We cannot get Revolution (BTW they will call it "Stronghold" - but it is the same stuff made by the same company) in the US without a prescription either but we can order it from this place.

While you wait, go to the drug store and get some 10% povidone iodine - the brand name is Betadyne but by all means if they have a generic get that. It will be in the wound care stuff. Dilute 20 drops in 1/4 cup water and use the mixture to wipe down any areas that have the scabbing - saturate the wounds well and just leave it - no rinsing. It doesn't hurt and even if they lick it won't hurt them. Do that at least twice a day. It is anti-bacterial and anti-fungal so it will take care of all kinds of things that are not parasite issues - and that may be the issue here.

Thank you for the detailed reply. Those are some great tips!

I ordered "Stronghold" and also bought the stuff from the pharmacy. Hopefully it will not get too bad until I receive the actual drops.

And for the dosage, it is one drop between the shoulder blades once a month?

[CritterMom]

Thank you for the detailed reply. Those are some great tips!

I ordered "Stronghold" and also bought the stuff from the pharmacy. Hopefully it will not get too bad until I receive the actual drops.

And for the dosage, it is one drop between the shoulder blades once a month?

One or two - how large is the squirrel? And yes, 30 days between doses.

The povidone iodine is first diluted and then used on the wounds and suspicious areas at least once a day and more if you can.

[Marzipan]

One or two - how large is the squirrel? And yes, 30 days between doses.

The povidone iodine is first diluted and then used on the wounds and suspicious areas at least once a day and more if you can.

The squirrel must be around a pound.

So while waiting for the drops I realized that she actually has mites or fleas. Her little wounds come from all the scratching. I just gave the squirrel a quick rinse with Dawn, which it was not amused about. From what I can tell it killed some mites/fleas so I hope it will feel less itchy until the drops arrive. I will still apply the povidone iodine twice a day until then.


Thank you