Baby Squirrel Losing Weight

[Babychai]

Hi all, i picked up an orphaned squirrel 1 week ago. Her breed is Plantain squirrel, about 5 weeks old. It was not dehydrated so i fed is esbilac powder mixture for a week already. However, yesterday i heard it having soft clicking sounds, almost like it’s had a runny nose, but it came from the chest. I thought it might have caught pneumonia but it went away the next day. However i did notice in the recent days that it has lost a lot of weight, i can feel its back bone. I have been feeding it the recommended amount but i did not include heavy cream in the formula, could that be the problem? It is still eager to eat everyday, stools and urine are normal. However during feeding today, it suddenly arched its back and opened it mouth for 10 secs, it then keep back away. but it returned to normal after. I read that it could be Hypoglycemia but i did not space out the feedings very far apart. it is about 3 hours per feeding. Please help i am worried and i’m not sure what’s wrong. i want it to gain back it’s weight. will feeding avocado work?

[redwuff]

Can you tell us what you are feeding and how much she weighs? A picture would help Us tremendously.

[redwuff]

Hi all, i picked up an orphaned squirrel 1 week ago. Her breed is Plantain squirrel, about 5 weeks old. It was not dehydrated so i fed is esbilac powder mixture for a week already. However, yesterday i heard it having soft clicking sounds, almost like it’s had a runny nose, but it came from the chest. I thought it might have caught pneumonia but it went away the next day. However i did notice in the recent days that it has lost a lot of weight, i can feel its back bone. I have been feeding it the recommended amount but i did not include heavy cream in the formula, could that be the problem? It is still eager to eat everyday, stools and urine are normal. However during feeding today, it suddenly arched its back and opened it mouth for 10 secs, it then keep back away. but it returned to normal after. I read that it could be Hypoglycemia but i did not space out the feedings very far apart. it is about 3 hours per feeding. Please help i am worried and i’m not sure what’s wrong. i want it to gain back it’s weight. will feeding avocado work?

I would highly recommend that you find a an antibiotic just in case that arched back and open mouth was milk going down the wrong pipes. The best antibiotics is Baytril/Cipro or Clavamox/ augmentin Cipro and augmentin are the human version of the meds. Often Cipro is given to women for a uti. Ask around to get the meds. You just need 1 pill and the strength of that pill. And the weight of your baby. We can dose for you if needed. If your baby does get aspiration pneumonia she will get lethargic and not want to eat. You might hear the clicking from her chest also. AP is very treatable with antibiotics, but is very deadly if not treated in time.

Please tell us what formula so we can advise about weight loss.

[Babychai]

This is about the size of my squirrel, i’m 5.5ft tall female to gauge the size of my palm. The clicking sound is very different from the ones i have seen online of those with pneumonia, it is much softer similar to a runny nose. I can only hear it if i place her close enough to me. I am more concern with the weight lost, as her bones are now more prominent to me than before. I can feel the spikes of her spine especially towards the lower end of the body.

Currently i’m feeding it esbilac puppy milk replacer 1 part to 2 parts water. No heavy cream added. I feed it every 4 hours about 8cc. She has great appetite and very eager to eat. The arching of back and opening of mouth only happened once today. i just fed her again and she seems fine. I’m more concern with the weight lost as i’m worried she might get even more thinner over the next week. She is approaching 6 weeks as her tail is starting to fluff up. She spends most of her time sleeping and does not really want to wake up. She is only very active and aggressive when i feed her.

[Babychai]

Here is another photo her. She doesn’t really like to sleep in the nest i made for her. She prefers to sleep with me, usually curled up in my palm. She sleeps whenever she’s with me and it’s hard to get her to wake up. Unless i put her alone on the floor or bed, she would wake up to find me again. She feels skinny to me but could i be overthinking? her bones feel sharp which is why it got me thinking that way.

[redwuff]

The rule of thumb is that the baby gets weighed every day in grams and is fed between 5%-7% of her weight. Are her eyes open? She should be fed 5-6 times a day. Every 3.5- 4 hours. She should gain weight on that.

[Babychai]

yes her eyes are opened when i got her. so they have been opened for a week although i do not think she can see very well yet. should i start adding heavy cream to her formular to increase fat?

[redwuff]

She is adorable! I see you feed every 4 hours and you are feeding 8 cc. Can you tell me what she weighed and what she weighs now? The reason I’m asking is that Esbilac sometimes does not provide the nutrients that they need. If she has not gained any weight on the Esbilac,then we need to switch to another formula. It sounds like you have her on a good amount of food but without her weight I can’t tell if you are feeding her enough for her weight or you are over feeding and it is more of a case that Esbilac is not the right diet or formula for her. If you can provide me with her weight especially if you can provide me with the weight she came in at in the weight that she is now that will let me know whether the Esbilac is the proper formula for her.

[stepnstone]

Is this the Esbilac you have been feeding?

[Babychai]

I didn’t know that weighing was important because most sources didn’t indicate that, so i didn’t weigh her. Currently i don’t have a weighing scale but i will try to get one asap !

The esbilac i’m feeding her is the one with the banner. I will attached a pic for your reference !