ongoing diarrhea

[Brighid13]

Hi! I have a little girl who is 134g approximately 5 weeks old. Eyes open, bottom teeth showing, still waiting on top to break through. I got her back on Monday after she spent a week with the vet to have botflies treated, and she was sent home with antibiotics (not sure which), and has had diarrhea for 3 days now. I've adjusted amounts of formula that she's getting thinking that I just overfed her (she was eating 7% of weight when I dropped her off with the vet, which is also where I picked up initially). She's eating fox valley 20/50 and henry's blocks are being more shredded than eaten. Poop is mustard color with a very strong scent, like spoiled milk. I am supplementing with additional fluid (pedialyte once per day, warm water otherwise between feedings). Any ideas?

Thanks in advance.

[CritterMom]

I would do a couple things right away. Give her .25cc of Pepto Bismol. Note the time you give it and begin watching the poops. They will turn JET BLACK (!) when the pepto has gone all the way through the system. If it is still really loose, re-dose the pepto.

Also, this may be from the antibiotics, so add some probiotics to her diet. You can get Benebac, or human probiotics in capsules at the drug store. A tiny pinch of the insides of one of the capsules once a day might help her tummy.

[Brighid13]

Thanks so much for the super fast response! I was thinking that it might be a gut bacteria issue. I'll dose with pepto and give her some probiotics too. Will update soon!

[CritterMom]

If it doesn't clear up SOON, call your vet back and see if you can just bring a poop sample in to look for parasites. If she was under stress from the bots, she could also have something going on worm-wise.

[Brighid13]

Was already the plan 😁 just want to rule out other causes first if possible. When I just checked on her, it looked a little more solid, still super loose, but not pure liquid.

[Brighid13]

Quick update. Gave .25ml of Pepto bismol, haven't gotten a jet black movement (12 hours now), but did get a gray color for a bit, now it's returning to a mustard color. Should I be concerned\is this normal?

[CritterMom]

Yes. If it is still really runny, give another dose. The mustard color is what Fox Valley poop looks like - formed of course, but the color is correct. It likely is such a teeny dose it didn't turn real dark. My point with the color change is to keep people from dosing too much too often and constipating the baby.

[Brighid13]

I dosed her again last night after doing some additional research and found that up to every 6 hours is considered safe. That's precisely what I was worried about too, I don't want the poor little girl to be constipated. Seeing some progress this morning. Less runny, about the consistency of school paste right now. Just gave another dose, hoping that maybe one more and we'll be back to normal, otherwise it's off to the vet in the morning. Current status, playing with/nibbling an apple stick and a Henry's block. Up to 143g this morning!

[Brighid13]

Talked to my vet this afternoon, was advised to add rice cereal to formula and continue probiotics for 10 days, pepto for up to 3 days. When she was in, she was treated for parasites (worms) and given antibiotics for the botfly removal. She said between the two, it is likely the meds more than anything else, and two other babies that are part of their wildlife rehab program had the same issue, took about a week for gut flora to restore and GI tract to calm down. If it lasts longer than a week to bring her down and they will recheck her fecal, or if she should stop eating/drinking to bring her down immediately. She still has good levels of weight gain, is not dehydrated, and is very playful and active.

[Brighid13]

Little Stormy is doing fantastically! We are finally back to normal poops and she's happily nibbling on Henry's blocks and veggies.

The vet has recommended that she not be released, as we believe she is having either mild seizures in her sleep, or that sleep paralysis doesn't properly kick in when she's sleeping. In either case, this could be detrimental to her health and safety, and is likely the result of her fall from the tree.

It's possible that she'll outgrow it, if she does then release will definitely be reconsidered, but if not, she'll be a spoiled house squirrel. 🐿️

[redwuff]

Little Stormy is doing fantastically! We are finally back to normal poops and she's happily nibbling on Henry's blocks and veggies.

The vet has recommended that she not be released, as we believe she is having either mild seizures in her sleep, or that sleep paralysis doesn't properly kick in when she's sleeping. In either case, this could be detrimental to her health and safety, and is likely the result of her fall from the tree.

It's possible that she'll outgrow it, if she does then release will definitely be reconsidered, but if not, she'll be a spoiled house squirrel. 🐿️

Why do you think she is having seizures in her sleep. Could you take a video of it?

[Brighid13]

It was the vet's opinion. I don't have video of it, but the vet witnessed it first hand. Within the first 10-15 minutes of being asleep she jerks violently, has since I found her, I had just assumed she was a super twitchy dreamer as it didn't look like a seizure to me.