Sick wild squirrel, wheezing, gagging, bad balance, low energy, weak

[acorm]

So Pancake was the squirrel that would follow us after tea time everyday at work. She was not shy and I worried about her when we stopped coming to work. I saw her a couple times like once a month or so, and she was still very fat but seemed depressed. Anyhow, when we started biking for exercise, I was able to see her every week, and by then she got super thin. She doesn’t seem like she’s able to eat much anymore, wheezes as she breathes, and doesn’t have good balance like the others. It was a lot worse today, and i think this might be the last time we see her. I’m glad we were able to. She had some walnut, fruit, and water.

Is there anything we can do?

Here’s a video:

https://youtu.be/ahr4g1eOqQQ

[island rehabber]

She is definitely not well. Is there any way you can secure an antibiotic like Baytril (enrofloxacin) or Cipro (ciprofloxacin) or even Clavamox? You can put the dose on half a walnut or pecan and get it into her. If this is a respiratory bug those will help her. Providing clean water and food for her gives her a better chance of beating this thing, too. Poor sweetie.

[TubeDriver]

Thanks for helping her with food and water. Your help might be the difference between her recovering vs passing away. See Island Rehabbers post above about AB.

One other thing that you could try us to treat with either Ivermectin 1.87% paste or Kitten revolution. This will treat for many internal and external parasites. Both require only a single, small droplet (no bigger than an uncooked grain of rice) given orally (place on a pecan treat). Only give one or the other, not both. But because of her breathing, AB are probably the best primary treatment if possible.

[acorm]

The squirrel is close to the Wildlife Center of Silicon Valley. They said to catch her and bring her in (after seeing the video). The problem is she only comes out at 6 pm, and I would have to keep her until 9 am the next morning. I'm not allowed to bring her into the house, but could possibly keep her in my car.

I'm worried I will traumatize her and scare her to death.

More background...

She lives by the building that used to serve lunch and dinner, and lots of snacks. We regularly saw squirrels eating pizza crusts and apple cores, b/c of all the human activity.

We stopped coming in to work back in March. Since then, I've seen the trashcans and dumpsters with holes chewed through by the rodents. Poor things had gotten used to us being around.

Pancake was the alpha squirrel; she was kind of a bully to the others. I would sit outside in the garden checking emails with a pocket of almonds, and she would come visit me while I worked (beginning of the year).

The thinner she got, the more she seemed like a feeble old lady, not the powerful and larger than life squirrel she once was. I can imagine her eating something bad (maybe even going through raccoon poop and getting parasites). The sprinklers seem to come on every other day, and she drinks the non-potable water from that. We used to have fountain in the garden she lives in, but that's been shut off.

The garden is called the "Butterfly Garden" and has a lot of different plants, flowers, and trees. There definitely isn't anything human edible in the garden, but the few new baby squirrels seem to have adjusted ok. It's hard to check during the week, because security doesn't want us visiting. I've been able to spend time with her just fine on the weekends.

I would say the decline is directly correlated with the Shelter in Place and our cafes shutting down. I would say it's been a gradual decline for the last 5 months. Would you catch her? Would you still try to medicate her? Would waiting to the weekend be too late?

I might try to go and catch her this eve. Maybe get permission from my boss to be on campus.



This was Pancake back in February.

[TubeDriver]

I would catch her and get her to this clinic if you can. Make sure they will actually treat her and not just euthanize her.

If you can't catch her, treat on site with AB, anti-parasitic, food and water.

Do you have a hav-a-hart trap? How would you try catch her?

[acorm]

First and foremost, thanks for the support and advice. It's nice to find people who understand why I care about this. Many of my friends would think I was "nuts." (unintended pun)

I might not be allowed to be on work campus until the weekend unfortunately. I did used to have a Havahart trap, but returned it. We can order the medium size again. I could also just throw a towel over her and pick her up probably? She can still climb trees though, with an occasional slip. It's clear she is in pain or lacks strength. She likes to hang upside down on the tree, and if I approach her, she will move around the trunk, but doesn't leave.

AB means antibiotic, correct?

I would love to have any links to Amazon products, if it's possible. Or maybe Petco?

Thanks for the bottom of my heart. They are so lovable.

[TubeDriver]

Hav-a-hart is probably better and you can transport her in it as well.

Even a sick squirrel is probably too fast to catch with a towel, unless she is very, very sick. If you can catch her this way, you will need a small dog pet carrier to transport her. Also watch out, squirrels can bite REALLY hard when scared.

Yes, AB means antibiotic.

I have transported squirrels in this:

https://www.petco.com/shop/en/petcos...-silver-kennel


Before you try to catch her, make sure you have a plan for where you will take her or how she will be treated. Where are you located City, state? We might have a good squirrel rehabber nearby. Thanks for trying to help her!

First and foremost, thanks for the support and advice. It's nice to find people who understand why I care about this. Many of my friends would think I was "nuts." (unintended pun)

I might not be allowed to be on work campus until the weekend unfortunately. I did used to have a Havahart trap, but returned it. We can order the medium size again. I could also just throw a towel over her and pick her up probably? She can still climb trees though, with an occasional slip. It's clear she is in pain or lacks strength. She likes to hang upside down on the tree, and if I approach her, she will move around the trunk, but doesn't leave.

AB means antibiotic, correct?

I would love to have any links to Amazon products, if it's possible. Or maybe Petco?

Thanks for the bottom of my heart. They are so lovable.

[acorm]

I would take her here: https://wcsv.org/

I would love to have someone in the Silicon Valley/Bay Area to talk to. Is there anyone on here who lives closeby?

[acorm]

Oh my gosh, I caught her.

I had gloves on, and while she was grabbing the walnut from me, I put a towel over her and then put her in a cat carrier. It was all that was in stock. https://www.petsmart.com/dog/crates-...ier-32315.html

I lined the bottom with a plastic bag, put some paper towels over it, and then put in an old tshirt. When I gently got her, I put the towel in with her. There's space in there, but not a whole lot. She mostly huddled into the corner. Should I remove the towel?

I then got small dog cage, and put the bag into that cage, in case she chewed through the bag. She actually looked better today, and even chattered at me when I peeked at her. https://www.petco.com/shop/en/petcos...-195-h-2890596

Currently, she is in the trunk of my car with a towel over the cage. (She's in the bag with a towel, the bag is in a cage, and there is another towel over the cage.)

Will she be ok without water? I put 4 almonds, 2 walnuts, and 4 grapes in there.

I got her at 6:30 pm, and will drop her off at https://wcsv.org/ at 9 am tomorrow morning.

I could use reassurance that I'm doing the right thing. I hope she can forgive me.

I can't thank you all enough!

[Diggie's Friend]

Cars heat up rather quickly with our present weather; so don't leave her in there long after sun up. I wouldn't transport her in the trunk there may be an issue with fumes, too much vibration and possibly air also. Instead, move the carrier to the back seat to place it there on a flat bed if your seats can be laid down flat, or behind the passenger seat adjusted so it won't shift around. Bring a throw or very large towel, preferably of a darker color as that will help to keep her calmer, and try to not make allot of noise around her. A drop or two of molasses or maple syrup if you have it and can get put it in through a vent or the front of the door grid without opening it from the outside at her eye level I wouldn't have put the plastic in the carrier, but instead under the carrier; yet trying to remove it she may try to escape. Just my two cents from having conducted a number of rescues of injured squirrels myself.

[TubeDriver]

If you could catch her that easily, she is really compromised and weak. She would not last long in the wild like that and you have watched her declining for a while. So she does need help and I think she needs hands-on care.

As DF said, put her on the floor in the backseat area of your car. Cover the cage with a towel or old t-shirt so she will feel less exposed. You can offer her a little bowl of water and some nut treats.

You are doing the right thing, she would not survive much longer out there in her current condition. Hopefully, they will be able to heal her and in a worst case, euthanization is quick and painless and would spare her the agony of a slow death in the wild. Let us know how she does and thanks for going the extra mile to help her.

[TubeDriver]

Any updates on your little friend?

[acorm]

Thank you so much. Thank you everyone.

I tried to give wcsv.org as much info as I could, even wrote some of it down, but there was a line of people with animals. There was a possum that was struck by a car and a baby turkey that turned out to be a chicken, among some others.

I've gotten two updates since bringing her in on Tuesday (they gave me a case number, and said to call in 24 hours). The worst that can happen now is that Pancake spontaneously passes away or she's so bad that they had to euthanize her.

Pancake was rustling about the next morning, and I even brought her some food. With gardening gloves on, I tried getting her a few slices of peach, 2 walnuts, and 2 pieces of avocado. I also tried to get some water to her. She pounced a couple times at me, but ate a good amount, despite being in captivity.

-----

Here is Pancake back in Feb/March. This is where she got her name -- and the last time she was her normal self.

Attachment 315739

Here is Pancake in April. She already seemed a bit loopy, and actually seemed fatter. (Pregnant maybe?). We (employees) hadn't been there in weeks. She had a hair tie around her neck too.

Attachment 315732

I didn't see her in May at all, because of work from home.

Started seeing her again in June (weekly):

Attachment 315733

Here is Pancake in July:



Besides losing some weight, her personality is just different. She seems zoned out, maybe senile? Seems to have discomfort breathing and eating. Doesn't want to move a lot and just loses interest in things and walks away.

I didn't take any photos of trying to catch her, because I wasn't even sure if I would see her. They down the sidewalk she trotted down towards me. She grabbed the avocado, and I had the walnut ready to distract her with. As she reached for the walnut, i threw the towel over her.

I was worried that it was one of those towels with lots of loops to get stuck in, but it wasn't. I think she grew used to the towel, because when I tried to take it out the next morning, she grabbled onto it. It appears she was making a home for herself in the temporary accomodations.

Here she is being received by the hospital the next morning.

Attachment 315735

Here is the form I had to fill out:

Attachment 315736

Attachment 315738

Here was what she ate from what I had given her. Originally 4 grapes, 4 almonds, 4 walnuts, 4 peach pieces.

Attachment 315737

I decided to call on Friday and again on Monday (today). Here are my notes:

"Pancake was pretty low energy when she first came in they said, and they put her on meds for respiratory problems. She will stay there until August 4 at least, and they said she was energetic today. They said she is an older squirrel, so she’s lived the good life for some time."

Monday:

"Pancake update: her chart just says she has a hurt foot now. She apparently bit one of the techs, which the woman said is a good sign. They are going to keep her till the end of the week (at least). The intake info about her was that she is an adult squirrel + was very thin + low energy. No mention of respiratory issues, which is weird... but it’s different people I’m talking to each time. They said she was on pain meds and came in with a bunch of weird symptoms. They said they have an outdoor enclosure to observe her outside before letting her go."

I'll be calling again later this week. Hoping they find what's wrong and it doesn't get confused for other things.

Hang in there, Pancake.

[TubeDriver]

You have given your friend a chance for healing, I am keeping my fingers crossed!

[acorm]

Thanks so much for the love and support. They are keeping her another week, because she stopped eating and there was blood in her pee. They are treating her for UTI now. She's getting her best chance and us super tough!

I decided to put the info/photos in this Google doc: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1...it?usp=sharing

You can see her history there ^^

You have given your friend a chance for healing, I am keeping my fingers crossed!

[acorm]

Thanks for everyone's help and support. I wanted to report back so there's closure on Pancake.

Pancake passed away last Thursday. I believe we gave her her best chance, and she had plenty of food/water/shelter till the end.

You can see she was declining at bit.ly/pancakesquirrel

They didn’t euthanize her, she was just ready to go. They said she was an old squirrel.

She was there at the wildlife hospital for 16 days. Definitely up and down in health. They kept checking on her eating and would switch it up for her when she would stop eating certain foods. They think she had a seizure and was about the euthanize her, but she passed on her own. She was eating applesauce and bananas. She got really good care from the sound of it. There’s lots of notes about her weight and UTI she had.

I'll always remember her as our little larger-than-life charmer, Pancake

[Chirps]

Saw this thread, then lost track of it. Thanks for the update. It sounds like everyone did the best they could for an old girl who was just ready to go. I'm glad her passing was as easy as it could have been. Thanks for the lovely photo. It's a great final memory to have. She was so beautiful. Her coloring reminds me of a silver fox.