Urgent help!

[livvvysq]

About two weeks ago hurricane Laura came through Louisiana, and I rescued a little grey squirrel under the name of hammie. I have him on fox valley formula, the one you feed older squirrels as he’s over 5 weeks. He gets fed 4-5 hours in between. The past two days he’s been lethargic, barely opening his eyes, sneezing rapidly, although he has NO clicking. I also noticed he was regurgitating food, which cannot be a good sign. I’ve eased him off formula and started giving him small amounts with pedialyte. I have no clue has to why he’s had a dramatic drop in health. He weighs around 40g, which isn’t the best, but he was severely underfed when I picked him up! Please help, I do not want to lose my sweet boy!

[Scooterzmom]

Hi and welcome to the board

Do you have any photograph(s) of your baby... it can sometimes help when we see things. Are Hammie's eyes open yet? Do you stimulate him after feedings? When you say you ease the formula giving him formula with pedialyte, do you mean you make the formula with pedialyte or you give pedialyte in between feedings? Is the little one on a source of heat of any sort? It's important that he be kept warm at all times, even during feedings. What size of syringe are you using? How much does he take per feeding?

Among the photos, try to also get some of his tummy, or any possible bruises or trauma... I know, lots of questions, but just trying to get as full a picture as I can on the situation.

[livvvysq]

Hi and welcome to the board

Do you have any photograph(s) of your baby... it can sometimes help when we see things. Are Hammie's eyes open yet? Do you stimulate him after feedings? When you say you ease the formula giving him formula with pedialyte, do you mean you make the formula with pedialyte or you give pedialyte in between feedings? Is the little one on a source of heat of any sort? It's important that he be kept warm at all times, even during feedings. What size of syringe are you using? How much does he take per feeding?

Among the photos, try to also get some of his tummy, or any possible bruises or trauma... I know, lots of questions, but just trying to get as full a picture as I can on the situation.

Hammie’s eyes and ears and wide open, and he’s very alter. I stimulate him after each feeding with my finger, (I wash it after don’t worry!) and no I don’t mix the electrolytes with the formula as I’ve read it causes the formula to be thrown off, today all hes gotten is pedialyte, as I want him to stay hydrated. He’s constantly in his bed, where he can get on the heating pad and off when he pleases. The only thing I’ve noticed his when he throws up, it’s the formula and it’s chunky, almost like it spoiled on his tummy, and his poop is white, like a milk color. He was on Esbilac (bad, but it’s what I had on hand,) but I ordered 20/50 and eased him into it gradually. I’m using a small o-ring syringe, which is 1cc. He normally eats around 3-4 syringes. Please help, I won’t be logging off till I get some type of help!

[Scooterzmom]

At 40 g for 5 weeks old, that is awful small indeed. Are you sure about that weight? Do you have a food scale?

Now every feeding he gets should be anywhere between 5 and 7 % of his body weight. At that weight he should be getting between 2 (5%) and 2.8 cc (7%) at every feeding. On top of that, he's been getting pedialyte in between feedings, he may ot be hungry for a full feeding. White stools will usually indicate overfeeding.

It would still make it easier to help you if we could take a look at him, full body shot and at his tummy - if you can do it one of his tummy before feeding, and one after feeding. This little guy is in deep trouble. You are better off going easy on the feeding instead of overfeeding since now he's not really getting the nourishment he needs if he keeps throwing up.

How did you transition him from the Esbilac to the FV?

[stepnstone]

40 grams is terribly small for a 5+ week old squirrel that should be weighing on the average between 120-160 grams.
You stated he normally eats 3-4 syringes being fed with a 1cc syringe, at 40 grams he is being over fed.
This could account for the regurgitating and the undigested formula curdling.
Babies should be fed between 5-7% of their body weight which is the capacity of their stomach.
At 40 grams he should be fed between 2 - 2.8 cc's. I personally would not feed a 40 gram baby over 5% which would be 2 cc's.
Obviously 5+ weeks at 40 grams he is under developed which would include his digestive system also being under developed.

It is recommended to not use pedialyte over 24 hours.
I would recommend 1-2 feedings using the home made hydration fluid to flush his system, then put him back on formula at 5% (2cc's)
and give hydration in between regular formula feedings to get his system turned around.

Please post a picture of this baby for an eyes on assessment.

Home made hydration fluid:
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 tablespoon sugar (1-1/2 teaspoons)
8 oz water


Edit: Scooterzmom, you type faster but like minds.

[livvvysq]

Woke up this AM to hammie running around his box, squeaking and calling for me. I’m going to try and find a good scale that can weigh him in grams to get an exact weight for him, so I can begin feeding him the correct amount. I have him a homemade electrolyte mix today as suggested, because he was on pedialyte for a day. I work at TSC and we have a scale for bolts that weighs in pounds and I can convert to grams, hopefully I can use that. When I transferred him over I have around a syringe of fox valley and two of esbilac for a couple days then slowly upped the fox valley. I attached a picture of his tummy after feeding, ignore the little bumps, those were from ant bites a couple weeks ago from when I rescued him.

[stepnstone]

Curious as to his actual weight, pictures can be deceiving but he looks to be more then 40 grams.
Walmart, bed bath beyond sell gram scales under $20.

[livvvysq]

After looking at him, I definitely undershot his weight. Going today to grab a weight scale.