Neuro is Hyperactive and Not Eating!

[mel_la_fee]

My neuro Cleo is 4 years old now (some of you probably recall her from previous posts over the years) and starting last Monday she has been steadily declining, but in a way I've never seen beforee. Rather than being lethargic or hiding in her nest, or just generally giving signs that she's not feeling well, she's running all over the place (well, running all over as many places as she can get to). She runs circles in her cage, runs up and down the ramp between the floor and the bed (she's never been able to jump), and is awake for far longer during the day, even at times when she would ordinarily be napping. She does this all morning long and into the afternoon and refuses to eat anything. It's at the point where I have to hold her down and forcefeed her just to make sure she gets a few calories, but she fights me the whole time. I have no idea where this energy is even coming from!

The soonest vet appointment I could get was for Wed and in the meantime I have to feed her Critical Care Omnivore formula, but it's difficult to get more than 1-2cc into her at a time. I keep thinking it has to be some kind of neurotoxin or something, right? The only time I've ever seen her behave anything close to this was when she started doing laps around the bedroom after I put Revolution on her. I immediately washed her with Dawn soap and she calmed down. When the vet didn't believe me about this reaction, I tried a second time and the same thing happened. I don't know if the Revolution would've affected her appetite because it didn't stay on her very long. But that's the closest thing I can think of to what I'm seeing now. I also note that she does seem to be drinking a bit more during the day. Or at least, she goes over to the water bottle more frequently- I don't know if she's drinking everytime.

And that's the final kicker- she seems somewhat confused as well. She goes to the edge of her rug or to the chair I usually feed her in as if she knows she needs to eat, but then looks at whatever you've given her like she doesn't recognize it as food. She used to love her HHBs and now they all just get hard and stale because she won't even touch them. I tried soft foods too, including roasting a pumpkin that I made into a puree for her and she wouldn't take more than a dab from my finger. She's losing weight now and I'm worried sick (thankfully she's not too bony yet, as she's always been a bit on the 'fluffy' side but this can't go on much longer).

I wiped her down with Dawn, changed her bedding, and went around the whole room looking for any signs she'd gotten into something, but that room has always been pretty squirrelproof and I never use bugsprays or chemicals in there anyway. It just doesn't make any sense. Has anyone else ever seen anything like this?

[mel_la_fee]

Just to update: Got her to eat half of a grape and 12.5 cc of Critical Care Formula yesterday. It's a drop in the bucket for a 1 lb squirrel, but it's a lot more than she had on Fri or Sat. I also scrubbed out her water bottle just in case the water was contaminated or the cap was moldy or something. It looked fine, but I'm just trying everything I can think of at this point.

[CritterMom]

I have only seen the sudden manic behavior in squirrels taking Benadryl - which is supposed to make you sleepy but if you take a bit too much it will cause this behavior. Has she gotten any sort of medication?

I would work at getting plenty of hydration into her - you can add a little sugar or honey to some water -try heating it up a bit and offer it to her by syringe.

The thing with neuros is that there is some damage in their brain and it can be affected even years later by things - not even taking a fall or something; it can be changes within the body.

[mel_la_fee]

Yeah. I know neuros can react differently to health issues and environmental stressors. They are so wonderful and yet so difficult at the same time… Cleo's medical records are over 86 pages at this point and I feel like she's still constantly surprising me with a new problem. She’s also shown adverse reactions to drugs that are typically safe for other babies; not just Revolution but also SMZ/TMP, which was the only other time she lost her appetite (at least that I can state confidently). In that case though, she was ultra lethargic and showed very clear signs of discomfort and a lack of engagement with her environment.

Prior to today, she was only on baytril. When she first showed a loss of appetite Monday evening, I just assumed I hadn't been supplementing her with enough probiotics to make up for the antibiotics. After all, no one wants to eat if their tummy hurts and they're struggling to digest food. So, I bumped up her probiotics to being most of a 100 billion CFU capsule per day. I also gave her a mixture of Tums with water because I wanted her to have calcium after not eating her block. By Friday she wasn’t eating ANYTHING except for the few cc’s I forcefed her and on Sun I finally had the idea to add a dash of heavy whipping cream to both her formulas (the probiotics and the Critical Care Formula), which does make it a bit easier to feed to her.
In order to maintain a reasonable weight, my estimate is that she needs approximately 150 kcal/day. The CCF only has 2.39 calories per mL so my thought was that the cream would boost the calorie count. Note that she still isn’t getting half of the calories she needs, but it's still better than what she had been getting for the previous week. She also won’t eat more than 3 cc of anything at a time, and 16.5 cc is the most I’ve been able to get her to eat in a day thus far.

Today we went to the vet and they’re pretty stumped as well. Her manic behavior is the aspect that makes the least amount of sense. I also note that she’s shedding more than usual now too. They gave me Prednisone in the hopes it will boost her appetite and I’m going to collect what little poop I can for a fecal test. If she doesn’t improve soon though, we’ll be going back for bloodwork and possibly x-rays (we opted not to do the x-rays this time because she does not respond well to anesthesia and we consider it a last resort).

In the meantime, I’ve continued cleaning our room in every way I can think of, including removing all of my bedding as well as hers to be washed again. I just don't know what's going on. It's all been happening so suddenly

[CritterMom]

I do know that Baytril and Cipro and the other drugs in that class can lower the threshhold for seizure activity. While she may not be actively having seizures, she is neurologically damaged so I would avoid giving them to her, especially given that clavamox can normally be used and actually is effective on more things than Baytril.

[Rock Monkey]

The only time I've ever seen her behave anything close to this was when she started doing laps around the bedroom after I put Revolution on her. I immediately washed her with Dawn soap and she calmed down. When the vet didn't believe me about this reaction, I tried a second time and the same thing happened. I don't know if the Revolution would've affected her appetite because it didn't stay on her very long. But that's the closest thing I can think of to what I'm seeing now.

Was it the traditional Revolution or the new Revolution Plus that you applied to Cleo?

There is an important difference. Revolution Plus has a second ingredient, Sarolaner.

My guess is that it is the Revolution Plus that you applied to Cleo.

The following is directly copied from the manufacturer's (Zoetisus) website concerning Revolution Plus:

IMPORTANT SAFETY INFORMATION:

The safe use of REVOLUTION PLUS has not been established in kittens less than 8 weeks old or in breeding, pregnant or lactating cats. Reported side effects in clinical trials included lethargy and anorexia. Use with caution in cats with a history of neurologic disorders. Sarolaner, one of the ingredients in REVOLUTION PLUS, is a member of the isoxazoline class, which has been associated with adverse reactions such as tremors, ataxia, and seizures. Reactions have occurred in cats with or without a history of neurologic disorders. In humans, REVOLUTION PLUS may be irritating to skin and eyes.


Selamectin and Sarolaner Deliver Even Broader Protection Against Parasites ...
With Unique Dual Action Against Fleas and Ear Mites

Selamectin MOA: kills parasites primarily through interference with their glutamate-gated chloride channels, causing paralysis and death of the target parasite
Sarolaner MOA: kills parasites primarily through interference with their GABA-gated chloride channels, causing increased nerve stimulation and death of the target parasite


Based on the above safety warning from the manufacturer I would say that Revolution Plus should never be applied to a neuro. It also makes one wonder if it should be applied to a healthy squirrel. The conservative answer, to me, seems to be "No" as well where healthy squirrels are concerned.

[mel_la_fee]

Based on the above safety warning from the manufacturer I would say that Revolution Plus should never be applied to a neuro. It also makes one wonder if it should be applied to a healthy squirrel. The conservative answer, to me, seems to be "No" as well where healthy squirrels are concerned.

This is a good warning to consider. In my case, I don't know if it was the original formulation or the Plus because that was more than 3 years ago. I tried it back when I was first trying to get rid of fleas she'd picked up from my other rescues (Cleo is 4 now) and I only brought it up because that's the one time I saw her behave similarly. In 4 years she's only really gotten manic/hyperactive when I initially tried Revolution. But she hasn't had any topical flea medication in years (I use Capstar when necessary) so that isn't the issue now. It has to be something else, I'm just not sure what. My vet suspects that we might be dealing with some kind of bacterial encephalopathy because of her chronic infections. I hope that's not the case but we have another vet appointment soon so I'll let everyone know when I find out more.

Neuros can be especially sensitive, and their behavioral patterns don't necessarily match up with what we expect, which can make it more difficult to diagnose them. But as you know, it's important to monitor any animal for adverse effects from medication, neuro or otherwise.

[Mel1959]

Revolution Plus was not available for purchase until early 2019. To the best of my knowledge TSB has never recommended Revolution Plus. I suppose there could be confusion and purchased inadvertently by folks, though.