Young wild with coordination problems (video provided)
Hi again everyone,
Thank you so much for your help with Scoop and Honey! They have both made a full recovery and are toughing out the heat wave that has hit the lower mainland of British Columbia. I hope I can ask for your help with Yogurt this time ❤️
I’ll try to be as detailed as possible with the timeline and symptoms below — but in summary, Yogurt is suddenly having issues with balance and coordination. I’ve also left a brief description of her symptoms at the very end.
Here is a video of her — time stamps are in the video description.
https://youtu.be/Aov6ujzOmbs
Yogurt is a wild young Eastern Grey, she was born during the recent breeding season. She started visiting around 2–3 months ago with her sister (Pudding). Normally, she’s really full of energy (like the other young ones) and was always play fighting with Pudding. Also very clever! She was one of the first young ones to figure out that the treats on the balcony come when the doors open 😂
She’s been her usual self up until July 26, which happened to be the beginning of the heat wave. She came in the morning with poor coordination, unusual movements, and was slower to process what was happening around her. When she was sitting still to eat, she would wobble back and forth, lean to either side, and always had her head tilted at an angle. Her jumps weren’t precise — not because of her tail, but it seemed like her depth perception is off.
We were trying to have her drink some water or have her come just a little inside to cool off like the other squirrels had been doing, but she seemed too disoriented to drink water or cool off. She was not pancaking like the others, and only ate a little bit of almond and coconut. She didn’t stay as long as she usually does, so we couldn’t properly assess what might be wrong. At first we thought it might be the heat.
We didn’t see her again until July 29, where her condition was relatively the same. This time she drank water, ate a leaf of kale and some coconut oiled nuts. A rehabber told me to give her a dose of selamectin. I still have Revolution from when I was helping Honey, so I gave her a pecan that had a drop of Revolution on it. She stayed longer, so I was able to check her better. Her coat and tail seemed normal, and she had no visible injuries.
She came back again on July 31 and seemed almost back to normal. Mentally, her energy had increased a little, and her processing seemed to be like usual. Physically, she was still wobbling, leaning, and falling over. Again, she had some water, ate a leaf of kale, and took some almonds to hide.
She came back again on August 02 and her energy levels were completely back to normal. Coincidentally this was also the first cool day since the heat wave. If I didn’t know she had been struggling for a few days, I wouldn’t think she was injured. Even though she still has poor coordination and is still off balance, she was chasing and chattering at other squirrels, jumping around without as many falls, and foraging. She even challenged Roo, an older male who usually claims the balcony when he comes. I am out of the kale she likes, so unfortunately all she got were some coconut oiled almond and hazelnut bits. She also drank some water.
That brings us to today! Thank you for reading this far.
I’ve been scouring the board for other people who have squirrels with similar symptoms and have come across A LOT of possible answers. I can’t tell if this is an ear infection, or a skeletal, muscular, or neurological issue. I came across Racoon Roundworm and really really really hope it isn’t that.
What do you think is going on with Yogurt? What can I do to help her through it? Do you think I should start supplementing calcium carbonate to her since she seemed to be back to normal after eating kale?
Here is the video again — time stamps are in the video description.
https://youtu.be/Aov6ujzOmbs
To sum up the timeline —
July 26: wobbling, head tilt, lack of coordination.
July 29: same condition, and given Revolution and calcium rich veggies.
July 31: slight better, but still seemed unbalanced.
August 02: high energy and behaving like normal, but still lacking coordination.
Thank you so much for any advice you have! I love little Yogurt so much 😞 Please let me know if I have missed anything you might need.
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Re: Young wild with coordination problems (video provided)
she still seems wobbly and she hasn’t stopped by for a nut which is a little out of the ordinary. When she did come, she ran away from me which is really strange!
Originally Posted by Lighten-Up
I miss her so much!! Here’s some pics of her ❤️
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8/14/04-3/7/13
