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Thread: UTI? Puberty? I need help please

  1. #1
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    Question UTI? Puberty? I need help please

    Hello, I have been fostering an eastern grey squirrel since April, my daughter found her abandoned and we took her in after failing to reunite her with mom.
    About 4 days ago something has changed.
    Hazel has very suddenly stopped wanting to play with us altogether almost. She is free range in the house from 6am to 9pm, but now spends 90% of her time running back and fourth over the windowsil and the top of her cage peeing little bits at a time everywhere. She is still eating normal, still pooping normal, no aggression, no genital swelling or discolouration, no wet bedding, no wetness on the fur other than directly on her genitals as she frequently is peeing.
    Also I've noticed she is oddly calm, I can pick her up and she doesn't try to struggle or play at all just stays still till I put her down or climbs off me.
    The entire time we've had her she has been a blast, she plays with us all day with a short nap in between and now she just stopped. I don't know if there's something wrong physically or mentally but I'm worried over time her ignoring us will hurt our relationship and of there's something wrong I want to help her.
    Is any of this like a UTI or puberty changes? Should I be alarmed or am I overreacting? Please help, thanks.

  2. #2
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    Default Re: UTI? Puberty? I need help please

    I forgot to mention, she has also been grooming herself noticeably more often, not excessively but more than I'm used to seeing. Also Shows no sign of pain or injury.

  3. #3
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    Default Re: UTI? Puberty? I need help please

    Well. I have a now almost six year old boy squirrel, and EVERY summer - starts July - this little man, who is the sweetest, gentlest, snuggliest little guy I have ever seen, suddenly gives me the cold shoulder, mostly. He isn't MEAN, he just isn't that into me in this period. I predictably react like the girl in the rom-com that makes you cringe because they are so NEEDY and he cuts me no slack. For Zeke, it is like this for a couple months, and then suddenly my little snuggle bunny is back and he is fine until mid-summer the next year. In fact, last night he actually crawled into my lap for a cuddle - first time that has happened in a while - so he is perhaps coming out of it.

    Given how regular this is I can only assume it is a seasonal/hormonal thing. They mate and have babies pretty much all year round now but summer is the big mating time and may also play into this.

    How old is she actually - it looks like you have had her for 4 months. It seems young for her to be working on her first estrus but I don't know how old she was when you got her.

    Just for the heck of it, can you give us an outline of her diet? Sometimes there are answers there.

  4. Serious fuzzy thank you's to CritterMom from:

    HasilBasil (08-26-2022)

  5. #4
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    Default Re: UTI? Puberty? I need help please

    Quote Originally Posted by CritterMom View Post
    Well. I have a now almost six year old boy squirrel, and EVERY summer - starts July - this little man, who is the sweetest, gentlest, snuggliest little guy I have ever seen, suddenly gives me the cold shoulder, mostly. He isn't MEAN, he just isn't that into me in this period. I predictably react like the girl in the rom-com that makes you cringe because they are so NEEDY and he cuts me no slack. For Zeke, it is like this for a couple months, and then suddenly my little snuggle bunny is back and he is fine until mid-summer the next year. In fact, last night he actually crawled into my lap for a cuddle - first time that has happened in a while - so he is perhaps coming out of it.

    Given how regular this is I can only assume it is a seasonal/hormonal thing. They mate and have babies pretty much all year round now but summer is the big mating time and may also play into this.

    How old is she actually - it looks like you have had her for 4 months. It seems young for her to be working on her first estrus but I don't know how old she was when you got her.

    Just for the heck of it, can you give us an outline of her diet? Sometimes there are answers there.
    First of all, thankyou for the speedy reply 😁
    as for her age we're not 100% sure, going by the length of fur on her tail and the day she opened her eyes we estimated she was born around the 20th of March. As time has gone by I have suspicion that she may be older and was a late bloomer due to malnourishment before we rescued her. She weighed about 100 grams the day we found her and 170 grams 6 days later when she opened her eyes, she also had no use of her back legs until 2 days after she opened her eyes.
    Her diet consists of 2 to 3 Henry's healthy blocks a day plus a plethora of veggies, all from the list of healthy veggies from Henry's healthy pets food guide. She gets 1 little grape a day or a slice of apple, and her water is changed every few hours. She also gets 2 black walnuts a day (in shell) to help with her teeth ontop of a few deer antlers to chew on in her cage.
    Her cage is 2 and a half feet, by 2 feet, and 5 and a half feet high.
    Her behavior just seems really strange, almost like the pacing she does when she wants out of her cage when I have her in there to vacuum my house. She just keeps by the window and stares out it for hours. Sometimes she snaps out of it and starts playing with me but it's very unoften now. We used to play for a good 4 hours or more a day and l8ly it's been maybe a half hr a day if at all.
    She still likes her pets and kisses, still grooms my hands and ears and wants cuddles before bedtime. It's just so odd how quickly the change happened and I have no idea what caused it.

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    Default Re: UTI? Puberty? I need help please

    *UPDATE*

    So her behavior with the pacing and peeing all over the windowsil has now only become a morning routine. She is back to her normal self from 11am and onward.
    I don't know what caused this but I'll assume she doesn't have a UTI thank God as she isn't uncomfortable at all. She just kind of snaps out of it around 11am and goes straight to playing/eating as normal.
    This weird behavior is becoming less and less frequent and isn't destructive and my vet advised me it might just be puberty coming a little early.
    Thanks for the help I received 🙏 this group is an amazing wealth of great info and filled with very knowledgeable people.

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    Default Re: UTI? Puberty? I need help please

    I believe my squirrel has a uti. He has only been peeing little drops but tries to urinate frequently. His urine has a strong odor and his belly has been wet from dribbling. He lost his appetite as well.
    He is eastern gray about 8 weeks old approximately 200grams. We’ve had him a little over a month now. He was eating about 10cc of esbilac 4x a day and starting to nibble on Henry’s squirrel blocks before this problem started 6 days ago. The only antibiotic I could get my hands on was clavamox 250mg. I diluted that in 12cc of water and have been giving him .2cc twice a day. I started that 5 days ago. He was getting better but yesterday he was back to square one. I’m worried the dosing might be off. I’m in Maryland and can not find a vet to treat him. I’m willing to travel to pa, de, va if anyone knows of a vet that will treat him or can help me with dosing. Thank you in advance

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