5 day old newborn with asp? need help

[Kitfox]

Hello
I believe I have an Eastern fox squirrel about 5 to 7 days old. Currently 17 G. He seems to have ASP as he is clicking with each breath. I have doxycycline 100 mg tabs for my dog and it is a current prescription.

Little guy still seems to have energy and an appetite, but less so than a couple of days ago. He went from 16 G to 17 G in the first couple of days but now is staying at 17 G. He seems to have a cough as well as the clicking with his breathing this morning that is why I'm contacting you now.

Should I begin a course of antibiotics? And if so what dose should I use?

Thanks!

[Charley Chuckles]

[supersquirrelgirl]

Can you get amox-clav Augmentin or clavamox ?? How about cipro ??

ask family, friends, anybody.

Assume ASP means aspiration pneumonia A/P ??

How long has clicking been ??

[Kitfox]

Oops sorry, yes aspiration pneumonia. Clicking for 2 days. Coughing this morning.
I'll ask fam/friends.
Doxycycline won't work?

[supersquirrelgirl]

amox/clav or cipro is best, doxy is okay but not preferred.

[supersquirrelgirl]

Hi Kitfox,

I'm going to send you dosing info for Doxy in case you find nothing else. Since your squirrel is clicking now, time factor is important. I'll send dosing info by PM.

Mr.SSG

[Kitfox]

I don't seem to have anyone with leftover antibiotics.

A friend with goats has
neomycin sulfate powder called neomed 325 or
duromycin 10 or
oxytetracycline HCI

Other than that the only access I have to antibiotics right now that I know of is the 100 mg tablets of Doxycycline

[Kitfox]

Hi Kitfox,

I'm going to send you dosing info for Doxy in case you find nothing else. Since your squirrel is clicking now, time factor is important. I'll send dosing info by PM.

Mr.SSG

Thank you so much! I really hope it helps him ❤️

[supersquirrelgirl]

Dosing PM sent. Take care for the mixing instructions. 17gram baby is tricky.

[SamtheSquirrel2018]

Hi Kitfox:
I saw your thread earlier today and corresponded with MrSSG as I was in the midst of having some of my own medical issues addressed and had only very limited time. IF you had the access to Amoxicillin plus Clavulanate (Augmentin is a brand name but there are many generic equivalents and sometimes people may have Clavamox which is a Veterinary brand of Amoxicillin plus Clavulanate, this would have ben my recommendation as a first-line medication for presumptive Aspiration Pneumonia. Doxycycline is a very good medication for pneumonias in most cases but in the case of your Squirrel being a neonate (newly born), I would like to suggest that you use this medication for only the minimal time-period period where it becomes evident that signs of a pneumonia are resolved. Doxycycline has been used in neonates and I have used this medication with this age group as well but it has been when there are very obvious signs of pneumonia and only for the minimum necessary time-frame and only in the rare situation where treatment was absolutely necessary and I did not have any other reasonable option to use as an antibiotic. I am NOT posting these comment because I feel that Doxycycline is an inferior choice for pneumonia as in reality, Doxycycline is ordinarily a very good choice of antibiotic for most bacterial pneumonias! My concern is your Squirrel's age and I would again like to suggest that this be used in his case only for the minimum time necessary!

Please also reevaluate things with your Squirrel as a baby Squirrel makes all kinds of noises including "clicking" and in my experience and IMHNVO (in my humble non-vet opinion), I would not use this sign alone in making a diagnosis of aspiration pneumonia or pneumonia. I would focus on other issues such as decreased appetite, decreased activity or decreased responsiveness and in regard to possible aspiration pneumonias; an association with a recent aspiration event. Again, in my experience, the noises we hear with our "unassisted" ears that emanate from baby Squirrels that actually do have pneumonias are unlikely to originate in the lungs themselves (those abnormal sounds are termed crackles and they are heard in such tiny animals only with the aid of a stethoscope) and are often from the larger upper airways or attempts at breathing through the mouth when breathing is normally through the nose is impeded, impossible (obstruction or interference with airflow in the nasal passages) or inadequate (the Squirrel is in respiratory distress from inadequate air exchange from a pneumonia as an example). If you Squirrel is behaving normally, has a good appetite and is as interactive as normal for a baby (readily nurses when the nipple is presented as an example) it may very well be that there is no pneumonia or a pneumonia is resolved. Also, while aspirations can occur unobserved, with raising baby Squirrels, the most likely time for an aspiration is while nursing and if there is no definitive aspiration event, this bespeaks against an aspiration pneumonia but of course does not rule it out!

All I am really suggesting is to frequently reassess your little Baby Squirrel and use the Doxycycline for only the minimum required time-frame! How is you Baby doing now and has he had a dose of the doxycycline yet?

Regards,
SamtheSquirrel

[SamtheSquirrel2018]

Please also reevaluate things with your Squirrel as a baby Squirrel makes all kinds of noises including "clicking" and in my experience and IMHNVO (in my humble non-vet opinion), I would not use this sign alone in making a diagnosis of aspiration pneumonia or pneumonia. I would focus on other issues such as decreased appetite, decreased activity or decreased responsiveness and in regard to possible aspiration pneumonias; an association with a recent aspiration event.

Hi Kitfox:
I had edited what I was going to say and then realized that I had already posted the "draft" and my 15 minutes for editing was lost. I had modified somewhat one of my statements and would like to ensure that this was made clear!

Here is what I wanted to state in place of the comment above;
"Please also reevaluate things with your Squirrel as a baby Squirrel makes all kinds of noises including "clicking" and in my experience and IMHNVO (in my humble non-vet opinion), I would not necessarily use this sign alone in making a diagnosis of aspiration pneumonia or even a pneumonia in general. I would suggest correlation also with other potential abnormal signs such as decreased appetite, decreased activity or decreased responsiveness and in regard to possible aspiration pneumonias; an association with a recent aspiration event."

When I am not home (most of the time!) and at my computer, I write my posts on my tiny cell phone and usually have a million inadvertent typos or as in this case, I inadvertently pushed the send button without verifying that my message was as I intended. Sorry for the confusion!
Regards,
SamtheSquirrel

[supersquirrelgirl]

Hi Kitfox,

Checking back....How's the little one ??

[Kitfox]

Hello and thank you @supersquirrelgirl for all of the timely help. Thank you to @SamtheSquirrel2018 for the detailed help and info!

Little Tippy Toes is growing and strong. After continuing to monitor him and assess his condition, I decided to hold off on antibiotics. Although he was clicking with each breath he was strong with a good appetite. He is very, very active and splays out, rolls over, and pushes with his nose. He's very vigorous! (It's no wonder he did not stay in his nest).

I have attached pics and his growth over the last weeks.

Also, sorry this site is clunky to use and I am still figuring it out. If there are any helpful files for me to figure out how to rotate and edit my pics I would love to know about them!

~Kitfox~

[SamtheSquirrel2018]

Hello and thank you @supersquirrelgirl for all of the timely help. Thank you to @SamtheSquirrel2018 for the detailed help and info!

Little Tippy Toes is growing and strong. After continuing to monitor him and assess his condition, I decided to hold off on antibiotics. Although he was clicking with each breath he was strong with a good appetite. He is very, very active and splays out, rolls over, and pushes with his nose. He's very vigorous! (It's no wonder he did not stay in his nest).

I have attached pics and his growth over the last weeks.

Also, sorry this site is clunky to use and I am still figuring it out. If there are any helpful files for me to figure out how to rotate and edit my pics I would love to know about them!

~Kitfox~

Thank you so much for the wonderful update on LTT! He is obviously doing great under your care! The photos are simply beautiful!

I have not had any problem with posting photos but I rotate them and save them as a new image before I upload them. That being said, other members have had some problems and hopefully Bravo or one of the other more tech-savvy members will have some suggestions for you.

Please keep on with the updates!

Regards,
SamtheSquirrel

[supersquirrelgirl]

Priceless! It will get much more exciting in the coming weeks. Fur will grow, eyes will open, a mini squirrel will come out. Have fun!

For pictures, many of mine were rotated too. What I found was making them taller than wider and when uploaded they come out correctly. Not sure what others do, but to view, I right click edit and rotate to view them if needed.