Help-6 week old sneezing/clicking from the mouth

[Klarsom143]

Good evening, my son rescued a 6 week old squirrel from a classmate on Saturday. He weights 60 grams, eating Fox Valley by 1cc syringe every 4-5 hours and typically eats 3-4 cc's. He does suck the plunger down on his own but not very quickly. We do not think he has aspirated as no milk has come out of his nose. He is sneezing quite often though and is clicking from the mouth. I have put his chest to my ear and do not hear clicking from his chest but it's just so hard to tell. We have made him a snuggly bed on top of a pet safe heating pad. He is eating fine, sleeps most of the time if he isn't eating. I'm concerned that he did aspirate and of course, I do not have any antibiotics. Is there anyone in the Houston area that has any and would share? I would gladly pay for them. Please help! I am an experienced bottle feeder of kittens but this is a whole different ball game.

[Klarsom143]

My mother in law has a 500mg amoxicillin. I've read this isn't the best option for antibiotics but as of now, that is all I can find. Can anyone help with dosing? He is approx 6-7 weeks old, weighs 60grams prior to last feeding

[Spanky]

My mother in law has a 500mg amoxicillin. I've read this isn't the best option for antibiotics but as of now, that is all I can find. Can anyone help with dosing? He is approx 6-7 weeks old, weighs 60grams prior to last feeding

Amoxicillin is not the best choice or treatment for AP but better than nothing...

Is the clicking persistent? AP click is like the hiccups, they cannot not click. All babies will have an occasional mouth click especially after eating.

Are his appetite and energy level still good?

[Klarsom143]

He sleeps a ton but when he is up,
I would not say he's lethargic. He is still eating 3-4cc's per feeding. I have a video of the clicking but can't figure out how to upload. If he is still or sleeping, the clicking is constant. If he's moving around, it is not. My concern is this wasn't happening yesterday so I'm concerned about pneumonia. I have a 500 mg pill of Amoxicillan on the way. I saw an old post regarding dosing of Amoxicillan that said crush and dilute with 10 cc's of water and dose at .03 twice daily but want confirmation that is correct?

[Klarsom143]

I can email or text the video to anyone who can listen and offer advice.

[Klarsom143]

Amoxicillin is not the best choice or treatment for AP but better than nothing...

Is the clicking persistent? AP click is like the hiccups, they cannot not click. All babies will have an occasional mouth click especially after eating.

Are his appetite and energy level still good?

He sleeps a ton but when he is up,
I would not say he's lethargic. He is still eating 3-4cc's per feeding. I have a video of the clicking but can't figure out how to upload. If he is still or sleeping, the clicking is constant. If he's moving around, it is not. My concern is this wasn't happening yesterday so I'm concerned about pneumonia. I have a 500 mg pill of Amoxicillan on the way. I saw an old post regarding dosing of Amoxicillan that said crush and dilute with 10 cc's of water and dose at .03 twice daily but want confirmation that is correct? I can email or text the video if you would be willing to look at it.

[SamtheSquirrel2018]

He sleeps a ton but when he is up,
I would not say he's lethargic. He is still eating 3-4cc's per feeding. I have a video of the clicking but can't figure out how to upload. If he is still or sleeping, the clicking is constant. If he's moving around, it is not. My concern is this wasn't happening yesterday so I'm concerned about pneumonia. I have a 500 mg pill of Amoxicillan on the way. I saw an old post regarding dosing of Amoxicillan that said crush and dilute with 10 cc's of water and dose at .03 twice daily but want confirmation that is correct? I can email or text the video if you would be willing to look at it.

Hello Klarsom143:
Thank you for your care of this baby Squirrel! What is his name? I am at work but will try to help you but I will need to do this between work issues so I will not be able to constantly monitor your thread but I will get back to it frequently. First of all, have you ever raised a baby Squirrel? What Fox Valley Formula are you using. What most of us recommend is Fox Valley 20/50. There have been some very severe problems with FV32/40 with pinkies and it is best just to steer clear of this. Here is link to Henry's Pets Baby Squirrel Care Guide. It is 6 pages of very important and concisely delivered information. Right now, it is only necessary for you to read the first 3 pages. The only issue is Henry's recommendation of FV32/40 as an option for formula and this has not yet be revised as it definitely needs to be so again, my recommendation is to NOT use Fox Valley 32/40! https://www.henryspets.com/1-baby-squirrel-care-guide/

There is no way to directly attach a link to a video but you can upload the video to YouTube and then post a link in your thread to that. I will also send a PM to you with my Squirreling email and you can send it there if you wish.

I will help you with dosing if you want! We don't put dosing information on the Open Board for a number of reasons and this is done through Private Messaging. But, IF your dosing was correct (and it is close), I want to ask you a practical question and that is; do you feel confident that you can accurately pull up such small amounts of fluid such as mentioned (your example is a truly tiny amount of 3/100ths of one milliliter and even if so; there is more concern and that is with such small amounts, it is difficult to ensure that your Squirrel will be getting this and swallowing it? Three hundredths of a milliliter could leak out of your Squirrels mouth and wouldn't even be noticed. When I dose any Squirrels in my care or dose for others, I try to ensure that the amount is relatively easy to draw up on a 1cc syringe and of enough volume that the swallowing reflex would be triggered in the Squirrel. I often use 0.1ml as this amount is usually adequate to address both of my expressed concerns! By the way, is you 500mg Amoxicillin tablet scored so it can be divided. I really don't believe the 500's marketed in the USA are scored but if it is, this would make preparing the amoxicillin easier and it would give you some extra in case some was spilled or there were other losses! In a 500mg tablet of amoxicillin, there are over 400 appropriate doses for your 60 Gram Squirrel so we have a lot of extra amoxicillin! The less amoxicillin we use to begin with, the easier it is to get a dosing volume that is optimal (IMHO, this would, in the case of your 60 G baby be around 0.1ml)!

UPDATE: I tried to send a PM to you with my Squireling email and some other comments but it appears that Admin approval has not yet been granted for you to make or receive PM's We can deal with dosing on the Open Board and then Admin can delete it. Please try the YouTube video and posting a link in this thread! Please post your answers and comments and I will get back to you very shortly. I'll subscribe to this thread so I'll get a notification of all further posts.

Regards,
SamtheSquirrel

[SamtheSquirrel2018]

Hello again Klarsom143:

I have attached a feeding "cheat sheet" for you!



Regards,
StS

[Klarsom143]

Amoxicillin is not the best choice or treatment for AP but better than nothing...

Is the clicking persistent? AP click is like the hiccups, they cannot not click. All babies will have an occasional mouth click especially after eating.

Are his appetite and energy level still good?

Hello Klarsom143:
Thank you for your care of this baby Squirrel! What is his name? I am at work but will try to help you but I will need to do this between work issues so I will not be able to constantly monitor your thread but I will get back to it frequently. First of all, have you ever raised a baby Squirrel? What Fox Valley Formula are you using. What most of us recommend is Fox Valley 20/50. There have been some very severe problems with FV32/40 with pinkies and it is best just to steer clear of this. Here is link to Henry's Pets Baby Squirrel Care Guide. It is 6 pages of very important and concisely delivered information. Right now, it is only necessary for you to read the first 3 pages. The only issue is Henry's recommendation of FV32/40 as an option for formula and this has not yet be revised as it definitely needs to be so again, my recommendation is to NOT use Fox Valley 32/40! https://www.henryspets.com/1-baby-squirrel-care-guide/

There is no way to directly attach a link to a video but you can upload the video to YouTube and then post a link in your thread to that. I will also send a PM to you with my Squirreling email and you can send it there if you wish.

I will help you with dosing if you want! We don't put dosing information on the Open Board for a number of reasons and this is done through Private Messaging. But, IF your dosing was correct (and it is close), I want to ask you a practical question and that is; do you feel confident that you can accurately pull up such small amounts of fluid such as mentioned (your example is a truly tiny amount of 3/100ths of one milliliter and even if so; there is more concern and that is with such small amounts, it is difficult to ensure that your Squirrel will be getting this and swallowing it? Three hundredths of a milliliter could leak out of your Squirrels mouth and wouldn't even be noticed. When I dose any Squirrels in my care or dose for others, I try to ensure that the amount is relatively easy to draw up on a 1cc syringe and of enough volume that the swallowing reflex would be triggered in the Squirrel. I often use 0.1ml as this amount is usually adequate to address both of my expressed concerns! By the way, is you 500mg Amoxicillin tablet scored so it can be divided. I really don't believe the 500's marketed in the USA are scored but if it is, this would make preparing the amoxicillin easier and it would give you some extra in case some was spilled or there were other losses! In a 500mg tablet of amoxicillin, there are over 400 appropriate doses for your 60 Gram Squirrel so we have a lot of extra amoxicillin! The less amoxicillin we use to begin with, the easier it is to get a dosing volume that is optimal (IMHO, this would, in the case of your 60 G baby be around 0.1ml)!

UPDATE: I tried to send a PM to you with my Squireling email and some other comments but it appears that Admin approval has not yet been granted for you to make or receive PM's We can deal with dosing on the Open Board and then Admin can delete it. Please try the YouTube video and posting a link in this thread! Please post your answers and comments and I will get back to you very shortly. I'll subscribe to this thread so I'll get a notification of all further posts.

Regards,
SamtheSquirrel

Thank you so much for your reply! His name is Chipper. The amoxicillin is a capsule so no need to crush. I do have a friend that has 400mg liquid Bactrim that I will pick up in the morning so would need the dose for that as well. I have not raised a baby squirrel but have bottle fed newborn kittens (obviously totally different) but just to say that I am familiar with caring for tiny babies. I am feeding the 20/50 so we are good there. Should I give yogurt if he will eat it to help with the antibiotics? Again, thank you so much for your response. I will take any and all advice, we don't want to lose this little guy!

[SamtheSquirrel2018]

Thank you so much for your reply! His name is Chipper. The amoxicillin is a capsule so no need to crush. I do have a friend that has 400mg liquid Bactrim that I will pick up in the morning so would need the dose for that as well. I have not raised a baby squirrel but have bottle fed newborn kittens (obviously totally different) but just to say that I am familiar with caring for tiny babies. I am feeding the 20/50 so we are good there. Should I give yogurt if he will eat it to help with the antibiotics? Again, thank you so much for your response. I will take any and all advice, we don't want to lose this little guy!

Thanks Klarsom143! Hello Chipper!
I just receive a PM from you so it appears that one of the Admins has enabled your account privileges! I have sent mixing and dosing recommendations to you via PM for the Amoxicillin along with some other comments (as always).
Also, as always, I must give you my usual disclaimer and that is that I am not a Veterinarian and my comments, suggestions and recommendations are not to be taken being those of a Veterinarian, they are just my HNVO's (humble non-vet opinions)!

The other suggestion I have is to use the Amoxicillin and not the Bactrim IF you are going to opt for use of antibiotics! Amoxicillin is actually a fine respiratory antibiotic. Also, just as a comment; while ALL means should be utilized to avoid aspirations and all aspirations are potentially serious and all aspiration pneumonias ARE serious; the fact is that development of an aspiration pneumonia is relatively rare following most aspirations of formula from oral feeding! Again, avoid aspirations as best you can and never take an aspiration lightly!

IF there is a pneumonia present, most animals exhibit behavioral changes such as decreased or absent appetite, decreased activity or even lethargy and often other signs of illness as well! Also, if a pneumonia has developed, Bactrim is not really a respiratory drug and I would opt for the Amoxicillin and further, IMHNVO, I would not recommend using both antibiotics! Again, you are the one who must decide!

Regards,
SamtheSQuirrel

[SamtheSquirrel2018]

Should I give yogurt if he will eat it to help with the antibiotics?

I would recommend a light "dusting" of probiotics before each does of the medication for couple of days and then once a day for two days and then every other day while taking the antibiotics. There are many methods to dosing probiotics and there are no studies that would suggest one of these over another. If you already have a probiotics dosing schedule, it should be fine! Use them in moderations (whatever that may be)! The idea behind the probiotics is that they are likely to be of some benefit and they are very unlikely to do harm so most of us use them when dosing antibiotics to our Squirrels!
Regards,
SamtheSquirrel

[SamtheSquirrel2018]

Mixing & Dosing instructions for Amoxicillin sent via PM.
StS

[SamtheSquirrel2018]

I would recommend a light "dusting" of probiotics before each does of the medication for couple of days and then once a day for two days and then every other day while taking the antibiotic

This would be just "tiny pinch" between two fingers and given with some formula or dusted onto a piece of block if Chipper is eating these. Very little is all that is needed!
Regards,
StS