Originally Posted by
Jilla08
Yes, your summary is pretty accurate. How do squirrels express pain? In other words, if there was a broken pelvis or another fracture of some sort, would he squeak and be vocal when I picked him up? He does not do that and I used the tip of my nail this time with the pinch test as I think I did it too softly before (was very cautious about how hard I could get away with pinching a little squirrel foot). That was more uncomfortable and he jerked his leg away on both sides. So that was a good sign.
I think doing both Pred and calcium sounds like a good plan. I have various strengths on hand but the smallest is 10mg I believe and yes, I also have gabapentin. 300mg is likely the smallest dose I have of that.
I am going to ask our local wildlife rehab org if they have a vet that sees squirrels. I suspect not or I would likely already know of this vet but going to check.
Ground squirrels climb more than they jump. They will jump but cautiously and not from a very high place unless they feel pressured or threatened and have to move fast. Generally they will climb down the wood cabinet in our bathroom. the ledge of my tub is about 18 inches off the ground and they will jump from that high but not much higher. I know that a spinal compression can happen though from even a low jump if the animal lands wrong (we have a paralyzed dog who compressed her spine playing and landing wrong). So, I think that a spinal injury remains a possibility.