Re: Help baby squirrel is having diarrhea
Originally Posted by
Squirrelbaby99
I have yet to name her since I am trying to not get too attached in case she doesn’t make it. The first squirrel I rehabbed didn’t make it and it was really hard on me. If she makes it past a week, I will start think of names. She weighed in at 126g today and I have been feeding her every 5 hours (about 7 mls). Hlyer hydration has really been a struggle. She pretty much refuses to take the water orally from a syringe or from anywhere. The only way I have gotten her to drink anything is by putting 0.2 mls of formula with 0.8mls of water and mixing that together and then syringe feeding her. She tolerates that but not for long (only will take about 0.5-1ml). She is still having soft stool so I am concerned about the hydration. I did offer her some of the rodent blocks today and she has seemed interested in them. She does seem to be having a hard time with chewing and biting the blocks but she is starting to figure it out. She loves the formula and eats it very well for me. I ordered the other formula previously recommended and it should be here shortly. I gave her 10 mls of fluid yesterday and that seemed to help. I understand the dangers, but my previous squirrel struggled with hydration which led to her death and I am extra worried about keeping this one hydrated. Overall she is doing well, just worried about the soft stool and the hydration.
I hear what your saying and I too have had losses with babies that couldn't maintain their hydration. With lessons learned, those losses have saved many more lives by reverting to the addition of subqing. Oral hydration may be the best route to stay hydrated but with diarrhea the body can lose more fluid than it can take in and the body doesn't have the fluid it needs to function properly. Dehydration is a slippery slope, when a baby starts "crashing" it's generally too late to turn it around as kidneys and other organs have already started to shut down. Subqing can help bring those levels up faster and to where it then can be maintained orally. I would continue to offer oral hydration in between regular feedings to whatever amount he will take. (without bloating)
I personally have only had to subq 2-3 times on serious babies to get them stable... but... you need to also work on stopping the diarrhea.
Diarrhea and dehydration go hand in hand with one aiding the other.
Has this baby been given anything to address the diarrhea?
Step-N-Stone
State Licensed
Wildlife Master Rehabilitator