Squirrel
Member
Hello all, I have a squirrel, but I'm coming here for help because we squirrel owners use rat protocol for our guys. A little background, this squirrel was in my backyard and was having all kinds of problems and had a big hump on his back. I'm a huge animal lover and I couldn't just watch him starve, so I spent 3 weeks and finally caught him. He was about 9 months old at the time. X-rays showed a previously broken back which explained why he couldn't jump, but he could climb and run just fine. So we decided to keep him. He tamed up very nicely and is just a snuggle bunny. We've had him for almost 2 years now and he's been very stable up until about the end of June. He eats HT 2014 blocks and healthy veggies and gets all kinds of love and attention. He's always had some neuro tendencies, a slight head bob and a little wobbly sometimes, but other than that, very healthy. Great qualify of life. So this last June, he started dragging his right front leg. The vet said that he definately has neuro issues, but thought the leg might be injury related either to the leg or the spine, so we treated with metacam and it got somewhat better, but not a complete recovery. Then about the first of August, he started being SUPER active and his appetite decreased signficantly. He weighed about 840g at that time. Since then he's down to about 760g. He's still eating, but not nearly as much. Now he's developed weakness in his back right leg and drags it slightly. I had the vet come out again and he said it's definately neurological. He checked his eyes and his left pupil doesn't dialate at all while the right one does, so that explains the right side of the body issues. So he said something is going on in his brain, the question is what? He's about 2.5 years old now (captive squirrels can live to 15 years old) so he said a brain tumor was possible, but not likely at his age. He said that he's more concerned about a possible central nervous system bacterial infection or even Toxoplasma (parasite that can invade the brain). He said that he could have been exposed to it as a youngster in the wild and laid dormant or just took a while to get to this state. So we are treating with Sulfatrim and Ponazuril. In the meantime, I'm wondering if any of you can recommend a natural appetite stimulant to help him eat better. He's so restless and runs circles in his cage, just can't seem to settle down for long, VERY out of character for him. So this morning I resorted to some Rescue Remedy in attempt to calm him somewhat. Any suggestions to any of this anyone? Thank you for your help.
