GRAPHIC PHOTOS

Fox Squirrel

Thursday - May 21, 2020

It has been incredibly demanding around here lately with an increase of injured animals coming in, causing us to be at the vet everyday this week!

Last night's appointment was for two squirrels who needed x-rays...

Broccoli the Red Squirrel had two confirmed fractures, one being in his front left arm and the other being in his back, right leg. Fortunately, muscle tissue is doing a great job at holding the bones in place, so we are continuing with cage rest in an incubator until he shows signs of being able to efficiently climb without potentially doing more damage to himself. We also noticed he had some necrotic tissue on his tail and while at the vet, his beautiful white tail fell off! It was definitely a surprise to open the box and see the tail no longer attached! We will continue to keep Broccoli on pain meds until he's no longer such a little hot mess; otherwise, he's eating and drinking well and is weaning off formula

The other squirrel we brought in was hit by a car and no longer had use of his back legs. The people who stopped to help him stabilized him overnight before driving 90 minutes to bring him to us the next morning! We didn't think he'd make it through the first night, but to our surprise, he was a fighter and pulled through. We triaged and wanted to keep him as calm as possible so we could do a more thorough evaluation.

During yesterday's visit, our fear was actualized and his spine was severely fractured, causing issues with his spinal cord and nerve damage not allowing him to urinate properly, creating a whole other set of issues. We deliberated with the Veterinarian and decided euthanasia was the most humane option for this 1.7 lb fox squirrel. Deciding an animal's fate is something we do not take lightly, but we will always choose the most humane option for the animals in our care...regardless of how difficult it may be on us humans.

As you can imagine, veterinary care, medications, x-rays, follow-up appointments, euthanasia, etc can become quite costly for a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization! Any help from our supporters is greatly appreciated and allows us to do full work-ups of the patients in our care. Thank you for allowing us this opportunity!