Doug this morning

I'm posting these now because Doug may not make it. He is not doing well and I feel death is inevitable. I will leave it at that for now as I have R to take care of and I am quite upset about this situation.

Pics

The pics I was unable to upload last night.

Super quick update

I just checked in on R and she's awake so I have time to say Doug broke the 30 gram mark, he was 31g the other day. He eats 3-4ccs now. Getting more furred. trying to upload pics for you but... taking too long. Excuse my misstyping in a huge hurry.

Picture Hiatus

My wifi has gone out on my laptop so I'm back to mobile for now. Which means no picture uploads (well technically I can still do it but it's a bigger pain then it's worth). I will try to update as much as I can from mobile, and I will be ordering home internet later on today so I will be back up and running as soon as my equipment gets here.

On to Doug.

He gobbled down 2ccs last night, and both feeds this morning. I've been getting more hindmilk into him, even though it can be difficult to express any when your kid has drained it. I haven't been able to weigh him, I've had R to contend with today, maybe later I will get a chance. Last time I did he was down again, so hopefully he will be on an incline once again.

His squirrel nipples arrived along with some new syringes and another syringe/nipple variety pack I ordered (for future animal care needs... I'm gonna need it). I love the new nipples. He seems so much more comfortable with the nipple in his mouth rather than the tip of the syringe at the front of his tongue. He can eat much quicker now with less trying to come up his nose (I read this is normal for them as they are voracious eaters, not good, but normal). He's still pooping and peeing good. Right now I seem to be getting less poop and more pee (squirrel growth spurt?).

I believe that is all to report about Doug right now. I contacted a rehabber in another state to ask a few questions the other day, my questions were answered, and the ever so popular "what formula are you feeding?" question came up. I decided to reveal it and was not met with a lecture, but was given a bit of information regarding metabolic bone disease (disorder?), something I will look into when I have the time. I was given the link to some specially formulated squirrel formula that I am told is not too expensive. It's not price I'm concerned about too much. It's the whole "formula" thing. Most people don't know just how anti formula I am, and I'm not going to go into my rant here. Let's just say I don't even like saying (or typing) the word. It gives me a dirty feeling when I say it, it's worse than a curse word to me. Pinky is adamantly against it as well, he says my milk is better for him than some proccessed crap. How's that for a breastfeeding supporter?

Alrighty, R is up so I gotta call AT&T.

Dehydration

Poor squirrely. When I woke up this morning Doug was dehydrated based off skin tent test. I'm fairly certain it's because he went a couple extra hours overnight than usual. I've spent all day trying to get as much fluid in him as possible, so he ate:
1cc
1.5cc
1.5cc
1.6cc
[one feeding left]

I'm working on upping his intake, he's supposed to be up to 3cc by like the end of next week, and down to 4 feedings (that'd be even easier on my schedule). He's growing nice and big, getting furred and everything. I have some pics I'll share at hte end of this update. I need to add some more hindmilk into his supply. I express in the morning so I get all foremilk, I need to start adding some hindmilk after R feeds. I can see the difference in his poops, they get foamy just like R's do when she gets alot of fore. I need to go read some more on what I need to start doing for Doug, my guess is he's close to 3 weeks now, so in another few weeks his eyes will be opening and I need to be prepared for that. I can see the slit deepening so I know it's coming soon. It's kinda exciting in a nerve racking sort of way. Once his eyes open... oh boy. I better have a cage ready for him. I'm hoping he'll be big enough to fit in the crate, but I'll probably need to line it with NICs. Crap, he's a chewer too, which means he'd chew the zip ties... Hmmm...

OK, picture time.

Doug's Accident

Don't worry, he's ok, but he did have an accident this morning. It was 2a and Pinky and I heard him squeaking. Being half asleep my brain tried to convince me he was fine and to go back to sleep. I tried to listen until Pinky said to check on him. I get up, move his fur blanket and he moves with it. WTF? I see his tail is wrapped in the fur. How he managed that is beyond me. I had to carefully cut him away, then there was still fur wrapped fairly tightly around his tail. As I was beginning to work that away without hurting him R starts stirring. I ended up having to lay back down to nurse her and almost fell asleep. Once I was able I got back to Doug. I initially thought it had lacerated his skin, but it just bruised it pretty badly. He's doing fine today. Last night I weighed him and he was 27.1g this morning he was 26.7, so only a .5g loss, better than previous days.

I better end here for now. Apparently I'm so tired I[m falling asleep.

Doug's Got Some New Digs!

Sort of. I went to my favorite store yesterday, Joanne's, specifically to get little D some fur to make him feel more cozy. I, of course, rummaged thru the remnant section as well. I got a few fabrics for me, and a fleece for the animals (or whatever I decide to do with it), as well as the fur [full price]. Since Doug like to snuggle up to the water bottle I thought a cozy to slip onto the bottle would be great... and it was. I also cut an extra piece as a blanket for him, and used some of the fleece for the floor and a bumper in his box. He really seems to enjoy it :)





Doug obviously approves :D

After doing a bit of reading last night I discovered I really don't need to wake up to feed Doug. I also learned I should only be feeding him about 5 times a day at this age (somewhere around 2 weeks). So I've begun down the path to feeding more less. The site I was looking at last night had a better feel to it than the others I've seen. It wasn't all "rawr, you must feed formula or else it will die!" It actually goes the other way and claims more squirrels die on formula than, say, scalded milk (the food they happen to be pushing). I'll stick with my milk thankyouverymuch.

OK, that's all for now. R has been a royal pain in the emeffing A over napping and try as I might to get her down for more than 20 mins, she just won't have it and is awake again.

Some Mama Thoughts and Pics

The above are some Doug pics from yesterday. The first 2 are right before bed, curled up to the bottle in REM sleep. It was so cute but too dark to get a video.


Now for the mama thoughts:
Every time I approach D's box I prepare myself for the worst. As I watch him and see that he is indeed still breathing I breathe a small sigh of relief, wake him up, clean him up, and feed him. I've always done this. I expect the worst and hope for the best. Inevitably when I expect something good my heart is smashed into a thousand little pieces, so I just stopped doing it. It sucks to be hurt like that, and it sucks even worse when you realize you set yourself up for that hurt by putting your eggs in one basket.

It isn't just with Doug. I was like this when R was first born. I'm like this with Rew who has GI issues, boy do I make him mad when I touch him to make sure he's ok, lol. I'm like this with Gaelyn who is our oldest bunny at 6.5 years old. I hate loosing my animals. It breaks my heart to see them go, and I know I will always outlive them, but that doesn't make me love any of them any less.

Once, in high school, my Biology teacher brought a baby cotton tail (furred) in that his cat brought home. I took it with me for the day. I was utterly heartbroken when it died a few hours later.

So back to Doug. He seems to be doing good. He likes his food, I ordered some squirrel nipples for him so he doesn't have to keep licking off the syringe. They should be here next week sometime. He adores his new hot water bottle (as you can see in the pics), I like it because it retains heat better. He seems to have a bit of bloat so we've been massaging his tummy to get his gas out. Pinky got up the courage to feed him a little last night while I ate dinner, I'm so proud of him! I think he rather enjoys caring for the itty bitty. Maybe it's fatherhood that brought that about because he's always left the animal medical stuff up to me. Heck he's barely even a good assistant sometimes, lol.

I have recently been contacted by a wildlife rehabillitator from another state with some concern for Doug. Telling me the things I already know and have read. They keep asking what formula I am feeding him. I graciously avoided the question the first time. Now I am outright ignoring it until Doug is older. I do not need the added stress of "OMG you're going to kill him!" because of my feeding choices. If he were gonna die, I'm pretty sure he'd have done it already, considering it's been a week. Last night he was peeing up a storm, so he's definately hydrated. I'm waiting until he is a bit bigger, has some more fur, and is essentially thriving on my milk to respond to this person. It's a little sad, but in a way Doug is an experiment... can a baby squirrel/animal survive and/or thrive on human breastmilk? So far the answer is a resounding YES! Only time will tell and I know there are alot of people rooting for little Doug.

I decided to start waking up to feed Doug. I asked Pinky to wake me up sometime during the night when he wakes up, since he has the clock and all. So this morning I woke up at 4 to give him a little food. He has been loosing a little weight and I'm unsure if it was from the long overnight interval or the gas, so I just decided to feed him one extra feeding. I admit it is very difficult caring for him with R. It seems whenever his feeding rolls around she's either latched onto me or wants to be a pita about me taking care of him. In a few short years she'll be interested, right now she sees it as 'mama isn't paying attention to me'. *sigh*

Last night when I weighed D he was 26.7(?) grams. High 26's anyway. I didn't write it down because I was dissapointed (in myself mostly). I know that shouldn't stop me but I come down hard on myself when my animals/patients don't so as well as I like. Heck I cried when I came to work one day to find one of our patients dead. We did everything for her and she was not improving, but it still hurt me deeply.

That is all for now. I have a feeling R is going to wake soon.

Still Going...

Not much to update today yet. Haven't been able to take any pics of Doug, it's been a bit hectic around here. He's still eating well, pooping, etc. I upgraded his "heater" last night. Previously I had been using a bag of hot water, double bagged to prevent leaking... and it still leaked. So I got an empty bottle, filled it with hot water and he loves it! It keeps the heat much better, he enjoys pressing himself against it. Doug will be moving into a 10 gallon aquarium soon. I just have to figure out the logistics of it... you know, how to cat & squirrel proof it.

After some reading last night it looks like Doug is 1-2 weeks old, that means we have quite a few more weeks until he opens his eyes. Even longer until we start the releasing process. Oy. I love helping him, but man was this animal care thing so much easier when I wasn't juggling a baby as well! I am happy that R gets to see this though, even if she won't remember it. I'm sure there will be plenty of pictures to remind her :)

Never Before Seen Doug Pics!

Day 3 Pinky (husband) holding Doug



Day 1

Welcome To Doug's Blog!

I decided to make squirrel Doug a blog to help chronical his journey. He has generated a lot of interest so I'd like to have one place to update that way I'm sure not to forget something in all of my cross posting.

Doug's Story

Doug came to us the afternoon of August 08, 2009. I made an unexpected trip to Toys R Us to meet another AP mama for a Melissa & Doug responsibility chart she no longer wanted/needed. Had I not made this trip I may not have found Doug... which is why I named him after the brand.

When I arrived back home I saw our adopted stray cat Ninja playing with something. I thought "Oh great, she killed something else." I unloaded R and everything else, and as I approch Ninj I bend down to get a look at this critter she brought us. Then I saw it's sides moving. "Sh*t, it's still alive." I hurried inside, put R in her highchair, dropped everything else, got a rag from the bunny room and went to fetch this critter. I had no idea what it was yet, no idea what to do with it, just that I had to take care of it and make every attempt I could to ensure his survival. I had nothing on hand to feed it, much less did I know what I was supposed to feed it not knowing what it was. So the only thing I had was breastmilk. I expressed a small amount and began feeding it to him.

Day 1 with Doug was pretty much a wait and see game.
Day 2 Doug squeezed out a little bit of poopie.
Day 3 he began to pee and poop regularly.
Day 4 he began eating more than .5cc. I finally managed to weigh him on day 4 at which time he weighed 27.6 grams.
Day 5 (today) Doug eats anywhere from .3cc- 1cc each meal. he eats roughly every 2 hours during the day. I feed him right before I go to bed and as soon as I can manage to get up.

Some pictures since we've had him:

Day 1 (080809)


Day 2 (080909)


Day 3 (081009)


Day 5 (081209)



...and some video of Doug

Day 2

(yes that's my daughter screaming in the background)



Day 4




So far Doug has been doing great. I have no plans on changing his food, quite honestly I can't afford to buy him artificial milk, nor would I want to. Besides, if my milk is good enough to grow a human baby, it's good enough to grow a baby squirrel.
(For those who don't know, of may have stumbled across my blog, I am dairy/soy/egg free right now because my daughter has food allergies. I mention this because in my research I have read that rodents cannot tolerate these things.)

That's all for Doug's intro. I do hope you'll follow us on his journey. I most hope that it's long and uneventful up until his eventual release.