Squirrel! A Wildlife Rescue Case

A little while back, my clinic got a call from a concerned citizen regarding a grey squirrel. This little squirrel kept following the female caller into her house! Every time the woman returned the young squirrel outside, he'd scurry right back into the house after her. Was he sick? Was he hungry? Or worse, did he think she was his mother?!

The beleaguered squirrel lady offered the little guy some food and drink based on her internet research of what would acceptable for a squirrel. (Although motivated by good intentions, this was a risky move which could have caused more harm than good for the young hungry animal. Please see below.) Next she attempted to locate a local licensed wildlife rehabilitator. By the wonders of Google and S.E.O., her search led her to St. Bernard's Animal Medical Center, not a licensed wildlife rehabilitation center, but a reasonable starting place for a citizen with a sick or injured wild animal.

Veterinarian Kim Everson examines a juvenile grey squirrel
before he is transferred to Wisconsin wildlife rehab
center Aves Wildlife Alliance for care.

According to Wisconsin state law, general practice veterinarians such as myself are allowed to provide emergency care for wildlife species, but within 24 hours of rescue the animal must be transferred to a licensed wildlife rehabilitator. Working with Aves Wildlife Alliance, CVT and licensed rehabilitator Tim Kneeland and I assessed the juvenile squirrel when it arrived at the clinic.

Although mildly dehydrated, hungry and ridden with fleas, the little squirrel appeared to be in pretty good shape. After we had addressed his mild dehydration, we kept him in a quiet, comfortable area away from the domestic animals until Tim could transport him to Aves for further care that afternoon. According to Beka Weiss of Aves, the young squirrel made a full recovery and is expected to transition successfully back to nature.

There are several important lessons from this wildlife rescue case.

1. One of our initial concerns was had this squirrel imprinted on people because it had been improperly handled as a baby? All too commonly a well-meaning person will find a young animal alone and incorrectly assume that is has been orphaned and requires human care. Please refer to the Wisconsin DNR website for information on "orphaned" wildlife. Not only is it illegal in many parts of the world to care for wildlife without a permit, but such interactions can also cause harm to the animal as well as humans and domestic animals.

2. Feeding a wild animal, especially one that is malnourished, requires a lot of skill and care. BEWARE internet recipes for feeding wild animals. Feeding a wild animal pet food, human food or even a bowl of milk can have dire consequences for the creature! Any website that suggests offering anything more than a shallow dish of water or human infant electrolyte solution should be considered suspect. Moreover, a starving animal must be handled with utmost care by wildlife experts to avoid "refeeding syndrome" which can cause serious metabolic and electrolyte imbalances.

3. This little squirrel was crawling with fleas, and fleas are not particularly picky about their furry mammal hosts. The woman whose home was invaded numerous times by this persistent young creature needed to treat her dog and clean her home due to the flea exposure. Wild animals can carry far worse parasites and diseases than fleas, so when in doubt a hands-off approach is the safest.

Albeit adorable, the juvenile squirrel caused quite a commotion following his odd decision to buddy up with a human. Fortunately for him, the human he chose knew enough to seek immediate professional assistance for his care. There are many resources out there regarding wildlife rescue on the World Wide Web. The trick is finding the right resource. A good place to start is your state department of natural resources website.

Ring Around the Ringworm

Ringworm is one of my least favorite parasitic diseases. {Having written that prompts me to ask myself what is my most favorite disease! Ear mites are definitely high on the list of creepy, cool parasites that are fun to treat.}

A cat with ringworm lesions on its face (hairloss)

Anyway, I hate ringworm. It is a common, non-lethal contagious fungus (not a worm at all as the name suggests) that infects the skin, hair and nails. There are many different species of ringworm fungi, or dermatophytes, and they can affect just about any species of mammal imaginable: goat, horse, cow, guinea pig, dog, cat, human. Ringworm is fairly ubiquitous in the environment, hanging around in the soil, animal housing structures, and of course on the skin and fur of the animals it calls home.

In animals, a ringworm infection typically appears as patches of hairloss sometimes with crusty, scaling skin underneath. On people, the fungus usually creates a reddish ring-shaped rash on the skin (hence the name). It is variably itchy. Prognosis for a cure is very good with appropriate treatment.

There are several reasons why I hate ringworm.

1. It is zoonotic. This means infected animals can share the fungus with people. In fact, many times pets are presented to me for inspection because a human family member has classic ringworm symptoms and the pet is the suspected source. It stinks when the cute cuddly new kitten is suddenly a pariah.

2. It is sneaky. Like a Typhoid Mary, a ringworm carrier can quietly infect a legion of other animals and never even appear sick. Therefore, even though it is not a deadly disease, it is a population medicine nightmare. In animal shelters, ringworm is an endemic threat to the health and adoptibility of the animals. A ton of money and time is spent testing, treating and retesting shelter animals, especially cats, for ringworm. In some shelters, cats entering the shelter with known or suspected ringworm might even be euthanized to prevent its spread.

3. There is no one great test. A Wood's lamp can help screen dogs and cats for ringworm because a fair number of cases will fluoresce, or glow. I become quite giddy when a cat or dog ringworm suspect lights up like a city skyline at night under the Wood's lamp. {It's almost as cool as watching ear mites swim through mineral oil under microscope magnification.} Definitive diagnosis of ringworm, however, is made by culturing the organism from the fur. This test can take days to weeks and occasionally fails due to the persnickety nature of certain ringworm types who may refuse to grow well in the lab.

Lime dipping a cat with ringworm

4. There is no one great treatment. A diagnosis of ringworm comes with a laundry list of different topical and oral treatment options. Some are antiquated and dangerous. Some are stinky, messy and flat out obnoxious. Others are terribly expensive. Current veterinary protocols for treating ringworm usually involve a combination of multiple obnoxious lime dip baths and costly oral antifungal medication.

5. A ringworm household can turn into veritable Superfund Site. Ringworm is spread through "hairborne" fungal spores, which easily become airborne on shed fur and dust. Careful, thorough vacuuming and dusting (including heating/cooling ducts if the ducts culture positive) and laundering is necessary to prevent re-infection of the affected animal. A bleach solution can be applied to bleach-safe surfaces.

Most of us who spend time around animals--either in our home, in the workplace or on the farm--will have  a ringworm infection at some point in our lives. Fortunately in people the infection is usually fairly easy to treat with topical medications. For affected animals, my recommendation is, be aggressive and be vigilant because this particular parasite really bites.

Just Do It! Rabies Vaccination

My veterinary clinic received a call from a frustrated dog owner late Friday afternoon. Her dog was coughing and refused to eat after spending a mandatory ten days in a local shelter under rabies quarantine after biting someone. Her bill for quarantining her dog was over $200. On top of that, now her dog was very sick and faced additional costs for diagnostics and treatment. All this could have been avoided with a comparatively inexpensive examination and rabies vaccination!

Rabies is a disease not to be trifled with. Because rabies disease poses a significant threat to human health, public officials take bite cases involving dogs and cats as well as wild animals very seriously. Wisconsin law requires pet dogs, cats and ferrets that have bitten a person to be quarantined for ten days and examined by a veterinarian three times during this period to monitor for signs of rabies. Although rabies virus is typically transmitted through bite wounds, it is also rarely spread through contamination of open wounds, abrasions, mucous membranes, or scratches with saliva or other potentially infectious material (neural tissue, cerebrospinal fluid, salivary gland tissue). This means that even if a mere cat scratch results in medical intervention for the person scratched, the injury may need to be reported to the authorities with orders to quarantine.

Here's the catch. If the pet is current on its rabies vaccination, the quarantine can occur in the owner's home. If the pet's rabies vaccination has lapsed the quarantine must be in an approved facility such as a veterinary clinic or shelter at the owner's expense. And either way the pet needs to be examined three times by a veterinarian.

Dog showing signs of rabies during quarantine

Animals that develop neurological signs during the quarantine period are humanely euthanized and their brains are submitted to the state diagnostic laboratory for testing. If the animal's brain tests positive for rabies the injured person needs to undergo rabies prophylaxis, the series of injections to prevent development of rabies disease. In the past, these injections were administered into the person’s abdomen. Nowadays, the injections are given in the arm, not much different from getting a tetanus or flu shot!

Did you know?

• Rabies occurs in more than 150 countries and territories. Rabies is found on every continent on Earth except Antarctica!
• Worldwide, more than 55,000 people die of rabies every year. Nearly half of those bitten by rabid animals are children!
• Dogs are the source of 99% of human rabies deaths.
• In the United States, raccoons, skunks, bats, and foxes are common wildlife carriers of rabies. Among domestic animals (besides dogs, cats and ferrets), cattle, horses, swine and other livestock can also be affected by rabies virus.
• Not all rabid animals show the classic foaming-at-the-mouth “mad,” or furious form of rabies. Some rabid animals display the paralytic or “dumb” form of rabies, and may appear to be choking on something. Human exposure in these cases often occurs when a well-meaning person reaches into the animal’s mouth to clear the obstruction!
• Wound cleansing and immunization within a few hours after contact with a suspect rabid animal can prevent the onset of rabies and death.
• Every year, more than 15 million people worldwide receive post-exposure preventive injections to avert the disease – this is estimated to prevent 327,000 rabies deaths annually.

The Center for Disease Control (CDC) provides a good overview on rabies disease. Also, the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) has created an entertaining and enlightening video on rabies which is appropriate for educating young people about the dangers of rabies. 

Just do it! sums up my feelings on rabies prevention. Keep all pets -- even indoor cats -- current on their rabies vaccination. Educate yourself and the children you love about rabies disease prevention. In the case of injury from an animal -- especially wildlife or stranger -- contact the local authorities (police, animal control, physicians, veterinarians) for assistance in determining whether quarantining, testing or prophylaxis is necessary.