A retrospective study of prognostic indicators for survival in eastern grey squirrels (Sciurus carolinensis)

Take a peek at this study submitted to our Cases/Abstracts category by Ivana Levy of the University of Illinois!

A retrospective study of prognostic indicators for survival in eastern grey squirrels (Sciurus carolinensis)

Ivana H. Levy, Matthew C. Allender, Stephanie Principati, Julia Whittington, Sarah Reich, Krista A. Keller

Wildlife Epidemiology Laboratory (Levy, Allender, Keller), Wildlife Medical Clinic (Whittington, Reich), Department of Veterinary Clinical Medicine (Allender, Principati, Whittington, Reich, Keller), College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL

The eastern grey squirrel (EGS), Sciurus carolinensis, is a tree squirrel native to the eastern United States. This species commonly presents to wildlife medical clinics for a variety of human-related injuries including road traffic and pet predation. The purpose of this study was to determine prognostic indicators for survival in young or orphaned EGS. Retrospective data were collected from January 1, 2012 to June 12, 2018 for all EGS weighing less than 300 g that presented to the Wildlife Medical Clinic at the University of Illinois Veterinary Teaching Hospital. Information regarding each animal’s predefined weight class, month of the year the animal presented, overall health status (sick or healthy), presence of diarrhea, necessity for assisted feeding, and presence of respiratory, integumentary, and neurologic signs was collected. Outcome factors (survivor or non-survivor) were modeled using a logistic regression model and all single factors were considered individually. A total of 872 EGS were included in this study. Factors that significantly predicted a non-survivor status included EGS that presented to the clinic in any type of diseased state (OR 4.8, p < 0.0001), specifically those with respiratory signs (OR 1.54, p < 0.0001), or neurologic signs (OR 2.85, p < 0.001). The month the animal presented was also significant because EGS that presented during the second quarter were more likely to be non-survivors (OR 1.54, p = 0.019). These findings can be used by wildlife clinicians to identify EGS with negative prognostic indicators, thereby informing treatment decisions. Further research will reveal how these negative indicators are associated with EGS non-survivor status.

Currently published in the Journal of Zoo and Wildlife Medicine (6/20)