Rescued very young opossum

[Maxi'sMinis]

This little one has been coming to my cat food dishes the last few nights. I am sure it is weaned but very very skinny, sides all sunk in and it doesn't weight anything. It seems healthy, no injuries besides being under weight. I want to just feed it up for a couple weeks and release it at my home. I gave it wet cat food last night to get something in it that it ate well and today went hunting for earthworms. I have crickets also and will try those too. I read that an omnivore zoo diet is best that dog and cat food is not good. Just want to give this little guy a chance of survival, I just love opossums they are the coolest.

 

[txminipinto]

I used to do wildlife rehab. A skinny oppossum is a sick opposum. I would highly recommend you trap it and get it to a wildlife rehabilitator. I know TX has pretty strict laws about keeping native wildlife, you must have a permit.

 

[Crabby-Chicken]

I hope he is okay. If you take him to the rehab faucilities, please let us know how he is! I think baby possums are adorable. Not so adorable when they get into your 150 lbs of horses grain you bought and then you have to throw it all out. BUT that was my fault for leaving the lid off.

 

[Matt73]

I know what Kevin would do if he found a possum; drown it. They are full of disease (they are the main culprits that spread EPM). I find the odd dropping around the farm, but luckily they don't go in the barn or paddock. Nasty creatures...

 

[Maxi'sMinis]

Took the little begger to a wildlife rehaber.

Opossums aren't the only species that can be intermediate hosts of EPM, cats and several other species are also. Really a lot of species that eat roadkill or carion. So this is as good a reason not to have the little guy eating out of my cat dishes or hanging around my farm. Still love possums and all marsupials.

 

[Matt73]

"EPM is caused by the parasite Sarcocystis neurona. In order to complete its life cycle this parasite needs two hosts, a definitive and an intermediate. In the laboratory, raccoons, cats, armadillos, skunks, and sea otters have been shown to be intermediate hosts. The oppossum is the definitive host of the disease. Horses most commonly contract EPM from grazing or watering in areas where an opossum has recently defecated. However, horses cannot pass the disease among themselves. That is, one horse cannot contract the disease from another infected horse. The horse is the dead-end, or aberrant, host of the disease.[1]"

 

[Matt73]

I'm sorry if I come across as insensitive to these animals; I'm a lover of all animals. But these animals pose a very real danger to our beloved horses.

 

[Maxi'sMinis]

I work for 3 FDA vets they said that the cat was a potential carrier of EPM and that it wasn't just in the lab but in feral and pet outdoor cats. Also that hay grown in areas where opossums frequent could also be contaminated and can pose a serious threat, so it is hard to eliminate the possibility of infection all together but they said that it is very unlikely to feed hay that is contaminated.

They said it would be best to not have food sources available like grain, cat food etc that would have opossums coming on my property frequently.

If it wasn't for your post I might still be encouraging these animals to come to my property so I value your input. I wouldn't have even known this about these animals. Soooo I still like them but like my cats and horses much more and their well being is much more important to me. I will be putting my cat food up off the ground because I don't want these animals eating from the same dishes as my cats or coming around here. The little one wasn't the only one, there have been adults also. The only thing I had out there for them to eat was cat food, but no more. Thanks Matt!

 

[Matt73]

You're very welcome