Today I got a note from Noha Abou-Madi from the Cornell University in New York. He/She suggested this:

Dear Mrs Perkins.

The chipmunks may be infested with mites... Best treatment would be a
medication called Ivermectin which is given orally or by injection under
the skin (if available). Another possibility would be lime sulfur (again a
medication) that is diluted and applied to the fur/skin. I will call around
and let you know if there are any home recipes that we can suggest.
Sincerely,

Noha Abou-Madi
Lecturer
Division of Wildlife Health
Cornell University
Ithaca, NY 14850

They continue to lose hair, and seem to want to sleep all the time. I am really worried about them.

Again, I have not been able to find the medicine recommended. I will have my boss try to find it for me. I did get suggestions from other family members as well… My sister in law said that her cat was doing the same thing, and the vet said that the cat had a vitamin deficiency. She said I might try getting some baby vitamins and giving them a drop or two a day. My dad says that Vaseline might help, he used something similar when he was ranching. My cousin, who is a nurse, suggested that it might be scabies, but didn’t say how to treat them. And the funniest suggestion came from a friend of my parents told me to lick them, that’s what their mom would do (ha) Everybody’s got a cure…but I think I will skip the licking part.

At this point I am not sure what to do. I still pray for them. The vitamin sounds like a good suggestion even if it isn’t the problem, and Vaseline couldn’t hurt so until I get a better cure I think I will try these.

Some friends came over this evening and enjoyed watching me feed the chipmunks. Everybody gets a kick out of how much like babies they are. They will get in all sorts of strange positions to suck on the eyedropper. They will scurry around; up and down in my hand, up my arm and back, through my finger, and back to the eyedropper which hasn’t moved.

Lee is a "pill." He has started leaving his calling card on everybody that holds him. He is also a daredevil. He was first to climb up to the top of the cage and hang by his feet. Brittani is the lover. She loves to be held and petted, and Chip is independent and first to try something new. He is also a little sulky. Sometimes he will run and hide if he thinks I am going to give him a bath or put Vaseline on him.

Today I tried to give the chipmunks a little more variety in their diet in case vitamins are a problem. I was too busy to go buy any vitamins so I will check on them tomorrow.

I put a piece of cooked carrot, and cooked potato in a lid. I had watermelon, and Leeche, and a few pieces of muslex. I also added some extra milk, and a little honey to their baby cereal and oatmeal drink. Though it did not seem to help the itching and hair loss it did seem to give them more energy. This evening they became cage monkeys.

They were running and playing tag. They even started climbing the walls and hanging off the top of the cage. They discovered their second story condo and had fun running in and out of it. The boys figured out how to get to the second story faster than Brittani, and when Brittani would just about get to the top one of them would jump out and scare her. They were just like two boys not wanting their little sister to come and play in their tree house.

Brittani is more cautious than the boys, and doesn’t have as much physical strength so jumping from the bars to the porch on the front of the condo is scary for her. (They haven’t figured out how to climb the ladders yet.)

She is certainly a momma’s girl. Every time I open the door she is up my arm in a flash whether she has eaten or not. She just likes to be held.

The chipmunks did not eat the vegetables I gave them, but they did love the fruit and honey in their cereal. I knew that I would be back late, so I made sure they had plenty to eat while I was gone.

My Canadian friends had a special dinner honoring all of the mothers. I got some chocolate candy and special recognition for mothering the three chipmunks as well as my own kids and grandkids.

Before I went home I got some vitamins, fresh watermelon, and Lechees. They wouldn’t eat the food with the vitamins at first. It didn’t smell very good so they probably don’t taste very good either. But I put the food in their cage and left it. Eventually they did eat it.

Boy did it make a difference in their energy level. This evening they were crazy. They were running around playing tag, and acting very silly. They were climbing to the top of the cage and hanging by their feet.

After I finished feeding Brittani I put Vaseline on her and took out Lee to feed him. She started trying to climb to the top of the bars to get into the second story house, but she kept sliding down because of the Vaseline. Soon it became a game. She was having a great time climbing up and sliding down. I laughed at her until I woke my roommate. They have started sleeping in the second story now. It is a new adventure. Their fur doesn’t look any better, but they are certainly more active. They are really a joy, even if the skin thing is baffling me.

Not much change in the chipmunks. They have more energy since I started giving them one drop of baby vitamins, but the hair is still coming off. Brittani and chip are almost bald on their bodies; Chip still has a little hair on his head. Lee is the healthiest one. He only has one little spot that is coming off. He is more active than the others are, and maybe his skin is not so sensitive.

Today was wild. After I got to school my boss came into my classroom and told me that the TV station was coming to do a story on the chipmunks. Fine time to come…when they are looking so bad. I had to go home and get them and their food. They filmed for about an hour, but I am not sure they got anything they could really use. Then they called the Newspaper and they came out and took pictures. After that I went to lunch with friends and went to the Foreign Affairs office to get papers for teaching in Sanya. By the time I got back the chipmunks were starving. Amazing what missing one feeding will do. I left food in their cage, but it just doesn’t seem to be the same for them.