Help identifying possible cause of sudden death in Indian palm squirrel
Hi everyone. I'm from Kerala, India, and I'm trying to understand what might have happened to an Indian palm squirrel my family had been caring for.
We found it on the ground about 1 months ago. We suspected it had fallen from a coconut tree. It was fully furred, active, could run, climb, groom itself, and eat solid food. We took it in because there are many dogs and cats around our home.
We planned to release it once it became a little bigger and stronger, as we were worried it might not survive safely outside while still small.
It was active and seemed healthy throughout. It mainly ate banana and apple, with occasional other foods, and would drink water from our fingers rather than a dish.
A few weeks ago, it fell around 7 feet onto concrete. It was shocked briefly but soon returned to running and climbing normally.
Yesterday, it was extremely active, exploring our terrace. It got wet while playing around fresh rainwater, then groomed itself normally. It remained active that night and was still behaving normally the next day.
A few hours before it died, it came into my hand and curled up in my palm for a long time. I put it in its usual box, where it normally slept inside a woolen clothing,like bedding. I loosened the bedding slightly because I was worried about airflow. It immediately came out, ran around normally inside the box, and then went back into the bedding by itself and it usually does that.
Later, my mother found it dead and already stiff. We tried CPR multiple times, but there was no response. We buried it afterward.
One thing I noticed was that its growth seemed to remain almost the same for about a month, although it was active and eating.
We are absolutely heartbroken and still struggling to process how suddenly we lost it. It had become part of our family, and we cared for it every day.
There were no pesticides or insecticides used in our home. I'm wondering if the earlier fall, an underlying health problem, or something else could have caused its sudden death. Could the rainwater have played any role?
I know it's impossible to know for certain without a necropsy, but I'd really appreciate any thoughts from people experienced with Indian palm squirrels or wildlife rehabilitation.