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« on: September 17, 2009, 05:06:01 PM »
A week ago I took my Male 3 year old chin (Stewie) to the vet for not acting right. He was laying on the bottom of his 5 story cage on his side. When I went over to him, he would perk right up and come to me to get his yogurt drop. I still thought this could be a sign of illness. The vet diagnosed Stewie with an upper respiratory illness with harsh lung sounds and a start of an eye infection in his left eye. She put Stewie on Baytril and gentamicin sulfate ophthalmic solution.
Two days after starting the baytril I noticed that Stewie wasn't eating much and not drinking much either. Then, when he didn't take his yogurt drop from me I knew something was wrong. I contacted the Vet and she stated that baytril doesn't normally have the side effect of poor appetite, but to stop the baytril and bring him in. Upon exam she stated that Stewie's lungs sounded better so he didn't need the baytril either. She said that sometimes antibiotics can make chin's intestines stop, so after an x-ray (where all we say was a large gas bubble) she started him on reglan to see if we could get his intestines moving.
Stewie hasn't eaten or drank anything in almost a week now! The vet ordered in OxBow Critical Care recovery food so that I could force feed Stewie. That isn't going soo well. The recovery food is mixed with water and it is still very thick. The powder/hay formula gets stuck in the syringe even when I water it down to almost a 1/10 powder/water solution. Stewie is struggling during the feedings and he spits most of the supplement out onto his fur. He ends up with more on his fur than in his mouth. He is refusing to eat or drink anything. The vet said that he looked so stressed after the feeding (his fur was frazzled and he was breathing heavy and his eyes weren't bright) that she thought maybe we were wasting our time. She gave a torb (for pain) injection and told me to continue the reglan, eye meds, and force feeding if I could.
Stewie is only 3 years old and the vet said that sometimes once they stop eating it's difficult to turn them around. I don't want him to suffer, but I don't want him to die either! Please help! Any advice for force feeding would be appreciated. Thanks.
