Chinchilla Community Forums
Chinchillas => Health => Topic started by: christa on February 21, 2011, 05:55:40 PM
-
I got a Chinchilla from a Rescue shelter on Saturday. He looked very healthy (he is in the beige family, dark, with dark eyes, and pink speckled ears). I do not know his age.
My other chinchilla Ms. Twiggly (who died of sudden heart failure ::cry222:::) came from a great breeder, and when I first got her home, she immediately ate pellets, hay, oat hay, and was drinking, going on wheel. BUT---this one will not eat or drink. As this went on all day Sunday, his poos became tiny, dried, and very infrequent. He runs on the wheel a bit, and then just sits.
I became alarmed, so I got some apple Pedialite, mixed it with water, and began giving to him via a dropper. I also mashed his pellets with Pedialite and water and syringe fed him, he seemed to get some of it down his throat. He is peeing, but still not too good at all with poos, and will not eat or drink on his own. I have Alfalfa hay, Timothy hay, Botanical grass, pellets, rolled oats, dried Papaya, dried pineapple, water dish---HE IGNORES IT ALL. ::shrug:: I have tried rubbing his tummy, but he is very skittish and does not take to it. Do you think he may begin to eat and drink and poo OK in time? Is this stress, from being at a crowded animal shelter, then a rescue, then a new home? Thanks for any info.
-
ps: I have also given him a couple of droppers full of simethicone drops in the past 12 hours or so..... ::think::
-
I became alarmed, so I got some apple Pedialite, mixed it with water, and began giving to him via a dropper. I also mashed his pellets with Pedialite and water and syringe fed him, he seemed to get some of it down his throat. He is peeing, but still not too good at all with poos, and will not eat or drink on his own. I have Alfalfa hay, Timothy hay, Botanical grass, pellets, rolled oats, dried Papaya, dried pineapple, water dish---HE IGNORES IT ALL. Shrug I have tried rubbing his tummy, but he is very skittish and does not take to it. Do you think he may begin to eat and drink and poo OK in time? Is this stress, from being at a crowded animal shelter, then a rescue, then a new home? Thanks for any info.
Cut the pedylight out..use water and ground pellets to feed him if you must force him to eat..also provide lots of hay and pellets for him to eat. Cut the papaya and pinapple..way to much sugar and that may increase digestive issues. try to leave him be as much as possib;le between feedings. You will need to feed him every few hours around the clock. Make sure the food is mushy..extra watery and also give water with feedings. All that movement and changes can be huge amounts of stress. chinchillas in a new environment (like going to a new home) should be left alone to adjust for a few days. Obviously making him eat is important but try not to play with him between feedings let him adjust
-
Thanks. Did not know Pedialite was bad. I will leave him alone, but do the syringe feedings. thanks for the info on the dried fruits as well
-
just be careful when you syringe feed. don't put it in the middle of the mouth, but more on the sides so he doesn't choke.
-
Thank you-------yes, what REALLY bothers me is when the syringe gets stuck, and as you push it, suddenly it moves too far, and too much comes out. That really makes me hesitant to do any more....had it happen a couple of times now........... :-\
-
Yes the he doesn't need any junk food now with what little he might be taking.
The key is keeping his pellets & hay {timothy} into him any which way. From liquefied syringe mix with a very sick chin, to a solid mush he can eat off a dish, and always back to normal pellets asap.
Sounds to me like he may be stressed out, and if you gave him some time to settle in he may come around on his own.
Just like any of us they too loose their appetites for many reasons and interfering too soon could cause a problem.
The poor little darling. Do keep us posted.
-
Thank you---I had to take him to the emergency vet last night: I had syringe fed him, but somehow, instead of getting the gut moving, it just caused him to bloat up. The vet did X-rays, and said there was an enormous amount of gas, and so had to clear it out with a needle. She told me to just give hay and water, and let him eat on his own. I hope he will, as I am now afraid to do the syringe feeding..... :(
-
i'm so glad youu caught it in time...
rub his belly, you can give him kids simithoicone.. i have no clue how to spell it...
jean
-
Yes, me too...I have some Simethicone, (i copied spelling from the bottle here :2funny:) thanks so much for your words of advice. Will try belly rubs, too :)
-
thanks for the spelling, i was too lazy to even search it on the web.
anyways something else i wanted to add, is that when you syringe feed, make sure there is no air in the syringe, just push it up until the food just about comes out..
-
thanks-----unfortunately, he seems to be bloated again, and I may need to go back to the vet....a bit worried here, have been trying to follow vet's instructions, but he seems to not be clearing up with the bloat.... :(
-
yah, definately get to the vet immediately, i don't want to scare you, but this can turn really ugly. never let bloat go.. pls keep us posted.. until you get in thos, keep rubbing the belly, try to get him to move and give him that simi stuff...
if you call the vet and they don't have anything open, don't take no for answer on this one... this is very dangerous.
best of luck.
-
I understand, and thank you.....
-
Good luck with him, I hope he gets better.
-
How did the vet drin the gas with a needle? that would cause an intestinal perferation. I have never heard of that being done.
-
so how is he doing?
-
ok. i have a rescue chin that nearly died of stasis just before christmas - she made it.
if there's a lot of gas i'm guessing there's not a lot of gut movement - is that right? did she get any injections? it's an extremely painful condition and he should be on some form of pain relief (normally metacam, but mae did get a more powerful painkiller at one point). also, there are medications that stimulate gut movement. lactulose helps a lot too. was the emergency vet a chin experienced vet? if not, get her seen by someone you know is good with chins.
1/he needs to eat. the best way of getting the gut to move is with food. can you get some fine grind critical care and syringe feed him? make sure there are no air bubbles in the syringe. i fed mae every two hours day and night. if you make it quite watery, you'll be getting water into him as well. i find using 2.5ml syringes are best. if you get 6 or 7 and get them filled, you can just keep going. rather than stop and start.
2/give his tummy hot compresses. stick some rice into a sock, tie it, put it in the microwave for 2 minutes or so, make sure it's not too hot and hold him while holding the sock to his tummy. as long as you can, if you can get him to stay for 15 minutes, awesome.
3/massage his tummy whether he likes it or not. mae wasn't keen either but i do believe this saved her life. see if you can massage some poo out of him. if you manually get the gut moving, at least it's moving, even if not by itself.
4/let him move around - walk around the room etc - if he wants to but don't let him jump as the build up of gas can cause him to tear insides. i left dust bath in mae's cage so she could go and have a bit of exercise - she didn't. she conveniently peed in it though which was great for monitoring how much she's peeing.
mae got 15 injections in one week. all four vets who saw her thought she was going to die (they didn't tell me until after). it took about two weeks to get better.
did you change his food at all after you got him from the rescue?
-
How did the vet drin the gas with a needle? that would cause an intestinal perferation. I have never heard of that being done.
i've never heard of that done either. i've read that they do it in other animals but as you say, in chinchillas it can cause intestinal perforation.
-
Sorry, for some reason my email was not letting me know there were responses, so I thought there were none. >:( The vet at Alliance Veterinary hospital was the one who shaved the belly and used the needle. I was in the waiting room, so I was not aware of how it was done, but on the bill it says "Abdomenoparacentesis with centesi" and I was charged $150.00 for that alone...... But here is an update: Rodney (my Chin) was not doing any better when I got him home. Continued to be bloated, and I tried Simethicone drops, was giving the vet -prescribed Baytril , the vet-prescribed cat Lax, etc. -was told to leave him with hay and water----let him run, rubbed his belly--- But he did NO eating and NO elimination--- So I called them back, and they recommended an Exotics vet hospital near here, which is where Rodney is right now (took him this morning, and vet says he will be there until Sunday). X-rays show gas build up. No signs of malocclusion, just lower teeth overgrown, needed filing. Giving analgesics, and doing blood work. They are also giving IV fluids, and syringe-feeding critical care.....He is so cute, I just want him to be a happy Chin ::silly::--thanks for responses, all
-
PS: I was doing the tummy massage, letting him hop around, I tried everything----- As I said, the needle procedure is listed on the hospital bill as "Abdomenoparacentesis with centesi"--and his little belly was shaved. :(
I REALLY hope the overgrown lower teeth is NOT a sign of malocclusion: This is an Exotics surgeon and he says no signs of it, so I hope I can trust him. Anyone know about lower teeth being overgrown? As I said, Rodney was a rescue: My other Chin always had plenty of hay, lava blocks, and wooden chew toys for her teeth.
-
ah. it's a different thing to what i was thinking of. i still didn't know they did it but you know.. not a vet :) i know they don't normally do ultrasounds on pregnant chins and my vet was willing to have a go if it was necessary.
malocclusion are misaligned teeth, not overgrown teeth. usually a maloccluted chin's teeth will be overgrown as well because they do not align correctly and therefore don't grind down. however, there are plenty of other dental problems that include overgrown teeth. it is possible that he was fed the wrong diet. are they doing a dental xray? that way they can check roots etc.
mae, my rescue girl pretty much has a tusk, one of her incisor roots is ridiculous overgrown and she had a lot of spurs and spikes on her molars - this is due to the fact that she was fed on banana chips and chin mix, no hay etc. she had to have one of her molars taken out because it was broken and she had spurs filed. her incisors were only very slightly overgrown, the chewing surfaces were slightly angled. this is completely corrected now through the right diet although she has only worked out today how to eat hay (woohoooo!) - only took four months for her to work that out. there are these fab nuggets beaphar care+ which are made in a different way to other pellets, they're harder, crunchier and don't crumble and are great for chins with teeth problems. i use them and i can totally see results. they are a little more expensive but not outrageously. however, they're not available in the us. i know some people have them shipped but obviously it costs.. still, it probably costs less than regular filings if he has to have them.
you don't know his history so it's possible he didn't have enough roughage and chews.
i'm not sure why the vet prescribed baytril, it's not exactly fantastic for gut movement, in fact it does the exact opposite.
good luck, i have all my fingers crossed for rodney. he's in the right place and he's very lucky he found such a caring mum!
-
Dianah: Thanks for all your kind words, and I will DEFINITELY look for those Beaphar pellets! Worth having them shipped, I think--think the Baytril was in case there was any intestinal infection, picked up at the two shelters the first was a big city shelter, then a small one near me, then my home---poor baby had too many moves :'(-And YES, I will tell vet to do dental X-Rays; hope he is doing them on his own during Rodney's hospitalization, as he is supposed to be an Exotics specialist and has treated many Chinchillas. So your Mae is expected to be OK, then? Very encouraging! And how did you finally get her to eat hay? Rodney also acted like he did not know what it was---makes me furious, anyone getting a Chin or other Exotic should DO THE RESEARCH :flames: THANKS ONCE MORE!!!!
-
just make sure it's the care+ ones as they do a different nugget as well - xtra vital and those are just normal i think. i think they must taste really good as well, i gave them to my other chins and they love them. just be careful with changing food given the bloat situation. i would not give him any raisins or treats or anything other than nuggets, hay, maybe rolled oats every so often.
ah, that does make sense. it could be stress response christa - it does affect gut.. you never know.
well, for the time being, she's good. after the dental - this was in november, i got her at the end of october but she wasn't strong enough for the anaesthetic so i had to 'fatten her up' a little first - my vet thought she'd need another dental in two months in case there are spurs. i obviously can't see her molars but the fact that her incisors are completely straight now and she's eating really hard stuff like the nuggets and quite likes biting into wood (as long as i hold it for her), her other vet (same surgery, she was treating her gi stasis.. and respiratory infection she managed to get while in stasis) thinks she won't need one. the root is still there but it's ok for now, there's no puss or anything and it's not obstructing anything. the roots can actually slowly get smaller with the right diet and i think hers is getting slightly smaller. if there's any problem with it in the future she will have to have an incisor removed together with the root but hopefully that won't have to happen.
she just managed to work it out herself! i've been trying for months with all different types of hay and all. this morning i noticed that there was less hay in the bowl - although in the past she would try to eat it, like a watermelon slice rather than chew the end off and fail and get frustrated and throw it away - and i gave her a piece of hay and she just ate it! i had to go to work and when i came home, i gave her one and she didn't eat it. so i thought, well clearly that was a fluke. but then in the evening i gave her another one and she ate it and then like five more! she can do the flat wide ones but not the stalky ones. it's quite funny to watch her because she still gets surprised when it splits in two and things like that :) i think she must have watched the other chins.
you know.. mae is missing a back leg. when i got her, i asked and they told me she got it trapped when the previous owners were out. this is reasonably common so i assumed that she broke it and had to have it amputated. about two weeks ago though, i was talking to the rescue again and i was saying that i wondered which vet took her leg off (i live on a small island) as we could find out more about her if we knew that. well turns out that she chewed it off and these people DIDN'T TAKE HER TO THE VET!!!!!!!!!! i told her vet and asked if there could be any problems as a result and she said that she actually did a very neat job at chewing her leg off and it's fine. she was horrified though. so you can imagine what sort of people had her. she had about a week to live when i got her. and i didn't know how long she was going to live because we were really worried about the teeth, especially if there were any elongated roots in the top arcades but thankfully that was ok.
she is extremely affectionate, absolutely loves me, i've started doing this 'pretend grooming' where i scratch her around her eyes and nose and all like they would do and she absolutely loves it! she has this skin lesion on her chin which is not healing because the root that's lower down is pulling on the skin - it doesn't bother her but it oozes a bit of gunk and she hates having it cleaned if i take her out of the cage. when i do my pretend grooming, she is perfectly happy for me to tug on any bit of her face!
-
yah right with the baytril, thats for infections and it takes their appitite away.. hmmmm..
well hoping he is okay...
-
Thank you jmdebb, and dianah: Yes, I worry about the antibiotic making the gut worse.....exotic animals , as I have found with my Chinchillas, and also with my Opossum and ferret, really require a lot of research and very meticulous care. That is just horrible that poor Mae chewed her own leg off, and they ignored it! I cannot understand why people are so negligent, unless it is that 1. they cannot afford vet bills (I have spent well near 15 K the last year with my dog, cats, Opossum, ferret, Chins, etc.--some real medical emergencies and surgeries) and 2. they assume animals somehow can just "take care of themselves"---not in captivity, in any case..... :( I am glad to hear she is learning to eat hay, and I hope Rodney will, too....yes, with your care, she will heal up nicely, and she is also very luck to have you as her "Mom" ;)
-
Also, found the BeaPhar Care Plus Chinchilla Pellets at this link: http://www.cheekychinchillas.com/handfeed.html (http://www.cheekychinchillas.com/handfeed.html) ::silly:: ::silly::
-
thank you :)
it's not just the appetite, in some chins it makes the droppings very very dry and small and you really want the gut to be moist and moving!
i think they just didn't care. i live on the isle of man and if you don't have money for vet bills, the rescue (we only have one) will help. i didn't know how i'd pay for her incisor removal surgery (all my other animals are insured so i know if they need something expensive done, i can fall back onto the insurance) but i was going to fundraise. she has cost me about a grand and a half so far in the four months i've had her and i didn't even pay the vet bills until the end of january (the rescue did!). but in my opinion, if you cannot afford to keep a pet, pay vet bills, you shouldn't have a pet. i'd rather not eat than have them sick. it drives me insane. fair enough, your pet may never get ill. but you have to understand that they may get sick.
i don't think she was touched or anything. when i went to see her at the rescue, she bit me twice. i bled. no warning bites, nothing, she went straight in for the kill. i have never ever had that from my chins. the only two times i bled after a bite was when i gave chinchi critical care off my finger to see if he'd lick it off and he really liked it and bit into my finger :) and then another time i had my arm in the cage and one of the babies was sat on it while another was nibbling my fingers and i couldn't move my arm and he bit a bit too hard :) she was absolutely petrified of anybody going near her. she adores me now, it's really really sweet.
we do joke that we keep our vet surgery going - we even had a christmas card last year signed by ALL of them! they take the mickey at work but i do have twelve pets :D my husband keeps saying that they must think that we're absolutely loaded. we're not but we don't have kids, we don't go on holiday because we can't leave the pets so a lot of money gets spent on the monkeys :)
-
Yes, you have to be able to take care of them, vet bills and all.... :::(((You have monkeys??? :o :o :o
-
no no, i just call them all monkeys. i have a great dane, an ex racer greyhound, a deerhound/greyhound cross, six chinchillas and three guinea pigs. they're all monkeys! ;)
-
Ooooh, i thought maybe you had chimps ;D :D :2funny: rofl :2funny: my husband and son and I had a beautiful Maine Coon cat and an American Eskimo dog, then my poor hubby passed away in 2006 ::cry222::: and I have added 2 more cats, a Virginia Opossum, a ferret, Chinchilla so it is quite a zoo here, too :D :2funny: Your dogs sound nice, and SIX chins, and guinea pigs
-
sorry to hear about your hubby. that must have been awful.
i don't think it's legal to keep primates over here. and they probably wouldn't let me have an opossum either but i think they're lovely! and ferrets!
i started out with one chin. i wasn't working then and was pretty much nocturnal so i was always there. then i met my husband and he had a great dane and chinchi couldn't be in the bedroom and i was working so i needed to sleep at night anyway and he was getting lonely. so we got him a friend who was allegedly a boy. a year later we went to feed them and there was a baby chin peeking at us from the carpet and two more in the cage. we separated them and had chinchi neutered. unfortunately he suffered from complications and had to have another surgery and didn't make it. i was absolutely devastated. it happened in june last year and i still can't get over it. he managed to get fluffy pregnant in the few hours between her giving birth to the triplets and us finding them and she gave birth to luella. so that's fluffy + 4 babies and i got mae in october. :) i wasn't allowed another chin and she was supposed to be a boy and i can't have another boy anyway because i have girls and you can't have boys together if there are ladies around. a friend of mine was after a boy friend for her boy and i went to check to see if it was definitely a boy after what happened with fluffy and chinchi. and she's a girl and she was so ill, she's mine now :)
-
Oh, thank you, yes, it was very traumatic, as I was only 46, and he, 50, and wanted to grow old with him ::shrug::
Oh, I see, well, it sounds like a nice zoo like ours--yes, I love the Opossum, but they have VERY short life spans (ony 2-4 years) so am dreading the inevitable---yes, my Maine Coon cat took ill and did not make it thru surgery, so I am like you, cannot get over it, and must look to spiritual faith, as with my hubby... :::(((
-
it is very very hard. :(
oh i didn't know opossums only have such short lives! people are usually amazed when i tell them how long chinchillas live!
-
Yes, Chins are like cats, can live to 15-20---and raccoons and skunks live to be 15, 18, 20----so I was HORRIFIED when I got my baby Opossum (who I ASSUMED would have a life-span close to a cat, the breeder had lied and said, "Oh about 10 years" :flames:) and joined a forum where people who had been rescuing and raising Opossums for decades said 2-4 is IT, older than 4 is virtually unheard of. :'( She is one, but I know she will not last more than another 1-3 years :(
-
it is awful but if she has a great life with you then at least you know that she's had the best life she could have. my guinea pig died in august last year, he was five and i always thought that if they die of old age, i would cope with it better than when i lost chinchi. but it was absolutely awful. his partner (he has a new friend) is old as well and is losing weight which they do when they get old so... it does make you wonder why we put ourselves through this! but then i wouldn't want to have something that would outlive me because i'd be worrying what's going to happen to it when i die!!!
i'm off to bed now. snooooze!
-
Good night, and yes, the loss is always awful, but I suppose it is the price we pay for the joy of loving them. Night. :)
-
how is he? any news? will you be getting him back today?
-
Hi--Thanks for asking ! Rodney is still at the Exotics Veterinary hospital---the vet phoned yesterday to say that the bloodwork and X-Rays do not show malocclusion or any specific illness, but that he is undernourished (likely from the owner, and then weeks at 2 different shelters :::((() and that his GI is moving slowly. They have filed his teeth, given him painkillers and antibiotics, and are giving him subcataneous fluids and round the clock Critical Care syringe feedings. They do not want to release him until he is having better droppings. They think probably tomorrow----the only thing that scares me, is the thought of having him home without his being OK---I do not mind syringe feeding (altho I get a bit nervous I am not doing it expertly) yet I want him to eat on his own, and do not want anymore bloat---I just want him to be happy and OK - ::scaredspeachless::
-
that's good news :) i think it's the same as mae, she was undernourished too and all her problems pretty much stem from that.
it is important that he eats proper food for his teeth but in the meantime it's important he has the right nutrition gets the right amount of food. mae was on critical care for a long time and i did worry about it.
i'd recommend you weigh him at the same time each day. get a scale that weighs in grams - i have a postal scale and find it helpful to stick them in a box to do the weigh in to keep them on the scale and reasonably steady. mine are ok without the lid but you can always stick them in a carrier or something like that. few grams lost is no big deal and you will find that he may lose a little bit of weight when he starts pooing properly so don't panic if it's only like 10g.
you will know how he's doing, his energy levels and if he's chewing on other stuff. try to hand feed him nuggets or pieces of hay, he may take that from you and start nibbling on that.
i did wean mae off critical care rather than just stopping it because she was on it for such a long time and she had a lot of problems. so i just increased times between feedings and gradually stopped, making sure her weight wasn't going down dramatically - it took about a week. some chins also get very used to being hand fed and mae is starved for attention. so i still handfeed her pellets a couple times a day. just hand one over to her, wait til she eats it, give her another one. she eats in her own time as well but she's still getting the same sort of attention from me as when she was being handfed all the time. i also thought it may help her understand that this is what she needs to eat now.
also, you may find that he will eat critical care off your finger. it's very palatable (not to me, i tasted it once, it's rank!) and chinchi ate his straight off my finger (in fact, he bit too hard so i fed him off a spoon, just made sure he couldn't bite into the metal). mae didn't like the taste of hay to start with so it was syringed first, then she was eating it off pellets i held for her (they're half moon shaped so worked like a scoop) and in the end she just licked it off my finger. i found it better as there's less risk of them gulping air that way.
standard critical care clogs up a syringe regardless of how watery you make it. you can grind it in a coffee grinder - i bought one when mae didn't eat it and had to wait for the fine grind delivery. seven 1-minute grindings makes it fine enough for a syringe.
fine grind is great but it only comes in a small pouch so get a couple if you have to use that but i'm sure the vets will tell you what they've been using.
if you have to syringe feed, 2.5 ml syringes are best. make the critical care as thick as you can but thin enough to get it into the syringe easily. it does get thicker with time (quite quickly) so you may have to add more water after filling a few syringes. i have a little mug, i mix it, keep the hot water running, fill a syringe, stick it under water to wash off the outside that's covered in critical care and repeat and repeat and repeat. they for some reason don't like the critical care to be on the outside of the syringe.
critical care lasts 24 hours after being mixed but i did find that mae didn't want it unless it had been in the syringe rather than in a cup and sometimes she refused to eat it unless it was freshly mixed. she definitely liked it most when it was fresh, maybe because it's warm.
if you feed off a finger, a 30 ml syringe is great, you can syringe small amounts onto your finger. the pressure is higher in this syringe but it doesn't matter and that's why i don't think it's suitable for feeding but as you're just squirting onto your finger, it doesn't matter.
if you feed off your finger with standard critical care, mine liked it made into a paste rather than liquid but it had to be rather moist - you will work out what yours likes best :)
also, this may be of interest:
http://chocolatechinchillas.com/id6.html (http://chocolatechinchillas.com/id6.html)
i ordered this for mae after someone on the forum recommended it, dawnna was really great and express shipped it for me. it's got all sorts of good stuff, prebiotics and probiotics and it stimulates appetite. i think it tastes nice as well because when i sprinkle it onto pellets, they eat those first. it's very good for use with antibiotics as well - i'm giving it to the boys now and thy have had no change in poo at all.
-
Wow, THANKS SO MUCH for that link---I will order along with the BeaPhar pellets--and thank you so much for all that information, I am taking well under advisement! ;)
-
oh, when you get him back, ask which critical care they've been feeding him. he may not be fussy but even when mae started to eat it off my finger, i tried to give her normal critical care rather than the fine grind and she wouldn't touch it. she's picky though :)
-
Oh, good point, I will.....Yes, they sure can be picky-----they said he was eagerly taking it from the syringe, but when they put a dish of it in the pen, he would not touch--I wonder why????? ::shrug::
-
oh, none of mine ever took it from a dish. ever. it goes a bit stiff when left in air to be honest, maybe that's what it is... if he likes it from the syringe, there's a good chance he'll have it off your finger!
-
Well, will be happy to feed him off my finger !!! ::silly:: ;D Once more, thanks for all your really helpful info; most appreciated!!!
-
it is much easier and quicker and you don't have to get them out of the cage for it or hold them so if they don't like to be handled much, it's less stressful :)
-
Yes, I would imagine so----I think I was handling him a bit too much--too much checking if he was bloated, checking his teeth, etc. -----when he comes home, I am going to make sure to do less of it
-
thing is, you have to do it. when i brought mae home, it was quite horrid because she had to have medication and handfed and she didn't like the taste of either.
normally, you'd give them a few days to settle down and then slowly you start to invade their space but i couldn't do that. i had to feed her horrid tasting medicine and food she didn't like, wash her chin and all this. i thought she would absolutely hate me. a week later she let me stroke her head, now she lets me properly stroke her and even lets me groom her face so when i clean her chin (she has a lesion that's not healing because the elongated root is stretching the skin) i can do it while she's still in the cage, she lets me turn her head any way i like. i would have never expected that. i think she actually likes me more than my other chins! :)
-
Oh, this at least makes me feel better----so there is a positive aspect in having to be so invasive--it perhaps bonds them to you--they must know we are trying to help, sweet little things.... ::silly::
-
well.. i think it depends on the chin :) when we had the triplets, fluffy had mastitis and couldn't nurse so we had to take over. one of the babies, ffynn, who was then called 'skinny' was the smallest baby and he pretty much stayed at 35g for a week no matter what we did. he didn't want to eat, each feeding took half an hour because you had to put a tiny drop on your finger, then on his lips, let him lick it off and do it again and again. his sister, pippi (then 'average' or 'avg') took the bottle and was done within a minute, steadily putting weight on. spock - or 'chunky' as he was known then - was putting weight on without us feeding, i guess he had the sense to go to the teat that wasn't inflamed so she didn't move away. we tried feeding him to start with but he didn't want to be fed and it turned out it wasn't necessary.
now after all this you'd think that ffynn would be the friendly one and spock would be quite skittish. oh no. it's the other way round. spock is very keen on being stroked, picked up and everything. ffynn runs away! and he's bigger than spock!
i think with rescue chins, especially ones that have been neglected like mae, they want attention because they weren't getting it before. so even though giving medicine is not pleasant, it's still more than they got before. it's sad but at the same time it's positive.
-
Yeah, each one has its own little personality,
and I think you are right about this: :( ::nod::
"i think with rescue chins, especially ones that have been neglected like mae, they want attention because they weren't getting it before. so even though giving medicine is not pleasant, it's still more than they got before. it's sad but at the same time it's positive."
-
Just wanted to give an update on Rodney: I picked him up this noon after several days spent in the Exotics Veterinary hospital---he looks better, has gained weight, and is much more lively. I am to syringe-feed him with fine ground Critical Care, and also give hay and water. He also has antibiotic (Baytril) and Metacam for pain, and something called Cisapride, to keep the GI tract moving well..... He is pooping MUCH better after having had fluids and critical care for 4 days....the vet believes it was malnourishment (from prior owner, plus weeks in 2 shelters) which led to GI Stasis......I am going to really pamper him, and also am ordering BeaPhar and Lifeline...thanks for all!!! ;)
-
brilliant! so glad to know he's better :) poor little thing. i wouldn't introduce new food too quickly, just to be on the safe side, gi stasis can be recurrent so just keep it smooth for a bit.
must be so nice to have him back :) xxx
-
Thank you so much.......Yes, I intend to be VERY careful!!! ::nod::
-
i was just telling my vet about lifeline today - she was quite intrigued because they can very rarely get stuff specific to chinchillas, they have to use stuff aimed at rabbits.
she's a great vet. she's so enthusiastic and so on the ball on the time. so glad we've got her. she really likes mae as well :)
-
Yes, the Lifeline looks wonderful-----glad you have such a great vet. I have been pretty lucky too, as I stopped seeing my former vet, but was able to find an emergency place which took care of my Opossum in December, and now this Exotics place which seems very good..... :)
-
are the opossums quite cuddly? they look cuddly :)
this vet has recently joined the practice from a different one and she's great. they have three different surgeries and we always used to go to the main one which is about 25 minutes away but she's often at the one near where i live (about 5 minutes away) which is really convenient. she's very nice as well and really caring.
-
I had replied to this, but somehow did not show up???? >:( :( Yes, the Opossums are cuddly, just wish they lived longer. I am glad you found a good vet, and I have been lucky as well with the exotics hospital. Good that yours is so close.
Rodney seems much, much better: Has begun eating a bit on his own, and his gut is moving, and he seems perky, so I am very glad. The vet (who is experienced with Chins) says Rodney is a young adult male, which is good to know, that he is not old. How do they tell the age? ::shrug::
-
oh that is brilliant! i'm so glad he's doing so much better and eating on his own! fab!
i think perhaps it's easier to tell that they're young rather than middle aged. with very young boys, perhaps they can tell from their testicles?
other than that, you can sort of go by their teeth and fur condition, but i think that again is young or old rather than an age.
unless he's a beige. they have freckles and if he doesn't have a full set yet then you know he's young.
glad the oppossum is cuddly :) they look like lovely creatures. it's a shame about their life span. i'm still shocked it's so short for the size of them!
-
Thanks, yes, he is making plenty of good-sized droppings, too, as well as nibbling food on his own, so it was worth 4 days in the hospital! ::nod:: Actually, he looks to be a hetero-beige, with dark tan fur, dark eyes, and pink ears with spots---his ears are indeed spotted, so maybe he is at least a few years old? Not sure how the vet surmised age, maybe testicles, teeth---he does have a "young" face and chubby body, so perhaps that was how they told? ::shrug::
-
Actually, here is a pic of Rodney when he was in the shelter. He looks better now, fatter, perkier and stands on his hind legs. But the ears are spotted. :-\
(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-fUgUWozWy5g/TWzyUyzDGEI/AAAAAAAAOP8/DKbLR36J1Tw/s1600/0217011426.jpg)
-
oh he is gorgeous! i can't see that well from the picture but does he have spots on his nose as well?
mae's a beige too. everybody in this house is beige apart from fluffy who's grey :) chinchi was a pink white, hence the beige babies. all four of them :)
so glad he's doing better!
-
Awwm Thank you! Would love to see yours, too! Well, his nose is sort of dark---and as I said, he is looking MUCH better than that rescue shelter pic, as he has gained weight, fuller in the face, and sits up with his ears pointing foreward now. ;D One thing, I syringe fed him before, and after taking a 3 ml syringe, he took 3 more. (tl of 12 ml)--Yikes, do you think that was too much? Maybe I had better lighten up some.... :-\
-
12 ml is good :) i let mae take as much as she wanted when i was just feeding her rather than force feeding her (had to do that to start with). she usually stopped at 15 or 18 ml but sometimes she was super hungry and had a little bit more. she's only little as well, her lowest weight was 423g, she's now at 476g without any hand feeding :) (she's also missing a back leg.. not sure how much weight would that add) how often do you feed him?
i was just asking about nose because they do get the freckles on their noses and sometimes paws as well (the ear ones come first). i've just recently learnt that if that have a full set of freckles, they're probably at least 2 years old.
-
Oh, well 2 years old or even 4 would not be bad- :)---just glad the vet did not think he was 12, 13 or older! I forget what the weight was, but I know the vet said he gained, and wants to weigh him in a week---- Oh, so little Mae takes a lot as well, just wanted to be sure. He seemed to take it fast, like I would push the syringe and he would gulp, reach for more.....You know, I am trying not to get paranoid and watch too closely, but last night he went poops like crazy, lots of droppings, firm but soft, big size....Now I am not seeing any the past 2-3 hours---I do not want to begin fussing with Simethicone drops, water, etc. as last time it seemed to make it worse, which is how he wound up first at the emergency place for a day, then at the Exotics hospital for 4 days....I am hoping if i just leave him alone all day, things will be back on par---all day yesterday, last night he was super-----hmmmmm, now i am worried that i fed him too fast... :(
-
he's hungry, that's good :) if he wants it, give it to him. it's good stuff. it's much better for him to want it than you having to force him. and the best way to keep the gut moving is with food!
i find that sometimes critical care causes soft droppings. i generally go by this rule: if they keep their shape but are soft when you squish them, keep an eye but leave it. if they are soft to the point where they stick together into a mass and stick to the chinchilla, call the vet.
given he's just suffered from stasis i would be very reluctant to give him anything that vet hasn't told me to, particularly anything to do with making poo harder!
you will also find - especially after stasis - that droppings are not exactly regular. keep an eye but don't panic. as long as he's pooing and the droppings are decent size and not small and dry, it should be ok.
-
Oh, thanks so much! Feel better already---must get back to work now, best if I do not become overly watchful at this point anyway. ;D and yes, I will not add any gas drops or anything into the mix as he is on 3 different meds plus Critical Care. Speak soon xx
-
oh it's easily done :) enjoy work xx
-
hey christa, how's little rodney doing?
-
Just thinking of posting! Thank you for asking: ;) Hope all is well with you, Mae, and all on your end.
He is doing very well: Perkier, brighter, starting to chew on his lava rocks and wooden house and toys. Runs like crazy on his big wheel. Has been chewing the oat and timothy hay, but do not know if he is actually ingesting it. I have given him a small amount of yogurt, and some acidophilius drops daily as I was concerned about him being 10 days on his antibiotics, plus metcam and cisapride. The ONLY concern I have, as he is in fact pooping quite well now, is: He seems to keep wanting/expecting the syringe of critical care. I have cut back from 4 x p d to only 2, and have thinned it down so that it is half water now. Yet it concerns me that he is so hungry for it, but not really eating the hay or pellets. Will occassionaly nibble a Kale leaf or a piece of dried pineapple, but he WAITS for the syringe!!! ::shrug::
-
hey christa, glad he's doing well :)
they are like that sometimes, they get very used to being hand fed and it's convenient, i'm guessing - no chewing and such. what i did was do less cc feedings but hand mae nuggets as an alternative to hand feeding. you obviously need to make sure he's eating enough but at the same time it's no good if he's not eating solids as his teeth will suffer. you could try putting some cc on a pellet and give him that maybe?
i wouldn't give him leaves or dried fruits just yet...
what happens if the syringe doesn't arrive? i was worried about mae being really dependent on hand feeding - she'd been on cc for about 3 months. i slowly reduced number of feedings over a week and a bit. then stopped feeding her cc altogether. but i 'handfeed' her nuggets and hay, just give it to her, she eats it, i give her another one.. she seems to enjoy it. sometimes she doesn't want any. sometimes she has quite a few.
news at our end!!! mae has worked out how to eat hay!!!!!! :D took four months. still!!!
-
That is wonderful, that Mae is eating her hay now! ;)
The trouble with Rodney is, if I hand feed him hay or pellets, he just bites it, and drops the pieces out of his mouth (and I have tried dozens and dozens of times now) >:(.....I am waiting for the BeaPhar pellets to arrive, and pray I will have better luck with them....He does chew on lava rocks and wooden hut, so that helps his teeth some.....Oh, and i have in fact put the cc on a spoon, a pellet, so far no go :::(((......SO glad your "little monkey" is doing so well!!!! ::silly:: :D
-
oh, he's a stubborn monkey! hmmm... it's great that he chews on stuff though! does he eat any of the wood? i'm just wondering if the chewing is helping his back teeth as well rather than just his incisors. mae's started to properly demolish the chews now but i still have to hold them for her ::) i guess it's easier for her with her missing leg. or maybe she's just lazy :)
not sure what to suggest for rodney. i would be tempted to slowly withdraw the critical care and then stop and see what happens. when i was handfeeding mae, she wasn't too keen on eating proper food. and she knew that mummy will bring syringe food. i was really worried about taking her off it because of the stasis but because she has teeth problems as well, i wanted her to eat solid food! it looks good so far, i don't want to jinx it but she had a dental in november and the vet thought she'd need another one in about two months/10 weeks time and she's chewing better than ever so we're hoping she won't need another dental.
how is he settling down? does he love his new home? :)
-
Oh, thanks, YES, he seems very happy! ::silly:: Just wanting that syringe 3 x a day, waiting for it, and I keep giving less and less and feel guilty! :::((( Mae sounds like she is doing the right stuff, so that is great! Yes, he is chewing his wooden hut all the time, and it is ODD: I NEVER see him eat hay, and yet the hay seems very diminished at the end of the day??? ::think::
-
maybe try doing twice a day rather than giving less?
well, he must be eating it sometime! unless he's shipping it off to less fortunate chins! before mae figured out how to eat it, she would grab a piece, bit into it, throw it on the floor, do the same thing with a few then get frustrated and that would be it. so there'd be less hay in her bowl but it was definitely present on the floor :)
-
;D ::silly::, Aww, that is funny--glad she finally figured it out, tho!!! ::).......well, I am trying to determine if he has only trampled it and spread it around with his little feet---do not want to assume he is eating it if he is not--which is why i continue to syringe feed cc just in case...yeah, in the am and pm, now, is all, instead of round the clock, as he must realize that his various hays, pellets, and timothy-haycubes are there for him to eat, not just cage decorations :noway:
-
you will be able to see if he's eating from whether he's pooing. some chins will not start eating proper food if they're getting critical care because they prefer it and know they'll get it. they're clever little monkeys!
mae had her teeth checked yesterday and they look very good :::grins::
-
So happy to hear about Mae's good checkup!!! ::silly:: Yes, I am down to 2 syringes of CC a day; I just wish he were not so addicted to it---yes, clever monkeys indeed! :D ;D He seems to be eating a bit of pellets and timothy cubes, so just pray in time he will get hungry enough to go for that a bit more------------he is pooping very well, so that is good at least! ;)
-
ooh that's really good! mae will not have timothy cubes. nevermind! :)
i don't know what they see in the critical care to be honest. i tried it once and it's revolting! it doesn't even taste of hay!
i was so pleased about her teeth - she had a dental in november and the vet said she would probably need another dental in 2 months/10 weeks time. and it's march and they look great! yay! and she was on critical care for about two months after the dental so i'm chuffed!
-
Oh, that is good news, isn't it?!~ ::silly:: ::silly:: ::silly:: :::grins::
OMG, and I thought I was the only one to try the Critical Care, which indeed tastes ugh!!! :2funny: :2funny:
-
admittedly, i only tasted it because i opened a new sachet and it smelled sweet - mae will only have fine grind and i didn't think they did that one in apple&banana flavour and it didn't say anything on the packet so i thought, i'll give it a taste and see if it tastes of apples bleaurgh! :noway:
-
Ha, well I was just curious---and thought it tasted like bitter licorice !!!!!!!! >:(
-
mine tasted salty i thought!
-
Yes, hard to know why they find the liquid version so tantalizing! Most animals hate to be syringe fed! ::shrug::
-
if you ever have to give him lactulose, that is hilarious! it's basically thick sugar water and mae would run to the cage door when she heard me open the bottle!
-
::nod:: Ha, I guess they like liquids and especially sweet ones......must remind them of something they get from plants in the wild....
-
they do like sweet things. like raisins and such. i guess it's like me and chocolate :D
-
::nod:: ;D ::silly::
-
Update on Rodney: He is doing well, and I love the little guy, BUT. . . >:( I must say, after weeks and weeks, I am STILL having to syringe feed him. He picks a little at hay or pellets, but each time I tried to stop the syringes, the droppings would become tiny, dry, and hard again, and I simply can NOT risk stasis and more hospital and med bills. Because I had a sick cat who got major surgery, a dog who needed care, plus a sick Opossum, plus Rodney, my vet bills have been near 20K, not to mention other expenditures such as new AC unit and new furnace....I am MAXED out....do not know what i can do, went thru 3 bags of Critical care and am now using ground pellets :::(((
-
christa, his poo will get smaller when you take critical care away. it will. it's a feeding change and it will affect his droppings. you could get some lactulose from the vet (it's dead cheap and it's sweet so they like to take it) and give it to him during the transition period - it lubricates the insides so you avoid hard dry droppings.
long term syringe feeding will cause teeth overgrowth and root overgrowth - this will cause huge problems (not just dental) and it will be extremely expensive. when teeth are not worn down properly, they get sharp spikes that dug into their cheeks, cause tongue lacerations and can even trap tongue - this will all prevent him from wanting to eat and it's painful. if the roots overgrow into the top arcades, once they're in the ocular spaces or sinuses, the only thing you can do is put them to sleep.
i know you're scared he'll get sick again but if you continue syringe feeding, he will, even though you think you're doing the right thing. and i understand the vet bills too, you've been amazing paying for his hospitalisation and all the treatment he's had, a lot of people would not have done that. but if he develops teeth problems (and he will if he's not on solid food), it will mean more vet bills and dental bills are not cheap.
i would go with lactulose. it works extremely well and you don't feel like you're giving them medicine because they're so keen on having it! and it costs me less than £5. you can only get it from the vet though.
-
OMG, thanks SOOOOO much, Dianah, I am going to phone the clinic tomorrow and ask for it. What a life saver, THANK YOU!!! :o :o :o ;)ps Hope Mae and you and yours are all very well!!! ::silly:: ::silly:: ::silly::
-
let me know what they say at the vets. i think the most important thing is not to panic. i know it's easier said than done, the amount of times i've been on the phone to the vet (thankfully, she's great and doesn't mind!) when mae's droppings were rather scarce when she was recovering from bloat (apparently, as long as they are producing droppings and there's more than 10 in a day, it's not too bad - obviously this is when they've been having problems)
mae was on lactulose for quite a long time the second time she had bloat (which was not as bad as the first), i took ages to take her off lactulose. normally you'd just stop but i took her off it very very gradually. it still caused a little bit of disruption in her droppings, she was on 0.5ml twice a day and i would reduce it by 0.2ml every day so one day she'd have 2x 0.4ml, next day 2x 0.3ml and it was all good until we got to 0.2ml when her droppings were really rather small and not many so i did the rest slower - for two days i did 2x 0.2 then another two days 2x 0.15.. and so on. so it took a while but it worked.
mae's being introduced to spock at the moment! they like each other but she's very attention hungry and if he decided to be somewhere else in a cage, she goes and harasses him! poor boy :)
-
Oh, thanks so much ----will do! ;)
who is Spock? ::think::
-
spock's one of my boys. it's his birthday today. as well as pippi's and ffynn's. they are the babies we had to hand feed. and they're a year old now :) ffynn and spock were neutered in february so they can be with ladies. spock's going to be with mae and ffynn with the three girls.
-
Oh, that is fantastic! :::grins::
-
we've started the introductions and it's going well - they get on but not enough for me to be happy to leave them in a cage together unsupervised! :)
mae's missing a back leg as well and she falls off perches on her own if she misses, when spock's with her she's following him round so she's even more clumsy and sometimes they jump onto the same part of the shelf. she can't fall far but it still worries me.
-
Aww, Mae sounds like a real survivor, what a doll. I am sure the situation will even out and will be good for all parties!!! ::silly:: ::silly::
-
Hey Dinah,
Took a grand total of 10 mintues to reintroduce Ebbie and Titan. They were back loving each other and have been for the last few days. Coulndt belive how easy it was this time. Howver he was a bit randy and she allowed it....god i hope 6 weeks was enough.
-
christa - she is a great girl!
j - haha oh dear! my vet said after six weeks there may be some stuff left but it's very unlikely it would be enough to make them pregnant. you should be ok :) how great they got back together so quickly! it was the same with chinchi and fluffy, they just basically went back together, no re-intro was needed.
this lot however.. good god... i'm introducing ffynn to fluffy (mum), pippi (sister from the same litter) and luella (younger sister) and while they're happy with him, he's terrified! pippi and fluffy even groom faces with him, luella's not so sure but no one's attacking anybody. but he hides!
spock's ffynn and pippi's brother and mae's a rescue girl we got at the end of october (i never thought she'd still be alive now, and doing well!!) - they like each other but after face grooming they start mounting and neither of them is taking it so they start mounting at the same time which of course is not that possible and then i have to separate them.
i think it's good that no one is attacking anybody. still!!!!