Chinchilla Community Forums
Chinchillas => Health => Topic started by: iheartchins on August 31, 2014, 08:34:52 PM
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Hi, my white female chinchilla has wet urine in between her legs and around her privates. I've just given her a dust bath and the dust is sticking to the wetness a little. Is this normal or should I be concerned? She's eating and drinking fine and seems to be acting normal. I've also just moved her and her cage mate into a whole different cage and setup today if that helps with anything. Thanks for any help (:
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Shes also grooming herself down there. I think when she pees she just sits there and it soaks into her fur.
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I'm sorry you're having trouble with your pet there. No it is not normal. It may indicate a urinary tract infection and I know of cases like yours that have turned out well. I advise you find a veterinarian that specializes in exotics and rabbits. They will likely prescribe antibiotics such as baytril. These can be very hard on their digestive systems.
Chinchillas have a tendency to stop eating when they become ill and may stop eating when put on antibiotics. Discuss syringe feeding with your vet and obtain the proper supplies.
Make an appointment ASAP. If it is an infection it can spread rapidly.
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I think the urine on her fur is just from pee stains when she sits. Since her fur is white it's easier to see. She's eating like a pig and drinking a lot, and she's bouncing around everywhere like a normal chin. If it gets worse and/or she acts lethargic I'll make a vet call though.
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Some slight staining is not unusual. Wetness is not normal. It is usually caused by inflammation of the genitals so that urine cannot be properly ejected.
Healthy chinchillas will urinate in one corner of the cage and stay out of it.
Another word of advice and that is chinchillas hide illness well. Sometimes when they are having symptoms such as depression it can be too late to save them. Please monitor the situation closely.
If it's an isolated incident you can give her that but if it happens repeatedly there is a problem.
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Okay, thanks for the help. I think it's only wet after she pees, but I'll check on her underside when I get back home. Do you know the symptoms of a UTI?
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Wet fur as you describe is the primary symptom of a UTI. Sometimes the urine smells worse than usual or appears to be sticky. In severe infections you may see pus on the fur which is sticky and smells foul.
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Can I upload a picture on here? If so I'll try to take a pic and show you what exactly it looks like. We'll try and take her to the vet if it is UTI. What would they be able to do for her?
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Yes you can upload a picture if you would like. The picture will have to be sized so it does not exceed 128,000 bytes.
The vet can do a physical exam and see if there is anything anatomically wrong and will also check for signs of inflammation and possible underlying causes like a foreign object. If there is an infection he will prescribe an antibiotic that should clear it up. It is possible they will do a culture where they take a swab of the area and view the microbes they collect under a microscope. Sometimes they can identify the pathogen to refine the medical treatment. Recovery should be less than two weeks in most cases.
With any antibiotic treatment be prepared to treat anorexia and talk to your vet about it. Sometimes it happens and when it is not discovered fatal complications usually occur.
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Thanks, I'll try and upload a picture this evening. If needed, how would I give her the antibiotic? By mouth? And do they always end up not eating with antibiotics or is it only in some cases?
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If needed the antibiotic will be given orally. Usually twice a day with a syringe. It's not a pleasant procedure and is best done with two people. I hope you won't have to do that. I have done it myself but not for a UTI.
It seems that most chinchillas are okay with the meds but some are not and I've seen many cases where that happens. They end up loosing the chinchilla because it goes into GI stasis and by the time they start treating it it's too late. I think in most cases it is preventable because every time I ask how long their chinchilla had been off its food they were unable to determine that because they were not monitoring and suspected it had been for two or more days. Make sure to get detailed instructions from your vet on hand feeding and the proper supplies, if possible if you ever are prescribed antibiotics, especially baytril. Some veterinarians will prescribe hand feeding as part of their diet during the course of meds to prevent stasis, especially, if they are on a heavy dose.
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Thanks! I'll try and get her a vet appointment tomorrow just in case. There are no exotic vets near me, but I guess any vet is most likely better than none. It's a small animal clinic. But here's the picture (sorry it's not good quality; she wouldn't stay still!) http://s1368.photobucket.com/user/tweetybirdy8/media/197547BA-7BFE-488C-8541-E6B576FFFE50_zps7ohit8vu.jpg.html?sort=3&o=0 I hope the link works..if by let me know
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Yeah that worked. I agree you need to see a vet. If they see rabbits they should know what to do. Please express your concerns about GI stasis. Chinchillas are more sensitive to that than rabbits and have different dietary requirements.
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What exactly is GI stasis? I'll try to get an appointment tomorrow, if there are no openings tomorrow, I'll try Wednesday. I'm hoping it's nothing serious. Should I bring her cage mate with her to help lower stress?
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Does she pee on any hard surfaces where she may be sitting in it? Like on a shelf or in a solid floor?
Another thing you can do is hold her facing away from you and check her vaginal opening for any swelling or discharge.
If you dont feel comfortable doing that then definitely take her to a vet.
One of my chins has some sort of infection there. I think she had it for a few days. I noticed her grooming more than usual and afterwards she would grind her teeth. They do this to sometimes clean stuff of their teeth so i knew something wasnt right. The vet confirmed and we were given baytril and shes made a full recovery.
I would say dont give her a sandbath until you figure out whats going on. Somebody correct me if im wrong about that.
If you do end up getting baytril ask the vet for critical care as well as a precautionary measure. I have read many stories where baytril made a chin lose its appetite completely. I didnt have that problem but she definitely did stop eating as much.
Also, ask about something to replace the good bacteria in her gut as baytril will kill that as well. Probiotics theyre called. Dont give that until 2 or 3 hours after the baytril.
If you look in this section there are a couple of threads right below dealing with uti and vaginal infections.
It seems like a lot of information to take in and it is but your chin will very likely make a full recovery if it is a uti.
The best thing you can do is really watch your chin. Spend a couple or a few hours just watching her and see if she is doing anything unusual...or if she makes any noises while peeing etc.
Hopefully it just is a case of her sitting in pee though.
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That is true. See if there is a probable cause for that. If you are noticing puddles of pee on a shelf or hard surface that would be unusual but could explain it. My chinchilla, being a standard gray, has a white belly, and I've never seen him get soaked with urine. He does have some slight staining which I think is normal but he has never been wet. He doesn't pee on the shelf either. The worst he does is pee in his dust bath but the dust clumps like cat litter so he stays dry.
By getting an early diagnosis and treatment you should be able to avoid it becoming something serious if it is a UTI.
I agree that withholding the dust bath until you get a diagnosis is advisable. If the vaginal area is inflamed it is best to withhold dust baths for at least a week. Giving probiotics is a fairly common practice. Some vets may prescribe bene-bac. Mine did not. Not all vets agree on the effectiveness of giving them but if it is prescribed it's probably best to use it. The most important thing is that they keep eating their normal daily volume of food at a normal rate.
GI stasis is when the stomach and intestines stop flowing. (gastrointestinal stasis). If it occurs and is not reversed it is fatal. In chinchillas and other small animals GI stasis can occur because the animal stops eating and the gut has nothing to work on so it slows down. This further reduces the amount of available nutrients in the blood which causes depression and becomes a death spiral. The antibiotics are irritating to the bowels and may make the bowels more likely to go into stasis. Stress from the treatments can also contribute. Closely monitoring food and water intake and syringe feeding if there is trouble is the best way to prevent this. Once stasis occurs it can be difficult to reverse it because gas builds up in the intestines and can block them off. There are treatments and techniques to treat the problem but prevention is the best medicine for this. In most cases there are no problems and all you have to do is monitor for it which is something that should be a habit for all chinchilla owners to do each day.
I don't recommend bringing the other chinchilla. With pairs it seems that sometimes they can feed off of each other's stress. I've taken my chin to the vet before and he did just fine.
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Thanks for the reply. I hope it's just pee too! Called the vet today and they didn't have an opening until tomorrow so she has an appointment for tomorrow (:
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That's good. From my experience with others' pets on the boards simple UTIs are easy to cure with meds. I think you'll do just fine.
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So the vet appointment is done & they said that they couldn't see anything very wrong except for the staining of the fur. They don't really do exotic pets, but they're going to wait to give an antibiotic until they've done more research, but they also think it's possible that she sat in her pee in her old cage. Heat is also a possibility. They advised me to put 50/50 cranberry juice in her water and they'll go from there.
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I am glad to hear that. Cranberry juice in water is a well known home remedy for UTI. You will need to change the water and clean and flush the bottle each day to prevent mold which can be extremely hazardous. Watch for changes in fecal output. If it starts getting mushy you'll need to go back to regular water.
If the fur is still getting wet, not just stained, but wet, I recommend taking further action, unless you can find something about the cage that is causing it.
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So change the cranberry/water every 24 hours or should I do it more often? And will it bother the cage mate at all? When they examined her today, they said there was no vulva swelling and no discharge, so that was good. They also said she was starting to get bubblefoot, so I'm really glad she's on the fleece now. I'm thinking maybe that she was sitting in her pee in the old cage (with only plastic shelves) and that I only noticed it when I switched her into the other cage.
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Bumblefoot can be pretty serious. If you notice any unusual swelling (indicating infection) on the feet you will need antibiotics. Most of the time dry and cracked feet don't become infected on chinchillas but they may bleed. Urine is known for causing that as well. It is a hard thing to clear up though once it starts. It may take months of being extra cautious.
Swelling in the vulva is a good thing to rule out. If there is an infection that spreads into the uterus (pyometra) that is usually a terminal condition. It was also something I was concerned about and I'm glad there are no issues there.
The cranberry juice should not bother the other chinchilla but make sure the droppings in the cage stay normal. If they look abnormal somebody isn't handling the juice well. I think 24 hours is good swap out time.
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I'll definitely keep an eye on her feet, but right now they look dry/cracked. I'm assuming it's from the hard surface they were on. The fleece should be more comfortable now, so hopefully that'll get better quickly. If needed, I'll post a picture. I'll also check out her cagemate's feet.
I'm glad it was ruled out, too. She peed on the paper towels that were lining her travel carrier yesterday, and the vet said that looked completely normal. They cleaned the yellow stains with some sort of animal shampoo yesterday and today the stains are less visible. The vet also suggested wiping the area with baby wipes if I could.
I'll make sure to watch their droppings. They look normal so far, but I'll monitor. Is there a specific way I should clean their waterer out when I swap their drink?
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If it were my waterer I would clean it with water with a little dish soap, dispense the soapy water through the spigot, and repeat with clean water.
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Ok, thanks so much. Here's an update pic (again, I hope the link works) http://s1368.photobucket.com/user/tweetybirdy8/media/Mobile%20Uploads/image_zpsde18f499.jpg.html?filters[user]=141303880&filters[recent]=1&sort=1&o=0
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Not sure why but it's not working. As long as the fur is dry and does not stink I think you're okay.
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Alright, sounds good. I don't think it's wet anymore, but I'll keep checking daily. Here's another try on the link. Hopefully it works http://s1368.photobucket.com/user/tweetybirdy8/media/323AB5BD-BCF7-4B53-A3BE-7A1C070E6902_zpslf2vuebd.jpg.html?sort=3&o=0
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That's not much worse than my own chinchilla and his regular staining, although he is male, so there are some differences. I guess it managed to soak itself in urine in the cage that one day. The last time I saw a chinchilla that nasty was one that was diagnosed with UTI and inflammation and was peeing on the inside of its legs. Looks like everything is fine to me.
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Yeah, it seems to have improved. The cranberry juice could've helped too. I'll definitely keep an eye on it (the vet called back and said they've found an antibiotic if she hadn't improved). Do you think it's safe to give dust baths now?
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Personally I feel it is safe to give dust baths and go back to regular water. Considering there were no other symptoms and the cage situation has changed I feel there may not have been an infection to start with. You probably shouldn't get too concerned unless the fur becomes wet, or stained like that again, with no apparent cause. I'm grateful you didn't have to use an antibiotic.
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So her fur is stained again, but not wet. I stopped giving the cranberry juice a few days ago. I just wiped the stains with baby wipes, but it didn't really come off. Wondering if I should go back to the vet again or what. Wondering if she just keeps sitting in her pee because the fleece soaks it up. Otherwise, everything else looks fine.
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Can you feel where she sits? Is it right against a hard surface?
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The surface is hard. It's a plastic shelf with a fleece cover over it.
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I recommend replacing it with a wooden shelf that does not have fleece on it. Perhaps the fleece has taken on the odor of the urine and your pet smells and thinks it's acceptable to do it there.
I can conceive that the hard surface doesn't allow the fleece to absorb fast enough to protect your chinchilla from getting drenched but since I don't use fleece I recommend that you investigate based on that route. Considering your vet did not see significant inflammation or signs of infection I have my doubts that the cause is an infection.
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I have the double critter nation, so there are no wooden shelves :/ I think the fleece also helps to avoid bumblefoot (like Ivory was getting.) Tonight I took the fleece off and washed them and put them back on. While they were washing, I noticed pee spots all over the pans, so they don't have a specific spot that they always pee in. I'm hoping her fur is just pee-stained and I'll try to keep it clean with the baby wipes.
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I use fleece in my cage and the chin might associate fleece with peeing if she has done it already.
If the fleece is directly on a shelf it wouldn't be able to absorb the pee as much and could be a cause.
The fleece i use for my cage is layered and has bamboo toweling in the middle to absorb any pee.
Just a thought...
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That makes sense. My fleece is like a pillow case with only one layer on top and one layer on the bottom, so it's not absorbent.
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So the yellowing is worse today and it's more in between her legs. I'll talk to the vet again and talk about antibiotics because I don't really think pee stains would be this big. It's also a little damp. The pee stains started coming back pretty much after I took her off the cranberry juice so I'm thinking maybe it treated but didn't cure? Anyways, I'll call the vet in the morning and see what they say. But, if she was given antibiotics and she didn't absolutely positively have a UTI, would the meds hurt her? Just wanna be on the safe side!
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Certainly discuss it with your vet. Antibiotics will have the same effect whether or not there is an infection so there's no increased danger if there's no infection. The antibiotics are potentially harmful and some chinchillas can have very serious reactions although it is not the norm. That is why I feel it's important to make sure it's not something to do with the cage if possible. If the cage is okay then I certainly recommend medical treatment.
I recommend discussing the dangers of GI stasis which is the most typical complication with your vet and obtain hand feeding supplies if you go that direction.
I do think that visibly wet fur is a danger sign. The wetness in itself can breed dangerous microbes that can also become a serious problem if left untreated. Considering the problem came back after the cranberry juice was discontinued does point towards a UTI. The cranberry juice prompts the chinchilla to drink more and that can curb and sometimes cure a UTI. (Although don't assume it will cure it and use proper meds to treat a UTI)
If it is a UTI the infection could become dangerous. If it isn't the meds are still a risk and if it's a problem with the cage the exposure to urine becomes a different risk. At this point it's a judgement call on how you wish to handle it. (Although I do recommend another washing with a damp rag)
With that being said my personal intuition (which is not always right) is that your pet is peeing on something and not moving away from the space. This could be a behavioral problem and I recommend going with regular pine bedding and plain wooden shelves and see if that fixes it.
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Thanks for the info(: I'm not really sure what to do. I did put the cranberry juice back into the water and I felt around the cage for wet spots. There are a few, but I assume they dry within half an hour or so. I also wash the fleece weekly. I checked the yellowing again, and it's barely wet, it just looked wet. I wiped it with the baby wipes and a little did come off. With UTIs is there usually vulva swelling? Because if so, I remember the vet saying she didn't have any.
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A UTI that is diagnosed visually will show swelling of the opening that goes into the urethra. Sometimes an infection of the vulva can cause the urine to shoot out sideways onto the legs (and often the urethra is also involved).
Otherwise it is usually diagnosed with a culture where they put a sample under the microscope and check for the presence of microbes and blood cells. In addition a test strip may be available to confirm other chemical markers. I recommend discussing this with your vet.
If the swelling is bad enough to affect the passage of the urine to cause staining I would think it would be visually discerned (although I'm an expert on this and maybe someone else can comment). In other cases I've observed on this board pus is often observed in the fur. I would expect the urine would appear abnormal under a microscope. Another thing a UTI can do is result in incontinence which can also cause your chinchilla to urinate where it is not supposed to.
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I haven't noticed any swelling and no pus at all. I've read online somewhere before that sometimes heavier chins seem to get yellow stained more (and she is big.) Since she's sleeping a lot in the day time she could be waking up to pee and then going back to sleep so the pee soaks into her fur. Since it's been about 2 weeks since I first noticed this, wouldn't it have gotten worse if it was an infection? I'm kinda now leaning more towards pee stains since in the previous cage I used bedding and they always peed in one spot and the bedding soaked the urine up quickly.
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Have you noticed any excessive grooming of her private area? If there were a uti or some kind of infection she would surely be grooming more. My chin girl had a vaginal infection earlier in the year and she was grooming more than usual and grinding her teeth right after. The grinding of the teeth happened every single time she was done grooming so i knew something wasn't right. She had very visible swelling as well.
I don't know if this would be the case with a uti or not though.
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Yes, she does groom a lot down there and I was wondering what the grinding sound was. She does it right after, too. The vet gave me baytril to give twice daily (.4CC) and meloxidyl (2 lb. dose daily). Wondering why there's 2 meds? I had someone else pick the meds up for me (had to work).
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I've looked up other baytril doses and it looks like .4 is a lot more than it should be? I've seen doses like .15 and .25...
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As far as dosing for baytril I don't know. If you suspect it sounds high PLEASE verify the dose or get a second opinion from a veterinarian. Don't worry about being embarrased if everything is still okay. This is your pet and you are in charge of its treatment. An overdose on baytril will destroy your chinchilla's intestines (fatal reaction).
I do know that the volume can depend on the concentration of the medication which needs to taken into consideration. There are definitely enough symptoms to warrant treatment.
Meloxidyl is an NSAID that is used to reduce the inflammation. That has relatively little side effects as long as you don't use it over several weeks.
Because small animals are not something that most veterinarians are experienced with bad accidents can happen.
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I've consulted a few exotic/chin vets and am awaiting replies. Just wondering if there was an average amount for medium sized chins.
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No the dose is based on primarily on weight. The volume of the liquid will also depend on whether or not something has been mixed in with it at the clinic such as flavoring.
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Oh, okay. Not sure where to go from here. Would it be okay to give her a small dosage like .15 cc or none at all?
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You're better off not administering the medications until you are sure everything is good. For a veterinarian determining the dose should be pretty straightforward.
Do not give a reduced dose as that can be harmful if it is not high enough to fight the infection. It can easily lead to antibiotic resistant microbes and make the problem much worse.
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I contacted the vet that I got the meds from and they said they followed the directions that an exotic vet specialist told them. The baytril is flavored with vanilla butternut they said.
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Sounds like you've done everything within reason to verify it is all correct.
When it comes time to medicate it is easiest to do with two people and have everything prepared ahead of time to minimize the amount of stress to your pet.
Measure your water bottle each day and clean the feces out of the cage each day so you can keep track of output. You probably want to change the bedding and wash all the fleece half way through the course of the antibiotics to prevent re-infection.
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Alright thanks! I'll try to spot clean the cage daily and wash the fleece within a few days. Could the flavoring be what made me think the dosage was upped a little?
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Also, I've heard about the Critical Care? What is that and where could I get it if need be? Should I keep the cranberry juice in the waterer or use just plain water?
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I recommend plain water. Oxbow critical care is a diet for syringe feeding. Your vet might not have it but clinics that treat rabbits will.
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Alright. The bottle also says 22 mg/ml. What does that mean?
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Just have her first dose! Not sure how much actually went into her mouth though lol
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Typically that means there is 22mg of active ingredient per milliliter of liquid in the bottle. It is the concentration of the ingredients.
Is it 22.7 by any chance?? I don't think it comes in a 22.0% concentration.
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Let me crunch some numbers real quick. These dosages usually aren't exact in practice.
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The bottle says 22 but they probably just rounded it. Not sure.
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Without getting too technical I'm just going to say I think you're okay.
NOTE: It was later found the dose was double what it was supposed to be. This is not okay. These calculations are always best left up to a veterinarian.
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Okay, thanks!!As a probiotic I heard I could use yogurt? Is that true?
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Yes you can use yogurt. If you wish to use yogurt it appears you should give a maximum of tablespoon of yogurt (sugar free) in a day.
I expect you have been instructed to give baytril twice a day. It should be 12 hours apart as close as you can get it. If you give yogurt you'll probably want to give one teaspoon of yogurt 6 hours after the morning baytril dose and that's it.
Ideally a second yogurt (1 teaspoon) dose should be given 6 hours after the nighttime baytril dose but that will be hard. The daytime dose is more important because chinchillas are usually pretty active at night which will help keep things flowing. During the day when your pet is inactive the bowels flow much slower.
Do not give the yogurt and meds together. They will counteract each other.
If you give yogurt will you have to syringe feed it. Rarely will you find a chinchilla that likes to eat yogurt.
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I'll try to give yogurt when I can because I work in the day and go to sleep pretty early. I can definitely do it on weekends though. I'll try to find a different probiotic to fill in for yogurt if I can. Also, how long until the meds kick in? I gave her the first around 8:30 pm (eastern) so it's been around 3 hours so far.
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Oh, and I can still let her dust bathe right?
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I wouldn't give a dust bath until the round of antibiotics is finished. A week seems like a long time but it's better safe than sorry. You don't want any irritants to get into the affected area
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I expect you'll notice a change in a day or two. Baytril is a very effective drug.
Do not discontinue the meds just because you notice no symptoms. Give the full course as directed by your veterinarian. You don't want to partially kill the infection with antibiotics. Unless it is totally killed off it will come back as an antibiotic resistant infection.
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I'll make sure to keep her on the meds until the course is over. I gave her another dose this morning. She ate a cheerio and some hay this morning (that I saw) and was eating regularly last night.
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That's great news. My chin ate the entire time she was on baytril but her appetite definitely was not as big as usual.
I tried to give her a variety of hay and different things to keep her interested in eating. I don't know if it helped or not. I think we gave her critical care two times during the 3rd or 4th day on the baytril. Looking back i'm not sure if it was necessary. I was a little worried since i have never had to deal with baytril and i read a bunch about it online and saw some pretty scary stories. Keep an eye that your chin is still drinking too.
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I will. When I was giving her the dose this evening I got half of it in and then she pulled away, but when I tried to give her the rest she started licking the syringe and wanted more. She must like the taste.
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When I was giving her her dose this morning as soon as I pushed the srynge down she moved away so it all squirted on her neck/chest :doh: it wasn't that much so do I just leave it there? I gave another dosage since none of it got in her mouth the first time.
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Use a damp washcloth to clean it off her fur. Otherwise it will harden and mat the fur. Also you don't want her licking it off in addition to the dose you just gave her. Your pet will be pretty messy through this ordeal but there is no reason to not try to wipe up what you can. After a few doses you'll figure out how to do it better but at the same time your chinchilla will learn how to fight you better.
Just use plain water on a wash cloth. Try to wring it out so there's no liquid water streaming out as drops of water can also cause fur matting.
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Spoke to the vet that administered the meds and they told me the corrict dosage for a 450 g chin is.20 cc. So glad I haven't been giving the complete .4cc since I thoughg it seemed like a lot. Ivory isn't eating as much as she would without the meds, but she's still eating so I'm glad about that. She ate 2 cheerios this morning and I saw her eat her Timothy hay last night. I don't know about eating her pellets though, haven't seen much of that. Might pick up some critical care tomorrow just in case. I guess it's available at most pet stores?
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Wow I'm glad you did that. That could have been a very big problem.
An average sized male chinchilla is 500g. Females tend to be larger and some can grow to be around 1000. Did your vet comment on if your pet is underweight? 450 sounds pretty light to me.
Critical care is not commonly found in pet stores. It is a veterinary product and you'll probably need to go to a clinic to get it. A clinic that treats rabbits will have it but probably not a dog and cat clinic. They may be able to get an overnight shipment though.
You can order it from tj's chinchilla supplies but I think you should find a way to get it on a moments notice if needed.
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The vet said that a 450 g chin would get a .2 cc dosage, but my chin wasnt weighed so she couldn't give an exact estimate. She's bigger than a lot of chins I've seen so she could prob use a little higher dosage, but I'm not sure. So glad I didn't give the.4
At what point would I have to start giving critical care? Only if she stopped eating completely? I'm glad she's still eating at the moment though.
Also I saw something in the cage that was light brownish this morning in only one place. It was kinda wet but didn't look at all like pee or poop. Just wondering if you knew what that was?
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I would say if she starts eating down to about half her normal food it is necessary to supplement her diet. If it's noticeably down but she's still eating you may want to try to supplement by putting a glob in a small bowl or tray and she'll probably eat it.
Either that or if you notice a significant dropoff in fecal output which is another indicator there is a problem. Any undesired change in the consistency of the feces may a good early warning. Absence of feces overnight would be an extreme warning.
I don't know what the brownish thing is. Perhaps it's wet hay or something. It sounds like she is having incontinence so it could be about anything mixed with urine. If it looks like mucous you may want to talk to your vet.
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Sorry I didn't get back to you yet! My dog got sprayed by a skunk and we've been trying to bathe him :/
I can't really tell her fecal output since she has a cagemate, but I've seen her poop today and I also saw her drink. After I gave her tonight's dose I gave her a cheerio and she ate that and I put some hay in front of her and she was munching on that.
I haven't seen the brown stuff anymore so not sure what it was.
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When you say you saw something light brownish...did it look like a streak?
I use fleece and i have seen this a few times. It scared me at first because i thought it was blood and one of the chins had a cut but they were both fine every time.
I'll take a picture if it happens again. I thought maybe the fleece wasn't absorbing the pee but i watched them pee after and it did absorb it. It definitely wasn't poop either.
I am wondering if it has something to do with the chin being in heat
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Yes, it was more of a streak than a glob. Still haven't noticed anymore of it, but like you said she could be in heat. Hmm
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So accidentally left the Baytril out of the fridge last night.. Is it okay to still administer? It smells fine and I've put it back in the fridge.
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I would imagine it would be fine but that's something you should call the vet about.
I wonder if my chin girl got the infection from being in heat and i didn't know and possibly sand got inside of her or irritated her.
I have read they go in heat every 25 to 30 days?
So i've been sort of trying to pay attention to when that is. I'm not sure if that is a possibility or not.
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I don't know. Personally I would contact the vet and ask but I doubt there is going to be problem if you've done that only once or twice unless it looks separated or discolored. I suppose it will depend on what they may have mixed it with.
As far as the mucous thing that is not something I'm familiar with.
Here is an article I found that might be helpful: http://www.guineapigcages.com/forum/threads/90077-Left-Baytril-out-of-fridge
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Thanks, I read up on it a little online and many posts said it'd be fine unless it looks ones separated, as you said. I think what needs to be refrigerated in mine is the vanilla butternut flavoring. I chilled the medicine before I gave her this morning's dose. I'm getting the bene-bac powder today too.
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When I was giving this morning's dose I looked at her underside and it's still stained yellow. She could've been sitting in pee the whole time or her underside is still stained since she's white. Should I keep giving the baytril? I haven't seen her grooming down there anymore and doing the grinding her teeth thing after.
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Yeah her fur will probably stay yellow for a while if it has been stained.
Definitely go through the whole cycle of baytril. If the week is over then stop but it is quite important that you don't cut it short once you start her on it.
It sounds like she is still eating so she should be alright.
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Oh yeah, I was going to say that when my chin was on the baytril it seemed to work after 3 days...I think that's when she stopped excessively grooming herself. Maybe 4.
That is probably a good sign that the baytril is working. But cutting rounds of antibiotics is not a good idea. It can cause some worse problems in the long run. Also, the infection or whatever it is may still be lingering inside her and you can't tell. It won't hurt her to finish the cycle.
My chin showed the same symptoms in july. It was a friday late when i noticed. We tried to get her to the vet and they said we can't bring her until monday. We sort of talked them into giving us more baytril without actually looking at our chin.
They aren't supposed to do that but i told them 48 hours for a chin may be the difference between life and death. Luckily they agreed.
I'm not sure if she had the same thing but i gave her the baytril for a week anyways and nothing bad happened. She was grooming and grinding. She also had white stuff in her fur by her mouth. My wife checked her and she was swollen and a bit moist. It could very well just have been a normal heat cycle but i didn't want to take any chances.
If this keeps happening i may have to have her spayed.
Next time if it does hopefully it won't be on a friday and i'll be able to get her swabbed and analyzed.
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Thanks, sounds good. Tonight will be the ending of day 5. Is the total time of baytil supposed to be a week? My vet didn't really specify. Should I start the Bene-bac today too? If so, how do I give it to her and how much?
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I think ten days is the usual. It should be on your paperwork.
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Just reread an email that the vet or nurse sent me a few days ago and they said for 14 days. Is that too long?
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I was told to give it for 7 days
14 days does seem like quite a while? Maybe try to call another vet for a second opinion?
I'm not sure aboit bene bac. I gave a probiotic 2 to 3 hours after i gave the baytril. The stuff i had was a powder i put in the water. A teaspoon in the waterbottle. I did it every day while she was on baytril then every othee day for a week after just to be safe
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Sorry..it wasn't one teaspoon...it was one scoop with the little plastic spoon that came in the jar
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Just in case you all wanted an update, Ivory is off her meds (as of day 10) and seems to be doing pretty well. The staining is still there I'm sure, but haven't seen anymore grinding after grooming.
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That's good news. Hopefully everything will be smooth from here on out.
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Thanks for the update. That is good news.