Sick chinchilla barely eating, drinking and inactive

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Korrie5

Member
Joined
Jun 30, 2018
Messages
10
My chinchilla suddenly became motionless two days ago. He ignored treats, food and my prodding. I took him to the vet, who diagnosed a heart murmur and eye infection. He was sent for an ultrasound. He struggled a lot and they could only get clear views of one side of his heart, but the vet said there seem to be no abnormalities. Since then, he has been barely eating, drinking and moving much. He is not chewing sticks, his usual favorite activity. He also hasn't closed his eyes and lay down to sleep for 2 days (He usually does every day) He accepts treats but refuses critical care.

Does anyone know possible reasons for his behavior? Could it be due to the antibiotics or eye infection? And I don't know if he is not eating due to bloat, the vet said he does not have bloat, but maybe he developed it after due to the stress? Can I feed Simethicone with the antibiotics? Thanks all. I am very worried and hope somebody can help.
 
What antibiotics is he on? What medications is he on besides antibiotics? Did they check him for stasis? 2 days of lethargy is bad, him not eating for 2 days is very dangerous. You need to start force-feeding him if he's not eating. I prefer using Essentials for life from Tanya at fuzzyskingdom.com, but use what you have. Whether he likes it or not you have to get that food into him. You may need to wrap him up like a burrito and just keep at it until you get the food into him. Also be sure that the consistency is good and you may want to add a very small amount of pumpkin to give it a little bit better flavor. Just plain canned pumpkin no sugar no anything.
 
What antibiotics is he on? What medications is he on besides antibiotics? Did they check him for stasis? 2 days of lethargy is bad, him not eating for 2 days is very dangerous. You need to start force-feeding him if he's not eating. I prefer using Essentials for life from Tanya at fuzzyskingdom.com, but use what you have. Whether he likes it or not you have to get that food into him. You may need to wrap him up like a burrito and just keep at it until you get the food into him. Also be sure that the consistency is good and you may want to add a very small amount of pumpkin to give it a little bit better flavor. Just plain canned pumpkin no sugar no anything.

Thanks tunes for replying, I always read your helpful posts on the forum. He is on Ciloxan, nothing else. Can I feed simethicone together with that? The vet checked his stomach and said it seems fine. He is eating a small amount of hay, I was more concerned because he doesn't seemed to be drinking. I added mild chamomile tea to critical care and got him to eat a bit of it. Can I add raw, fresh pumpkin? I can't find canned.

I also wanted to ask if 100% activated carbon is OK to feed. A day before he got sick, I fed total of half a capsule over two days because he was having soft stools. Is it the same as activated charcoal?
 
I just heard him sneezing softly a few times, and now I'm worried about respiratory infection or flu. I don't want to stress him out by visiting the vet again unless necessary. What symptoms should I look out for as warning signs?
 
He keeps swiping his nose/mouth since he came back from the vet too, I don't know why.
 
I am going to the vet to check for respiratory infection, so I would appreciate if mods can help me delete this thread. Thanks very much for the help!
 
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