A little embarrassing...Something stuck inside penis????

[tapioca]

Okay, this is a little embarrassing and I have already made an appointment with my vet for Thursday, but I'm super worried since his drinkign habits has changed as well.

I started two days ago. I noticed that Tapioca wasn;t drinking any of his water and his pee spot (under the wheel) is completely dry. Tapi usually drinks A LOT and subsequently, pees A LOT. So this was alarming. His appetite has also decreased. And he only walks on his wheel now, rather than run.
I noticed him licking his penis so decided to do a hair ring check, even though I did one last week. When I did it, he squealed loudly, it obviously hurt. when his penis is full out and all the skin pulled back, the outer most section before the bendy area look bruised. When I touch it, if feels as though a piece of hay or somethign is stuck INSIDE his penis. It's thin and rigid and when I touch the area, Tapi licks his penis and my fingers furiously. The are that is most bruised is JUST where the "thing" ends, so maybe it's poking him inside. He must have stopped drinking water because peeing hurts.

Here is what I've been doing to far. I've been giving him diluted apple juice which he WILL drink 3 times a day.He still doesn;t drink much. I have a rat who needs to have his penis lubed and re inserted into the sheath manually every day due to surgical complications...so when I do that I lube and check Tapi out as well. I removed all the aspen chips and replaced it with organic unbleached cotton fabric for comfort and cleanliness, and also, it's easier to check for any blood in his urine against the cream fabric.

I dont; know what else to do. Thursday seems so far away. And what CAN the vet do? WHat if he can;t help? Has anyone had this happen before? How in the world did it get in there?

 

[addictedtochins]

He has to be seen right away! For lots of reasons including the fact that his gut will become impacted due to the food in him being too dry to be passed. Get him to the vet tonight, he will need pain meds and I imagine antibiotics and then will prob need handfeeding. Go Go Go

 

[alli713]

I agree, this chin needs to see a vet sooner than Thursday. If he can't pee his bladder could burst or some other health problem. I can't imagine the pain he's in if he can't pee.

I wonder if there's some discharge or something dried in there plugging it up? I can't see how a piece of hay would get in there?

 

[starleomach]

I agree Thursday will be too far away

 

[tapioca]

Thank you for your replies. I"ll see if I can get him in tomorrow afterwork. I'ts really hard on my work right now since I've taken 3 mornings off the past month for vet appointments already for my rats. I got a warning about "priorities" and such and no job=no money for my animals. It make me want to cry being force to choose between my animals and my income. But I'll call my vet in the morning for sure.

I saw him peeing a little about 30 mins ago, he made a funny noise when doing it, like the leave me alone grunt. It's not much pee though, I think it's the apple juice I gave him after work. And the pee is clear, no blood. So he can pee...if he gets water in him. I"m going to offer diluted apple juice every few hrs. And he is pooping fine for now, just less, but the shape is still good. I think alli, you might be right about it being discharge drying up. It seems more likely than hay.

I have the following medicines on hand: Metacam, Baytril 50mg/ml.
Would any of these help until he gets to the vet?

Again thank you for your replies.

 

[Chinmama]

Your vet may need to do an xray to check for a bladder stone. Also, his urine should not be clear. It should be an amber color (orange/yellow/red combination).

 

[AZChins]

Sometimes the urine is clear or very light yellow. It really just depends on the hydration level of the chin at the time. Some chins drink more than others and have more diluted urine than others, as well.

I don't know if it is the best idea to give him apple juice right now. The sugar isn't good for him and if he is urinating, he's probably going to be alright. Bladderstones and urinary tract infections normally will give male chins a lot of pain when urinating. They will often leak as they play because of the pressure building in the bladder and the intermittent ability to actually urinate.

To me it sounds like it may have been some semen or something along those lines on his penis coupled with a possible infection. A chin with a serious urinary tract problem does not act normal at all...he'll lose weight, he'll stand in funny positions, he could leak a bit, and you will know something is wrong.

A vet visit is a good idea right now...but I wouldn't jump to conclusions just yet. It sounds to me like it could be a mild bladder or urinary tract infection...you want to clear that up right away before he really can't pee anymore. Definitely stay away from giving him anything sugary right now - sugar can make infections so much worse. Start him on the probiotics as soon as possible, as well.

 

[tapioca]

Here's an update on Tapioca.
Doctor says he could possibly have passed a small kidney stone in the past few days and that could be what was causing the pain and swelling.
He suggested to continue offering apple juice, but REALLY REALLY dilute it down so that it's basically water with a bit of apple to trick him into drinking more. He doesn't seem to be dehydrated since his skin bounces back, BUT his poops are not normal. While at the vet, Tapi left all shapes of droppings (round, blunt, pointy) EXCEPT for the proper shape. So I need to keep him drinking. His weight hasn't dropped and I want to keep it that way.

He also checked Tapi's molars in case it was a toothache causing him not to drink/eat. He has a small sore in his mouth, which we will keep an eye on. All this prodding and poking and no one got bitten!

So the plan of action now is to watch him really close and track everything he drinks and eat and what comes out the other end. And if things don;t get better in a few days I'll bring him back and the vet will put him out for a bit to do a more thorough check and an x ray.

 

[alli713]

I hope he turns out all okay for you!

If you haven't done so, I would put him on white fleece to monitor his pee. Or atleast make sure and change out all the bedding to see if he pees anywhere, but fleece or paper towels will make it easier to monitor. If you don't have a wire bottom though he would probably chew up the paper towels.

 

[tapioca]

I have him on organic cotton fabric with a glass pan of wood chips under the wheel. He's semi potty trained. He only goes in the pan, or on the wheel...or right next to the pan with his hands on the pan ( I think he thinks he's in the pan).

But last few days he's been missing the mark a bit and dribbling on the cotton.

 

[AZChins]

The apple juice probably won't make him drink more. If you do that, PLEASE clean the bottle out completely twice a day. Adding even the slightest amount of juice is going to get bacteria growing like crazy. If he doesn't seem dehydrated, he probably doesn't need any help drinking. Give him lots of hay and make sure he gets out for exercise.

The vet gave you no antibiotics for possible infection?

 

[tapioca]

I don't leave apple juice out for him, I hand feed it through a syringe 3 times a day (morning, after work, bed) and only enough to keep him hydrated. He is still getting water in his bottle. Before I started with the apple juice, he wasn;t touching his water at all. And as I said the pee spot was dry and the poops were short and round. If I had not gotten him to drink SOMETHING I'm pretty sure he WOULD have been dehydrated.

My vet thinks I should continue keeping him hydrated at least until the weekend and I shoudl give him a call on saturday if I need to.
I understand sugar is not good for him, but again, if it's keeping dehydration at bay I think it's a necessary trade off. His condition has stabilized a lot since starting him on it.


Edit: I wanted to add another thank you for everyone who replied, I've been biting my nails worried. It's good to have people who understand that my Tapi isn't " just a rodent".

 

[AZChins]

You should probably just be giving him plain water in that case. Chinchillas don't dehydrate all that quickly especially if they are not urinating or do not have diarrhea.

Your vet really should have started this chin on medication. At this point the inflammation could very well be from an infection. I don't understand why there is no treatment given and why the diagnosis is being delayed at this point. Waiting and seeing when a chin cannot urinate probably isn't the best idea. A chin in pain is going to drink and eat much much less than normal. I'd be much more worried about the cause of him not being able to urinate than keeping him hydrated. Most likely he's acting better because you are elevating his blood sugar with the apple juice.

You probably should go back to the vet and get some baytril or another broad spectrum antibiotic. Is his bladder very full? Did the vet check that?

 

[addictedtochins]

Call the vet, hopefully he won't need to see him for you to get the meds.

 

[ticklechin]

I agree with the above posts, this type of infection won't go away on its own and in the mean time its quite painful. A antibiotic and metecam should have been RX'd.

 

[tapioca]

Tapi seems to be drinking normally today and his stool is normal as well. I've been watching him all day and he seems to be getting back to normal so I didnt; give apple juice today. While I understand all your concerns, I trust my vet immensely, he is the only vet I trust with all my rodents. If he thought he needed meds, I'm 100% sure he would have given them as he usually does with my rats. He did a thorough exam of Tapi when he was there (checked penis, check molars, check stool, palpitated his abdomen). This vet is very well known amongst rat owners and he has 3 chins himself. I trust him.

Also, I already have baytril AND metacam on hand, I mentioned this previously. It comes with rat ownership, those little buggers get sick much easier than chins.

Thank you for all your concerns, however. I hope this conflicting info between my vet adn advice here doesn't leave a bad taste with anyone. I understand you are all trying to help.

 

[AZChins]

No, it isn't a problem. Just watch the little guy closely and make sure that he isn't straining to urinate and isn't stretching from pain. Once that little bladder starts to expand (if he can't urinate), it can hurt.

I'm so glad to hear that he is better though. That is a wonderful thing.

 

[alybaba11]

How's Tapi doing?