Ande Update

[Brittney]

Just wanted to update everyone on how little Ande has handled his past couple of days here.

Ande has made a complete turn around from the day I got him. Guess it just took a little TLC, but I think I have finally won his trust. :hug2:

Whenever I walk in the room, he perks up from his nap, runs to the door of his cage and just sits and waits for me to pet him. He has finally learned that scratches under the chin feel wonderful, and mini wheats are the best thing ever.

I pretty much let him do whatever he is comfortable doing right now. Last night I sat near his cage with the door open and just let him sniff my hand. He gave me a few tester nips, then figured out I wasn't food, and just decided I made a better climbing toy than a chew toy. After I got that far I took my hands out and he decided he was going to jump onto my lap. He sat there for a good 10 minutes just letting me love on him, and he kept making his happy squeaking sounds.

After that he decided he wanted to explore the room he was in. Took him about 3 laps around the room of slow walking and sniffing to get comfortable with the whole thing. Walking turned into running and running turned into popcorning, and popcorning turned into wall surfing. The thing that really touched me though was that he would come back and sit on my lap from time to time and let me love on him. He's such a sweet little boy!

I'm so happy I have 2 well mannered chins, and can't wait to see if they will get along in a few weeks.

He's has a follow up appointment on the 30th to rule out malo, so keep your fingers crossed for him!

Here's some pictures of my sweet little guy

 

[Essentia]

Awwww, I absolutely love the first picture. The 3rd picture is pretty darn cute as well. I am so happy he has turned around so quickly for you.

 

[AZChins]

Britteny! That is just great...I am so happy to hear that.

That's what I love about rescues, they LOVE everything. You have a way with chinchillas. There is no way that Bryson is so good just on his own.

 

[Sandi]

That first pic is priceless, you need to frame that one :thumbsup: What a cutie pie he is!

 

[Newchinmom]

Aww..the first pic just melted my heart! He's absolutely adorable!

 

[mishellyshel]

yay! what a cutie!!

 

[Brittney]

I just noticed today while holding him that his poop was back to being mushy and had an unpleasant smell to it. I know giardia causes this, but his poop does not have any mucus present like you would see with giardia. It's slightly moist, mushy and has a smell, that's it. He had a full fecal test done on Saturday and everything came up fine. Could this be a stress issue? He's on Mazuri and eating fine. He's not lethargic and I check his water level everyday and he is obviously drinking, and he is getting Reverse Osmosis water. Any idea what could be going on? He has a follow up appointment on the 30th to check his teeth. I'm just worried now because he has been doing so well.

 

[AZChins]

It's probably the stress. I'd load him up on acidophilus. Watch how much he's eating because the stress coupled with probably overeating could be doing it. I wouldn't say that he necessarily has any real gut problem, he's probably just thrilled to have good food and hay.

This chin has been through a whole lot. Poor little dude. He's happy, excited and has no idea of what's going to happen next! The acidophilus will help get him back to normal, maybe a shredded wheat as his treat will help and give him a little time to adjust to things.

 

[chinniecrew]

he looks like such a sweetie!

 

[rach_leigh]

aww the first pic is priceless....he's saying, "Please can I have a scratch!!" soooo sweet! I am glad he is doing so well!

 

[Brittney]

But does poop smell due to stress?

 

[mishellyshel]

when i moved one of my chins cage due to a broken air conditioner & the same week got a new bag of mazuri from the feed store my chin has softer stool and it did have a slight odor. i think the odor is just from it being soft. sounds like he is just a little out of sorts from all the changes and since you just had the giardia test give him a few days. shredded wheat & probiotics will work wonders. if you can get your hands on some lifeline that may help too. get it here: www.chocolatechinchillas.com

 

[laurc19]

OMG Ande is waaaaaaaaay to adorable!! I want to steal him!! (but I won't )

Congrats!

 

[Brittney]

Haha, Ande is making me go broke! He's way worth it though, I'm going hand washing crazy over here! I would hate for something to be wrong with him and for me to pass it to Bryson. That would just kill me! I really hope it's not giardia. Being a vet tech, I know it can get missed sometimes, but it is very rare. I had the proper float ordered.

I'm giving him some mini wheats and I'll go pick up some acidophilus tomorrow since Walgreens is on the corner. This is just freaking me out now and kinda making me not want to put him in with Bryson. I guess I'm just overreacting to everything. I'll try everything and if that doesn't work I'll have another slide ordered.

 

[AZChins]

It will be a little stinky if it's runny, diarrhea from any chin will smell if it's mushy enough. The smell from Giardia diarrhea is really bad. He should be fine. It would show up in a flotation if it were Giardia and bad enough to cause bad diarrhea...so I am pretty sure that this is just from him having a new home, new food and a bunch of new things to adjust to being around.

Still, just bear in mind that if he had diarrhea before it would not have gone away on its own if it were a parasite. Definitely do another test in a week or so if it isn't getting any better. Generally I'll see chins like that get better in a day or two and then withing four to five days they are completely back to normal. The Life Line seems to shorten the time that it takes for the chins to get better.

Of course, if it doesn't get better, it could be an enteritis problem and not be a parasite. Poor Ande...I hope he feels better really soon.

 

[Brittney]

I just had Bryson out playing and his poo is normal, but smells slightly also like Ande's. I suppose it is normal for any poo to smell? I normally don't go around smelling chin poo at work, so I don't know.

 

[saphire]

Man check out that first picture, you'd just want to give him a big smootchey kiss right on that little nose of his. He is just plain adorable.

 

[AZChins]

Yeah, all poo smells a little. It's okay.

 

[menagerie]

Make sure you are following proper quarantine and the boys are not having out time in the same area. Since Ande had a poop problem, he should be quarantined for at least 8 weeks, and at least 4 weeks past the last sign of any diarrhea. You don't want to pass anything on to Bryson.

 

[Brittney]

I am happy to report that mini wheats, strawberry acidophilus tablets (Ground in food, and tablets as treats) and a dropper of Mylicon have got Ande's poops back on track :thumbsup:

Any idea why Mylicon is so tasty to them though?

Bryson was curious when I was taking everything out of the bag, thinking stuff was in there for him, so I gave him an acidophilus tablet and he scarfed it down, then when I brought out the Mylicon, he "needed" to taste it, so I let him, and he really seemed to enjoy it, as did Ande (I am using 2 different bottles and droppers for the boys, so don't worry). I guess that makes it easy when they need it, but I find it a bit odd. :hmm:

The boys' food is what I like to call, candy and green beans for dinner. I used my mortar and ground up some acidophilus and mixed it in to coat their food. Bryson took one bite, pulled it out of his mouth, sniffed it, then shoved it back in and kept eating.... Guess it took him by surprise

I'm so happy everything is going fine now, let's just hope it stays that way.