Hey all, my Loki is about 3 years old and seems to be sick.
During labor day weekend we noticed that Loki stopped eating his pellet food, and that his poop was small and scarce. His behavior was pretty normal. To get him through the weekend we gave him some simethicone and provided him with lots of timothy hay, which he was eating just fine. The simethicone seemed to help a bit. We brought him to the vet as soon as we could.
Appearing externally healthy (teeth were good, no hair ring, no other apparent trauma) The vet surmised that he may have a blockage in his tummy and prescribed Metoclopramide, a gasto-intestinal stimulant and anti naseum. She also advised us to hand feed him Oxbow Critical Care to ensure he was getting extra fiber and moisture into his little body. This certainly helped the appearance of his poop, though they were still irregularly sized.
After a couple of weeks of this routine there wasn't a ton of change so I called the vet back. She advised continuing the hand feeding and medication, and if there was still no improvement, to bring him back in for a possible x-ray and to sedate him for an examination of his back teeth.
So it's been another week now and Loki seems a little more appreciative (usually) of the hand feedings, and I'm happy to report that he's still very energetic and bouncy, eats his hay and has been eating a little bit of food. Poop is plentiful and mostly pleasing-- some are a still little smaller than others. The more alarming new trend is that he is not drinking from his water bottle at all, even during the day while we are at work.
Anyway, at this point we are certainly going to take him back to the vet as soon as we are able. I just wanted to see if anyone has experienced anything like this before, or has any ideas as to the cause. I don't really understand how he will eat but not drink-- unless its just a matter of him getting enough water from the critical care (we've been giving him a little bit of water by hand as well, but he doesn't seem to like it much. Today he squeaked grumpily at me)
Some possible relevant details:
Loki's diet consists of timothy hay and Oxbow Essential pellets. Treats are very very occasional (like may 0-3 raisins per month). He also voraciously chews on organic applewood, the kiln dried pine furniture in his cage and lava stone thingys.
He has always used a ball water bottle and that has not changed. I'm fully aware that chins don't drink a lot of water, but the level doesn't change throughout the day at all. And yes, we have tested it to make sure it is working properly.
He lives alone in a full sized ferret nation cage, next to his brother Apollo. That situation has not change in the past 2 years.
He has in the past gotten into crap he shouldn't have (carpet fibers, terry cloth, polyfiber filling, and he's probably even ingested a bit of fleece.) None of this has been recent at all. It seems to me that if it were going to cause problems they would have been at the time. Is it even possible it has caught up with him? The last incident being a few months ago?
Anyway... if you have ideas or questions please let me know. I'm worried about the little guy. All of us, especially Loki, were sick of the hand-feedings when they started... though of course we will continue for as long as we must. Thanks all!
To Recap: Loki is currently being hand fed and medicated. He feasts on timothy hay and will eat some of his pellets on his own as well, but has stopped drinking water on his own. Any ideas? Advice?
During labor day weekend we noticed that Loki stopped eating his pellet food, and that his poop was small and scarce. His behavior was pretty normal. To get him through the weekend we gave him some simethicone and provided him with lots of timothy hay, which he was eating just fine. The simethicone seemed to help a bit. We brought him to the vet as soon as we could.
Appearing externally healthy (teeth were good, no hair ring, no other apparent trauma) The vet surmised that he may have a blockage in his tummy and prescribed Metoclopramide, a gasto-intestinal stimulant and anti naseum. She also advised us to hand feed him Oxbow Critical Care to ensure he was getting extra fiber and moisture into his little body. This certainly helped the appearance of his poop, though they were still irregularly sized.
After a couple of weeks of this routine there wasn't a ton of change so I called the vet back. She advised continuing the hand feeding and medication, and if there was still no improvement, to bring him back in for a possible x-ray and to sedate him for an examination of his back teeth.
So it's been another week now and Loki seems a little more appreciative (usually) of the hand feedings, and I'm happy to report that he's still very energetic and bouncy, eats his hay and has been eating a little bit of food. Poop is plentiful and mostly pleasing-- some are a still little smaller than others. The more alarming new trend is that he is not drinking from his water bottle at all, even during the day while we are at work.
Anyway, at this point we are certainly going to take him back to the vet as soon as we are able. I just wanted to see if anyone has experienced anything like this before, or has any ideas as to the cause. I don't really understand how he will eat but not drink-- unless its just a matter of him getting enough water from the critical care (we've been giving him a little bit of water by hand as well, but he doesn't seem to like it much. Today he squeaked grumpily at me)
Some possible relevant details:
Loki's diet consists of timothy hay and Oxbow Essential pellets. Treats are very very occasional (like may 0-3 raisins per month). He also voraciously chews on organic applewood, the kiln dried pine furniture in his cage and lava stone thingys.
He has always used a ball water bottle and that has not changed. I'm fully aware that chins don't drink a lot of water, but the level doesn't change throughout the day at all. And yes, we have tested it to make sure it is working properly.
He lives alone in a full sized ferret nation cage, next to his brother Apollo. That situation has not change in the past 2 years.
He has in the past gotten into crap he shouldn't have (carpet fibers, terry cloth, polyfiber filling, and he's probably even ingested a bit of fleece.) None of this has been recent at all. It seems to me that if it were going to cause problems they would have been at the time. Is it even possible it has caught up with him? The last incident being a few months ago?
Anyway... if you have ideas or questions please let me know. I'm worried about the little guy. All of us, especially Loki, were sick of the hand-feedings when they started... though of course we will continue for as long as we must. Thanks all!
To Recap: Loki is currently being hand fed and medicated. He feasts on timothy hay and will eat some of his pellets on his own as well, but has stopped drinking water on his own. Any ideas? Advice?
