Chin with squishy poop

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Joined
Jun 26, 2011
Messages
5
Location
Washington State
I'm very concerned for my chinchilla Etrian. He's got very squishy poops, almost runny, and he's been drinking a LOT of water. He's acting normal, playing, eating. He's on Purina rabbit chow show pellets and as much hay as he'll eat. I don't have an real exotics vet nearby. any suggestions?
 
What is the temperature like in the house? How much is he moving around? What's a "lot" of water/how much is he drinking? Is he peeing a lot as well? How much is he eating as far as hay and pellets? What treats is he offered? What kind of hay is he on? Perhaps he's overheating or is not getting enough fiber.
 
If you can't find an exotics vet, you could see if you could find a vet, who will do some fecal tests. Runny diarrhea is pretty serious and it could be the result of a parasite, so it would be best to see if you can figure what is causing the problem. If it goes untreated, this type of diarrhea can dehydrate a chin and cause some problems.

The only thing that I can think of to do right away would be to get some activated charcoal...mix it with some water and use an eye dropper to get the chin to take some of it. You will probably need to burrito your chin in a towel to get the dropper tip into the chin's mouth. Be careful because this can be messy! Do not give this for more than a couple of days because it affects the absorption of nutrients from the food, basically a chin will get little to no nutrition when it is in the intestinal tract.

You can ask non exotics vets about a few different medications to help. I like Albon for diarrhea problems - it coats the intestinal wall and helps to calm things down. It will do nothing for giardia and other parasites, it will only help to kill off bacteria that may have overgrown in the digestive tract and to help sooth things a bit. (I like the Albon suspension because it is easy to get the chins to take it and easier to dose. The powder is very bitter and would require mixing with water or something else to administer it.)
 
I keep the room he's in at approximately 68 degrees. he drank about a cup and a half of water in 3 days. he's eating normally. about a cup of food over 3-4 days. large handful of hay is taking him about a day to eat. he's on third cut timothy hay. for treats he gets oats and a flowerblend I got from one of the sellers here at chins and hedgies. On occasion he gets a piece of papaya. he normally has small dry poops.
He's a very hyper chin and that hasn't changed with this.
 
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