Chinchilla diarrhea emergency!!!!

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kyliexlilly

New member
Joined
Dec 14, 2015
Messages
2
HELP! HELP! HELP!
I have been having the same issue with Benny for about 2 months now! He has had diarrhea on and off, but it is SEVERE! I have tried absolutely everything and he is losing weight very,VERY quickly. I have had Benny for about 2 years now and he has never had any type of health issues. Back in October, one night he just suddenly had explosive diarrhea, constantly! There was no change in his diet/water/treats (given at minimum to begin with). I was fedding him a Kaytee fiesta mix with Kaytee Timothy hay. Benny has a four story cage, chew toys, a wheel, house, hammock and marble slab. I immediately cleaned his cage, took out his pellets and left him only fresh Timothy hay. His diarrhea had stopped, but then he had stopped pooping altogether. Worried, I took Benny to an exotic vet 2 days after his fist diarrhea episode. Since he was not pooping, the vet had simply given me a probiotic, which had worked in getting him to poop again. While we were there, they ran some testing and there were no signs of a parasitic infection. I had changed Benny's food to the Oxbow pellet food and gave him small amounts of Critical Care. His diarrhea had started back up the next day. I then took him back to the vet, They gave him 3 different types of antibiotics, and Benny seemed to bounce back, but he wasn't eating as much. After nearly $1000 at the vet, Benny showed no signs of improvement in the long run! He was eating only hay and his poop was solid again, but very green and he was still losing weight.
Long story short, Benny is hungry, losing weight, and still has massive diarrhea. It is super watery and has now stained the white on his fur. I try to clean his fur and feet everyday. He drinks adequate amount of water, but he doesn't run on his wheel much anymore. I let him out to play and gets tired quickly. He chews on his wooden toys, but gets bored very quickly. He will not touch his Oxbow pellets, but eats his Kaytee fiesta mix immediately (which makes his diarrhea worse), but he is hungry! The critical care makes his diarrhea worse. Chinchillas do not like to be held, but Benny will cuddle up in my lap for hours. Sometimes he is alert and wants to play, other times he will sleep all day AND all night. He is super sick and I don't know what else to do or who to ask. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE HELP!!! My little guy won't make it much longer if there is no helpful intervention!!!:cry3:
 
Do you know what parasites the vet tested for? Is his poop smelly, mucousy or just watery?

He eats the fiesta mix because it is junk food- it's like offering a kid a plate of broccoli or candy. They will pick the candy every time. Stop offering it and feed him only hay for a few days- then give the Oxbow. Make sure you continue to give plenty of hay along with it. Eventually he will realize that he's not getting his junk food anymore and will start eating the Oxbow.

Are you still giving probiotics? I would definitely keep those up. What were you giving before? I prefer to find the highest count acidophilus I can find- it's usually refridgerated and can be found at a health food store. I get the capsules and sprinkle them over pellets or mix it up with some critical care in a syringe and feed it.

Sorry you and Benny are dealing with this. :( I would be inclined to seek a second opinion.
 
I agree with Stackie, I would find another vet, explain what your vet has done, and see what they think.
 
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