I apologize in advance for the length of this post! I just want to give as many details as possible
Last Tuesday my chinchilla Thor, started having forest green poop with puddles (not even exaggerating) of slime and mucous. I took him to the vet that day and she said that the poop came back normal with the regular fecal that she ran, but that it looked like he wasn't digesting his food properly and she said that there was some bad bacteria in his GI that was causing the green feces. By the time I got him to the vet the green feces had stopped and was back to a black, slightly soft and wet consistency. She prescribed 0.2 mL of Baytril for him (which I already knew could cause a decreased appetite) and a probiotic (Acidophilus) which I was instructed to give to him at least an hour after the Baytril. She also wanted me to put newspaper in his cage so that I could monitor his poops and clean them out more easily each day. She set up an appointment for me the next Tuesday (yesterday). The vet tech gave him his first dose of Baytril orally and sent me home with him.
That night he ate his pellets (Mazuri), hay (2nd cut Timothy from KMS hayloft), and water (filtered) just fine. The next day, his poop went from the larger, slightly wet, to dry and jagged at the edges. They looked extremely painful to pass. I had looked at the prescription on the Baytril and it said to give him a dose every 2 hours, which sounded like a lot to me, especially when the vet had verbally told me to only give him 0.2 once a day. I gave him the dose that morning before the vet opened just in case, because I had to leave home before the vet actually opened.
That night he wasn't pooping very much at all, and it didn't look like he had eaten or drank anything all day, even though he usually does. I gave him some canned pumpkin that night (per vet instructions). I also gave him another dose of Baytril because the vet wasn't returning my phone calls.
The next morning (Thursday morning), he had eaten almost all of his hay and had drank some water (I had marked the bottle with a marker to see how much he drank). His poops were still the same jagged edges, but there were even fewer than before. I did NOT give him the Baytril this morning. By this point, I had become very uneasy about him not eating his pellets suddenly. I called the vet as soon as they opened and (thank goodness!!) the receptionist answered. She said that she got my message the day before but had forgotten to call back. She had checked his file and he was only supposed to be getting the Baytril once a day. I asked her for verification on the gram stain that the vet had run (I wanted to know the exact bacteria if possible). The receptionist said there was no record of a gram stain being done, and that the vet just analyzed his feces to determine he wasn't properly digesting his food. I told her that was ridiculous and that I was going to stop the Baytril altogether. She said that she didn't advise that, and that she would have the vet call me later (I never received that phone call).
By that night, Thor was still eating his hay, but he hadn't touched his water. I tried putting some pedialyte in his water bottle, as well as tried to syringe feed him some water. I got about 10 mLs in him, before he was completely annoyed at me.
Friday morning, he hadn't eaten any hay at all, and his pellets still remained untouched. I let it go, hoping he would eat some later that day. I tried giving him the acidophilus tablet, and he only nibbled on it (prior to this he had been eating at least half each time I gave it to him twice a day). He kept trying to jump up onto my shoulder when I opened his cage and he still had his normal energy, so I wasn't too concerned.
By Saturday night he hadn't pooped at all since Friday night (almost 24 hours). I was scared to death that he had gone into stasis. I mixed up some critical care that I had on hand and mixed some canned pumpkin with it. For clarification, the pumpkin I gave him was 100% pumpkin...no spices added. He ate about 10 mLs of that in an hour period. I stayed up the entire night with him, massaging his belly and giving him as much CC as he would eat. He was willingly eating it, not refusing it or anything. By Saturday afternoon he had about 1.5 tablespoons of CC in his system and started having poops the size of BB gun pellets.
I continued feeding him the CC all of Sunday, and his poops doubled in size. No where near what they should've been, but it was definite progress. He started nibbling on hay, but wasn't eating pellets or drinking water. By this point it had been 3 or so days since he had touched his water bottle. I got about 1.5 tablespoons of CC in him all of Sunday.
Monday morning I called the vet as soon as they opened. I was panicking and really didn't know what else to do. When I took him in they said he looked fine. Instead of weighing 1 pound even, he weighed 1.25 pounds (which didn't sound right to me that only eating CC would make him gain that much!). I insisted that they weigh him in grams, and they got him at 590 grams. The vet said he felt slightly bloated but that she thought that was from the CC. She said that he seemed completely energetic to her and that she didn't know what I was talking about when I said he was more lethargic than normal. I told her I know his normal activity level since I've had him for almost a year and a half and that this wasn't it. She said his poops looked completely normal (they were about half the size they should be) but that they were really dry and I needed to get fluids into him ASAP. I told her that the CC I was giving him was pretty watered down because I was worried about him being dehydrated. She advised the pedialyte, which I told her I was already trying to give him. She refused to give him any subcutaneous fluids because she didn't want to drown him (even though she said his poops looked really dry and he was dehydrated!!!). She said that as long as his activity level is up that it doesn't matter how much he's pooping or eating. She said to give him pellets, hay, and CC--whatever he will eat. She said that she thinks he's not eating or drinking because I am stressing him out. She also thinks that he had an allergic reaction to the Baytril because she's never seen a chinchilla get a decreased appetite from it.
Since Monday, I've gotten my own gram scale (my old one had broken) and Monday night I got him at 585 grams. Tuesday morning 580, and Tuesday night 585. That was with giving him maybe 5 mL of CC, and him eating some hay. He is still pretty active and trying to jump onto my shoulder again. A bit less lethargic than he was, so maybe I shouldn't be so worried about him. I just don't want him to die!! I know I should've started him on the CC sooner than I did, just in case
any suggestions??
Last Tuesday my chinchilla Thor, started having forest green poop with puddles (not even exaggerating) of slime and mucous. I took him to the vet that day and she said that the poop came back normal with the regular fecal that she ran, but that it looked like he wasn't digesting his food properly and she said that there was some bad bacteria in his GI that was causing the green feces. By the time I got him to the vet the green feces had stopped and was back to a black, slightly soft and wet consistency. She prescribed 0.2 mL of Baytril for him (which I already knew could cause a decreased appetite) and a probiotic (Acidophilus) which I was instructed to give to him at least an hour after the Baytril. She also wanted me to put newspaper in his cage so that I could monitor his poops and clean them out more easily each day. She set up an appointment for me the next Tuesday (yesterday). The vet tech gave him his first dose of Baytril orally and sent me home with him.
That night he ate his pellets (Mazuri), hay (2nd cut Timothy from KMS hayloft), and water (filtered) just fine. The next day, his poop went from the larger, slightly wet, to dry and jagged at the edges. They looked extremely painful to pass. I had looked at the prescription on the Baytril and it said to give him a dose every 2 hours, which sounded like a lot to me, especially when the vet had verbally told me to only give him 0.2 once a day. I gave him the dose that morning before the vet opened just in case, because I had to leave home before the vet actually opened.
That night he wasn't pooping very much at all, and it didn't look like he had eaten or drank anything all day, even though he usually does. I gave him some canned pumpkin that night (per vet instructions). I also gave him another dose of Baytril because the vet wasn't returning my phone calls.
The next morning (Thursday morning), he had eaten almost all of his hay and had drank some water (I had marked the bottle with a marker to see how much he drank). His poops were still the same jagged edges, but there were even fewer than before. I did NOT give him the Baytril this morning. By this point, I had become very uneasy about him not eating his pellets suddenly. I called the vet as soon as they opened and (thank goodness!!) the receptionist answered. She said that she got my message the day before but had forgotten to call back. She had checked his file and he was only supposed to be getting the Baytril once a day. I asked her for verification on the gram stain that the vet had run (I wanted to know the exact bacteria if possible). The receptionist said there was no record of a gram stain being done, and that the vet just analyzed his feces to determine he wasn't properly digesting his food. I told her that was ridiculous and that I was going to stop the Baytril altogether. She said that she didn't advise that, and that she would have the vet call me later (I never received that phone call).
By that night, Thor was still eating his hay, but he hadn't touched his water. I tried putting some pedialyte in his water bottle, as well as tried to syringe feed him some water. I got about 10 mLs in him, before he was completely annoyed at me.
Friday morning, he hadn't eaten any hay at all, and his pellets still remained untouched. I let it go, hoping he would eat some later that day. I tried giving him the acidophilus tablet, and he only nibbled on it (prior to this he had been eating at least half each time I gave it to him twice a day). He kept trying to jump up onto my shoulder when I opened his cage and he still had his normal energy, so I wasn't too concerned.
By Saturday night he hadn't pooped at all since Friday night (almost 24 hours). I was scared to death that he had gone into stasis. I mixed up some critical care that I had on hand and mixed some canned pumpkin with it. For clarification, the pumpkin I gave him was 100% pumpkin...no spices added. He ate about 10 mLs of that in an hour period. I stayed up the entire night with him, massaging his belly and giving him as much CC as he would eat. He was willingly eating it, not refusing it or anything. By Saturday afternoon he had about 1.5 tablespoons of CC in his system and started having poops the size of BB gun pellets.
I continued feeding him the CC all of Sunday, and his poops doubled in size. No where near what they should've been, but it was definite progress. He started nibbling on hay, but wasn't eating pellets or drinking water. By this point it had been 3 or so days since he had touched his water bottle. I got about 1.5 tablespoons of CC in him all of Sunday.
Monday morning I called the vet as soon as they opened. I was panicking and really didn't know what else to do. When I took him in they said he looked fine. Instead of weighing 1 pound even, he weighed 1.25 pounds (which didn't sound right to me that only eating CC would make him gain that much!). I insisted that they weigh him in grams, and they got him at 590 grams. The vet said he felt slightly bloated but that she thought that was from the CC. She said that he seemed completely energetic to her and that she didn't know what I was talking about when I said he was more lethargic than normal. I told her I know his normal activity level since I've had him for almost a year and a half and that this wasn't it. She said his poops looked completely normal (they were about half the size they should be) but that they were really dry and I needed to get fluids into him ASAP. I told her that the CC I was giving him was pretty watered down because I was worried about him being dehydrated. She advised the pedialyte, which I told her I was already trying to give him. She refused to give him any subcutaneous fluids because she didn't want to drown him (even though she said his poops looked really dry and he was dehydrated!!!). She said that as long as his activity level is up that it doesn't matter how much he's pooping or eating. She said to give him pellets, hay, and CC--whatever he will eat. She said that she thinks he's not eating or drinking because I am stressing him out. She also thinks that he had an allergic reaction to the Baytril because she's never seen a chinchilla get a decreased appetite from it.
Since Monday, I've gotten my own gram scale (my old one had broken) and Monday night I got him at 585 grams. Tuesday morning 580, and Tuesday night 585. That was with giving him maybe 5 mL of CC, and him eating some hay. He is still pretty active and trying to jump onto my shoulder again. A bit less lethargic than he was, so maybe I shouldn't be so worried about him. I just don't want him to die!! I know I should've started him on the CC sooner than I did, just in case
any suggestions??
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