Kit with diarrhea

[Asha]

I have a female kit that is almost five weeks old and weighs 153g. Just yesterday, I picked her up and noticed that she had a bit of poo stuck to her rear. Later, I also noticed that her droppings were abnormal in that they were not shaped normally and kinda sticky. Today has been the same thing, she pooped on me when I picked her up and it stuck to my hand....gross. I have Oxbow Critical Care and also probiotics on hand. She does not show any signs of bloat or stasis (obviously). I suspect it could be a case of some bad gut bacteria because her sister and mother are pooping normally.

So, what is the best thing to do? Is Critical Care safe for babies? Also, should I separate her from her sister and mother in case it is something contagious? I kinda hate to do that because she is not of age to even be weaned, and I don't want to stress her out even worse. Her weight gain has slowed in the last couple of days, but not stopped. I've also seen her eating hay too so I know she is at least eating something. I've never had babies before (had no idea adopted mom was pregnant) so I'm just not sure what is the best way to handle it. I have adults and know how to handle them, but the babies just seem so fragile and I want to do everything right. I have an awesome vet should I need to take her. I've had my adults get diarrhea before, but not quite this squishy.

 

[AZChins]

It could be from her overeating on pellets a bit, some kits do that and their gut bacteria isn't at the level it should be to digest it properly. I give probiotics to kits with this problem to help get them back to normal. It's probably just simple diarrhea that will be easy to fix.

Critical care is safe for her, but I don't think you'll have to worry about handfeeding for this. It will probably clear up very soon unless there is something really wrong. Probiotics really can help with this, it will help to crowd out the less desirable bacteria and promote better digestion.

At this point I would not separate her from her mom. If she's sick with something, her mother already has it - the mother would have given it to her. The only thing to really worry about is that the diarrhea will get worse and dehydrate her. It's not uncommon for kits her age to have droppings that are squishy.

She's still nursing, right?

 

[Asha]

Thank you for your quick response! Yes, she is still nursing. Both babies are, but they are not nursing nearly as much as they used to as far as I can tell. They always get super excited when I put new hay in each day and gobble it down. Within a week of birth they started to become big eaters and love the hay.

For the probiotics, is there a certain dose that you recommend I give her since she is so small?

 

[Cuddlebug]

Get the capsules with the highest count you can find. Open one and sprinkle it over the pellets. It won't hurt mom or the other kits to have some, so they can share the pellets. Do this daily until the diarrhea is gone.

 

[AZChins]

How's the kit doing? This happens sometimes with little kits. They get sticky droppings for a day or two and then go back to normal.

If it doesn't go back to normal in the next few days or gets worse, you may want to think about getting to the vet and getting some help...but it should be fine. When a chin has formless droppings because they are so loose or liquidy, you need to take it to the vet for treatment. Small kits can end up having too much bacteria in their intestinal tracts and get a form of toxic shock from it - it isn't very common but it can happen...so it's best to be vigilant about what's going on with them. (I don't mean to scare you, just want to give you more info just in case.)

 

[Asha]

She seems to be doing better today. I gave her some of the probiotics I have on hand, and will be getting some capsules too. Her droppings aren't nearly as sticky as they were yesterday or the day before which has me relieved. I'm glad you told me about kits having the possibility of too much bacteria in their digestive tract, that is definitely good to know so I will continue to watch her carefully! Thank you AZChins and Cuddlebug for your good advice!