Need Help Feeding Sick Chin

[chinnychin]

I need some advice on feeding my chin who has a URI. The vet would like her to have 10mL of Critical Care 4 times a day. Last night was our first attempt at feeding her but we are having trouble holding her still and feeding her. 10mLs is hard to do - we got half of that at best, and we are getting it all over her mouth. Any advice on how to hold her and feed her?

 

[Stackie]

Have you tried feeding her without restraining her? I have found in some cases the chin is much more willing to eat from the syringe without being held. Several of my guys will hold on to the syringe with their front paws and eat willingly. I also dip the tip of the syringe in infant's gas drops because they really like the taste. It is also very safe for them and you can't overdose with it.

If not, try wrapping her up in a towel in a burrito hold. Then squirt small amounts of food in the side of her mouth, into the cheek behind the incisors. Experiment with the consistency as well..some chins take it better thinner, while others prefer a thicker consistency.

 

[Smidgeyy]

My chins both eat it willingly if I do not restrain them. One of mine managed to pull a cord through their cage and chew it up... He got shocked and needed some meds/critical care to keep him eating. He seriously loved it, I had no problem getting him to eat it. I tried giving some to my other one just to see how he would take it and he was just as happy to have it. There were no messy mouths either. :]

 

[chinnychin]

We tried this morning without restraining her but she wasn't having it. Maybe tomorrow once the meds have had a day to kick in she will be more willing to eat. We tried wrapping her in a towel but I don't think we were doing it correctly because she's still able to fight us. At least my sick baby still has spunk!

 

[Stackie]

Is she eating any pellets/hay on her own? Here is a good youtube video on handfeeding technique.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QFF1Xg_6pHw

 

[chinnychin]

No, she's not eating on her own. I have hand fed her crushed rose hips, but she won't eat hay or her food right now.

 

[Saffron]

One of our chins hated CC, had to burrito wrap her to feed. Someone here suggested adding a little bit of organic pumpkin (not pumpkin pie filling) to the CC and that worked. As long as I added a bit of pumpkin she would eat it.
With a URI I would feed slow, small amount at a time letting her catch her breath between bites.

 

[chinnychin]

Where would I find the pumpkin? Is it something you would find in the canned food isle? And how much do you add? 1tsp of dried CC gets us to where we need.

 

[aznmexaggie]

You can also try dipping the tip of the syringe into a bit of blackstrap molasses or Dyne to give it better flavor to try to entice your chin to take it. Then you want to just give a small squirt at a time to reduce the risk of your chin aspirating it.

 

[Cuddlebug]

If she is not eating on her own at all, she needs to be force fed. Waiting for the meds to make her better is not a good idea as her gut could totally shut down while you are waiting. She also needs at least 60 ml a day. You just need to keep trying. It can get quite messy and be a real hassle, but not doing it will make her worse, not better.

 

[chinnychin]

Thank you for the advice, everyone! We took our little girl back to the vet yesterday - her fever is down and her breathing sounds better. They gave her fluids and showed us how to do a proper feeding and we got smaller syringes which has helped a lot. Now, this morning after her feeding, she peed and it was a milky white color. Is this normal? Possibly due to the fluids that they gave her yesterday?