Need some help please.

[newf]

I have a five year old chin who is not passing any fecal matter, and doesn't look good. I think he is in stasis, but I am not sure. I called the ER vet and they basically told me I would be wasting my time bringing him there as the vet they have on staff for emergencies has no experience with chins. So I can't get him to a vet until tomorrow morning, and due to the holidays, every other vet is closed. He has been like this for 3 days now. I have read through all the threads on here, and I have been doing warm compresses, massages, giving him gas drops, and making sure he is getting fluids. I have pulled his pellets, and am giving him Oxbow hay. He did eat some hay last night, and part of a shreddie. But still no fecal matter this morning. I gave him some more fluids this morning, his gas drops, a massage and a warm compress. I have been keeping him out for exercise to see if that will help move things along.

I am at a loss as to what else to do for him until tomorrow. He is dust bathing and moving around better than he was yesterday, but he still hasn't passed anything and still doesn't look well.

I have some metacam here that I think would help him with his discomfort, but I am not sure how much to give him. I am wondering if anyone here could tell me how much to give him. I am open to any suggestions or advice at this point. I don't know what else to do for him. I would appreciate anyone's help or suggestions.

 

[saphire]

For my chin following surgery he got .1ml a day.
I do believe it will help for the pain and might make it easier for him to move more.

hope things work out.

 

[newf]

Thank you for the reply. I will try that and see how it goes for him.

 

[tunes]

Do you have critical care? You should really be forcing him to eat if he's not. If he is in stasis, you need to get him moving again. Did you read Meanie's thread on stasis? I think a lot of people found that to be really helpful when their chin went through something similar.

 

[newf]

Yes, I did read the thread, and it was very helpful. Thank you for replying to my thread. I appreciate it. I am following what she outlined, and I think that is why he ate last night. Thank goodness that there was this forum. I learned a lot about what to do for him. I don't have any critical care here, and with the holidays, all the vets are closed. The emergency vet doesn't carry it either. I read about crushing up pellets and putting them in the probiotic in an emergency and using a syringe to feed it. Could I do that until tomorrow morning when I take him to the vet? I also baked him some pellets last night, he wasn't at all interested in them. Since doing all the things that were outlined in that thread, he seems to have more energy today, but still not defecating or eating today. I have been feeding him water from a syringe to make sure he is hydrated as I do not think he is drinking enough either.

I am ordering some critical care, but I need to know if there is something I can give him in the mean time food wise. He is eating some hay, but not enough by a long shot.

 

[tunes]

Yep, you definitely can make your own. Can you get black strap molases to add? Some chins really like the taste and it encourages them to eat more.

 

[newf]

I add the molasses to the pellets?

 

[newf]

Ok, I am going to the store to get some molasses. Could you tell me how to mix it up for him and how I should give it to him?

I am so appreciative of your help. I am beside myself right now worrying if he is going to make it to tomorrow. Thank you so much tunes.

 

[tunes]

You just need a little tiny drizzle. Just enough to give the ground up pellets a little flavor. It's not a measurement per se, just a few drops. Make sure it's black strap molasses. I am not a molasses expert, so I don't know if there are other kinds, but I've always made sure I get the black strap.

 

[newf]

Ok, thank you so much tunes. I am going right now to get some.

 

[newf]

Ok, I have the molasses and I am going to ground up some pellets now and see if he will eat it. If he doesn't eat it on his own, I guess I am to force feed him to eat it?

 

[newf]

Well, he didn't touch it. I put some on a spoon, and he sniffed it and turned up his nose at it. So do I force him to eat it like this? Or do I water it down and syringe it into him?

 

[saphire]

You will need to feed by syringe. Mix the pellets/molasses with warm water, enough to make it the consistancy of apple sauce.

 

[newf]

Ok..thank you very much! I wasn't sure how that worked. I read on here somewhere about feeding straight pumpkin from a can. I tried him with a bit from a can I have here. I use unseasoned pumpkin for my parrots. He ate that like there was no tomorrow. I gave him some more massages, heat, and gas drops. Still no defecating. But he seems to be alot perkier. I will mix make up that pellet mixture and get it into him. I don't have a large gauge syringe here, but I can get one from my work.

Thank you again for replying to my thread.

 

[mishellyshel]

add a small amount of the pumpkin to the ground up pellets, it improves the consistancy and adds taste, after you add the water, it should be the about the consistancy of applesauce or pudding and should easily suck thru a syringe.
i use the syringes from wal mart, they hold about 10 cc's.
it is a real pain to get them to eat in the beginning but very important to get the gut moving.
normally i wouldnt mention this but since he hasnt pooped in a few days, you can also try babyfood applesauce or pears, 1 small teaspoon to a larger amount of the crushed pellets. when i mix my food for my one chin, i make a large bowl and put in about 2 tablespoons of the pumpkin and only 1 teaspoon of the applesauce and it lasts about 4 days.
normally they should not have any fruit as it will upset their gi tract but in this case it may be worth a try to soften up whatever is going on. i do think the tummy massage, and extra exercise and warm compresses will help but need to be often and consistant.
the dr should give you something to get the gut moving like cisapride or a few other names that you can search here for.
the best thing for you to do is go into the office prepared with a list of medications in the event the vet is not well versed in chinchilla care.

 

[addictedtochins]

I have a question for the more experienced chin people here. Has anyone tried putting a sliver of a glycerin suppository in the rectum of a chin who is stopped up like this one is?

 

[mainechic]

Has anyone tried putting a sliver of a glycerin suppository in the rectum of a chin who is stopped up like this one is?

This is not recommended, as the problem is not colon impaction or constipation. I've done many necropsies (unfortunately) on gastric statis patients, and in no case is there ever an abundant amount of formed fecal matter in the colon, and usually there is little or no formed feces.

 

[mainechic]

I have some metacam here that I think would help him with his discomfort, but I am not sure how much to give him. I am wondering if anyone here could tell me how much to give him.

The dose for oral metacam in chinchillas is 0.2-0.4 mg/kg every 12-24 hours (I've seen up to 1 mg/kg but I would not go that high in a potentially dehydrated patient). There are two strengths of Metacam. One is 0.5 mg/mL, which comes only in a 15 mL bottle, and the other is 1.5 mg/mL which comes in 10, 32, 100, and 180 mL bottles. Which strength of Metacam do you have, and how much does your chin weigh, and I'll tell you the exact amount to give him.

K. Carter, DVM

 

[newf]

Well, after attempting several times to get him to eat out of a syringe, I know he didn't get that much in his mouth. Every time I toweled him, he would freeze up and just lets the food run out of his mouth, or would spit it back out. I finally decided to give him a break and put him back in his cage for a bit to settle back down. I came back here and read the rest of the posts. The one that I thought would work was adding pumpkin to his mix. I know he liked the pumpkin earlier. I hadn't read that before I tried the pellets and water with molasses.

I made up some pumpkin, ground pellets, and a dash of molasses, water. I heated it up a bit and thought I would try giving it to him on the spoon instead of toweling him again. He wouldn't touch it at first, so I thought I would dunk his mouth in the spoon so he would have to lick it off his face. Well, it was like a light went off. He dove into that spoon like it was his last meal. He ate four teaspoons of that mix before he had enough and wouldn't eat any more. He also ate three cheerios as well. I am so happy right now, and I am feeling pretty good that once I get him to the vet tomorrow, we can figure out what is going on with him. At least I know he is eating again.

I just want to say thank you to you all for all your help and concern. I really appreciate it more than you know. I have had Taz since he was a tiny baby. It would have broke my heart to lose him before I could get him to the vet tomorrow. I know he isn't out of the woods yet, but I am hoping tomorrow will be better for him all the way around. The only thing that would make more happy than I am now, is if I came in tomorrow and found that he had had finally gone to the bathroom.

Thank you again from the bottom of my heart for your help. Bless you all.

 

[cintistatern2005]

Get some reglan and cisapride (formulated by a pharmacy) from your vet. They did wonders for my chin.