Normal behavior after anesthetic?

[Buddy]

Her second sitting didn't go so well either. I think I got just under 2mls in her. Her sitting just gone she has around 3mls. Not enough and she's already lost 10grams since Wednesday.
I popped her back in her cage and she went straight to bed and I'm pretty sure she has something white and watery in the corner of her left eye. I'm guessing that is discharge? and also she has been scratching at this eye since Wednesday. I thought nothing of it, but not seeing it it just doesn't like 'right' it's not watery all around her eye. It just looksm messy i guess... Looks different to the other eye. I will get a photo later on if she lets me just so you can see the two differences of her two eyes.
Could her eye be the reason she no longer wants any food? Is it her malo growing into her eye socket? I'm so worried and theres no vet open till monday

 

[Buddy]

Also I couldn't see the white thing in her eye enough and before i got close enough she scratched at it and it was gone... '-.-

 

[Asha]

Awww poor Bubbles! Watery discharge can be a symptom of teeth issues which we know your girl has. I wouldn't panic too much because she is recovering from a filing which can be hard on chins. It would make sense that this symptom has cropped up in your situation since its tooth related. I would keep an eye on it obviously, and report it to the vet. It could just be some type of side effect as her mouth recovers and will clear up as she heals? I'm sure others could be more helpful to you, and offer better advice. The good news is at least its not some bizarre symptom popping up that would point to additional problems. At least we know watery eyes can be related to teeth.

 

[Buddy]

Yeah I suppose. But force feeding her is so horrible to do and see. Oh well, How much should I force feed her? 5mls?

 

[Asha]

Hmmm, is the discharge like mucousy? Or does it get crusty? I'll be honest here, I don't know much about the eye issues associated with malo. I know they can get watery so when you first mentioned it I thought "well, Bubbles is dealing with tooth issues so watery eyes makes sense. Maybe that symptom just didn't crop up right away?". That was my first thought. I'm sure Dawn could give you far better input on why it has cropped up and is messy like you describe.

You are right, she isn't eating enough. It was yesterday she received the pain killer in a shot? Perhaps its wearing off and she is sore/in pain from the filing. I've read when chins are hurting they don't like to eat.

 

[Asha]

I totally understand the force feeding issue. I hated having to do it for my girl because I know she didn't like it, but she had to have the nutrients. And then it would get all over her beautiful fur too and was tough to clean off. I would say if she really won't eat that much at a time, you might have to make the feedings more frequent to meet the daily quota. For me, it got to the point where I was lucky to get 5ml down my chin at a time so I understand your frustration and worry. You might also watch the consistency of the food too. I've read the best mixture resembles a thick milkshake, not too watery. The first day I ever had to hand feed, I made the mixture too watery so my chin wasn't getting enough of the food/nutrients. Then I did some reading and adjusted the mixture and things went better.

 

[Buddy]

I've only seen the white stuff in her eye once. But she ran into her bed before I could take a proper look and then she scratched and it was gone. So maybe I was seeing things? But I'm pretty sure I did definitely see it. White gunk isn't all around her eye. I can't see anything there, It just doesn't like 'normal' Her fur around the eye just isn't sitting where the other eyes fur is. Do you get me? or am i not making any sense? lol That could just be by her scracthing it so much though, I'm guessing?
Yeah yesterday about this time she had her pain killer injection, but before she had that she was eating perfectly fine, and she was mega excited about every sitting she got. But not anymore Yeah her mixture isn't too hard, isn't to watery, i've done it the same as I've always done it. She didn't like the bigger syringe she used to have so i made it a 5ml one and she didn't like that so now she has a 10ml syringe, before that it was just a 1ml syringe and she was fine with that. But she's not even wanting that one now either :s It's also extremily hard to 'suck up the food substance' so instead of sitting there trying to get it up i open the syringe up and spoon it in. but i do make sure all air is gone. Maybe that is why she doesnt want it? :S

 

[Basket_of_Chinchillas]

Hand/force feeding can be hard, but eventually your chin will get used to it. My chin HATED hand feeding and it took two of us to burrito him and get his food in. He fought everything he had to take via syringe except metacam, that he loved! After a month of hand feeding things got a lot easier. He still needed to be wrapped up, but he didn't really fight so much anymore. He was never the kind of chin to eat it off the spoon, but he got used to the routine and the happy full feeling in his tummy after a good feeding

 

[Asha]

I understand what you mean by the eye not looking quite normal. It could very well be that because she has been scratching at it that the fur looks different/out of place. I would continue to monitor it for any additional changes.

As far as the syringes go, I can tell you I have quite the collection myself! All different sizes! And yes, sucking up the food is tough with the smaller sizes for sure.

One thing I thought of just a bit ago. You said she had lost 10g since her filing on Wednesday. And now, she isn't eating as much. What you could be seeing in her weight loss is fluid loss. She may not be drinking enough and getting enough fluids. When my girl was sick, I had to take her to the vet several times for some sub-q fluids. Made an amazing difference. About 30-60 min after the fluids were given, she became much perkier and would also eat more when I fed her. She would even start eating on her own too. You could tell she still wasn't 100%, but she would act more like herself. Perhaps Bubbles fluid levels are a bit off right now. I would consider at least asking the vet's opinion to see if they think this would be beneficial. I figure it can't hurt to ask.

 

[Buddy]

She's just had just under 10mls. So yay she was fairly excited for it too! Though I did have to shove it in her face a few times at the end of the bit left. She soon got the idea that I wasnt lettinf her go untill shes eaten it all

 

[Asha]

That's great! Maybe she just wasn't as hungry earlier for some reason. Go Bubbles!

 

[Buddy]

Yeah tho thats only around 25 mls shes had today and it's already evening time

 

[Basket_of_Chinchillas]

Keep going! When I was hand feeding, especially in the beginning when it was hard to even get a couple mls in, I aimed for a feeding every couple hours. Once my chin got used to it and would eat more in one sitting (which seemed to happen once he realized that he was going to be hand fed whether he liked it or not) I was able to spread them apart a little more.

 

[Buddy]

She's lost another 10grams since yesterday :/ She's now 498 grams there abouts :/ She's loosing weight really fast she has just had another 10mls of food. SO altogether today she has had 35mls. Not enough :'( i will get another 10mls at half 11 hopefully and then again at 2am and again at 6am. But either way she wont be eating enough through out her day. Is 60mls enough to keep her weight and gain it too?

 

[Cuddlebug]

60 mls is usually enough to maintain weight but it can take as much as 100+ for some chinchillas. If they are losing weight, they obviously are not getting enough food. Chins rarely gain weight while being force fed.

 

[Buddy]

Yeah she is at 500grams now. She's been at this weight since last Friday. Tomorrow it'll be a week since she had her dental and she is still not eating her own food. How long should I wait until I ring my vet?? I gave her a hay cookie which she seemed to go straight too, but all she was doing was pulling it apart. Then she got frustrated and started chucking things around her cage. Possibly because she was unable to eat it? Idk...