Not eating or drinking :( Help me

[Buddy]

My chinchilla is 9 years old. Last saturday I noticed she wasn't really eating anything and it was 10pm and she wasn't awake. I let her out and she ran around for a bit and then came up on to my bed to fall asleep on me. At this point she was still drinking.
She was the same the next day (Sunday)
So I tried her on some soft food- she tried to eat, she hadnt drunk as much as she was saturday, however she was still weeing and pooing.
On monday, I rang the vet and told me to keep her warm, and to try her on other soft foods as well as pro-biotic yoghurt. She seemed to eat the pro-biotic yoghurt which I guess keeps the gut moving for her. She was still sleeping, but still fairly active. So she still got in her dust bath ect..
Tuesday came and I took her to the vets; She had a pain killer injection and something to get the gut moving again. I brought her home. She was no better. Just the same.
Then Wednesday; She went to the vet at 9am- and they put her under anesetic and looked at her teeth- they found some sharp edges and decided to burr her teeth down a little. Gave her something to keep her gut moving and also the painkiller. She came home the same day at half 5 in the evening. They gave me the recovery plus food to syringe feed her, but she is fighting a lot. She did try to eat a pellet- she took a few bites out of it and then chucked it away. She also tried to eat her hay but couldn't.
Today (Thursday) I took her back to the vet for the day to see if they could get her to eat- but she didn't. They just syringe fed her. She had a pain killer when she got there and a pain killer just before she left.
She still isn't eating solid food, and she's still not drinking anything- but im guessing thats because they gave her an injection to rehydrate her? She's still really fighting me against getting syringe fed as well. She does seem to be in a bit of pain as well- as she keeps pawing at her mouth and grinding her teeth alot!. What could be wrong with her? Is it her teeth, or is it something else? It would cost me over £300 to get an x ray Please help me :'(

 

[ticklechin]

Usually chinchillas who are filed are sent home with liquid pain killer to be given for 7 days or as needed, you might call the vet back and ask them for some. Chin needs to be syringe fed also for around 7 days or as needed, most need to be hand fed for at least 3-5 days, some longer. Its painful for the chin to have its teeth filed so they will not eat and it needs to be syringe fed at least 60ml of food a day, broke up into 4 or so feedings unil it eats on its own. Sometimes a chin needs to go back and be rechecked, vets often miss things the first time out due to the amount of drool and damage in the mouth from the teeth so after 7-10 days if the chin has not got better it needs to go back-a good vet won't charge much for a recheck. A x-ray is a must at some point but right now the chin needs food more than a x-ray, so focus on that.

 

[Buddy]

Okay, thankyou.
She does go back in the morning- as they are going to try and get her to syringe feed for me- as she fights too much with me.
I will tell them that I want pain killer to take home with me as she's in so much pain.
So really 7 days syringe feed? They told me she should be eating my the night she had her opperation :/ They said they got rid of a few spurs on the bottom teeth- but all in all her teeth and mouth werent at all that bad. Reckon there could be anything else wrong with her? Or is it her teeth that was causing her not to eat before they got filed??

 

[Lillybabe]

Buddy, it might not work... but have you tried putting a little of the wet food on a plate for her? My little guy gobbled it up? Or offering her it out of a syringe in small doses while she's still in her cage? My little guy would come to the syringe and eat it off of it. You might have more luck with those than the burritoing. I could never get my guy to take food if I burritoed him though it's a recommended way. If needed I held him gently with a towel around him but with him rightside up and fed him that way. They fight less overtime I think. They realize the food tastes good, they're hungry, and you're trying to help.

 

[greychins]

It could even be longer than 7 days of syringe feeding. The chins we've had with teeth spurs or malo... some of them have taken... weeks, probably months of handfeeding before they finally decide to eat again on their own. It just depends on each individual chin. Some may eat right after the filing, others may not.

I had one with teeth spurs years back... stopped eating. When the teeth spurs were filed down, he started eating... after about a month and a half of handfeeding... and he was fine. The spurs were the only thing wrong, and I guess his mouth might have been sore afterwards. If I remember correctly, his teeth spurs were poking into his gums and cheeks, making his entire mouth sore, so it wasn't just the teeth, it could be the entire mouth hurting, and that can take some time to heal.

 

[Buddy]

Yeah, I tried spoon feeding her. I don't think she likes the taste of the food...
I've tried everthing She fights way too much with the syringe. Okay, well I go back to the vets today, so I'll ask for a proper painkiller and ive spoken to another vet- and she said i should have a painkiller to give to her oraly. :/

 

[Claire D]

Did you ring Manor Vets this morning and get an appointment?

 

[ticklechin]

Your vet does not know chins at all-the chance of a chin eating right after is almost at great as me becoming President of the United States, not only because of the pain but also because of the traumatic experience, chin may not eat for a few days just because of that. And to answer your question if it can be something else-there are so many things it can be that most can be ruled out by a x-ray-periodontal disease, carries, abscess, root elongation, pulpitis, osteomylitis, neuritis, I could go on but you get the idea. You need the best vet for this and I don't think you have that-just by saying the chin will eat right after and not giving pain meds and not taking a x-ray. If you stay with this vet you could be wasting alot of money by having to keep bringing this chin back rather that having it diagnosed correctly the first time.

 

[Buddy]

I rang Manor vets claire, but they said they can't see her until Monday. Which is a bit of a long time for her not to be eating properly
I'm going to ring another vet in a bit that's a lot closer see what they can do for her
Thank you!

 

[peachydays]

Buddy, I know it seems impossible but I highly encourage you to continue to try and syringe feed your little gal. One, because it's the only way she'll make it until Monday. Two, because it can just take time to get the hang of syringe feeding....you can't give up so soon.

Again, I KNOW it seems impossible. My chinnie Romeo was sick in 2010, and I had to hand feed him because he had gone off his food due to oral Baytril. Buddy, I cried, I pleaded, I begged with Romeo to just eat the Critical Care. I couldn't seem to burrito him, I couldn't get the syringe near his mouth. It was taking me 2 hours to get about 30 cc's in him, and we were both exhuasted and traumatized by the end of it.

I think it was maybe day 2 or 3 of this, I'm not sure what happened.....either I just got the nerve up, or maybe Romeo was tired of fighting me. But I got his furry bum in that burrito, and I got that syringe in his mouth. He did struggle, and I would need to re-burrito him in the middle of the feeding, but it got easier with time.

A couple days of that, and I didn't have to burrito him anymore. He would just take it straight from the syringe, and ohhhh boy you should have seen how excited he got when he saw his mama approaching his cage with the syringes in my hand! He would even eat it off a spoon which was SO sweet to see, but I preferred to use the syringes so I could tell exactly how much he was taking in.

There is an American TV show, "The Real World", whose tag line is something like "This is what happens when people stop being polite, and start being real." You and she just need to get real with each other. I wish you and your little girl the best.

 

[Lillybabe]

Did you tell Manor vets it was an emergency? A lot of times if they know it is an emergency they will squeeze you in. She might not make it until Monday without proper painkillers and food. Worse yet, she could be in a lot more pain than you know. There's no way to truly know what you're looking at without an xray. I never paid $300 for xrays. Even when I had xrays and then got my little guys teeth filed it didn't usually cost $300 not unless he had to be kept overnight for observation. I think you need a new vet, and quickly.

 

[ticklechin]

Not eating is not a option, its eat or die. You just have to buck up and get it done, no matter how pi$$ed the chin is.

Here are a couple of videos I made of handfeeding

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZfRkg5sJ2QU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lva6ovCKvv0

Consistancy of food


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ojnhTOu43dk

 

[peachydays]

A tip for getting the CC in the syringe:

Take out the plunger, and put the food in from the top with a spoon. As you fill it up, use a popsicle stick (like this: http://www.amazon.com/Loew-Cornell-...7YQW/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1331912475&sr=8-5) to get out any air bubbles. Just stick it in the syringe and move it up and down.

To prevent gassiness which can sometimes happen when you syringe feed, I used to give Romeo about .5 cc's of simethicone before and after a feeding. Simethicone is just infant gas dropshttp://www.amazon.com/Equate-Infant...ie=UTF8&qid=1331912707&sr=1-3-catcorr)....you (http://www.amazon.com/Equate-Infant...3?s=aps&ie=UTF8&qid=1331912707&sr=1-3-catcorr) . You can pick some up at Boot's.

 

[Buddy]

Haha bless, thank you I went to a specialist vet for dental care today. He said the digestive systems has stopped working properly, causing a lot of pain in the gut. So, he said it was either from the dental problem or from an infection she had a few weeks before, which was treated by Beytral.
I'm not on a course of antibiotics, painkiller, anti inflamitery and anti toxics which should solve the problems and if not then they give her anasetic and look down her throat to see if there is any abnormalities, and go further down from her teeth.
So, hopefully she's going to be fine. I'll continue with her syringe feeding

 

[Buddy]

Yeah, I told them it was an emergancy, but there was no way they could see her until monday but i did take her to a specialist dentist. He said it was something completely different to what the vet I was with said...
So I reckon I'm going to stick with the new vet! She's on antibiotics and pain killer, anti toxins and anti inflametory So hopefully she'll soon be fine! She's getting more and more used to the syringe. I've done it twice tonight, it's gotten a lot easier since the first time I tried. She's also getting all her meds through a syringe so she just better quit fighting me- she has no choice lol. Thanks everyone I'll let you know how she does within the next few days!

 

[Jaina_Organasolo]

I know this is a little late but I use Manor vets Edgbaston which is their exotic vet center. I called them one weekday with a chin who had stopped eating - They saw him within half an hour. The main exotic vet is Marie but Toby is good and I've been told Struan is back - he's very experienced with Chins.

They don't charge £300 for x-rays either. My chin had 4 x-ray plates, anesthetic and a dental for £180. They aren't the cheapest but they are good.