Overly worried?

[Directorthiang]

Since having lost a chin to giardia, I'm now even more suspicious when I see odd looking poop in the chin cage.

Dash is about 9 months old and since having him (about a week), I've noticed that his poop has been small, hard, and dry. I've seen him drink water twice and he eats timothy hay like crazy. Each day the bowl of pellets half gone since filling it the day before. He has a cage mate who eats very well and has normal looking poop, but Dash's don't look quite right.

In his cage, he wakes up around 9:30 or 10:00 pm and starts running on his wheel, but is fast asleep when I get up in the morning at about 8:30 am. I just had him out running around in the bathroom with his buddy Powder, and he seemed to have just as much energy as Powder does.

Seems like he's constipated. I have an appointment to have he and Powder checked at the vet on Thursday (that's when the vet who specializes in chins will be there), but having read another thread on constipation, I'm now nervous about waiting. Should I take him in on Wednesday to the other vet who will see chinchillas, but doesn't specialize in them? Or wait it out? He doesn't seem to be in pain, and is no more laid back than when I first got him a week ago...

And is there anything I can give him to help alleviate the constipation for now?

 

[Directorthiang]

UPDATE--I pulled Dash into the bathroom for some solo time after having cleaned up all the previous poops. I gave him a hand full of hay which he happily munched on, and then rubbed his tummy intermittently for a minute or two at a time. He passed about 8 poops in the half hour I had him in there, and they were well shaped, darker colored, and slightly moist.

Still concerned with the lack of poop.... I'm used to chins GOING non stop like machine guns... but maybe this little guy just needs more time to adjust? He was just bonded with his cage mate who still humps him on a semi-regular basis.

 

[Directorthiang]

Took him to the vet today to weigh him... he weighs 350 grams and is approximately 9 months old. He's also missing a hind leg, so I don't know if that would account for many grams. The vet was going to charge me double--a $50 fee to feel his stomach today to see if he was bloated, and then another $50 fee per chinchilla to bring them back on Thursday for an appointment with the vet who has more knowledge of chins.

How can you tell if he's bloated? I've rubbed his stomach and it's not hard, but it's also not overly squishy. My other chin won't let me hold him to compare.

 

[CerLynn]

Luckily we've never experienced bloat, but if I remember correctly, in addition to the hardened stomach, they'll usually show behavioral symptoms, such as lethargy. I'm guessing your new guy is still just adjusting to his new home - that can certainly account for minor GI disruptions. Perhaps more experienced members will have more insight.

Also, just to note, it is generally a good idea to quarantine new chins for about a month in a different room, making sure to wash hands between handling. This way, potential illnesses won't be spread between chins, and the new chin will get a chance to reestablish his gut bacteria.

 

[tunes]

His stomach sounds about right, neither hard nor squishy. When they are severely bloated it's like a ballon puffed up. Their tummy gets big, round, and tight. But there are degrees of bloat. In the beginning stages, you may not even notice a stomach issue by feel.

If his cage mate won't knock off the humping, I would separate them. That could be a part of him being constipated/bloated. If he's feeling stressed, that can cause them to go off their feed and have stooling issues. He's already tiny as it is, he doesn't need to be put off his food.

Try cutting an inch or so off the cage mate's whiskers with a pair of scissors and see if that calms down the humpathon.

 

[Directorthiang]

Interesting! I've never heard of that whiskers trick before. Any idea why it sometimes works?

I came home today after being gone since the morning when I freaked and force-fed Dash some water to try and get things moving, convinced I was going to find him near comatose like my previous chin who died from giardia. He's still alive and running on his wheel, and pretty ticked off with me over the water and benebac fight.

For a constipated chin, is there something I can give him while waiting for the vet appointment? I have Benebac, but am nervous about giving him much other than hay before I don't want to give him gas. A friend recommended mineral oil, but I've never heard anything about giving that to a chinchilla.