Poorly chinchilla

[nikki.jenkins]

So my chin has been grunting since Thursday afternoon she went to vets on Friday they said she has a cold and meds given. She still not eating or drinking we are syringing water in her mouth to keep her hydrated told vet she not eating or drinking but while there she did 3 small not normal sized poops. How can I encourage her to eat and drink tried all her favourite but vet said it’s like us when we have a cold we want to be left and not eat or drink

What can I do

 

[Amethyst]

Not eating is serious for chins, they can't go more then about 12 hours without food in their gut or it will start to shut down. I would force feed her is she wont eat on her own. You can wrap her up like a burrito if you need to. Ideally feed critical care, but ground up pellets mixed with water can work too. Syringe feeding her that way also gets water into her too so you don't need to do food and water separate.

 

[nikki.jenkins]

Thank you I will try that so just her pellets ground up with water. Vet didn’t seem concerned as she had a small wee and a little poop.

 

[Amethyst]

If she is still peeing and pooping it means her gut is still working, but they should be pooping about once a minute when awake ( a couple hundred poops a day). Also the poops should be normal size (about 1/2" long), small poops, like half that size or less, is a sign something is wrong, most commonly gas. If you suspect gas you can give infant gas drops you want to give 20mg of simethicone per dose (0.3-0.5ml depending on the one you get) every 8-12 hours to help break up any gas. You can also try to get him moving around, moving helps get the gut going as well.

Unfortunately most vets assume chins are like most other animals (like cats and dogs) that can go a day to two without eating without any ill effects so they don't tend to be as concerned as they should be about it.

 

[nikki.jenkins]

I’ve just come down to her she’s still a bit stuffy but then I heard the bottle clicking she’s just had her water all on her own. She’s on the mend. thank you for your comments and support guys.

 

[Chinmin]

I’ve just come down to her she’s still a bit stuffy but then I heard the bottle clicking she’s just had her water all on her own. She’s on the mend. thank you for your comments and support guys.

Welcome to the forum.

That's good news! I hope you made sure you still had water in it.

 

[Jawramik]

Glad to hear she's been drinking on her own! Any more improvement in the last couple days?

 

[nikki.jenkins]

She’s still drinking but was still refusing food last night. We’d crushed pellets mixed with water and given her that. We offered her a corn flake last night she took it then dropped it and refused.
I’ve offered her a cornflake this morning and there’s not much left of it so she’s nibbled it which is good as she now is starting to have the inclination to eat. Day 5 of meds she loves the honey flavoured one . There has been more wee and poops and when I pick her up for meds she does her old grump noise (missed her sassiness). She is getting there.

 

[Amethyst]

She’s still drinking but was still refusing food last night. We’d crushed pellets mixed with water and given her that. We offered her a corn flake last night she took it then dropped it and refused.
I’ve offered her a cornflake this morning and there’s not much left of it so she’s nibbled it which is good as she now is starting to have the inclination to eat. Day 5 of meds she loves the honey flavoured one . There has been more wee and poops and when I pick her up for meds she does her old grump noise (missed her sassiness). She is getting there.

Unfortunately, cornflakes are not safe for chins really at all, not even an occasional treat. Corn can be toxic to chins, but it's also high in sugars (which is why they make corn syrup out if it) and is hard for chins to digest, so it can cause a lot of digestive and health issues. Here is a list of safe treats

 

[nikki.jenkins]

Thanks for that

 

[Jawramik]

She’s still drinking but was still refusing food last night. We’d crushed pellets mixed with water and given her that. We offered her a corn flake last night she took it then dropped it and refused.
I’ve offered her a cornflake this morning and there’s not much left of it so she’s nibbled it which is good as she now is starting to have the inclination to eat. Day 5 of meds she loves the honey flavoured one . There has been more wee and poops and when I pick her up for meds she does her old grump noise (missed her sassiness). She is getting there.

Glad to hear it! As Amethyst said, I'd avoid the corn flakes in the future, but her interest in eating them is a good sign! You might try offering some dried rose petals, chamomile flower, rose hips, or lavender petals instead of the corn flakes. Those are my chin's favourites! Just make sure they're dried and organic, like what they sell for use in human recipes.

 

[nikki.jenkins]

This evening when she had her meds I noticed her obvious gunky nose and cleaned it but her eye was really gunky cleaned that too was hoping the meds would have perked her up by now anyone else had a chinchilla with a cold. We’ve fed her some watered pellet mix

 

[Dee Henderson-Haefner]

Unfortunately, cornflakes are not safe for chins really at all, not even an occasional treat. Corn can be toxic to chins, but it's also high in sugars (which is why they make corn syrup out if it) and is hard for chins to digest, so it can cause a lot of digestive and health issues. Here is a list of safe treats

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Thank you!