Pull kits when mom has diarrhea?

[Mandy]

I hate bombarding you guys with questions, but I swear if it can go wrong this week.. it's going to.

I just found Momma has a bad case of diarrhea. She's had it before, but I gave her shredded wheat once a day for a few days and it went away. Now it's HORRID, stinks like horse droppings, and is pretty much the consistency of mud.
She's laying on her side and pushing her belly on the floor of the cage, but I thought it was because she might've been sore from the kits being rough when they nursed.

Any-who, I'll be calling the vet in the morning as the office here is closed at 3pm, and their other office isn't even open on sundays. :wacko: (This is the only vet I kept getting referred to out here and the only one who says they see chins often. It's 'all creatures' in cinci.)

I've read to pull her pellets and give her burnt toast? I'll be trying that.
I want to know if I need to pull the kits from her and just feed them every 2 hours. I don't want them covered in her poop as I see bacteria can be passed along?

I'm having to clean her up every hour or so. She's really active (wall surfing) and it's getting everywhere.

Here's a pic of where the kits are nursing.. just would like to know if this is also normal.

They can't help what happens to them..but.. :banghead:

Thanks.

Oh shoot, I forgot to post what she gets. Oxbow pellet, Oxbow timothy and alfalfa hay, no treats (other than the shredded wheat recently), and filtered water from the fridge.

 

[Claire D]

If she is pressing her belly to the floor, has bad diarrhoea & is lying on her side she needs to see a vet now, not tomorrow.

She needs treating immediately - she needs assessing & will probably also needs subcut fluids. She will need a faecal sample test.

Yes, you can pull all of the pellets & just give hay (cut the alfalfa) & water but she needs more than that. Please do not home treat this - she needs veterinary treatment.

 

[Mandy]

Ok.
I'd never home-treat an animal. I just thought something would help in the mean time.

I'm feeding the kits and calling the vets, so I'll update when I get the chance.
Thank you

 

[Claire D]

Good stuff - please keep us posted. :thumbsup:

 

[Cuddlebug]

As far as the area around the nipple goes, that is pretty common. I have a couple of girls here that loose the hair around the nipple. It makes it a lot easier for me to see if there are any problems with the kits biting or scratching her. It looks like a little of that has been going on. You could put a little vitamin E on the area to relieve the soreness.

The diarrhea needs a vet as soon as possible or you could lose the mother, fast!

 

[Claire D]

Any update on Momma?

 

[Mandy]

Yes, sorry I didn't post.
I called the emergency vets last night. I don't know why people think Sunday is a great day to not have anyone on duty as that's what I got; and rudely at that. Maybe it's the people who look at exotics that weren't in.
Her poops are looking better this morning. Not wet, formed, but still soft. Called the vet I'd normally bring her to and they said the earliest the guy could do was tomorrow. She said they'd probably run a fecal test and run her on a pro biotic. So, when I get off work tomorrow I have to run home, pick everyone up, and off we are. I'll update then.

She's on nothing but her hay. I did give her a bit of burnt toast last night too. She's drinking her water which I know is good because she's getting her lost fluids back in her body.
When we're at the vet I'll have him look at her kits too. Just make sure everyone is good. Female was being watched for URI, but has shown no signs of mucus, breathing problems, or loss of appetite. Heck, they're both gaining like crazy now.

Thanks

 

[ticklechin]

Your symptoms point to bloat, and can turn into stasis when she is being witheld food. Self vetting in this case can kill, the chin needs a x-ray to confirm there is gas, it could be from a infection, parasite, too many treats, wheat intolerence etc, the bloat needs to have the diagnosis of the cause and be treated under a vets supervision, the sooner the better.

 

[Mandy]

Ok, maybe I'm not understanding y'alls definition of self-vetting. In no way am I sitting here saying ''I'm not going to bring her to the vet, I'm going to do what I think and leave her without professional medical care.'' If you say that because I gave her burnt toast, I'm sorry. I've read it can help, so I tried it. Never was it something I thought would cure whatever is wrong with her. Just to see if it would comfort/calm her stomach a bit. Kind of like someone wrapping a bleeding arm before they get to the hospital. I wont be giving her anymore as you listed wheat intolerance. I hadn't thought of her having it..didn't even know chins could.

She has a vet appt set up, I just can't get it any sooner. I honestly wish I could, but I'd rather her be cared for by a vet that knows what he's doing..rather than bring her to any ol' vet that doesn't. I'm still learning what medication chins take and what would be right for what situations. If I brought her to a vet who doesn't treat chins often, I'd think I'd be putting her at more of a risk.

I wrote down what you listed (bloat, infection, parasite, treats, wheat intolerance,etc) and will mention them to him.
Thanks

 

[Mandy]

Just got home from the vet.

He said Momma is fine. Gave me a supplement to put her on. 'sunshine factor'? Don't know what it is. Says a dietary supplement. The ingredient is 'certified organic red palm fruit oil' ........... uh.
Ran a stool test and it came back neg for parasites/etc. Asked about bloat and he said if she had it she wouldn't be eating at all.
Her poops are back to a normal shape and all, but they're green tinted today. This guy didn't know kits were weaned at 8 weeks..? He said something about them stop drinking milk at one week. I don't know. He didn't really talk much. He checked her teeth and said something about the back ones. It didn't dawn on me to ask what he mumbled about.. I was too worried about them running the tests and all. I'm pretty sure if there was something wrong he would've spoken up. I sure hope.
We had originally went to the wrong animal hospital (there's two ''all creatures'' animal hospitals out here..mom wasn't thrilled about that.)

There is a girl working for him that has a chinchilla. A mosaic boy she said. Of course my mom was throwing at her 'take the male'
So, she talked to me and told me how she only has one pet - the chin. She said she got him from jt chinchillas out here (never heard of them?) and that she has him in the critter nation with a chin spin, fleece bedding, and feeds him oxbow.
We said if she could give him a good home (I told her about them not always getting along..and she knew about it) and if anything ever went wrong she could give him back to us. Well see how it goes once he's 8 weeks.

I wrote down the link to this site for her. Hopefully she will join.

 

[ticklechin]

Your vet told you to give a chinchilla palm fruit oil? I would seriously look for another vet.

 

[Mandy]

That was my thought when I almost had to beg him to take my money.
Heck, I almost walked out when they grabbed momma out the carrier by her neck.
Ugh.