sick chin?

[jmess]

Hi all,
I am concerned about our 7 month old chin, Chewie. This morning my young son came upstairs after checking on the chins before he went to school, as usual. He reported to me he thought Chewie was rolling around in his hut sort of funny. He has never said anything like that before so I told him I would check on him after I got him to school. I did check on Chewie a couple times during the day, but he was pretty sleepy and and I did not observe anything unusual. Well just now my husband let the chins out to clean the cage and Chewie seems to be moving slightly on the slow side and I observed him stretching out 3 or 4 times. I know this can be a bad sign. Over the weekend, I did start to make a change in their diet. Our pet store stopped selling Mazuri and switched to carrying Oxbow. I got the Oxbow and mixed some of it with what we had left of the Mazuri so I am wondering if he is having trouble with the diet change, even though I am trying to slowly add it in? They are still eating the mixed brands. I do have some of Dawnna's Life Line on hand so I thought I would sprinkle that on the food for a couple of days. Should I do more? I don't want to overreact, or ignore a possible bad situation. Chewie's behavior is not completely alarming, but I don't want to get there either. Help please! Thanks!

 

[tunes]

If he's rolling, stretching, and moving slowly - he needs to see a chin experienced vet. It's possible he's developing bloat or there could be other issues. A food change, especially between 2 higher end feeds, should not cause this type of issue.

 

[ysy]

Chins do stretch from time to time especially when they've just woken up. When they're out, sometimes they can be very fast and sometimes they can slow down a little. They shouldn't be lethargic though.

Stretching because of tummy issues look very different from normal stretching, although I would say seeing him stretch 3 or 4 times in a short span of time isn't that usual. Does he look like he wants to press his tummy down to the floor? Is he dragging his bottom down on the floor when he stretches? These stretches are signs of tummy issues. It means that he is uncomfortable and is trying to relieve the pain.

If he's just stretching out like a cat does for a brief period, it's totally normal. Things to watch out for (for tummy issues): Is he eating? How does his poops look? However, I should let you know that there is a lead-time of about a day or two before poops will start to show issues if there is an issue.

If you're concerned in any way, bring him to a vet. Good to have peace of mind anyway.

 

[Sandi]

Do you feed them treats? If so, what and how much? I've never seen my chins stretch out more than once at a time after a long nap. Acting lethargic, rolling around and stretching out 3-4 times to me is not normal. I would definitely be calling a vet.

 

[jmess]

Since he shares a cage with another chin, I can't report on his poop. We did separate them for the night so I will be watching. My husband did say Chewie had just woken up and he is never really anxious to get out and play like Vader is. I guess you could say when he stretched his tummy was low, but he definately was not pressing his bottom down. He does not appear bloated, or look unusual. I did sprinkle some Life Line on his food and put some in his water.

I will probably call my vet tomorrow unless he seems to bounce back quickly. There is an emergency exotic pet vet about 45 minutes away, but we took Vader there once when he we thought he had overheated and much of what she said was contrary to things I have seen on this site or on other breeder pages, even though she comes recommended. She told us not to be letting him out of the cage much and told us we should be feeding him a bunch of fresh greens every day. I do like the regular vet we use for check ups; he seems more in tune with what I see here, but he is not in every day. I hope he is tomorrow and I hope our schedules match up. Tomorrow is not a good day for this, poor chinnie. I am getting worried about him.

The chins do get a treat 3-4 times a week. We have dried papaya right now; I believe the brand is Peter's (?). I will cut that for now.

 

[tunes]

I agree Sandi - my chins stretch once, they don't continue to do so. They also don't move around slowly.

I wouldn't feed papaya at all. It's loaded with sugar and unnecessary for a chin. Give lots of wood chews, hay cubes, hay, a pinch of old fashioned oats. They don't need the sweet stuff. That's for us, not them.

Good luck today. I hope he springs back or hangs in there so that you can't get him into a vet and find out what's going on.

 

[ticklechin]

The symptoms are classic bloat-this is a medical emergency and the chin needs to see a vet ASAP for treatment, longer this goes on the higher chance of stasis and the harder it is to resolve without death. Bloat pain is the most painful pain a chinchilla can experience, intense constant pain like twisting a knife in the gut.

 

[jmess]

I will report more later as I have to get my kids now but we ended up taking Chewie to the emergency vet last night. He was getting more lethargic. Anyway I came home with a bunch of meds; he had ingested something small and hard that irritated his GI and caused gas. She thinks we caught it early enough and that the object is small enough to pass. I gave him his first round of meds myself late this morning and that went fine. However he is not interested in the Critical Care. The vet sug
gested he would like the flavor but he is not digging it. Is there any advise on administering this? She said to mix it to cream of wheat consistancy and feed through syringe. Should I try watering it down? Adding it water? To food? Thanks for all your help!

 

[tunes]

You can mix in a little bit of canned pure pumpkin to add some flavor. Lots of chins like that.

 

[jmess]

Chewie is doing much better now. His meds and the critical care are definately helping! He has more energy and his poop size is almost back to normal, if not quite back to normal count. He is eating his hay well and has eaten a bit of his pellets. I didn't know I had it in me to take care of a foreign lil' critter like our Chewie (my instinct with animals is pathetic) but I am so very glad he is going to be ok!!!!

One last question: I'm not sure how long to continue with the Critical Care. The vet said as needed or until normal eat/poop resumes. I plan on giving him more today for sure, since we are at "almost normal" but should I continue for a day or two after it appears all is well? Thanks again!