Sluggish after dental work....extremely worried.

[hildatk]

Chili is 6 years old and we took him to the vet after he has stopped eating after a case of diarrhea. That day the vet gave him some subQ fluid and Metacam, Metoclopramide and Critic care to send home with him. He seemed much better the next morning with some fluid and food.

But the vet wanted him back for a dental checkup since he has slight drooling before. We took him in yesterday and the vet took xray and filed down some spurs. Vet said his roots seems fine but just have a "wave" malo pattern. His jaw might have been shifted either from birth or prior to us getting him. So they don't wear down evenly. And during the procedure, she found his 2 front bottom molar very loose and extracted them.

So we got him back late afternoon yesterday. He seem a bit sluggish but ok at the vet office. But as the night went on, he just sat on floor or wheel curl up in a ball. I got baytril too and was able to get a dose in, along with the metacam. But he won't eat the critical care. I stayed up all night watching him and he just seems very quiet.

Now I'm very worried. The vet only mention he'll be a bit groggy and his lips might be bruised. But he seems to be doing a lot worst than she said he would. He won't dust bathe either. How long does it normally take for chins to recover from anesthesia and dental work? Is Chili's signs normal?

Please let me know if there's any suggestions or things I can do to make him more comfortable. I called the vet and he's going back in for a check and maybe more fluid and painkiller. I'm just so confused and scared. We trusted the vet as she was mentioned by someone here as good and another good review on yelp. Now I'm worried we put our poor chin through pain for nothing. Any thoughts will help.

Thanks

 

[aznmexaggie]

Were you given oral Baytril or injectable? Oral Baytril is known to cause GI movement to slow and put chins off feed. Is he eating or pooping at all? If he is not eating at all, he needs to have Critical Care. If he is reluctant to eat, try frequently with short feeding sessions. Even a little at a time is better than nothing at all. If he is not taking anything in, he can go into GI stasis.

He is likely in pain. Some chins are very sore after the filings. Pain alone can cause a chin to go off feed.

 

[hildatk]

Just got back from the vet. She gave him more subQ and injected pain meds. He look worst than before. Laying flat on the floor of his cage.

He was looking slightly better the vet. And now he's completely slumped down. Could it be the pain med?

I don't know what to think anymore. It seems like the more we try to make him comfortable, the worst it becomes.

 

[Sandi]

Are you feeding him with a syringe? Try different consistencies with the critical care. You do need to get some in him asap.

 

[Magic_FROST]

If he got two teeth pulled, hes very sore.

If you werent shown how to hand feed, you need to be shown by the vet immediately. If you are unable to, hospitalization for your chin is the best bet.

 

[addictedtochins]

I think he needs to be seen by the vet today, he sounds critical. Without improvement and feed I doubt he will last till Monday
Here is a post I made for someone else, I have copied and pasted it for you. Get what you can from it and let me know if you have questions. Good Luck Theresa

I dealt with this same thing with my chin Tibbit a few months ago. The baytril tends to make them go off their feed so be prepared to hand feed him in advance.

Perhaps make a list of things you need to buy so you can have them on hand on the way home from the vets. It is not easy, it's a lot of work and I had an upset tummy from nerves the whole time Tibbit was sick. Feel free to ask me or anyone questions, PS get the syringe at the vets. Theresa

I have just finished giving baytril and handfeeding two of my boys, it was my first time also, Here is what we did. First, I didn't have a coffee grinder but a 1 cup chopper from Wal-mart. I worked fine if I only chopped a very small amount at one time, like 1/8 of a cup of their pellets. Kept those in a sandwich baggie. I didn't measure out the ingredients, just added about 1+ TBS prune puree from human baby food, 1+TBS plain pumpkin puree, 1 TBS molasses and about 1/2 cup chopped chin pellets. I mixed it with distilled water, a dash at a time to get the consistency just right. That will make plenty of food for several feedings, kept in the fridge up to two days. The 60 ml syringe has a bigger "spout? hole?" at the bottom that I liked much better then the smaller syringes. Adding water made the food so cold I decided I would heat the mixture a little. I had a large plastic tumbler 32oz maybe which I half filled with warm water then I nuked it for 1 minute. I put the food filled syringe in the plastic "container thingy" in came in and I put it in the hot water for about 5 minutes. Always squirt out the food from the tip of the syringe because it will be hotter, then test the food temp on the inside of your wrist, it should only be slightly warm. Never microwave the food, that can make scorching hot spots!! Tibbit and Joey said they want to give advice also.
Tibbit: I heard mommy talking on the phone with someone who said after awhile their chins just flipped over waiting to be fed. Oohh I flipped over alright, but only to bite the crud out of mommy....Hehehe I am soooo BAD!
Joey: Mommy used a fleece blanket to wrap me for feeding, she said I was a very lucky chin to have my very own snuggie and very stylish. Oh reeaally! I kack every time I see a snuggie commercial, they should be outlawed!

 

[hildatk]

Chili was seen by the vet. She gave him more subQ fluid and some pain meds, metacam and something narcotic based? She said to keep feeding him his meds and critical care.

But by the time we got home, Chili was flattened in his carrier. We quickly moved him into his cage and he's been laying there since. It's been 1 1/2 hrs and he barely moved.

I don't know if he'll make it from his current state. At least he shouldn't be in pain. Could the pain med made him so lethargic? I don't want to force feed him anything at this point. He looks so sad that I don't want to put him through more stress.

I'm completely heartbroken. He came out of the anesthesia ok. He was a bit weak and slow this morning. But he was cleaning himself and trying to dust. Now there's nothing. I feel like I failed him by trying to get him help. I don't know what else I can do but sit with him and tell him he's a good chin.

I think I'm doing the best by leaving him alone. But if there's any reason I should try something else, please tell me. I just don't want to put him through more stress and pain.

 

[Magic_FROST]

Its really important that you do get food into him. Hes not going to like it, they rarely ever do. He needs food going through his system though....cannot stress that enough.

He may be lethargic from the meds, and he may just not feel "right" or up to eating. You as him human need to help him with that.

 

[hildatk]

Chili showed some movement. He's no longer flatten out in the cage. He's sitting in a ball in the back corner. He moved slightly when he relocated his position. So the initial laying around on the side might only be the morphine.

So now I'll try to feed him in a bit along with his baytril. I'm not looking forward to pulling him out of his cage for his feeding. He didn't like it before. But he hasn't given up yet so I'll do what I can to help him recover.

Thanks for the ideas. I'll definitely try to thin out the critical care to make it easier to take. Any tips of feeding would be appreciated. The vet couldn't really show cuz he was so stressed already after the procedure. But they told me what to do. I'll definitely try later since he seems quite weak from lack of food. He only got 5ml of feed this morning.

Please send Chili some positive thoughts. Thanks.

 

[addictedtochins]

He needs a lot of food, I fed like 15-20 ml at least 4 times (every 6 hours day and night) and yeah that incl the stuff all over me and the couch
ETA give him simethicone (baby gas drops) and pro biotic capsules and gently rub his tummy. If you are not pro active he will get stasis and his gut will die very quickly. Good luck

 

[hildatk]

Chili is more active this morning. I couldn't get any food into him last night as he was panting whenever I get near him. He started running on his wheel even though he's very weak. I didn't want to push him more by feeding.

I found him on a shelf this morning next to the step I put. He seems to feel slightly better. I got him to take his Metacam, baytril and metoclopromide. And about 8ml of thinned out CC. I know it's not a lot but he was panting again. So we'll try again in a few hours.

Any tips on burrito-ing or hand feeding would be greatly appreciated. I want to try my best for him. Can we flavor the CC in some way? He doesn't seem to like the anise smell of it.

Also, has anyone heard a hacking sound from their chins after dental work? We're worried he got pneumonia from being in the vet office. Or you think it's him adjusting to his new teeth and swollen mouth.

Thanks for all the replies so far. I'm just very scared on this road to recovery.

 

[tunes]

You can add some canned, plain pumpkin to the CC to give it a bit of flavor and a few more calories as well.

As far as the hacking sound, it sounds like he may a respiratory issue going on, especially since he's panting. I don't know that there is a whole lot more that you can for him other than the Baytril he's already getting, but be sure the dose is strong enough to handle an infection of that type.

 

[hildatk]

Chili is on 0.3ml of Baytril twice a day. Will that be enough to help him fight off the respiratory infection?

I'll try to get some pumpkin and mix it in for his afternoon feeding. He seems more alert but still very weak. He's hopping around a little but hacking more whenever he moves. He still try to run on his wheel. Should I stop him?

 

[Cuddlebug]

Personally, I would remove the wheel. He needs what little food he gets to recover. If he uses it on the wheel, it will take longer for him to get better.

 

[ChinnyMom]

agreed, take out his wheel so he can direct his energy to getting better.

 

[hildatk]

Ok, I'll take the wheel out. He wasn't running on it that much. But I wasn't sure if I should take away his one joy.

And with pureed pumpkin. You think it's ok for Chili to eat plain pumpkin puree? I gave him some on a plate and he ate a bit. He won't touch the critical care I leave for him. He really doesn't like to be hand fed and only 5-7ml each time. I want to leave the pumpkin for him to eat if it's not too bad. Any food is better than none? Or will the pumpkin give him diarrhea or something?

Thanks for all the responses. Chili and I appreciate all of them. I'm working hard to keep him going and hopefully he'll recover soon.

 

[ticklechin]

What vet did you go to? Sounds like the chin may have aspirated during the procedure or had a bad reaction to the gas or something else, I question what went on during the procedure-chins should not be beat up during a filing meaning the bruising, if its the vet I think you went to I had the same thing happen to me, and many questions that went unanswered. I have been through 100s of filings and of all of them only one bad outcome so usually they go off without a hitch.

 

[hildatk]

We took Chili to Montclair Vet in Oakland and Dr Cythnia Lynn was the one that saw him. We called all around and they were the only one that would see chins around us. And Chilii wasn't eating so I had to find someone quick.

What does aspirated during the procedure means? And what harm does that cause? I didn't think the filing would make him so bad. He wasn't this bad before he went in for the procedure. So I know it's either the anesthesia or something went wrong.

On hindsight maybe I shouldn't have let them do the dental stuff until he's a bit stronger from handfeeding. But we thought Dr Lynn was ok as she seems to know how to handle chins. I think we did the best we could at the moment.

Chili seems to be a bit perkier today. He drank a tiny bit of water on his own. We're getting ready to feed him his meds and food. My biggest worry is I can't get enough food in him. He really have a hard time eating without wheezing.

Thanks again for any suggestions you all may have. I'm totally at lost and trying my best to help him through this.

 

[ticklechin]

Aspiration is when the chin comes awake suddenly in a panic and sucks drool into the lungs, its the only thing I can think of that would bring a URI on that quick, the molar extraction could have had pus in the sockets but that would take more time. The bruising could have been from the retractors and a paniced chin, molars usually if they are loose just pop out and should not have caused bruising.

 

[hildatk]

Just want to post an update. Chili is doing better. His coughing, hacking has decreased. So seems like the Baytril is working to help clear up his respiratory issue. I haven't really able to get him to eat anything (around 10-12 ml a day) until yesterday (a whopping 30 ml). He fights so much when syringe fed. I've tried adding pumpkin but he lost interest after the first day. So I'm just doing straight CC since don't want to waste precious space with sugary pumpkin. Am I pushing too much CC too quickly? I try to feed him at least 3 times a day so about 10-15ml each time.

The vet called to check on him and wanted to see him back. I'm really hesitant to bring him back since he was so stressed out by his last visit. Almost to the verge of death. I'm not sure what the vet can do for him at this point. More subQ fluid? I'm syringing water into him while feeding. So he look less dehydrated. I'm really not sure whether to take him back or not.

But the biggest issue here is he's still not pooping or eating on his own. There might have been tiny poos but I haven't really seen much. On a few occasion it looked like he was eating his poo. Is that normal for a chin that's recovering?

He's on baytril twice a day, metacam once a day, and metaclopramide 3 times a day. I really thought he should be pooping by now. I massage his belly whenever I get him out. Is there anything else I can try to get his gut moving?

Thanks everyone for your advice so far. We're staying hopeful but we really need to get Chili to eat and poop on his own. If you have any ideas, please let me know. We know he's not out of the woods but we want to try everything we can to help him pull through. Thanks in advance.