Stasis? Bloat? So many questions :(

[lianhua]

Hey everyone... Long time, no post (like 3 years...).

As some of you may remember, I'm Jess and I have a little extra black ebony chinnie named Sammie.

This past Monday night, I noticed he hadn't touched his food that I'd just refilled, so I cleaned his cage and started watch. The next morning, still no food eaten and no poop anywhere in the clean cage. So I took him to the vet, we have a pretty great one here in San Francisco that has a couple of DVMs that specialize in small/exotic animals. (I walked in and saw a parrot and a bunny in the waiting room, so immediately I felt relieved.)

The vet examined him; his teeth looked fine -- she didn't want to sedate him for the X-ray right away so she just looked in but she said from what she could tell his teeth look great -- so she thought it's something within the digestive system.

She prescribed Reglan (0.3ml 3x a day) and Metacam (0.2ml 1x a day), and gave me some Critical Care. (On suggestion of my breeder (Ryan from the defunct Furry Animals Oh My) I also bought some Lifeline, but didn't get that in until yesterday so I've only been giving that the past day.)

He seemed to be doing okay; hated taking the CC but I was able to get some into him. Still not eating on his own or pooping, though, so on Friday I called the vet again to ask what to do. She suggested upping the CC and continuing the meds, especially since he seemed to be doing okay and was pretty energetic.

Friday night, he ended up totally going after the CC and probably ate 30ml in one sitting. I was pretty excited, he seemed to be so much better.

Then yesterday (Saturday) it was rough getting him to eat, although he did seem to like the Lifeline once I was able to get that into him.

Last night, though, he started chirping/whimpering. :broken:

I still fed him as much as I could, but it only ended up being about 15-20ml, maybe. I heard him whimpering a couple of times before I went to bed.

This morning, he seems to be in pain. Still whimpering, and he's laying around. He still seems to have some energy, especially when I try to feed him and he doesn't want it. :\

Additionally, he seems to every once in a while strain/whimper and some discharge comes out. It smells pretty bad, and is kind of a reddish brown color (when on a white towel). I think he may have done some in his cage, too, as the place where he's been laying is kind of smelly, a similar smell. (I have him in his big playpen right now to see if I can see what it is a little better.)

I'm giving him tummy rubs and warm compresses every time I feed him.

I'm terrified that his stasis has turned into bloat.

Sorry, this is really long. I'm posting because I have lots of questions about all of this...

• How long does it generally take to get things moving again?
• What is the discharge?
• Is there anything I should add to his regimen? (Simethicone?)
• What should I be looking for, in general, as signs of good or bad as this progresses?
• Do I need to take him to the emergency vet today, with the whimpering and discharge? (The normal vet is closed today but the emergency vet cares for exotics/smalls too)
• How will I know if he's getting better?

 

[lianhua]

Forgot to mention -- at the first vet visit they also did blood work, and it came back fairly normal. Kidney function was a little off but not enough to be a concern, and liver function was also slightly outside normal range, which she said is probably due to him not eating.

 

[ticklechin]

The smell makes me believe he has some sort of infection either bacterial or parasitic, I would let the vet know about the smelly discharge and inquire about antibiotics. Simethicone won't hurt but may not help if the has is down low in the digestive tract. I hate bloat WAY more that I hate dealing with teeth, its unpredictable in the duration and outcome and I know the chin is in huge pain so I make it priority #1 when I deal with it.

 

[lianhua]

Thanks for the reply, Dawn. I was hoping you would show up! I know you've unfortunately had quite a bit of experience with this sort of thing.

This afternoon he's rolling and stretching, so definitely bloating. Poor guy.

I gave him a dropper of simethicone, hopefully that will start to help relieve some of his discomfort.

As far as the smelly discharge, I'll call the vet tomorrow morning (they open at 7, thankfully) to see about getting antibiotics. Would they be able to do a parasite/bacteria test without having any fecal matter?

Just to double-check, is it okay to wait until tomorrow to contact them about the discharge, or should I get him over to the emergency vet tonight?

 

[lianhua]

As an update, I went out tonight for a few hours and when I got home went to feed Sammie, his anus was covered in the discharge, which seemed more watery but redder. It smells really bad. I tried to clean him up and he seemed to be in a lot of pain whenever I would wipe near it.
I decided to take him to the emergency vet. They're keeping him overnight to do X-rays and give him sub-q fluids.
The vet took his temp rectally, which I was not expecting but was too shocked and worried to object to. I hope that doesn't make things worse. Sammie did not like it at all, but a piece of poo came out when he pulled the thermometer back out. I'm hoping that is some sort of twisted good sign or something.
So now I have to figure out some way to rest while worrying about my little guy.

 

[Chinmama]

Poor little guy. I hope he has improved and the e-vet can figure out what is going on.

 

[Jazicat]

I wish I had advice but just wanted to say I am sending Sammie healing thought.

 

[lianhua]

Sorry, this post is kind of all over the place, I realize. I cannot for the life of me get my thoughts straight with all of this stuff going on right now.

Anyway. Just got Sammie home from the e-vet. He's pooping a little, so that's good -- 4 or 5 on the ~15 min cab ride home. He seems to be straining a lot and in pain when doing so, though. I just checked on him now and it looks like he's in mid-poop, and keeps kind of convulsing/straining and squeaking to try to push it out.

Is this normal when coming out of stasis, for it to be difficult/painful to start things up again?

His anus seems a little swollen, but the discharge seems to be gone. Is it possible that he could be farting, though? When he strains, I definitely smell something, it smells like the discharge but there doesn't seem to be any more of that.

The vet said the X-rays looked pretty normal, no obstructions or blockages. He's concerned though because the intestines or intestinal walls look thicker than normal? (I don't remember if that's exactly what he said, it was early this morning and I had to rush to get to work.) He's concerned that it could be a sign of cancer. I don't even understand. I've looked at the x-rays and, while I'm no expert by any means, they look like what I've seen of "normal" chinchillas. I guess the intestines seem a little bulkier, but I'd expect them to be if they were full of poop he hasn't been able to get out...

The e-vet thinks I should get an ultrasound of his GI system. I'm waiting for the normal vet to call me back and let me know if she agrees and, if so, whether I should bring him in today. I don't even know if the ultrasound is necessary.

I don't think I like the e-vet. He didn't give me much information at all. I still don't know what the discharge was, but it's gone now.

Here are the x-rays. I haven't talked to the normal vet for her opinion yet on them, but I'm at my wits end so I'm just going to post them here too.
http://jessmhamilton.com/images/sammie/xray1.jpg
http://jessmhamilton.com/images/sammie/xray2.jpg
http://jessmhamilton.com/images/sammie/xray3.jpg

And just because I think this thread needs some lightening up, I present to you: Sammie in a Bucket. (This was to hold him while they weighed him at the initial vet visit, I was on guard and ready to snatch him out if he tried to chew.)

 

[ticklechin]

I had two that had tumors in the digestive tract-a father and son, the tumors did not encompass the entire tract, just a portion, they looked like a snake with a meal in it. The intestines in the xrays look swollen throughout, enteritis but caused by what, infection?-I am assuming the vet did a CBC as part of the blood work? I would get the ultrasound ASAP, alot of info is recieved from a ultrasound on the viability of the GI tract . (He is cute BTW)

 

[lianhua]

We've started him on antibiotics, mostly informed by the smell from earlier. He is pooping, albeit painfully. The poos are big and round and soft, and he seems to have trouble passing them. There were quite a few in the cage overnight. They're pretty smelly, though, still.
His anus seems swollen still but was a lot less red this morning.
As far as the ultrasound, we're going to give him 3 days on the antibiotics, then schedule it if he's not improving.
He took about 35ml of CC last night and another 20ml this morning, so his appetite is pretty good. Trying to pump him full of fiber!
The combo of smell + squishy poo makes me definitely think infection.
The vet didn't discuss anything called CBC with me so I'm not sure if it was included. I have a copy of the report but no idea how to read it... What does CBC stand for?

 

[Chinmama]

CBC is blood work - a complete blood count.

 

[lianhua]

Yep, I have a CBC report. Anything in particular I should be looking at/for?

Screenshots, in case anyone here can read them:
1: http://d.pr/i/SqQg
2: http://d.pr/i/W95p

 

[ticklechin]

With the blood counts looking pretty good as far as the white and red blood cells, this must be a parasitic infection since in that case the blood counts can be normal in most cases, what antibiotic did the vet RX? Something like panacur, flagyl or albendazole?

 

[lianhua]

She prescribed Enrofloxacin (which I've personally just learned is Baytril).

Is it possible that he could have developed the infection in the last couple of days, since the first vet visit and blood test? The smelliness didn't start right away (although it did appear that there was a little wax-like mucus around/in his anus maybe the second day, with no smell).

 

[lianhua]

Feeling optimistic this morning! His poos are going back to normal size/shape/color. They're still a little sticky and seem to be a little hard to pass, but they're looking a lot better. I sprinkled some Lifeline on his pellets and he almost FLIPPED, he only ate a couple of pellets but he looked so excited, haha.
The swelling/redness around his anus looks a lot less angry, too.
Overall, things are looking up! Cautiously optimistic over here.

 

[ticklechin]

If this was my chin based on my past experience I would want to use flagyl with the baytril to cover all bases, bacterial and parasitic. I use them when dealing with dental infections and they work well in some cases as a team.

 

[lianhua]

He's definitely pooping a lot more now. I cleared off the shelves last night and this morning there were a bunch all over the place. They're small, though, and pretty sticky (they're sticking to his tail/hindquarters), and he still seems to be in some pain when passing them.
Continuing CC/LL, antibiotics, reglan, pain meds. I think he's been eating some hay as well, so that's a good sign, and he took a couple of pellets from me. Planning on calling the vet tomorrow with an update and will ask about Flagyl.

 

[Anna35]

I hope he makes a quick recovery for you.

 

[lianhua]

The vet called me before I had a chance to call her! I asked about Flagyl, and she said she's seen a lot of chinchillas (and guinea pigs) get sick from it so she's hesitant to prescribe it unless he doesn't make a complete improvement on the Baytril. So I'm continuing with that for 7 more days and keeping her updated on the progress as we go.

Also continuing on reglan and metacam, for at least a couple more days. Still feeding the CC/LL mix (30ml this morning), but I believe he's been eating his hay a bit more, too, so hopefully that's not for too much longer!

Guess that means I get to teach my boyfriend how to give him his goodies, since I'm getting my wisdom teeth out in 6 days

Thanks everyone, especially Dawn, for the advice and well-wishes. Will keep updating as we go!!

 

[ticklechin]

There was a whole big flap years ago about Flagyl and use on chinchillas, the original "flapees" retracted the info, flagyl used correctly can be used, but its your vets decision that is who you ultimately listen too!

This quote courtesy of correspondence with CA Chins and reproduced here with permission:

"This was supposition on our part [the connection between Flagyl and liver failure in chinchillas] that has since not been borne out to be true. It was just a fluke on one or two chins, and Dr. Johnson has used Flagyl successfully for other problems on chins without liver failure. It is being removed from our [The Joy of Chinchillas] book, and should be removed from our web page. Time is an issue here. The other problem for giardia is now that Albendozole not only no longer works but has side effects that Dr. Johnson is not happy with, and Fenbendozole is fast becoming a problem as well. We have nothing to combat giardia with right now but prevention."

Every instance of the reported connection between Flagyl and liver failure in chinchillas that we have seen was taken from this single source; this retraction should be duly noted by those who still carry this information. Our exotics specialist vet has advised us that Flagyl should still be used with extreme caution, as it can cause liver toxicity and neurological damage in chins (and other animals as well) IF dosage and duration of use are not managed carefully.