Two weeks after filings; he wont eat...

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RockedByRequiem

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Peewee had filings two weeks ago, and I stopped force feeding last week. Since then, he has lost what weight he seemed to gain back during the week of force feeding. He is eating, but very little...

Here's the thing though...
He has improved DRASTICALLY in every other area. His energy level hasn't been higher in years, the watery eyes are completely non-existent, and his fur even looks nicer than it did before. The problem does not seem to be pain related to his teeth, because he's eagerly chewing up everything else. Treats, chew toys, the furniture (much to my dismay), etc...There are also certain behaviors he was exhibiting prior to the vet visit that he has completely dropped. He gives no indication that he is in pain.

I tried offering the critical care (without forcing) and he didn't want it. I called the vet he saw and she was quite nasty to me, probably because I questioned her knowledge of chinchillas and why she didn't do x rays. She didn't help me at all, just told me what she told me last time. Bring him back for his next appt, and if his teeth are in bad shape, or starting to indicate that they will be shortly, you're going to have to make a decision as to what you want to do (i.e. putting him down).

I don't understand what the issue is here, but he's pretty thin and I don't know what to do. Like I said, he's not starving himself, and he's not pushing his food out of the bowl, or chewing it up and spitting it out, like he did when he was clearly in pain. Any ideas what could be going on? Or suggestions for what I could do to entice him to eat more?

Thank you so much.
 
Is he on an anti-biotic at all? Don't know why he would be, but there are some vets who opt to give an anti-b after filings.
 
Yes, it was. Would his appetite still be suppressed a week after his last dose?
 
If he isn't eating on his own then you will have to force feed. He needs to keep his gut moving. I would grind up pellets and increase their size day by day or every couple of days until he is eating a pretty lumpy mixture. Maybe he really enjoyed being handfed and needs to be "weaned" off it. If he doesn't eat on his own after a few days of this regimen I would get a second opinion. Sounds like you got a vet who isn't too concerned about the welfare of your chinchilla...
 
If he's not eating, whether he's interested or not, you're going to have to burrito him and force feed him. It's not pleasant at first, but most chins adjust to it after a few feedings. In case he would need to go back in for a trimming, or in case his gut is messed up and that's why he's not wanting to eat, you need to get him gaining weight again so that he can physically deal with whatever comes next.
 
It looks like my Eenie has the same problem. He got his teeth filed two weeks ago, is now chewing on hay bars, but would not eat on his own. My doctor thinks the combination of all the medication he was on gave him gas, so now he has a case of GI stasis. I have to being him in everyday for fluid. This morning his poop was still small and dry. Other than having no appetite at all, Eenie looks fine.
One thing I remembered from another vet was that chinchillas need a certain kind of good bacteria in their system to digest the hay. Maybe our chinchillas lost that balance in their guts from not eating regularly? I'm waiting on my doctor to call back and talk about this issue. I will let you know what she says.. Best of luck with your chinnie!!
 
try a combo of 1/2 critical care and 1/2 ground up pellets. you may need to add a little canned pumpkin to improve the consistancey. just a little at a time. or baby food squash works well and it comes in the smaller jars. not too much or it will give gas.
you do need to make sure he eats and perhaps add a little gas drops the first day or so since he is not used to it.

my chin hates the critical care. as soon as he smells it he wiggles away, but the crushed pellets he is fine with.

i pm'd you the info on dr goode. perhaps a visit to her may give you a 2nd opinion.
 
Chilli refused to eat his CC today and squeaked bloody murder at me because I mixed in some pellet crumbs.
Stinker.
 
I would also try getting some Life Line from Chocolate Chinchillas to mix in with his food. My chin with malo has to have his teeth ground every six weeks. I'm fortunate because he LOVES critical care and will eat right out of the syringe while in his cage. He'll also eat moist crushed pellets. I mix life line in with his critical care in the syringe, and the crushed pellets. Since I started doing this his appetite seems to have increased dramaticly and he has gained a lot of weight that he initially lost due to his tooth problems.
 
My Girl had Malo before, touch wood that happened already 7-8 years ago.

She was not drooling, she was just not eating. I brought her to the vet, and she had teeth trimmed starting from that day. She was on Baytril after the 1 st trimmed for 10 days. She just ate a little on her own and I had to force feed her.

I couldn't remembered the exactly time, but she stopped feed on her own after 2-3 times, pellets, treats or hay, what she ate was critical care. We had confirmed with the vet that she didn't had any infections which happened before, and the molars were fine. No one knew that why she's not eating on her own.

I had to bring her to the vet every week as I couldn't knew when her molars would be overgrown. Once another vet found "pus at lat side of mouth lat to max molars" (I just copied from the medical records the vet gave me), everything seems fine after cleaning the pus. I remembered that she had teeth trimmed every couple of week...It's a very hard time :cry3: everything looked fine, but she's not eating on her own, what I could do was feeding critical care, and fortunately, she loves that very much and she would eat right out of the syringe while in her cage.

After trying lots of brands' pellets and hay, she started to eat after 3 months from her 1st trimmed. She was 5 years old and she is 13 years old, feeding on her own.

I was just guessing she refused to feed on her own due to...how to say...she was afraid of chewing because she always remembered that she would get pain when she chewed, I forcus this out when my 4 wisdom teeth were extracted in the same surgery 2 years before, of course I couldn't chewed on anything for the first few days, and I was afraid on chewing on food for a whole week because I thought chewing on food would be very painful...
 
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