Very Underweight Chin...

[Ristarwen]

Okay, so, I brought Suki to the vet.
They weighed her, did a quick physical, and checked her teeth. She weighs 393, has perfect teeth, and is perfectly healthy, though a bit on the slim side...that was it. The vet said to just give her some more time. And ya know what the li'l stinker did on the way home? Ate some pellets. Sheesh...
So I guess I'll just give her a little time. She's very high energy, always leaping around her cage. She doesn't seem in any way lethargic, even the smallest bit. So, I'll just keep supplementing with Lifeline and give her time to figure it out.

 

[saphire]

:hmm: Difficult one Saphire - The chin has been eating pellets - the difficulty is in deciding whether the chin will hold out for OCC and not eat pellets. It's a tough one for sure.

I don't know if this makes sence, but surely someone can give me some input on this.

In a situation like this, when a chin is not wanting to eat other than treats or not want to eat periode. I figure that if you start off with 10ml of CC every 4 hours you sort of enlarge the stomach. Right? So when you decrese the intake of CC, would they not want eventually eat pellets to fill up more? A little like us.

I don't know but , it has worked for me here... although I have not done hundreds. I'am just wondering if that can work or I am just way out and have just been lucky with my chins.

 

[Claire D]

Okay, so, I brought Suki to the vet.
They weighed her, did a quick physical, and checked her teeth. She weighs 393, has perfect teeth, and is perfectly healthy, though a bit on the slim side...that was it.

393g Wow! That's very very small.

Did the vet do Xrays or take bloods or stool samples?
Without those you still have no clue as to what is going on with your chinny - even with those tests sometimes the results can be inconclusive but at least you are ruling problems out.

I'd afraid I'd be after a second opinion with a chinchilla competent vet.

:hmm: Difficult one Saphire - The chin has been eating pellets - the difficulty is in deciding whether the chin will hold out for OCC and not eat pellets. It's a tough one for sure.

I don't know if this makes sence, but surely someone can give me some input on this.

In a situation like this, when a chin is not wanting to eat other than treats or not want to eat periode. I figure that if you start off with 10ml of CC every 4 hours you sort of enlarge the stomach. Right? So when you decrese the intake of CC, would they not want eventually eat pellets to fill up more? A little like us.

I don't know but , it has worked for me here... although I have not done hundreds. I'am just wondering if that can work or I am just way out and have just been lucky with my chins.

I can appreciate your logic and yes, potentially it can work - but some chins can be very very stubborn and hand feeding/stopping can be risky - for example, a chin who holds out for treats/OCC can drop more weight - the risk is that they will lose a dangerous amount and then you're stuck trying desperately to get weight back on the chin which usually involves more OCC, Lifeline etc (all tasty foods) - so then it's a vicious circle because they are full of OCC and do not want to eat pellets/hay.
The other thing which needs to be considered is the weight of the chin initially - this little girl is 393g and that's pretty teeny so any drop in weight could be a real problem.
It's a tough call. :hmm:

Sometimes with these little creatures you're damned if you do and damned if you don't. :huh:

 

[Rickman]

I think I'd try mixing powdered pellets with the C.C. and LifeLine, and gradually get to all powdered pellets, and stop! Once she realizes pellets are the same, she might figure it's no problem!!
Worth a try!

 

[Ristarwen]

The vet did not do any x-rays or blood or stool samples. Her teeth look externally healthy, and she is able to eat pellets and chew on sticks...she just doesn't seem to want the pellets. Like I said, though, the vet does want me to come in again if she drops any more weight, and they would do further testing then.

Does anybody know of a good exotics vet in the Ithaca, NY area? I took her to the Cornell Vet School, because I'm an undergrad at Cornell, but it seemed really expensive ($65 for a simple exam?) and I know that the next time I take her in, the same vet most likely won't be working with her. It also seemed like thye saw more rabbits and birds than anything else. I'm going to be going to vet school eventually, but taking my own animal to one makes me a bit anxious. The other vets in Ithaca only work with small or large animals, as far as I could tell.

 

[starleomach]

You could also get some Calf manna and give her a bit of that. I have used that with underweight rescue chinchillas and recovering animals along with the lifeline to help. Keep in mind lifeline is great but it is not a food replacement, it is designed to help with the digestion process and often encourages the chinchillas to eat so I would give calf manna along with the lifeline. but feed the lifeline in a seperate dish from the food often it is so yummy to them they will dig out the pellets looking for more.

As for 65 for a normal exam sounds sadly average...

 

[Ash]

The only way to rule out a tooth problem 100% is by xrays. If there's a problem with her roots growing, the vet wouldn't be able to diagnose that by a visual exam. Also, chins' teeth tend to be hard to look at anyway visually unless the vet was extremely experienced, since chins don't normally sit still for an exam like that.

 

[Ristarwen]

She is eating some pellets, though, so I think that's counter-indicative of a tooth problem. And yes, I know Lifeline is just a supplement. She still has free access to her PANR and hay.

If I were to get some Calf Manna, how much would I feed? Would it go along-side her pellets? I'm rather hesitant at this point to mess with her diet too much more...after changing her pellets twice in a two-month span, handfeeding, and starting on Lifeline...

 

[Rickman]

I used to use Calfmanna/Mazuri mix on the recommendation from the original breeder I bought my first pedigreed chins from.They had no problems if I ran out and had to feed one or the other. It was when I switched to PANR the herd gained 10 - 15%!
Seems like this one is being super picky!!
It's not like you can try a variety of 6 or more and see what she likes without taking chances!
This one's a tuffy!

 

[Brittney]

She must be tiny! Bryson is a petite male, but he is around 680 grams.. maybe he's just fat He's on Mazuri with Acidophilus sprinkled on top. He finishes a bowl every night, but he is not gaining weight or losing weight, which is good, but he's only been on it for a couple of weeks. Even if you say she is eating her food, you should still get her checked to rule out teeth problems. I always thought PANR was supposed to bulk them up? hmm, yeah, get an x-ray to rule that out and also maybe find a second oppinion, if that's not the problem, then I guess she's just a petite little girl.

 

[starleomach]

I give a pinch of calf manna.

 

[saphire]

393g Wow! That's very very small.
I can appreciate your logic and yes, potentially it can work - but some chins can be very very stubborn and hand feeding/stopping can be risky - for example, a chin who holds out for treats/OCC can drop more weight - the risk is that they will lose a dangerous amount and then you're stuck trying desperately to get weight back on the chin which usually involves more OCC, Lifeline etc (all tasty foods) - so then it's a vicious circle because they are full of OCC and do not want to eat pellets/hay.
The other thing which needs to be considered is the weight of the chin initially - this little girl is 393g and that's pretty teeny so any drop in weight could be a real problem.
It's a tough call. :hmm:

Sometimes with these little creatures you're damned if you do and damned if you don't. :huh:

thanks for your input Clair, and yes at 393 I agree that you don't want the weight to go down.

 

[Ristarwen]

She just started on the PANR, so I wouldn't be surprised to not see any weight gain yet. And she is petite, but she has a larger frame than the boys...she doesn't feel nice and chubby, she feels thin and bony. I just weighed her, and she's in at just about the same weight...390...which isn't a big enough difference to be concerned over. She's eating some pellets (roughly 1tbs/day and hay, so lets just cross our fingers and hope for the best. I'll keep everyone updated on her progress.

 

[saphire]

Well a table spoon of pellets and hay, at least she's eating, sooo that's good. My fingers are crossed for her to take more in.

 

[Ristarwen]

Suki is now eating roughly 3/4 of her pellets each day!!! That's nearly 1-1/2 tablespoons! It's very exciting. I also just weighed her last night and she came in at 399 grams, so she gained nearly ten grams in a week! I'm really happy with her progress (as little as it is...) and really hope that it continues. Now that she seems to have figured it out, maybe she'll gain a little faster. Thank you everyone for all of your help!!!