Very worried about chin in stasis - Balance issues?

[Mt. Zion Chins]

wonderful - yay for poops. It is funny how much we love poops

 

[chincinnati]

So glad to hear the poo report, with a side of perk!

 

[EMSChins]

Today has started out well. Cage full of poo, standing at the door waiting for me. Trying his best to wall surf which is not the easiest thing to do with head tilt and associated balance issues. Not too interested in his critical care this morning or in the middle of the night but has been munching on his hay. His weight is down from yesterday, he is 468 today, yesterday he was 480. He was 470 when I brought him home so I am not too concerned. As I said in yesterdays post he wasn't pooping so I think the 20 gms he gained overnight yesterday was all critical care he couldn't move out of his system. All in all I see an improvement - we will see what today brings!

 

[ticklechin]

Whoooo hoooooo, poooooo!!!!!

 

[EMSChins]

Tickle - how much CC would you say that he should be eating at this point? Is there a way to make it more appealing to him? At first he gobbled it up, now he just turns his head away from it and pushes the syringe away with his paws.

 

[Brittany]

:dance3: <-- my YAY POOP dance!

 

[mishellyshel]

glad to hear he is pooping.

if he isnt eating any pellets than his critical care consumption should be at the minimum 60cc's, preferably about 90 - 120 cc's. this is usally broken between 3 - 5 feedings depending on your time constraints. i always did 3 feedings. filled up 6 of the 10cc syringes and would feed my chin until he stopped. sometimes he would eat all 6 at a feeding and sometimes just 3. it is best to have them lined up and ready. i would just squirt what he didnt eat back in the bowl. i would mix enough to last for the day.

 

[ticklechin]

Tickle - how much CC would you say that he should be eating at this point? Is there a way to make it more appealing to him? At first he gobbled it up, now he just turns his head away from it and pushes the syringe away with his paws.

I feed CC depending on how much is needed to maintain weight, I have had chins maintain on 60ml a day, I have had them need 120ml a day to maintain, that is how I do it. I usually will start with the 60ml and work up from there. They will usually eat at least 20ml per feeding if it is not a gut issue. If this was just a dental chin with no GI issues I would say try to add things, but I personally would not add anything since CC does the best with GI chins and they really should not have anything else. When I deal with gut issues, I feed 10ml meals all day long, every 2-3 hours. They don't feel good and the gut does not feel good so I find that small meals work best and the gut has food in it to process and keep contracting all the time which means poo all day long. I will feed one at midnight to just keep a eye on the chin and keep food in the gut.

 

[EMSChins]

Okay, I will keep trying. He is only taking about 25 cc's in a 24 hr period. I am feeding every 3 hours around the clock. He is refusing to swallow it now, it just oozes out of his mouth. He loves his Benebac and his simethicone so I think it is a taste preference. Not sure what to do if I shouldn't mix it with anything. At first he was eating it if I placed it at the tip of his mouth, now i am having to place it in the cheek pocket (for lack of a better explanantion). Is there a video link or better explanantion of how to syringe feed anywhere on here? I have looked and can't seem to find one.

 

[ticklechin]

Here are a couple I made

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lva6ovCKvv0

And Lu pre-handfeeding addiction:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZfRkg5sJ2QU

 

[Brittany]

Okay, I will keep trying. He is only taking about 25 cc's in a 24 hr period. I am feeding every 3 hours around the clock. He is refusing to swallow it now, it just oozes out of his mouth. He loves his Benebac and his simethicone so I think it is a taste preference. Not sure what to do if I shouldn't mix it with anything. At first he was eating it if I placed it at the tip of his mouth, now i am having to place it in the cheek pocket (for lack of a better explanantion). Is there a video link or better explanantion of how to syringe feed anywhere on here? I have looked and can't seem to find one.

Sounds like you're on the right track. If he's already getting simethicone maybe try dipping the tip of the CC syringe in simethicone to 'trick' him into eating it? I know some members have done that.

When I force feed I carefully stick the syringe in the side of the mouth past the cheek pocket and over the tongue so they can't spit it out. If the food is just oozing out of his mouth maybe try smaller squirts at a time? When Lily wanted to be difficult she was a champ at pushing the food out with her tongue, the trick was to get it far enough back so that she couldn't do that. It took me awhile to figure out a rhythm, but once I got it down it became much eaiser. Good luck!

 

[EMSChins]

Thanks! That helps to know that I am doing it correctly - I will just have to be a little more pushy with him! BTW - mine looks just like LU!!!

And...I just got 10 cc's into him and he did not like it one little bit!

 

[EMSChins]

Update on my little Champ! He is eating a little more of the CC yesterday and today, of course I have gotten a little more assertive with him as well. Yesterday I got a total of 49 cc's into him as opposed to 23 cc's the previous day. His weight is at 470 gms which is what it was when I brought him home from Nationals on the 14th. Poop is not completely normal but is definitely better and I actually found some flung out of the cage and onto the floor this morning! He just runs around in circles in his little 16X21X12cage trying to wall surf and I guess that is when he flings the poop. His head tilt is unchanged but he has adapted somewhat and is not falling over quite so much, he has a permanent puzzled expression as he looks at me. He will be finishing up his injectable meds over the next two days and I have a call into the new vet to see what she recommends.

He has found his love of being a chin again, digging and flipping in his dust bath and running around the bathroom. Dare I hope???

I have two questions for those experienced with syringe feeding CC. Does anyone have a trick to keep syringes from sticking after you have used them a few times? I don't have enough to throw them out but it is becoming increasingly difficult to push the CC mixture through the syringe smoothly - often it seems like nothing will come out and then all of a sudden a big squirt will come out all over my chins face - poor thing!

Also, any tricks to cleaning up the chins face after you have squirted it all over them or they have let it drool out of their mouths? i have tried a warm wash cloth but that only works to a certain point. My beautiful boy is getting a little crusty looking!

 

[ticklechin]

I re-purpose the syringes when they get skuzzy to use. I buy them by the dozens from www.calvetsupply.com, the 10ml syringe is only .37 cents and nothing will make a feeding session end quicker than a face full of CC! For the cc bib on the chest, I will moisten the area with warm water, comb out the mats and then blow dry on low while combing-yeppers, you end up with a P.o.ed but white chin again!

 

[Brittany]

I have two questions for those experienced with syringe feeding CC. Does anyone have a trick to keep syringes from sticking after you have used them a few times? I don't have enough to throw them out but it is becoming increasingly difficult to push the CC mixture through the syringe smoothly - often it seems like nothing will come out and then all of a sudden a big squirt will come out all over my chins face - poor thing!

I am SOOO happy to see your update. I'm praying you'll see some improvement on the head tilt soon. I had the exact same syringe problem (what a nightmare) My local cat & dog vet would sell my the large 30cc syringes for $2 each. I bought several to hold me over until my nice syringes came in. If you need to order syringes you might be able to get a few from a local vet until your order arrives?

 

[EMSChins]

Brittany - did you just get regular oral syringes or something that you found was better? Did you order from same place as Dawn or find a place that was closer to us?

 

[ticklechin]

These are the syringes I use, amazon has them for .22 cents. I find after 1000s of hand feeding sessions on a dozen or so chins that these work best for hand comfort, control and the size does not freak the chin out.

http://www.amazon.com/Monoject-Oral-Medication-Syringe-Tip/dp/B001AIKUZG

 

[EMSChins]

Awesome - that is even better than the 0.37 cents! You have outdone yourself Dawn! This size will probably work best for me too since when I first started giving him meds I used an insulin syringe that I had on hand and in the process of trying to remove the needle I "fish hooked" my right index finger. Now I think I have permanent nerve damage and pushing a syringe has not been so easy for the past 10 days!

 

[Brittany]

I ordered mine from Sarah Ralston (quality mutation chinchillas) before she went out of business. I ordered 3, and my first one is still in perfect condition even after a lot of use. Her C&H user name is RCR if you want to look into it.

Dawn's place has some great prices, and Dawn is definitely the expert on handfeeding. Thousands of feedings? I can't even begin to imagine.

 

[Stackie]

I also use the syringes Dawn linked to. I would fill them up before hand though so inpatient chins didn't lose interest because I had to fill up a syringe. I have used the larger syringes in the past, but those seem to work the best.