Weird Mouth Movements... among other things.

[Anna]

I just can't seem to get it right with these guys! : (

Ralphy had some sniffles so I took him in and the vet wanted to get him a fecal float to see if he had giardia, because Furby had it recently. And he did. Well he's been on his medication and I know that the medicine for the minor URI Baytril, causes loss of appetite. Anyway Ralphy went from being such a little fatty to not eating anything. He was also lying around in his hidey house all night, which is unusual for him. I took him out and put him in his playpen so I can monitor him better and hand feed him. I can barely get any Critical Care in him. Nevertheless I am trying, just started today and only got like 10 CCs in him, I'll try more later. But when I put him back in his pen, he just sat there again, in the corner. He looks really funky, and was opening his mouth and pawing at it, really randomly right after I gave him the Critical Care. I would take him in now but the E-vet here sort of doesn't know anything about chins. I will take him in again tomorrow if this keeps up through the night. Anyone have any suggestions about what I can do to help him? Furby was sick and all but he never had any overnight transformations. Is it normal for them to just stop eating completely overnight?

 

[alli713]

How fast are you getting the CC into him? He could be essentially choking on it if you're forcing it into him too fast. Or if he is getting it on his face he may be trying to paw it off.

Are you still giving the oral Baytril? If so, make sure and follow it up with something tasty to wash the nasty taste away. This is the one case where I'd say a raisin would be okay.

Is he eating any hay?

 

[tunes]

Not all chins are excited to be hand fed. I've had chins where it's taken me a week or more to get them to stop fighting me on the use of the critical care. You just have to persevere. As Allison said, just be sure you're not choking him. Chins cannot throw up, and they can aspirate very easily, so be patient but firm and use small amounts at a time.

When I had chins on Baytril, I just used the CC as a chaser. There isn't enough probiotic in the CC for me to worry about it, so I just gave the probiotic separately. The CC washed the nastiness down easily.

It may also be that your chin just flat doesn't like the CC. There are a lot of chins that don't. If that might be the case, I would recommend trying Essentials for life, which you can find here: http://www.fuzzieskingdom.com/herbs/remedies/syringe-feeding.html I plan to keep both on hand, the CC and the EFL. I think that just like some chins like Mazuri and some don't, the same issue may occur with CC. Some just don't like it.

 

[Anna]

How fast are you getting the CC into him? He could be essentially choking on it if you're forcing it into him too fast. Or if he is getting it on his face he may be trying to paw it off.

Are you still giving the oral Baytril?

No, I can't get it in easily. I will get a small drop in and he will move his head away. And I'll get another in, and so on. It took me like 20 minutes to get the whole syringe in.
I stopped giving Baytril to him yesterday, after it had been 5 days. I noticed he was acting funny, not lethargic exactly, but different. And that he hadn't touched his pellets, nor his hay even when I put a new handful in! So I sprinkled some oats and rose hip on his pellets as my final test and he didn't touch it!

It's weird. When I first got him he was a bit stressed out about his new environment so I hand fed Critical Care because he didn't eat much. And he didn't turn it down. You may be right, Tunes about him not liking it. I'll order the EFL, but what can I do to make it taste better for him in the meantime?

 

[Anna]

And no, he won't eat anything, Alli. I have tried All sorts of hay, timmy, oat, alfalfa... even treats like Shreddies and the Oxbow Treats and all his favorite things! But little pieces, not the whole thing. Errggh. Even Furby took treats when he was sick!

 

[mishellyshel]

my chin absolutely HATES critical care. i have been handfeeding him for a year and every once in a while i run low on my mix or like yesterday mixed it too thin, so i add a little critcal care to thicken it up.........he wont eat it. ( i keep the CC on hand for my other boys). you can try to add a small amount of baby food squash OR canned plain pumpkin. i ended up crushiing his pellets with a coffee grinder, adding filtered water and some baby food squash or canned pumpkin and he eats it right up.
as soon as he smells the CC, he turns his head.
the scratching at his mouth could be that he is wiping off the CC or he doesnt like it in his mouth, or he has something stuck in his tooth (doubtful if he isnt chewing wood) or maybe he has tooth problems (not sure if you posted this in the past)
some people also drizzle some black strap molasses to "sweeten" up the cc.
if it was me, i would do the following.....in order:
1. try the blackstrap molasses (just a little) added to CC
2. try the squash or pumpkin added to CC (again just a small amount....start with Teaspoon)
3. try the crushed pellets with a little pumkin
4. order the essentials that peggy gave you a link to above.

 

[Anna]

Thank you Michelle! Hmm. I can pick up molasses tomorrow but tonight maybe I'll crush up his PANR, which is what I have been feeding him and add pumpkin, until I get the EFL or molasses. He doesn't have tooth problems, I had him full body X-Rayed, (including his head) when he was grinding his teeth a few times a while back, to make sure there wasn't some reason for him to do that. He still chews things, just doesn't seem as interested in running around or playing with things.

 

[Anna]

Okay. He is starting to cooperate more tonight, I got 40 ccs in him tonight! : )

 

[addictedtochins]

I used a little bit of baby food prune puree in my handfeeding mixture. I'm glad you got more food into him tonight.

 

[Anna]

I plan on picking up some canned pumpkin, black strap and baby food one of these days, but amidst my wave of midterms, it is hard to get to a store. he liked critical care before i don't know why he wouldn't anymore. but he did willingly eat it off the syringe tonight.

 

[Luci]

its great that youre finally getting more in him! since the whole experience is new to him, maybe he was a bit freaked out by it. a few weeks ago when i was hand feeding gizmo, he hated the whole process but after a while, it got easier to hold him, to give the CC, everything. and yea, he pawed at his mouth, but that was because id miss it sometimes (funny story-it once shot out at his cheek...he wasnt amused).

i used pumpkin and he was ok with the taste. he just doesnt like being held or prodded with a syringe. i remember reading one of stacie's posts about dipping the tip of the syringe in simethicone. it kinda tastes like bubble gum? i dunno, it reminded me of a pink flavor. but that has a better taste and makes sure gas doesnt develop.

and as a side note, my vet gave me good tasting baytril. it was grape flavored. i tasted it and it seemed ok. and gizmo took it happily.

 

[Anna]

He may have been, yeah. He definitely seemed more comfortable with it last night, I'll try to give him more tonight. He's a nice chubby guy and I'm not worried about him losing a lot of weight, especially since his no eating has only lasted like 2 days. I will try for 50 ccs and maybe more on Friday. I added some LifeLine to the mixture as well as a small drop of Dyne, so maybe that helped him like it more too. I will try the simethicone idea too. Thanks for all the advice!

I would also like to add that he ate the pieces of shreddie and rose hips i put in his cage by himself!

 

[Anna]

Well, this is funny. He put up SUCH a fight with the handfeeding tonight. So I put him back in the cage while I went to wash off the critical care and I came back and he was munching away on his pellets. Chins are so weird. : )