When it rains it pours..........

[6Dusters]

Update on Sunni: She was a very good girl at the doctor and woke up just fine. The molars were ground off. They were growing sideways over the top of her tongue. She is drooling a bit this morning and has received her Metacam. I will give her two doses today as the vet said I could. Looks like I will hand feed her until I jump start her back on eating. Thank you for all your wonderful well wishes. Olivia and Sunni are my rescues and have been here for 4 1/2 years. I adopted them out for a short period of time last fall and the new owner had a family crisis and was no longer able to care for them. Glad they are back home with me. I also posted an update on Jack on his Thread.
To Michelle: thanks for the pm. Best wishes to little Richie.

 

[6Dusters]

Sunni is giving me quite a bit of trouble feeding. She fights me and despite a "burrito" wrap, she hardly seems happy about feeding. I've mixed a bit of bannana into the CC. She will eat a raisen. Small one. I'm wonderfing how long it will take before she wants to eat on her own. I have ground pellets and put lots of different hay in the cage. Any thoughts? She is so thin. I just wonder how long to try to keep up this up. Sighs.

 

[mishellyshel]

I will give you the advice that someone gave me here when richie was being a PITA to handfeed......ignore the peeps. Force feed her to get her weight up. I used the crused pellets and either baby food squash or canned pumpkin. I make enough to last a few days. I also grind up some of my crushed up rosehips for taste & benfits.
I am still handfeeding richie 4 months later but i always leave fresh hay & food in his cage every nite....just in case. the burrito wrap really didnt work for me, but i use a dishtowel and wrap it around him like a cape, that way it catches the food but he doesnt feed too restricted. I get 60cc's in him each feeding at 3 feedings a day, so he is eating good! I can send you a pic of how i feed him if you want....just pm me.

 

[Claire D]

Is Sunni on any pain relief?
Did they do Xrays to check the roots?

Sometimes it takes a while for a chin to get used to their "new bite" after dental surgery. Also, there can be some discomfort from having treatment so pain relief is important.
It can be a challenge getting chins eating again after dentals and every chin reacts differently to being fed but you need to persevere and find a way which suits both of you. Some people have great success with the wrapping technique (burrito) and some don't. Try some different methods until you find the one that suits you both - some chins prefer to be facing their owner to be fed, some are happy lying down, some prefer to face away from you, and some will even sit and are happy to take food from a spoon or syringe.
The one big bit of advice I'd give is take your time - I know it can be frustrating but the more uptight we get the harder it is to feed a chin. Try to relax (easier said than done I know!) and take it slowly. Little an often can be a good way to go.

Please keep us posted - Good luck :crossfingers:

 

[6Dusters]

Thank you for the advice. This is the second chin I've hand fed and she is a pistol. ( guess thats good ) I have to wrap her in a dish towel for the metacam. After that I let her sit with her front paws on my hand. Today was baby apple puree instead of mashed bannana. I'm going to stick to the apple puree next mix up. I think she likes it better. This job is as tough as getting the cats to take a pill!!!

 

[mishellyshel]

in the beginning i tried the baby food pears and there is also a baby food that is apple, banana, pears that i still will put 1 tsp in a few days worth.
i also feed like claire said, sitting away from me and just like sunni, rich puts his little paw on my finger. so cute.

 

[Parkerspetchins]

Ugh. Dental issues, the worst. Hope all your chins do well. I have the best luck using a football grip with my girl. I tuck her bum in my armpit, and hold her front paws with my hand and then I feed her at eye level to the side of me with my other hand. She feels well supported and doesn't squirm. Every chin is different but I thought I would throw my method in the mix ). Good luck!!

 

[mishellyshel]

i posted pix in this thread of how i feed richie

http://www.chins-n-hedgies.com/forums/showthread.php?t=7953

 

[ChilliPepper]

I am going to quit my whining now. I am truly feeling blessed that 4 days after having his tooth filed, Chilli ate almost all of his pellets last night. I ended up not going to the vet to get the CC- some bosses are just not that understanding and with layoffs looming, well...
But he is eating and taking apple sticks and pooping.
I wish you the best of luck. I understand what you mean about her fighting you- I posted on my thread how upset I am at the whole process of giving Chilli his meds. I cannot for the life of me get the towel to stay around his flailing little paws.

 

[ChilliPepper]

Ugh. Dental issues, the worst. Hope all your chins do well. I have the best luck using a football grip with my girl. I tuck her bum in my armpit, and hold her front paws with my hand and then I feed her at eye level to the side of me with my other hand. She feels well supported and doesn't squirm. Every chin is different but I thought I would throw my method in the mix ). Good luck!!

So what is holding the spinning head? Maybe my hands are just too small, lol. I can't reach the head and the paws with the same hand.

 

[Parkerspetchins]

Lol, I only have to hold her front paws, the back ones are tucked in my arm. Maybe I am just lucky because my girl does not squirm when I hold her firmly like this lol. I can hold her head and hold her front paws though and I have pretty small hands too .

 

[6Dusters]

Update: Sunni is still not her vibrant little self. However each day she appears to be a bit better and eager to see me. We made it past the hand feedings. She is now eating CC mixed with the baby stage one organic apple puree and water. She now likes to eat it out of a bowl. She prefers it "runny".

 

[Parkerspetchins]

That's good news, hope she continues to improve ).

 

[6Dusters]

Update: Sunni is eating on her own. And today she finally accepted a piece of applewood and was eating it with care. Thanks everyone for your well wishes. Nothing fun about a chin with teeth problems.

 

[lauralynne]

Yay Sunni!

 

[ChinchillaSteve]

Glad to hear about the improvement
Good luck!

 

[mishellyshel]

that is fantastic news!! yay sunni!!