After Dental Surgery Help

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Lovelywhiskers

Well-known member
Joined
Apr 11, 2014
Messages
71
My chinchilla Moxxi got dental surgery yesterday and I've been through this before with her. This time is a bit different. So after I brought her home in a carrier from the vets she was active when bringing her home. I fed her some of the critical care and she ate it easily. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3XB2fCx85ug

She also went from being active, to sleeping all the time. I'm assuming that's from the surgery.

I tried feeding her later on that night she did not want to eat anymore, so I had to force feed her. This morning I had to force feed her again, and in the afternoon. As vet said she should be getting about 3-5ml of critical care. How could she go from willingly to eat her food as shown in video. To not wanting it in her mouth one bit? I know she might be still in pain, but her meds should've helped her with that. Give me some ideas, I'm getting lost.
 
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Hopefully they gave pain med for you to use at home too? If not that may well be why she's not eating(everything they gave at office is out of system by evening). Also did they give her any antibiotics either at the office or send some home? A few chin safe antibiotics are notorious for killing appetite even with one dose>
 
she's on 3 different meds.

Metacam
Emeprid Oral
Baytril Oral

Not to mention her attitude has changed less active, and she just sits still on me until I force feed her food/meds.
She sometimes goes by the regular food bowl with the other chinchillas but she just doesn't pick up anything.
I haven't seen her drink water. (Unfortunately I can't watch her 24 hrs)
I haven't seen her make a poop. She has peed today.
 
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The likely culprit is the Baytril. Its most common side effect is loss of appetite, and in my experience at least, it hits hard. I had to stop using it on my chin after only a few days, well short of the prescribed treatment. That, and/or the pain medication may be causing the lethargy as well. There's only a handful of chin-safe antibiotics but perhaps you could ask your vet for a different one, perhaps Metronidazole? Best of luck to you and Moxxi :)
 
We're going to our follow up appointment tomorrow. I'm going to have to tell her everything about my poor moxxi. I wish she was back to normal. This time around is a terrible one. :(

So today she mainly slept again for the 3rd day :(. I bought her a few things to eat. Some flat peas, and dried carrots. She attempted to eat both. A few of the peas and some of the dried carrot. I forced fed her a bit with critical care for her meds.

But thank you for your feed back. I always feel like I'm not the best when it comes to getting animals better. But as vet said, it's completely up to Moxxi to try to overcome this and get better.

This has been hurting me seeing her so sick. As I always want whats best for my animals. I always spend so much time looking things up and Im at a stop now on what I should do. I hope tomorrow I get a answer.
 
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Baytril is the likely culprit. It's notorious for messing with appetite. The Emeprid is the US equivalent to Reglan which is for stimulating the upper gi tract and for nausea(vet probably prescribed this in hope that Baytril wouldn't kill the appetite). You will have to be very aggressive with the feedings. I believe 45ml a day is the bare minimal that can help avoid gi statsis which in itself can kill a chin. You may try encouraging to eat it by adding a bit of plain(not the RTU pie filling that is probably near it on the store shelf)pumpkin to the mixture. Also some chins will willingly eat the cc/pumpkin/water mixture straight off the spoon if it is thicker. Some chins like their feedings at room temp or a little warmer. Warm the already mixed feeding in the syringe place in a bag then down in warm water just like warming baby formula) and of course always check that it's not too hot. Every chin is different but just keep trying. You also want to go ahead with the simethicone gas drops plain that are used for infants. That will help with gas. Also encourage some exercise to help keep gut moving. Gentle Tummy massages and careful use of a warm pack( rice in fleece bag warmed slightly in microwave, again carelfull with heat) underneath chin belly may help with comfort if poops slow down too. Hope vet will try a different antibiotic that isn't such an appetite killer. Hopefully some more folks that have dealt with dental and post operation issues will chime in here with more suggestions. Just know that being a meanie right now and persisting with the meds,feedings,etc is being the absolute best thing for your chin. Keeping you in prayers. Keep us updated!
 
Okay just got back, she lost weight again and told me to feed her more.

They want me to do

Metacam
Emeprid Oral
Baytril Oral
Gabapentin (pills?)

I don't think I'm comfortable giving her a half of a pill 3 times a day. Does anyone know about this at all? For Gabapentin.

They are keeping her on Baytril 2 times a day.
Emeprid oral every 8 hrs.
Matacam once a day.

I'm okay doing the liquid meds twice a day, but I don't feel comfortable giving her more meds throughout the day. I do work so this is a problem. I can only do so much when I am home. I also believe my vets isn't very helpful.

Originally some of the meds were 5 days, and 1 was 7 days something like that. I have it on the box. I wanted to do that. But they said they want to increase the meds until she starts eating again.

I need help what do I do?
 
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My poor Moxxi :(

She sits like this for hours and hours on my lap, or in her cage.

I feel as though I am force feeding her, but she isn't even eating it. There's a lot in her mouth when I look.
 
She passed away today. Brought her to the vets to see what they could do. In my mind I thought she was going to be stronger. I thought she was going to pull through it.
 
So sorry to hear this. You did everything you could for your precious Moxxi . Rest sweetly little one, no more pain or suffering for you now.
 
Unfortunately we can't give them more time to live sometimes. It's so sad. :( One day I'm hoping all my animals will meet up with me in heaven :(

I made this for them <3

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My first one Whiskers passed away so fast. Had bad poop one day and gone so quick. Sad thing is if I remember correctly the vets were refusing to see her on short notice. Which caused her death. Moxxi had a similar situation I called up Friday Morning, and they couldnt do her surgery until Monday. This could've caused all her problems. And the problems with her not eating. It all built up. The vets dont react fast enough. Or just simply don't care. I tried to grind up pellets before I went to the vets to get good food for her and treatment. It's sad to try so hard, and for everything to fail. I believe there might have been another reason for her not eating her food besides her tooth surgery. I'm guessing vet failed to pick this up on xray.
 
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So sorry to hear about your Moxxi 😢 I have been dealing with a sick chin myself for many months. He’s hand fed 2X a day during the week and then 3X a day on the weekend. Along with his various meds. I have used my best judgment to evaluate that he still has a good enough quality of life, all things considered... but it is a slow downhill to an inevitable end, when I’ll have to PTS. It is hard work, so I understand what you were going through. But perhaps it can be a small consolation to know perhaps it’s best that she didn’t suffer too long.
 
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