Soft Poos

I've been lurking on this forum for half a year...getting advice in the shadows haha. I want to make sure I'm doing the right thing! I got Thor in February (he's 8 months old) and I got Luna in April (she's just over a year old). After the 30 days of keeping them apart and watching them both for illness, I introduced them to one another (with neither of them attacking the other--they've been best friends ).

Soon after they were housed together, I noticed they both had soft stool. I started by pulling their pellets (I was in the middle of transitioning them from Oxbow to Mazuri) and leaving them on Timothy hay (Kaytee). It didn't change anything.

Soon after that Thor became lethargic for 2-3 days, but perked back up to his normal self (begging to come out of the cage, jumping on my shoulder as soon as I opened the cage door, etc.), but the stool was still soft. I separated them since I have a double FN, just to make sure they were both having the issue--they were. I gave them back their pellets since that didn't seem to be helping, and I took them to the vet (this was about a month ago that I took them to the vet...on June 20th).

The vet could only get a stool sample on Luna...Thor was being really lethargic again and didn't poop at the vet. The vet said that they had tapeworm and ringworm, and prescribed Panacur for 5 days, as well as Praziquantel given once that day and once 2 weeks later. After the 5 days I took a fecal sample of both of them back to the vet and the vet said they tested negative for parasites. However, their stool was still soft. I also noticed holes in their feces, which the vet told me was from the worms (I later learned on here from research that it is from gas....).

Because I noticed they still had holes in their poop after the vet said it was negative, I kept giving them the Panacur off and on. Their poo began getting firmer after 3 or so weeks. It's stayed that firm...if I squish it between my fingers it is a firm clay consistency and is hard to break apart. About a week ago I separated them because Thor kept fluctuating between 470-500 grams. Before the parasites started, he was at 530 and still gaining. Luna was at 630 grams and never fluctuated more than a gram or two, so I figured maybe she was being dominant and because of that Thor wasn't eating as much. I also stopped allowing them out to play, so that Thor can conserve his energy to gain some weight (he is pure skin and bones, I'm guessing from the parasites)...it is also possible that Luna is pregnant..I found a mating plug (due on Halloween...something I intended and did a lot of research on...I researched chins forever before I even got Thor). I stopped giving them the Panacur last night after reading that it can destroy the good bacteria and can also cause soft stool.

Today I also got simethicone and acidophilius from the drug store. I've been giving them both 0.3 ml of simethicone every 5-6 hours, and I have them each half of a tablet of acidophilius. I also contacted the vet when they were still having the soft stool and was told that the worms are gone so it is something they'll get over on their own. I also pulled their Mazuri pellets tonight because I read a thread saying that Mazuri can rarely cause soft stool. I want to eliminate that as the problem.

In the morning before I work I'm going to go get some pet pectillin from the petstore to see if that helps. Is there any risk in giving pectillin, simethicone, and acidophilius at the same time?

The one good thing is they're acting completely normal, they're just having the soft poop. And since separating Thor and Luna, and eliminating their play time completely, Thor is now at 517 grams, and Luna is at 642... The night I separated them he weighed 480, so he's gained 37 grams, and she's gained 12. I hate keeping them separated though...they call out to each other during the night and have no one to cuddle with when they sleep.

Does anyone have any other suggestions that I could do? Or stop doing?

Thanks in advance!
Kenzie <3

I never really experienced this from a chinchilla yet, but this must be a bit scary.

No soft stool is ever good. Keep feeding them good hay, and maybe burnt toast just a little piece of it (completely burnt). I've tried feeding one of my chinchillas a bit of it, but she never wanted to give it a go.

Since it's summer remember to make sure they have fresh water quite often to prevent dehydration. This is quite killer in chinchillas. I'd recommend keep going to the vets until you get things sorted out. But don't overdue it if its hot outside they don't like going too often since of their fur.

But again I haven't experienced it, just giving some hints that I've read in the past.

I would separate them so you can monitor who is having problems and to watch eating. Did you vet specificly check for coccidia and giardia? Some vets look for it and others do not. That is a common parasite that can cause similar symptoms. Panacur should not be used long term or 'off and on'. Its meant to be used on a certain schedule or you dont get proper results. Tape worms have quite a long infestation before they shed eggs. So its possible they still have them, but are not showing in the fecals. Probiotics should not be given at the same time as medications. The meds kill all the good bacteria you are putting in before it can do any good. It should be given at least 2 hours after the meds or farther apart if possible. I would feed hay only for the next few days to try to firm the stools up. You can also offer a piece of burnt toast (charcoal) which can help with loose stools.

As far as breeding its not advised to use a male under 600 grams so you may want to continue your research on breeding. Keep a very very close eye on your female. Being sick and pregnant can kill a chin quickly. Do not put them back together until both chins are 100%. They will get used to being apart and adjust just fine.

I have them both scheduled to take them back to the vet tomorrow afternoon. I've tried giving them both burnt toast, Luna was the only one that went for it...and her stool has actually hardened considerably in the past few days and she's doing a lot better.

They are both separated, and have been for about a week. They both seem to be eating and drinking the same amount. I change their water nightly, and they both consistently are drinking the same amount.

The vet that I went to the first time told me that using Panacur long term wasn't harmful, but they also didn't tell me to use a probiotic while using the medications. I'm going to a different one tomorrow, so hopefully I can get to the bottom of this. I waited 4 hours between giving the probiotic and giving anything else (the only other thing that I had to give them was the gas drops).

They've been on only hay for 3 days now, I also gave Thor half of a shredded wheat today because his stool seems a bit softer even with just the hay.

Thanks for the info on breeding. I'll plan on keeping them separate until Thor puts on more weight.

They've been adjusting well to being apart. The first day or so they both seemed extremely anxious, but have since calmed down.

How is the temperature in the room that their in? Since its summer it might be too hot for them, or too cool if you have the AC near them. And how often do you change their water? If you change it every day things should be right, don't let it go too long as it might grow unwanted mold/algae. And I usually put 2 water bottles for each cage for them. If something is wrong with 1 they have the other one they can go for.