Chin with Conjunctivitis, Won't Eat

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n*ice mom

Member
Joined
Apr 24, 2010
Messages
8
Until recently, I had two chins, 9.5 year old Smudge and his 4.5 year old son, Mr. Kerfluffle. My husband and daughters moved to Japan in August. When I had to go to Japan for 6 weeks I left the chins with the vets assistant. Out of the blue Smudge got rectal prolapse (like 5 inches) and had to be euthanized, just days before my return. She didn't notice any change in behavior prior, and indeed the vet had seen him just a few days before and thought he was in excellent health.

I have been back caring for Mr. Kerfluffle for 6 weeks. In the first couple of weeks I was home I noticed things such as he didn't make a complete mess out of his hay like what used to happen when he shared a cage with Smudge, so I had no way to gage if he was eating more hay or less hay than normal (so much waste before). He seemed to prefer pellets. He didn't seem to do any activity in his cage other than chew his wood toys and again I thought it was because he was alone.

Then 10 days ago I noticed discharge in his eyes and that they were not fully open, with his left being far worse than the right. I brought him to the vet and he started Tobramycin eye drops, and probiotic. Within a couple of days he stopped eating and the eye got worse to the point it was crusted closed every morning. There is no drool, no mouth smell, no pawing at anywhere on his body, no sneezing, etc. But I brought him back to the vet for x-rays. The vet said the x-rays show a lot of gas/colic but he didn't think there was any malo or root elongation. No abscesses or spurs. He prescribed baytril, along with the eye drops, and added in meloxdyl once per day. He also got intravenous fluids.

In the last 48 hours, neither the pain meds or antibiotics have helped his appetite. He won't eat or drink on his own. At first he lost a bit of weight, but since then I have been able to maintain it by hand feeding critical care 4 times per day a total of 1.5 Tbsps dry mix which is about 4.5 tbsp prepared. At first I could get him to take it from the syringe without having to burrito him, but now I have to wrap him. I get the meds and eye drops in easily and he likes the probiotic. When I have him out, he will hop all over my bed and act seemingly normal, not fatigued. But he doesn't want to come out of the cage, all he wants to do is sit in his house. He seems to poop in spurts that seems to go along with how I feed him in spurts. The poops have gotten to a better size since I started critical care.

I bought simethicone drops yesterday, and today I asked his dr to prescribe the cherry flavored sulfa medication everyone recommends on here, which I started this evening.

I think the x-ray maybe shows root elongation. I will attach them here. None of the chins I've had over the years have had root elongation or malo. Definitely not Smudge, his dad.
 
Lets see the x-rays when you get a chance. The baytril to be honest would not have been a 1st choice to treat a eye infection, the loss of appetite more than likely is from that, it makes them feel like crud. Even if the baytril is stopped the condition will continue until the gut repopulates with bacteria, could be a couple of more weeks. Elongation in my experience is usually silent until well advanced.
 
Here are the x-rays.

He stopped eating before the baytril. I had started critical care the evening before he went for his 2nd vet appt. When the pain meds and baytril didn't bring about any positive change in eating, I had the vet switch him to trimethoprim sulfa cherry flavored antibiotic within 48 hours of starting the baytril.
 

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Trying again
Here are the x-rays.

He stopped eating before the baytril. I had started critical care the evening before he went for his 2nd vet appt. When the pain meds and baytril didn't bring about any positive change in eating, I had the vet switch him to trimethoprim sulfa cherry flavored antibiotic within 48 hours of starting the baytril.
 

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I looked at the x-rays and frankly they do not look bad enough to warrant not eating, there is some elongation IMO but no more than a lot of domestic chinchillas. I do see a lot of gas, what meds and treatment besides the simethicone is being done for that?
 
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