Diarrhea

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Ippo456

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Jan 31, 2009
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2 days ago, I gave my white violet chinchilla, Winnie, a piece of dried apple skin.
Yesterday, I noticed that his poop is very soft, shiny/greasy looking, and squishy. Today, Winnie hasn't been pooping very often, but his poo is still very soft.
I looked up the description of giardia and I suspect that he's contracted Giardia.
As of right now, since all the stores are closed for Easter, all I could give him is chamomile tea as his drink.
When I took some stool sample & bag them in a ziplock for the vet's visit tomorrow, the poo smells really bad (like dog poo) & normally Winnie's poo is odourless.
I've read up that all wood toys & ledges have to be thrown away & cage rinsed thoroughly with bleach, so I'll be doing that tonight.

I have a few questions:
1. Is it enough for the wood toys to be soaked in bleach water & completely dried off?
2. I have another chinchilla that's caged separately in the other side of the same room as Winnie, is Giardia (if Winnie has really contracted Giardia) contagious through air?
3. Any other suggestions for the meantime?

Thanks!

ps: he's had a history of GI Stasis/bloat if that's relevant.
 
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I would not wash wood items in bleach and then give them back to the chin. I would think the wood would soak in the bleach. Wood items are generally cheap enough, so if you're worried about giardia I would just discard them.
 
The cage and metal items can be cleaned with a bleach solution and dried outside where UV rays will break it down. Wood items, I would just toss. They are porous and with all the cracks and crevices, it is very difficult to sanitize.

Giardia is generally present in unfiltered water (or water that isn't filtered with a fine enough micron filter). It can also be passed via feces so if your chin is in contact with a Giardia chin's poo, it is possible for the other chin to contract it.

No fruit of any kind for your chinchilla. It isn't even good for a healthy chinchilla. Also, apples are one of the most highly-sprayed produce products and if it's not organic, the skin is covered with pesticides. The fruit may have been what caused the G.I. problems or worsened it.
 
Could also be enteritis, either bacterial or dietary. If poo smells a vet visit is a good idea since smelly poo means a infection of some sort.
 
A whole bunch of bacterial colitis was found Winnie's stool sample.
Vet has prescribed Winnie with Baytril (every 12 hours for 1 week) & Bene-Bac (one a day for 2 weeks).
He's been eating & drinking normally, and his behaviour is as usual. So I'm looking forward to Winnie getting better.

ps: and yes, absolutely no fruit products.
 
Does baytril curb a chinchilla's appetite?
Is it recommended that I force feed Winnie with Critical Care if he has diarrhea?
I've been making sure that he's drinking water, I even syringe feed him water.
 
If he's not wanting to eat on his own then, yes...you need to force feed. His gut needs to be kept moving otherwise you'll end up having to deal with GI Stasis on top of his infection.
 
Ippo456 said:
Does baytril curb a chinchilla's appetite?
Is it recommended that I force feed Winnie with Critical Care if he has diarrhea?
I've been making sure that he's drinking water, I even syringe feed him water.
Click to expand...

Yes, the Baytril can make the chinchilla come off their feed. Yes, you need to handfeed/force feed if he is not eating pellets or hay even if he has diarrhea. You may want to get some Lifeline from chocolatechinchillas.com and some acidopholis (sp?) but make sure it's not fed within 2 hours of the baytril dosages.

ETA: You type fast Tab :p
 
Its thought they go off their feed on oral baytril due to two reasons, the bacteria is killed off in the gut by baytril and baytril tastes nasty, when giving oral baytril use a good probiotic-the higher the billion count the better 4 hours after giving it and chase it with something tasty after administering.
 
Actually Winnie really likes this baytril! He drinks it straight from the syringe without me having to force it down on him. He is on Bene-bac once a day, is that enough?
Where can I get acidopholis?
 
The flavored Baytril seems to be a hit here as well. Orange has been the best. My last rescue who was on the flavored Baytril didn't slow down on his eating at all luckily.

Keep a close eye on his food intake though. They can eat the first few days on Baytril and then start to slow down.
 
Ippo456 said:
Actually Winnie really likes this baytril! He drinks it straight from the syringe without me having to force it down on him. He is on Bene-bac once a day, is that enough?
Where can I get acidopholis?
Click to expand...


If he is getting baytril twice a day, I would give the benebac twice a day, give it 4 hours after the dose of baytril. You can get acidophilus at Whole Foods or a health food store in the vitamin section, I think even walmart sells it.

Alot of people use benebac, I just don't prefer it myself for my chins. It has a low count of bacteria and has sugar in it.
 
Actually, starting today I've given Winnie Bene-Bac twice a day. Thanks for the recommendation.

Starting today, too, I've syringe-fed Winnie 3-4 times a day, a total of 5-10 cc (dry volume) of Critical Care.

Do I give the acidophilus pill as a whole? Or do I crush it & mix it with water or somethig like that?
 
It usually comes in a capsule, you just crack it open and sprinkle it on something like oats, but you taste it first and make sure it does not taste nasty, some do some don't.
 
ticklechin said:
It usually comes in a capsule, you just crack it open and sprinkle it on something like oats, but you taste it first and make sure it does not taste nasty, some do some don't.
Click to expand...

So I went to a health foodstore and I've only seen acidophilus in pill forms. It's also got other dophilus in them. The problem is that Winnie hasn't touched his pellets. You think it's safe if I were to crush the pills & mix the powder with water & feed it through a syringe?
 
To can do that but taste the pills first-if they are nasty tasting mix with something to kill the flavor. Molasses or simethicone come to mind as something I might use. Or to give a boost to the benepac if she likes it, mix with that and syringe.
 
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I'm thinking about buying Life Line from Chocolate Chinchillas.
I have a question about Life Line: is it given only when a chinchilla is sick or can it also be given as treats? Once I mix it with water (let's say I need to syringe feed it to my chinchilla), can I keep it for 24 hours or it must be eaten within the hour?
 
I keep it (mix with water) in the fridge for up to 24 hours. I purchase it by the lb. so I do give it to healthy chinnies once or twice a week.
 
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