Any advice for an underweight chin with a prolapse

[stampinchick]

I had a huge scare Tuesday Night. We went to take Laverne out for playtime last night and noticed that both she and Shirley were acting weird. Laverne was huddled back on a ledge and Shirley was on front of her on the ledge, hacking anytime we came close to them. We got them both out and immediately saw a bloody mass of what looked like a giant worm. I drove to the closest 24 hour exotic animal hospital, about 45 minutes away. My husband did some research while I was in my rush to get her there and determined that it was probably a prolapsed rectum. Well, that's exactly what it was. They kept her overnight, fixed the rectum, did an ultrasound, and found no cause for the prolapse. She is underweight, which we have known since we got her and Shirley from the rescue about 3 weeks ago. Shirley is on the large size, so we had figured Shirley was just being a food hog. Now, we have all kinds of medication, as well as Sub Q fluids, Critical Care syringe feedings, etc. She is weighing in at 417 g, which I know is small. Can anyone help me with experience as to what may be causing her to be underweight, and may not be eating like she should. Like I said, the vet's did an ultrasound, abdominal palpitations and several different exams. Sorry this is so long, I just wanted to include everything.

 

[tunes]

"Generally" a prolapse like that happens with constipation or diarrhea. Have you noticed either of those things? Small, hard poops or large squishy ones?

She may be underweight, but as long as she is gaining, any gaining, that's good. Slow, steady, gradual weight gain is excellent. Fast is not so good. When I have a chin that is ill or has lost a significant amount of weight, my main focus is to, first, stop the weight loss, then second, start to rebuild the weight again. If you are concerend that one chin is hogging food over another, be sure there are two food dishes, in completely separate areas of the cage, so that one would have to spend a bunch of time running back and forth to lord it over both of the bowls (feeders, whatever).

It's hard to say why she would be underweight initially though. While she was at the vets, did they do any lab work to check for regular levels in her blood? Maybe ask them to run a stool sample while she's there, since it's fresh for them to test.

 

[Harleychin]

You should seperate them for now so you can moniter her food and water intake,poo and pee.
A lot of the time prolaspse is caused by the chin straining to poo.
What pellets and hay are you using?

 

[Chinniechantel]

Tunes pretty much covered it. I hope she gets better, I have not had good luck with prolapses. Usually there is a cause, and unless you can find that and fix it, it will most likely keep happening.

I agree with the stool sample and blood work- is she boney or just small? Some chins can be healthy at 450ish, others would be extremely sick.

 

[stampinchick]

She is seperated from Shirley for now, so we can keep an eye on intake/ output.
Also, she is kind of a boney 417g. Like I said, that was one of the first things we noted when we got them. So, we are following the Critical Care diet, as well as offering her regular pellets (Mazuri) and Timothy Hay. She seems to be taking everything fine for now. I will keep you guys updated. Thanks for the advice so far.

 

[feistychins]

I have seen a prolapse caused by severe dehydration also which is rare, but can happen. Constipation is usually the cause though. Please watch her carefully because a chin can prolapse again before they fully heal.