Chinchilla not eating or drinking after castration :(

[Becca]

Hello, I recently took my 2 1/2 year old male - Buster, in to get a Castration so that he can move in with his mommy and have a cagemate.

He was eating and drinking well before the day of the operation, I took him into the vets early hours of the morning and was able to take him home sooner than expected due the the nurses saying that he is active and eating while in their care.
I got him home and put him in a single story cage and was monitoring him often, but never putting my hand within the cage so that he was able to relax and recover from his stressful and painful experience.
I was told to bring Buster back to the vets the day after the op so that he could be checked; His stitches are clean and his eyes are bright, no signs of infection or discharge from the wound. The vet also gave Buster another injection of pain relief and then I brought him back home for some more rest.
He has not touched his food or water since we got back from the operation. I'm starting to get worried now as you can imagine due to him not having eaten food or had some water for nearly 2 days.

I tried offering him a rasin (I know treats are not allowed after surgery but it was just to check) He had a nibble of it and wouldn't eat the rest.
I'm bringing him to the vets tomorrow if he has not touched his food tonight.

P.S Yes, I have tried handfeeding via a crushed pellet and water mixture on a spoon.
He is also not pooing, over the course of 2 days there is 1 dropping in the cage.

Many thanks,
Becca & Buster

 

[Brittany]

It sounds like you will need to handfeed him regularly until he pulls through this. If he's not pooping he could be going into stasis, so it's important to be feeding him enough at regular increments to get things moving. If he has already gone into stasis medication might be required to pull him out of it.

 

[Becca]

I have tried hand feeding him He just moves his head away, i've offered him everything he usually eats to him and more and he won't take any of it. My Mom says hes just tired, which could be right, he does look very sleepy. I'm trying my hardest to pull him through this

 

[lauralynne]

Becca, as we discussed in chat a few minutes ago, please take him back to the vet right away. He's going to need gut motility drugs among other things.

Lethargy is NOT good. I know he has stitches, but you're going to have to figure out a way to burrito and handfeed him.

Print out those 2 threads that Brittany and I gave you and have your mom get you to the vet. Positive vibes being sent for your little guy.

 

[Becca]

Taking him to the vets now

 

[Claire D]

Any update?

 

[Becca]

Took him to my vet, he took a look at his stitches, took his temperature etc. He says he seems healthy and active (which is great).
He gave Buster an injection that makes him hungry? I dunno what its called.
I also got given a syringe to give him some food in to hand feed him. Hes not too fond of it but I managed to get some of the food in his mouth but after about half a syringe hes started biting me and getting really angry.
Its been a stressful few days for him, I can understand why he doesn't want to be held right now.
Going to try finish the rest of his syringe off before bed tonight then give him some more tomorrow before and after College.

Aside from his poor eating habbit, he seems to be recovering well, no blood or discharge from his wound and hes quite active after 1 day of surgery

 

[Claire D]

Apart from the injection, did the vet give you any pain killers for him?
He is probably in some discomfort & a chin in pain won't eat. Not eating = no poop.

Have a look at this - it might help: http://www.davidson-chinchillas.co.uk/pages/initial_post_operative_care_of_chinchillas_following_surgery.php

 

[Becca]

The vet gave him some painkillers when we took him in this morning, he said that it will last throughout the course of the day and he shouldn't need anymore tomorrow, but if he does I have to take him back in for another shot.

He doesn't look like hes uncomfortable, hes bright eyed and is moving about the cage every so often, hes not very active at the moment due to me stressing him out with handling him but usually he looks fine

 

[Becca]

Okay so its day 2 after Buster's op. I managed to give him the other half of the syringe this morning; Last night he just wouldn't have it after half an hour of trying.

He isn't drinking water still (I think) - His bottle leaks sometimes and i've marked on the bottle where the water was on day one, the water is now just under that line so I'm hoping its been him drinking it rather than the bottle leaking.
Going to try give him some more food tonight when I get back from College, he keeps giving me the "back off!" noise whenever I try to hold him and he cries whenever I try to feed him.

I try to make him feel like hes not being force fed, so i'll hold him for a while before giving him a little bit then i'll take the syringe away and stroke him and try calm him down before giving him some more, its not really working out well and I feel terrible for putting my Chin through this, but I'd rather he hated me all his life than have him dead in a few days

 

[agchinma]

hi everyone! I had my £ year old "baby" operated on Monday (last week) .Had stone removed from his bladder. Unfortunately Teddy isn't recovering well. The Vets put collar around his neck and he just gave up(so depressed). Of course it's all done to prevent him nibbling on his wound. he has stitches removed, but it's bleeding a little and is infected, so 2 lots of antibiotics, pain killers and so on. all together 5 syringes twice a day. I think he has got enough. Feel so sorry for him, he's our little man. just wanted to share with you all. please keep your fingers crossed for Teddinks. thanks Aggie

 

[Gumby and Elmo]

Gumby stopped eating after his operation too a few yrs ago. I was prescribed with baytril for his operation, so I already knew that it might be hard on tummy, so I got some cc to go just in case.
I force fed him straight away that night, he would not eat or drink at all on own. I got up every 4 hours or so to see and feed him.
On the other hand, Elmo also had the operation done, but had no side effects.
I took Gumby back to the vet the next day and he was prescribed with mobility drugs, and I was told to keep force/hand feed until he goes back to eating on his own.
I also added some unsweetened apple juice into his water to make it a little bit tastier for him.
This went on for about 3 weeks post op.
you also want to put his food bowl inside for him too, measure it and see if he has eaten any.

 

[danliberato]

Post-Castration problems - please help!!

I am new at this forum, but I have tw chins and I love them so much!
Lately Chuck has been agressive to Steve so I decided to castrate him. The proceidure was on July 8th and and I broght him home on the next day July 9th and he is not eating! The only thing he ate was one raisin and that is it. He is not drinking either. I am very worried and I was wondering what happened to your chinchillas in the end, they turned out fine right? how did you manage get them to eat normally again? and how was their behavior afterwards? Chuck seems very sad but apparently in good health! He just needs to eat