Constipated with no good vet

[Tillygizmo]

Tilly slowly stopped eating and drinking and seemed letheragic. She also stopped pooping so I knew it was constipation. I brought her to the vet right away (one who had been recommended). He x rayed her, hydrated her, took her blood, and sent us with some laxatone. That was his only direction for me. They didnt even carry critical care! I had to call all over the area to find some. I was disappointed.

Anyway, she has been on laxatone 3 times a day for two days now, as well as critical care because she lost 3 ounces. I am really concerned that there is something else I could be doing or that I am doing something wrong.

Could I give her bene-bac or acidophilus also? How long can I expect until she is better? Any advice would be helpful.

 

[searchand_dstry]

Is she pooping at all? If there are no poops she could have GI stasis and that is very serious and could kill her. I don't really have much else to offer other than that. I am not familiar with any type of constipation in chinchillas :/ I would be very concerned about stasis though.

 

[iayla]

I would feed her as much Critical Care as you can possibly get into her, and maybe syringe water as well if you dont think she is drinking much.
I'm not sure how I feel about giving laxatives to chins (they have such sensitive systems) so I'll leave that to more experienced members to comment.

Definately dont give any grain-type treats - oats, shredded wheat & so on - because they do just the opposite than what you need right now. If you think she's severely constipated, try rubbing a lil vaseline on her anus, to ease out any dry hard poops that she may be having trouble getting to pass. Hopefully others will be along soon to offer more advice.
~Barb~

 

[Skippy]

She needs to be on metoclopramide hyrochloride and Prepulsid suspension. Both of these are for constipation but work in different ways. You need to go back to the vet or go to a different one to get what you need. As others have said, get as much critical care and water into her as you can. Also, let her out for a longer period of time to exercise and perhaps give her a sandbath-this is also good exercise. You also need to massage her tummy for at least 20 minutes at a time to try to stimulate movement. Good luck, and let us know how she is doing.

 

[HedgeMom]

And she needs at least 75ml of CC mixed according to directions every day. At least 15 to 20 ml of CC at every meal.

 

[starleomach]

You should also be massaging her belly in small circles then down from her neck to her tail in the belly side in a straight line down the center. all firmly but gently

 

[Tillygizmo]

After three days on CC and laxatone, she is just starting to poop and I am relieved. She won't take any water and I don't know how to force her... or if I should. She was also snacking on her Mazuri all on her own. She is still very lethargic but I am getting her to do some free time as well as bathing.

If you have any more pointers, especially on how to get water into her system, it would be very very appreciated. Thank you so much for all of your advice.


I am also in the process of locating a good vet (I have a few leads). Thank you so much again. <3 big hearts to all the support

 

[andymilo]

have u tried using a syringe to feed her water?? i also read about paraffin oil helping chins with their constipation...someone more qualified than me will need to tell you more info on whether it's safe or not....hope all is well

 

[menagerie]

have u tried using a syringe to feed her water?? i also read about paraffin oil helping chins with their constipation...someone more qualified than me will need to tell you more info on whether it's safe or not....hope all is well

I wouldn't give paraffin oil. It might be fine to use in humans, but not chins.

 

[Tillygizmo]

Thank you, I think I will discontinue it now especially since she has started pooping. I will continue with the critical cair and massaging as well as movement and play.


No, unfortunately she completely refuses the syringe and she fights to get away so I dont want to stress her. She is really adimant *spelling* about not taking it so I am hoping there is enough water in the CC to keep her okay until she starts drinking on her own again.

 

[iayla]

Wrap her tightly in a hand towel (its called "burrito'ing" because she should look like a chin burrito). Make it tight enough she cant move, you'll think its too tight, but so long as she can breathe its perfect.

Then get the syringe full of Critical Care, and set the tip of the syringe in that lil gap on the side of her mouth, between her front & back teeth. Aim for the back roof of her mouth and slowly push the plunger to get CC into her mouth. She should be eating quite a bit of it. Do the same technique with plain water. She NEEDS to drink water or she will get deydrated and have more constipation issues, among other things.

Good luck with her, sounds like you are trying the best you can. (((hugs)))
~Barb~

Edit - forgot to mention, once burrito wrapped, you can hold her like a football, kinda tucked under your arm with her head in your hand. Use whichever hand you dont write with. Then use your "good" hand to deal with the syringe. Hope I explained that well enough.

 

[menagerie]

When I needed to get additional fluids into Tucker, I would mix part of an acidophillus capsule into a syringe of water. He loves that as a treat and the acidophillus will help repopulate the gut with good stuff.

 

[Rickman]

I think a little LifeLine would help her get on the right track, too - certainly wouldn't hurt!

 

[SSGSteane]

how do you know when they are constipated? one of my chins poo has halfed in size. But I was told that changes in poo size are normal.

 

[iayla]

SSGSteane - Change in poop is usually my first indication of a problem. At least it has been for my chins. I would definately monitor water intake, how much food/hay your chin is eating, and watch for any odd behaviors as well. Did you change food lately, or give less exercise or out of cage time? That will sometimes cause temporary smaller poo, but should go back to normal within a couple/few days.
~Barb~

 

[whimmus]

Someone mentioned this trick to me in the past and it worked like a charm with a chin that didn't want to drink:

Take a big, plump, juicy raisin (normally, a bad treat around these parts) and crack it open. Then mush the gooey inside 'meat' of the raisin over the ball and nozzle on the water bottle just so there's some raisin slime covering it. Don't leave gobs of it on the nozzle. If she notices it at all, she's bound to try and lick it off...drawing water in the process. I've used this with success with two chins and the total amount of raisin used was less than a whole raisin.

Cheers.

 

[SSGSteane]

SSGSteane - Change in poop is usually my first indication of a problem. At least it has been for my chins. I would definately monitor water intake, how much food/hay your chin is eating, and watch for any odd behaviors as well. Did you change food lately, or give less exercise or out of cage time? That will sometimes cause temporary smaller poo, but should go back to normal within a couple/few days.
~Barb~

I haven't changed food, she seems to be eating the normal amount, hay as well. I haven't seen her drink anything yet. I let them out in the hallway for a good 30min today.

 

[Tillygizmo]

Just an update. Tilly is much better. She is pooping, eating, and drinking regularly as well as gaining weight back. Thank you to all who helped

 

[eroomlorac]

Very good news. Thanks for the update.

 

[jmdebb]

Is she pooping at all? If there are no poops she could have GI stasis and that is very serious and could kill her. I don't really have much else to offer other than that. I am not familiar with any type of constipation in chinchillas :/ I would be very concerned about stasis though.

If she's not eating at all, this is true, i personally don't know how long it takes to start, but be very careful, did you try another vet. Also, they say a raisin here and there won't hurt if they are constipated, but if your's is that constipated it might not work at all..

Try giving her some alpha hey, they love that and it could get her to start eating.
ALso if you don't have CC, you can crush your pellets, put some probotics in there, I personally mix with kids Pediayte (sorry for spelling) that way it helps with de-hyrdration.

ANs yes someonetion mentioned that poop sizes vary, this is also very true, heck yesterday had NOel out in my kitchen running around and in just that time she dropped big ones and small ones. It depends on different things as to the size of the poop. NOt being an expert though, I would worry if they were always small even after eating (that's usually when they are bigger).

ps I'm having the same problem, can someone help me. lol

Jean