Dark shiny poo... Giardia?

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Directorthiang

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Wondering if I should take my chin in to the vet...

His poop is normal sized--about half an inch long, slightly curved, and firm, but tonight I noticed that it looked a bit shiny; not WET, but very dark brown and had a bit of a sheen to it.

Also, one or two looked like they might have had some undigested hay on them (the chaff of the hay stalk).

I've been slowing switching foods from a mystery red/green/oat blend to PANR. He also was introduced to a small group of my students today and got a little frightened.

Is this strange poop cause for serious concern? Or might it just be a side effect of the food change and stress? He still acts as frisky as ever--in fact, more so. But he was squeaking at me a lot more than usual tonight, and burrowing into my lap.
 
Giardia also usually has mucous on the poop, not just a little wetness. I would guess it's a combination of things, the students, the food change, etc. Watch it for the next couple days, make sure it doesn't get worse. If it doesn't go back to normal with the better food, then it never hurts to drop off a fresh poo sample at the vets and have them test it.
 
Giardia also has a sour smell to it in addition to it being mucousy. I wouldn't be too concerned with what you are describing at this point
 
When you guys say diarrhea, are you talking about puddles of poop here or just big soft squishy poop-shaped poops?

I've been keeping an eye on Powder's poop and last night, it was normal sized, dark, and TWO poops of the billion had something sticky on them, maybe a small bit of mucous. Today, they're half the size they were and dry and hard.
 
Are you using sparkly dust for its bath?
The "shine" or "shine" may be the dust is sticking to the poo a little bit..
 
Fuzzy gets that too. I recall reading darker poo means they ate more food vs hay. I usually give him a few oats with acidophilus too just to make sure it isnt a tummy issue.
 
Darker poo also means too much protein in the diet. Has anything changed?
 
Well, there was some mucous on his poop the last two days--not a ton, just a bubble or two on the first poops he let out when I got him out for playtime yesterday and the day before. So I felt his tummy, and it felt a little hard, and he felt a little thin. It was 10 at night, so I hit the drug store and picked up some simethicone and acidophilus tablets and gave him some along with some critical care, and made an appointment for him for today.

The vet said he physically felt okay, a bit on the thin side, but he was 50 grams heavier than he was when I weighed him at the vets two weeks ago, so he's gaining weight, not losing. She's running a fecal test and I'll have the results tomorrow.

In the meantime, I'm just giving him lots of pellets and hay, some more probiotics, and plenty of love until the test results are in.
 
It was Giardia. What ticked me off, though, was that I called the vet that I LIKE who has a chinchilla veterinarian on staff daily, and they refused to run a fecal without seeing Powder first. So I asked if I could make an appointment for that day, knowing how quickly Giardia can kill chins, and they said, "Uh, sorry, no, the next available appointment we have is Monday." So no fecal test until Monday? I can't just swing a stool sample by for testing? "No, sorry. It's policy." :banghead:

ARGH!!!! So I called another clinic who was able to get me in that day AND run the fecal overnight, and lo and behold--just what I was suspecting. Gosh only knows what I would have done if no vets had an opening yesterday.... Frustrating!! :hair:
 
Good thing you got it checked. If there's mucous, I always get a stool culture done.
 
Thank you very much! :) They seem pretty active and alert, so I think I caught it in enough time that it shouldn't mess them up too badly. My last chin had Giardia and it ravaged her system in two days and she was a goner. These two are hanging in there like troopers!
 
tunes said:
Good thing you got it checked. If there's mucous, I always get a stool culture done.
Click to expand...

Does your veterinarian make you bring in your chin for a check over before agreeing to run the stool sample?
 
Hmm.... well, the vet sounded slightly abashed this morning when she called to tell me that I was right about the Giardia, so maybe if this happens again, she won't question me and will just run the dang test. I really don't know why policy would dictate that they can't... it's not like they're giving me drugs, just running a test to see if they're needed, and I'd be paying for the darn test anyway...

Is there perhaps a blackmarket for chinnie medications that I'm unaware of? Where people bring in falsified poop samples to fool the local vets? :) lol
 
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