Getting a chin to eat again on his own... frustrated.

[CrazyForChinchillas]

Leo has been a puzzling case for us for awhile now. He has been to the vet many times since November. He had x-rays of his teeth, which were all great. He had x-rays of his abdomen which showed a few small gas bubbles and was treated and given motility meds as well. We stopped the treatment back in December.

His poops are fine and his energy level is very high.
We've been syringe feeding him critical care mixed with Oxbow pellet food several times a day for a few months now. He does not eat as much as he used to and still is not eating much on his own.
His weight yo-yo's throughout the day. He drops between feeding and does not gain unless hand-fed. He goes from 479g up to however ml he will eat, which is generally only 10-15 ml at one time.

He has oxbow orchard grass, timothy, and alfalfa hay and oxbow pellets. We have tried to feed him Tradition pellets, which he was eating before at the rescue where we got him.
The rest of my chins are on Tradition and eat fine.
We use reverse osmosis water.

How can we get him to eat on his own? Any suggestions?

I do have some life line, but I don't know if that will help him regain his appetite.

 

[ticklechin]

Does he like being hand fed and like the hand fed food?

 

[CrazyForChinchillas]

He does to a point, but then he will stop eating. But most of the time, yes. Is that a problem?

 

[ticklechin]

He could be addicted to being hand fed, if there is no clinical reason he can't eat. I have had it happen and they are a beech to wean off, they will hold out. The problem is is knowing for sure he can eat and something is not bothering him. Two things you can try that I use when weaning off malo chins-Ronda here sells equine senior-its a soft "sweet" pellet that has alot of molasses in it, you might try a sample of that or try some calf manna-another soft pellet that chins dig the flavor-if he eats those with no issues then he needs to be weaned off. The wean period can be tough for the parent since the chin will lose weight and hold out for the goods, its whose will is stronger, it takes a few days and 20-30gms of weight loss to wean them off, but again its only if he can eat.

I do have both pellets on hand, I can also send you some samples to try.

 

[CrazyForChinchillas]

He's fairly young. I don't know if anything else could be wrong. His blood work came back okay when they did it too.

I bought more critical care, life line, and essentials for life today.
Maybe we will try to wean him off soon though.

I might try the other pellet, but at this point, I have to wait before buying other items.

 

[ticklechin]

The problem with hand feeding without diagnosis is it can't go on forever without serious consequences, chin teeth grow 1-3 or more mm a week without the grinding of hay and pellets, this can mean not only external but internal elongation so over time this chin can end up with elongated tooth roots in relatively a short period of time and elongated crowns and incisors which make eating difficult, so if the chin can eat it needs to be weaned asap.

 

[fluke]

honestly, i wasn't sure I'd get Buckie off the CC. After a day of eating it, he started liking it. I tested him by giving him a treat..ate it just fine. Chewed on chew sticks just fine. I'm kinda convinced he could have starting eating on his own sooner but chose not to.

Good luck with the weaning

 

[CrazyForChinchillas]

Okay, we will let him go and see how he does. How much weight loss is too much though?

 

[Jaina_Organasolo]

Cut back slowly. I'm in the process of weaning back a root elongated boy here, and we have been cutting back by 5 ml a time every few days. I weigh him once a day, first thing in the morning before a feed. If you weigh over the day, the weight goes all over the place and you start getting stressed.
I've figured out that if my chins don't eat at all for themselves overnight, they loose about 10g - so if they drop 10g overnight I scratch my head and try to figure out why (I am hand feeding two Malo Chins. One eats some for himself but when I changed when I gave him his painkiller earlier, he didn't eat over night. Changed when he got it and he's alright again now). If they loose a gram or two I consider that acceptable and carry on with where I'm at.
The one being weaned off is now at 15ml a day and it definitely eating; the other is on 45ml as any less and he drops 5/6g a day.

I cut back from the last feed first, as I figured he's more active overnight and more likely to eat for himself, so work backwards. My vet did say to me that she thinks Chins often like to be handfed and never to stop dead with them, wean off like a drug. Mine loves the food but hates being picked up to be fed. daft animals.

Good Luck, hope my rambling helps a little.

 

[CrazyForChinchillas]

Okay, thank you. That does help. Hopefully he'll eat on his own again soon.

 

[ticklechin]

During the wean of a heavy duty addicted chin I expect a 20-30gm loss over 7-10 days. You still have to make sure he can eat before weaning, if you give me your address I can send you some of the equine and manna if you like.

 

[CrazyForChinchillas]

I think he's only lost 3 grams so far, so he must be eating something. I don't think he was heavily addicted to it because he started to eat it less and less.

I think we're all right for now, but if I change my mind, I will definitely let you know. Thank you.