Having Trouble Giving Critical Care

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ChinchieRoo

ChinchieRoo

Vegan Pet Lover
Joined
Feb 28, 2009
Messages
93
Location
Washington
Hi,

This morning was the first attempt at giving Colby the critical care. They gave me a syringe by monoject, but I don't know the size of it. She ate 1/4 of the amont in the syringe on her own and then refused to eat anymore. They had shown me how to burrito wrap her, but I know I have done it wrong. It didn't work. She was stressed, so I let her go back to her cage and will try again in another hour. How much should I be giving her? Are the syringes a standard size? I feel like I am letting her down. This is harder than I thought and I am worried about her food intake. They said she should start eating again after 2 days of metacam. But I worry she won't. Any advice? Thank you.
 
I have no idea on syringe size I'm afraid, I know you can get different sizes. You should aim for about 20mls of food a feed, 3 times a day (unless your chin appears to be developing stasis).
I found when i handfed my boy it takes time and patience to get it right. I experimented with different syringe sizes; 5ml with the tips cut off worked best for me. Try making it up with more or less water to find what is easy for you.

I used to find it went everywhere, including the ceiling! The pressure was building up in the syringes and it used to go everywhere!

I promise it gets easier. You can of course go for smaller feeds more often. Good Luck!
 
The syringe I was recently given says monoject 412 on it. My vet said that the whole tube is about 1 tablespoons of food (actually it's to the '2' on the label) and that I should be giving 1.5 tablespoons a day. If you work out the conversion.....1 tablespoon equals only 14.7cc (or ml) of food so he was telling me to give him ~22ml a day. That's pretty under what everyone is suggesting here though....

I am new to this as well, but the method that is working best for me right now is to wrap my chinny in a towel. I place my hand under the towel about a foot from the edge, grab my chin by the upper torso, and then wrap the corner around him to keep him secure so that his front paws are under wrap and only his head is sticking out. I then hold him like a baby at about a 30 degree angle (which was suggested by my vet and people on here) and begin feeding. Fortunately, my chin has been good to open his mouth once he in the position so it is easy to get the syringe in. Wrapping him like this has been quick and relatively stress free.

Putting more water in it helped at first too to make it a little easier, but I would keep in mind that the more water you put in, the less food he is getting so you may meed to feed more often, or adjust accordingly depending on what he needs.
 
Thank you everyone for the responses. That is so great. I will read that thread and hopefully this will become easier. I am giving her the critical care because she isn't eating enough on her own. She has lost weight this past month and was on and off antibiotics. The vet felt she should start eating better on her own within a couple of days after having the metacam. She said to give her the critical care in the meantime. I also have the monoject syringe that has the 412 on it. They had said to give her one of those in a feeding, which I haven't been able to do. I don't recall if they said how many feedings a day. My mind was racing while I was there. They only had me get the smallest package of it, assuming she would eat well again soon. I just don't want her to lose more weight, but I want her to eat on her own again too. She has started pooping some more though, that is a good sign. She is always asking for stuff, but doesn't want anything I offer her. If I were to offer her oats she would take those, but I don't want to start something that I shouldn't. I have seen her eat some hay and some pellets, just not a lot.
 
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