HELP...need advice!

[Naduah82]

Okay so last week (Tuesday night) I noticed my chin Cheerio not eating her hay like she usually does and throwing her pellets out of her bowl. Her poops turned into tiny light brown balls. She also seemed to have lost a little of her spunk. Early Wednesday morning I took her into the vet on my way to work, later in the day the vet calls and tells me it's a blockage. He immediately put her on a liquid substitute and papaya. He doesn't want to give any food because he said it will block her up more. I just brought her home yesterday and have been force feeding her papaya juice every 4 hours. She is starting to poop again but the poops are very small and most are dry. Most of the time she poops it's when she out of her cage running around. The main reason I'm worried is because I'm not sure if NOT feeding her critical care or ground up pellets is really good? I've been reading threads on this subject and everyone else is still feeding critical care. I love my vet & he's very passionate about animals but am I doing the right thing? :hmm: (He used to have a pet chinchilla that got a blockage and he cured it by giving papaya juice.)

 

[Stackie]

Not feeding her anything will lead to bigger problems. When the GI system has nothing in it, it goes into stasis and basically starts shutting down and dying. She needs to be force fed the CC. It may also help push the blockage out. Sub Q fluids can help rehydrate the mass and get it moving, along with keeping her hydrated.

I would also do tummy rubs. Apply gentle pressure and do circular motions starting at the very top and work your way down.

Compressions with a sock with rice in it warmed up in the microwave can also help.

Do you/the vet have any idea what the blockage is? Has she chewed on any foreign objects, plastic, etc.? Sometimes surgery is required to rid a blockage...

 

[Naduah82]

The only thing it could be is wood, there is no plastic in her cage. Is it okay if I grind up some oxbow pellets and mix with water, I don't have any critical care? I have been doing tummy rubs, it seems to help a lot. I'm also monitoring her water bottle intake, the vet gave her some fluids but that was on Saturday.

 

[Stackie]

Yes, ground up pellets and water will work. Mix it up to a pasty or watery consitancy, whatever she will take easiest, and feed it through a syringe if you have one. If not, see if she will take it off a spoon. Otherwise you will need to get a feeding syringe..Petsmart and other pet stores have them.

 

[Naduah82]

At this point I don't know what to do, should I call the vet and ask him about CC? Maybe tell him I'm worried that if there is no food in her gut that it may stop working? I wasn't sure if the papaya counted as food to keep her gut moving? He said he's seen many cases worse than mine pull through with giving papaya every 4 hours.

 

[Stackie]

The idea of giving papaya is that it helps break up hair balls. Chins really aren't known for getting hair balls...I haven't heard of any cases, actually. Papaya will not work on a solid such as wood, plastic, etc. It is sugary which is not all that great, and is not enough to sustain her.

 

[Naduah82]

Yes, ground up pellets and water will work. Mix it up to a pasty or watery consitancy, whatever she will take easiest, and feed it through a syringe if you have one. If not, see if she will take it off a spoon. Otherwise you will need to get a feeding syringe..Petsmart and other pet stores have them.

I have a syringe, I've been using it to feed her the papaya. He wants her to get 5 to 6 cc's every 4 hours, is that too much?

The idea of giving papaya is that it helps break up hair balls. Chins really aren't known for getting hair balls...I haven't heard of any cases, actually. Papaya will not work on a solid such as wood, plastic, etc. It is sugary which is not all that great, and is not enough to sustain her.

Yes he told me it was a hairball. He also told me no food. I think I'm going to try feeding her a little bit of ground up pellets mixed with bottled water.

 

[EMSChins]

OP - unless he has done surgery and removed the blockage, he does not know for a fact that it is a hairball causing a blockage.

Did he say that he saw a definite blockage on x-ray or did he say it was a "possible blockage because he saw something funny on the x-ray" and wasn't sure what it was. That is what this vet said to me when I took Sugar Ray (now Stuart as my daughter re-named him) to him. Among other things, he also gave Sugar papaya and while I do not think it hurt him, it did not treat the primary issue. Sugar was in full stasis, was suffering from a massive bacterial infection which was not treated immediately and then progressed to a severe inner ear infection from which he suffers permanent head tilt and balance issues. He only lived because my gut told me there was something more wrong with him than a possible blockage.

Chins do need something to eat to keep their gut moving...if it is indeed a blockage he will need surgery to correct that as that usually does not resolve on its own. Papaya is a common treatment for hairballs in rabbits and is actually given prophylactically to prevent them.

There are several other vets in the area that you could try. I know that Brittany on here is happy with Dr. Levitas at the Animal Hospital at Mount Lookout Square, Cincinnati and I used Dr. Oglesbee on the east side of Columbus to help me save Sugar Ray. Her contact information as well as several other exotic vets can be found at this site for exotic vets: http://www.aemv.org/vetlist.cfm

There is an emergency vet at Grady Animal Hospital as well that is very willing to listen and was willing to give my chin the meds and attention that he needed until I could see Dr. Oglesbee, his name is Dr. Swinney and they are located on Galbraith Rd. While he does not specialize in exotics, he is willing to listen and learn which is almost if not more important.

Good luck with Cheerio and if you need anything in the meantime, please let me know. I do have Critical Care here if you need some. I am on the north side of Cincinnati.

 

[Brittany]

There is an emergency vet at Grady Animal Hospital as well that is very willing to listen and was willing to give my chin the meds and attention that he needed until I could see Dr. Oglesbee, his name is Dr. Swinney and they are located on Galbraith Rd. While he does not specialize in exotics, he is willing to listen and learn which is almost if not more important.

Just wanted to add that Dr. Zilly at Grady's is also willing to work with chins. She got me pain meds when Latte's toe got bitten. Not sure about how she'd do with something this serious.

 

[Naduah82]

update

Just wanted to give a little update, today I took her to see Dr. Levitas at the Animal Hospital at Mount Lookout and am very happy with him so far. He seems very knowledgeable with chins. He will be calling in a couple of hours to let me know what the x-rays show, however he feels like he can get her back on track as long as it's not a serious blockage. (He doesn't think it's a blockage at all, just in case it is) He will also be giving her sub- q fluids and something for the pain if needed. Thanks everyone, without this forum Cheerio's future would be pretty dim. By the way before I set up the appointment with Dr. Levitas, Dr. Werwa wanted to keep feeding her papaya to make her poop which wasn't helping her at all.

 

[EMSChins]

Good luck Naduah82! I took one one of my chins to Dr. Levitas this past week as well, I was generally happy with him. He isn't complely on board with all of the meds that seem to work well with chins so question him thoroughly and double check everything he suggests with members of this forum. Dawn or Ticklechin and Menagerie are particularly experienced as well as many others with sick chins and I would trust their opinions.

 

[Naduah82]

Good luck Naduah82! I took one one of my chins to Dr. Levitas this past week as well, I was generally happy with him. He isn't complely on board with all of the meds that seem to work well with chins so question him thoroughly and double check everything he suggests with members of this forum. Dawn or Ticklechin and Menagerie are particularly experienced as well as many others with sick chins and I would trust their opinions.

Thanks, when he calls I will let you know what medicine he's putting her on. (I know he will give her something for the pain, but I will get all the names of the medications and list them here) He said with chins you never know which way it will go but so far it looks promising. :thumbsup:

 

[Naduah82]

Good luck Naduah82! I took one one of my chins to Dr. Levitas this past week as well, I was generally happy with him. He isn't complely on board with all of the meds that seem to work well with chins so question him thoroughly and double check everything he suggests with members of this forum. Dawn or Ticklechin and Menagerie are particularly experienced as well as many others with sick chins and I would trust their opinions.

What did you take your chin in for?

 

[Naduah82]

x-rays?

Okay so Cheerio's x-rays showed food(critical care) in her stomach and stools in bowels. He said there's not much gas, I'm attaching her x-rays...anyone used to looking at a chins x-rays, I'm not too sure what I'm looking for. He's got her on sub-q fluids, metoclopramide and critical care. Any thoughts or suggestions are appreciated.