HELP... Stasis, blockage, bloat, giardia...

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Smidgeyy

Smidgeyy

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Feb 11, 2014
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534
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USA
Please refer to this thread for previous information.
http://www.chins-n-hedgies.com/forums/showthread.php?t=47737

LONG STORY SHORT... Chinchilla lost weight and appetite. X rays done, teeth are fine. Blood/urine fine. Fecal finally came back positive for Giardia. Not thinking this was the cause of his upset, vet prescribed TMS and Buprenorphine. Been handfeeding Essentials for Life, probiotics and simethicone - weight has been increasing. Problem persists, prescribed fenbendazole for the giardia. Still no change in appetite. Prescribed Baytril, and here we are....

Last night he refused all the bits he's been willingly eating(he will take cheerios, nibble on a tiny bit of hay, etc...). He hadn't moved much during the night and his poops were small, hard and there were very few. I rushed him to work with me this morning.
He only had maybe three doses of the Baytril and he won't be getting any more of it.

More x-rays were taken, saw lots of gas. She wants to do an Endoscopy, possibly an ultrasound to search for a blockage before prescribing Reglan.
She has given more Bup(0.5mg/ml with dose of .03ml every 8 hours), and mentioned giving Pedialyte to keep him hydrated until Monday morning. Advice is needed... I just want to keep him okay until Monday.

This is not something I have dealt with in the past and I'm starting to panic. Working in the veterinary field is completely different than how it is when you're treating one of your own. I'm familiar with the concepts of these potential outcomes but I just need some solid confirmation about what I should do. My panicked state of mind needs to hear from people who have dealt with these issues before.

Worst case, he is blocked and needs surgery... What about the giardia? What about the possible stasis? I don't even know where to start and I need help :(
 
The buprenorphine can cause stasis, being a opiod it slows the peristalsis of the digestive tract, whenever I used it it was for extreme severe pain and gut stimulants were used with it right out of the gate. It can also cause severe nausea so anti nausea drugs were also given when the reaction was bad-I was given benedryl. Tramadol and metacam used together produced the same pain fighting results without the nasty side effects. So baytril with buprenex is a recipe for disaster for a "sick" chin in my experience and my opinion. At this point you need to treat the gas, confirm if the digestive tract is working or not with a ultrasound, see if there is a impaction due to the digestive tract is not working, you may want to get sub-q fluids-when the chin is in stasis the body will pull the water out of the digestive tract, leaving whatever is in there to dehydrate and become hard-a makings of a impaction. I would want reglan and propulsid-propulsid works on the upper GI tract for the most part, reglan on the lower GI tract for the most part. Gut massages, exercise, small frequent meals, full dropper of simethicone every 4 hours or so, pain relief with tramadol and metecam, reglan and propulsid for the gut stimulus after the rest of the testing is complete (x-ray and ultrasound). This is what I was prescribed by my vet when I have treated successfully stasis. You can also read the stread about Sparky in the health section for some more tips on treating it.
 
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He hasn't had any baytril since about 1am Friday morning. I stopped that as soon as I noticed any change in behavior.

Would you recommend that I not give him anymore bup? Obviously I don't want him in pain but I don't want him in stasis either.

Our clinic actually does not do ultrasounds. We have a veterinarian come to us with his own equipment since until now, we didn't have any. Recently we bought one but it hasn't been touched. We spoke about it yesterday but since it's still boxed, we weren't sure if the probe was small enough to use on him. Monday morning, I can contact our normal US guy to see if he can come out.

There was no blockage visible on the x-ray but he's wiggly so it was difficult to see. All that was visible was gas.

Can you give me some examples of the doses you've been prescribed in the past? I'm honestly unsure if we even carry liquid tramadol... If we do, I've never seen it. We've got plenty of metacam.
 
Rushing him to Northstar in Jersey... He was head tilting and shaking. His belly is more distended than it was before. I'll keep you all updated.
 
Sorry, the exotic vet had went home by the time I got here and a lot of emergencies were in. They're keeping him over night for him in the morning. :(
I wish I had more to say than that. They'll nurse him throughout the night. I heard they were recommended on here so I'm trying to stay hopeful.

His vitals were normal when they checked him in.

Now I just have to remain calm until tomorrow morning... Being unable to check on him is the worst part.
 
UPDATE:
He's stable and they actually got him eating some pellets. While his poops are still small, they said it was a better consistency and he was going more often. I know for sure that they've been giving him metacam, and he's going home on Reglan and Cisapride.

He had been grinding his teeth while we were waiting and pawing at his mouth. I knew his teeth had grown due to this entire mess(vet at work checked his teeth last visit and said the molars had grown more, since he wasn't chewing or eating frequently enough) so Dr. Doolen offered to give them a trim. His roots are fine and doesn't have Malo, so I would like to keep it that way. He's also doing another fecal to check for Giardia again, since that may still be an issue.

As soon as he's all finished with that, he's ready to come home. I'm impressed with the vet, as he's very professional and clearly knows what he's doing. I only wish I wasn't 2+ hours away from the place.
 
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I credit cisapride for saving Roo's life a few years back. I asked my vet to prescribe it as I believe it was Ticklechin who recommended it. It got his gut going in no time. My vet was very impressed and promised to start carrying it for his bunny clientele. It can be hard to find now since it has been pulled off of the market for human use.
 
UPDATE
Haven't posted much recently, but I wanted to give an update to those who were following this thread.

Bean is doing GREAT. He's consistently eating 20g of pellets every day, he's eating more hay and chewing everything I give him. His weight is increasing very slowly, so I'm hoping that within a few months he will gain everything back. Thank you all for your help and support. :]
 
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