im not sure what im doing wrong

[clarencethm]

Hi guys,

two weeks ago i bought a chinchilla from the supplier of chinchillas in Singapore. He handed me a little guy, who from the get go was pooping soft stools. His explanation was that it was stress and would go away after a few days. I left him in my cage and after 2 days of wet stool, i pulled the pellets. 2 days after i find that theres been no change to his condition, i called the supplier up and he agreed to treat it and handed me a new chin.

this new guy was really active, he would sprint around the cage and sip down plenty of water. however on the third day, i realised that the pellets had not gone down and the hay was minimally touched, he was also significantly less active. Come the forth day, i realised the stools were becoming smaller and he barely left his hidey house. this morning and i woke up to find him almost unwilling to touch any food and there were hardly any stools around.

Ive booked a vet appointment tmr morning and tried feeding him some critical care.

Im just wondering am i doing something wrong? I cleaned out the cage when the new chin came so that means that its less than 4 days dirty plus ive sweep out all the poop every morning.

Im not sure what ill think of myself if this fella dies

 

[tunes]

The first one sounded like it could have been the stress of going to a new home, or it could have been Giardia which is a pretty common ailment among chins of late. I would have gotten a stool sample into the vet. When you handed him back, the odds are he got no treatment at all. He was either re-sold or if he didn't improve then I doubt he survived.

As far as the second chin, that sounds like bloat/stasis. He needs a vet today not tomorrow. Tomorrow could seriously be too late if he is in stasis or if he has bloat. He needs medications right away, as well as hydration, hand feedings, etc., depending on the diagnosis.

What is your water source? Is it from a tap, reverse osmosis, filtered? What kind of feed are you offering?

 

[clarencethm]

The first one sounded like it could have been the stress of going to a new home, or it could have been Giardia which is a pretty common ailment among chins of late. I would have gotten a stool sample into the vet. When you handed him back, the odds are he got no treatment at all. He was either re-sold or if he didn't improve then I doubt he survived.

As far as the second chin, that sounds like bloat/stasis. He needs a vet today not tomorrow. Tomorrow could seriously be too late if he is in stasis or if he has bloat. He needs medications right away, as well as hydration, hand feedings, etc., depending on the diagnosis.

What is your water source? Is it from a tap, reverse osmosis, filtered? What kind of feed are you offering?

Hi, the first one i got a stool sample, he had trichomonas. The breeder told me he would nurse it because it was severely skinny from only eating hay. (not sure how true this is)

The second one, i have no choice, i called up the vets nearby my area and they made me wait 2 hours and the clinic before rescheduling me for the next day.

Im giving both of them reboiled tap water, since Singapore's tap water is one of the safest in the world with a ph of 8.1.

 

[ysy]

Hi Clarence,

Which vet are you going to? There are not a lot of chin-competent vets in Singapore. I agree with Tunes, once your chin stops pooping there's not much time left. Everything about chins hinges on spotting symptoms and getting treatment EARLY.

I don't have any affiliations with any vets - but these 2 recommendations have seen my girls and they are the best I can find.

1. Animal Recovery Centre at Balestier (Dr Lye) - be warned, he's a little expensive but he's very good with chins.
2. Animal Clinic at Katong (Dr Hsu)

Seeing that today is Tuesday, you'll have a better chance seeing Dr Lye at Animal Recovery Centre. He is off on Wednesday so if you can bring your chin in today it will be great. Dr Hsu is not on duty until Friday.

Both vets will see walk-ins, but call ahead and tell them it's an emergency and they will slot you in. You might need to wait a little depending on the situation though, but they will find time for you on the day.

Also, how much CC are you giving your chin. Aim for at least 40ml a day spread over many feedings.

Good luck!

 

[clarencethm]

Hi i brought the chin to Dr Tsu at Animal Clinic in Sunset way today.

My Chin was diagnose with bloat, and the doc gave me Cisapride. Ive been giving him stomache massage every two hours and some attempts to hand feed him. Thing is, the nurses handed me a pack of CC without explaining clearly how to mix it.

Ive added 1 part CC 2 parts water but i get this puree that cannot be sucked up by the syringe, so i ended up with 4 parts water 1 parts CC. Would that work?

 

[Chinmama]

Are the directions not on the package?

Mix 1 part Critical Care with 2 parts warm water or until you get it to the desired consistency. Your chinchilla may prefer it to be more of a paste it can eat off of a spoon, or it may prefer that it be liquid from a syringe.

 

[melbur10]

Helps to take the plunger out of the syringe and spoon it in from the top. Keep your finger over the spout hole, put the plunger back in lightly. Flip it over and tap the side of the syringe to make the food slide down away from the spout and closer to the plunger so that you can remove the finger and push the plunger in more without air bubbles and pockets.

 

[ysy]

I'm glad that you managed to get Dr Hsu. Ah, so he works at the Sunset Way Branch on Wednesdays.

Chinmama and melbur10 have good advice. Adding it with more water is fine too, as long as you get around 20g (dry) in everyday. You can spread out over 4 feedings (so 5g each feeding - 15ml) if you don't have much time, but I would advise feed little but over many sittings. This is because a bloated chin usually does not want to eat because it is feeling full and bloated. Feeding adds to that feeling, but without it, things will not move and deteriorate from there. You will probably have more success in getting food in if you feed a little at one sitting but very often.

As for syringes - get the big ones at least 10ml from any pharmacy shop, look for those with big tips. Sometimes, I widen the tip by cutting some off and filing it down so it doesn't cut the chin. Saves you the trouble of changing syringes as usually once the chin starts eating the stuff off the syringe, in my experience, it will stop once you stop to refill.

 

[ticklechin]

Mix the cc to the desired consistancy and walk away for a few min, it will firm up so re-add water, if you don't it will firm up in the syringe and it will be hard to deal with.