No better. Still leaving crumbs, not drinking- just chewing :(

[Buddy]

She's still not drinking! Still not eating proper pellets. And wghen she does she's still leaving crumbs! She chews on sticks, wood, cardboard.
Still having syringe food.
Still on the gut mobility and pro-biotics. Has been since thursday. Now what?
She seems to know how to chew, she's just not swallowing! Does this mean she has forgotton how to eat? Even though when she has a mouthful of syringe food in her mouth she swollows it...
I have no idea what could be wrong anymore :'(

 

[Anna35]

Yazy tends to leave some crumbs when she eats pellets and I took her to the vet and she actually had something stuck in her gum but she still does that and my vet said it wasn't anything to worry about unless she was loosing weight or had stopped completely eating which she hasn't she eats like a horse....

Also when I had to hand feed my little Wakka critical care she didn't drink at all and the vet said that was ok because the critical care was mixed with water and Wakka did not like it thick so when I made up what she needed for the day as directed by my vet I would have to add more water to thin it out after it sit in the fridge it got thicker. I would just use white fleece and make sure she is peeing. That is how I kept an eye on Wakka.

 

[Lillybabe]

I believe she needs to see the vet again. She needs another dental exam and more xrays by a very knowledgeable vet. It is possible that she has an infection or that she still has spurs or elongated roots causing her pain. It is important that you keep up with the critical care getting at least 60ccs into her a day, 120 ccs would be better. I do not think it is possible for a chinchilla to forget how to eat. It is a natural instinct. Keep a close eye on her weight and keep giving her the meds. She also should still be on pain meds if she's showing signs of pain like, biting into a pellet and then dropping it.

 

[Buddy]

She's not showing any signs of pain. She's chewing fine, she's not dropping pellets she's just leavign crumbs after she's eaten them. She's not pawing at the mouth, no grinding and fo her bloat she's not stretching out onto her belly.
I saw her dental xray myself- I'll try to get a copy onto her when I can get it off him.
She did have an old wound on the inside of her cheeck... but that was old- and when her she had sharp edges on her teeth :/

She eats only when I'm asleep as I see crumbs when I wake up. She doesn't eat during the day as I give her critical care.

 

[ysy]

Personally, I won't try to wean her off the CC if she is still on motility drugs. You should stop her drugs first before trying to wean her off CC. Probiotics are fine though. Also, some chins do leave crumbs behind even if their teeth is okay. It depends on the brand of food (some brands disintegrates more easily than others) and the chin's habit.

Some chins also hold out for Critical Care, and what you describe sounds very much like the chin is holding out. As long as you're around, she's hoping that you'll give her food. They like having what they can't have all the time. What I do usually is to wean off by reducing the amount that I feed per session, but not reducing the number of sessions. That way, the chin is fooled into thinking that she got her usual doses of food, but still feels hungry in the night to eat on her own. As long as she doesn't drop weight when you start to wean, it's all good.

As a real life example, one of my girls is handfed long-term, but she does not start on her hay until I turn the light off, and she goes for the hay in minutes. How do I know? I have a spy cam in her room

 

[Essentia]

As for the water intake, she is most likely not drinking because she is getting enough water through hand feeding. Same with the pellets. If she's eating a small amount of pellets but you are still hand feeding her, she isn't eating because she is full from the syringe feeding.

 

[Lillybabe]

I am confused by what you are saying about her Buddy. First you say she is not eating or not swallowing... then you say she is eating at night. If she is eating pellets I would monitor how much she is eating and if her weight is dropping. If her weight is staying stable I agree with others and would slowly start offering her less Critical Care. How is she doing on eating hay? Leaving crumbs is not necessarily a sign of anything as others have said. My girls are healthy and sometimes there are crumbs. Some chinchillas will eat part of a pellet and then drop it back into the bowl and grab a new one. They are silly like that. I would watch her when she eats and see what she does with the pellets. What pellets is she on? Chewing on wood doesn't necessarily mean she is not in pain. My little malo guy still chewed plenty and his teeth were in bad shape. If she is eating pellets at night that is a good sign. I would assume she's on the mend. All you can do is keep a close eye on her.

 

[Buddy]

Okay a little update on my little Buddy:
Right the past 2 days she's had just over 150 pellets. Not a lot I know but a start! That's as well as 60CC or more...
Hay is still a no no for her. She still snatches treats from me however..
She hasn't eaten any hay since mid march, since the start of her illness.
I've noticed she'll sit and wait as long as possible for CC. and if i turn off my light, she knows shes not getting any so i then hear her go off to her bowl.
There's still crumbs, just not as many as before. Today I didn't give her much CC but she's eaten just over 50 pellets as well as.. Her poos are still fairly big, not as big as usual though. 50 pellets isn't a lot, but last week she'll only eat 3/4 maybe 10 if I was lucky.
Not sure if this is her making a recovery?? or what :S She goes back to the vets next week for a check up and to see how she's doing. Hopefully by then the gut mobility has worked and she's back to eating loads again! She's on pets at home pellets. She used to be on Vital. This is what I have no long changed her too... http://www.petsathome.com/shop/pellet-chinchilla-food-1kg-by-pets-at-home-15670
and this is what she used to be on.... http://www.petsathome.com/shop/xtra...cm_re=barilliance-_-up sell-_-product details
Not sure which one is best, but everyone kept telling me to change her food, so have done

 

[Buddy]

Also may I add... when she was on the Vital food I used to take the raisins out! lol I know they're not good for chins

 

[Buddy]

Sorry so many posts...
Are these pellets any good? http://www.petsathome.com/shop/chin...cm_re=barilliance-_-up sell-_-product details
and this is the dust my chin gets: http://www.petsathome.com/shop/bath...cm_re=barilliance-_-up sell-_-product details
this is the last post now

 

[tcraighenry]

Oh gosh, I don't know. Haven't seen them here before! We feed Oxbow/Timothy which seems to be the standard. I think you can get it on Amazon in the UK?

 

[ticklechin]

Do you watch her eat pellets? Does she look normal eating them, no mouth swiping or exaggerated chewing motions or choking motions? If she looks normal and is eating the pellets with no problem, and when she gets the all clear on the gas problem in the gut, then I would wean her off the critical care. Cut back the last meal of the day, wait a couple of days, cut back the next to the last meal and so on until you have stopped. While this is going on watch her weight daily and make sure she is staying steady, a 10-15 gram loss can happen during weaning but more than that means she is not eating enough on her own.

 

[Buddy]

I just caught her eating a pellet. Normal! No pawing at the mouth, no exagerated chewing.. no choking.. Never seen her choke before :S
She seems to be crying because she wants the syringe :/

 

[Buddy]

Claire should know if that food and dust is okay, She lives in the UK too Hopefully shr read this

 

[ticklechin]

The bag of pellets has no ingrediant list, if you want a bagged pellet that is sold at pet stores online in the UK get this pellet

http://www.seapets.co.uk/products/p...foods/beaphar-care-plus-chinchilla-1-5kg.html


Chins can and do become addicted to hand feeding and CC and will be a pain to wean off, if she has the ability to eat then she needs to eat on her own, the gas needs to be gone first, then you need to wean.

 

[Buddy]

Okay thanks! So if I get that now can I change her food straight away? i have a whole bag left of the pets at home stuff

 

[Buddy]

oh wait, thats the stuff I used to feed Bubbles, just in a different bag :/ I changed it because of the raisins! lol xD

 

[Claire D]

I'd keep her on the Pets@Home pellets for now - they are ok and if she is eating them then that's good. If you've weaned her off a mix and she is eating a straight pellet then I would not change again for a good few months.

The link Dawn (ticklechin) posted is not the same as you were using before - yours was Xrat Vital which is in a red/white packet and is a mix of different things including raisins.
Beaphar Care + is an extruded pellet (like P@H), is not a mix, and although it is in different shapes/colours, they all have same ingredients. Beaphar is used by a lots of people in the UK - it's expensive though so not good for anyone with lots of chins to feed.

The Henry Bell pellets are also good (some breeders use them) but I'd stick to what she is eating for now and not chop and change.

 

[Buddy]

She's started pawing at her mouth again, won't really eat as much syringe food as she usually does.
I really don't know what else to do to. She's got one more day of probiotics, moblitiy drug finished yesterday. She's still chewing, just not as much. She's still eating pellets. She had 30 during the night (counted them as they went into the bowl) I don't knw what is wrong with her :'( Back to the vets again friday...