Not drinking??

[cintistatern2005]

I dont know if you you have been following my posts about my chin with bloat but here is the situation. He is getting formulated cisapride by a pharmacy. His belly feels so much better. He is eating more and more each day on his own, and i am giving less and less critical care and he's maintaining weight. Although he is still not drinking. I even put a cup of water in his cage along with the water bottle and still nothing. It's been 5 days since i have given sub-q fluids because the vet said to stop them and he should drink. Well i am giving him water by syringe and he is still not drinking on his own.
Have you ever had a chin with bloat start eating but not drink?? Is there anything i can do??
I am marking the bottle and weighing the bowl. still nothing!!

 

[Newt]

Is the CC mix you're giving him quite watery? He might be getting enough fluid from that if it is.
Is he still peeing?

 

[cintistatern2005]

He is only getting critical care 1x a day though 15ml. It isn't too watery, it is like yogurt consistency (just enough to get up a syringe). He is peeing yes. I didnt syringe him any water for 24 hours and he didnt drink then either. I dont want to dehydrate him just to see if he will eventually drink on his own.

 

[cintistatern2005]

:bump1:

 

[cintistatern2005]

Yesterday i mixed smokey's water bottle with 3/4 water and 1/4 apple juice like someone stated on here because he still was not drinking. Yes i know i prob. shouldnt have because of the bloat, but his belly is much better. Anyways he is drinking now and alot. So today i just added water to the bottle and in which is slowly diluting the apple juice out of the bottle. Is this ok?

 

[aznmexaggie]

When a situation calls for giving a juice-water mix, it must be changed regularly. I would not leave the same juice in the bottle for more than 24 hours because those fruit sugars will encourage bacterial growth.

Personally, I would not have given a juice mixture to a chin dealing with gut problems because the juice may encourage an overgrowth of bad bacteria in his intestines. I just lost a chin who had gas buildup, G.I. stasis, and was very dehydrated. He wouldn't eat even when handfed and he had to be hostpitalized in an incubator, given sub-q fluids, probiotics and motility drugs. He was too dehydrated to take a blood sample but the vet said that due to his condition, the good bacteria in his G.I. tract was depleted and there was likely an overgrowth of the bad Clostridium bacteria causing enterotoxemia. I just lost this chin on Thursday morning.

Be very, very careful. You are dealing with a chin who just recently got over bloat but his G.I. tract is still extremely sensitive. The slightest amount of stress to the system (such as added sugars) can cause the flora balance to be thrown off again. I would supplement with probiotics to be safe and cut out the juice completely.

When chins are on Critical Care, often times they don't drink as much water because they are getting liquid in the handfeeding formula. When they are eating solid food like pellets and hay, there is very little moisture in their food and they must drink more water to stay hydrated. If you saw him drink the juice/water mix, he knows where the bottle is and where he has to go to drink. I would just wash out the bottle and keep fresh water only in there. You don't want to complicate his condition by giving him sugar.

 

[cintistatern2005]

He is getting probiotics. Thanks for the help. I put just plain water in this am cuz i was very unsure about it.