K
Kay
Guest
Started last night, in about 1 hour, Chloe the chinchilla suddenly stopped eating and seemed "off." She was a bit lethargic and would not even take treats. I rushed her to Alameda East to get Critical Care, Reglan, and Metacam. They seemed to mostly be reading from a book and told me to give her apples and other fruit, so I decided not to do an xray and get her in the next morning at my normal exotics vet.
My awesome vet Dr. Esposito (Aurora Animal Hospital for those in CO) said her belly was a little bit hard, and there was a definite lack of sound, but she felt no obstruction. She is pooping normal poos here and there, she just won't eat. I've been through the bloat/stasis nightmare in the past with another chinchilla, but Chloe is far more alert than that.
Chloe was a foster I had from August 09-January, then got her back a week ago when the person had to move. I would think stress just made her stop eating, but she adapted very quickly both times, and while she was skittish the first few days, settled down quickly and began eating and behaving normally until last night. Her age is unknown. She is in quarantine from the other chinchillas, who seem fine. Her eyes are squinty but she moves around with energy but an odd hesitation in her haunches.
I believe her to be between 3 and 5 years old.
She is on metacam, reglan, critical care, and simethicone in all the doses recommended on here and by my vet. She is HORRIBLE to hand feed, I have to force it and the entire thing is torture. She's slipped a huge amount of fur and never stops fighting me with all her strength. If this is just a stress or a minor upset thing, it seems like all the hand feeding is making it worse, but has to be done to keep food moving through her. If she does not improve by Monday we'll be doing an X-ray. Dr. Esposito did not feel that would change treatment at this time and she is excellent at palpating masses or blockages and did not feel any.
She eats oxbow and American Pet Diner hay. Before coming here she was eating Oxbow, so there was no diet change. I believe they fed her raisins very rarely, but I don't feed any of that. Just a half a strawberry acidophilus daily. She did get a new hanging toy http://www.bunnybunchboutique.com/Multi Chew.JPG , which she demolished very rapidly shortly before she became ill. I don't think she ate any of it, as it is littering her cage. But it is interesting timing.
Open to any suggestions of more I could be doing. I'm keeping her in her cage she's had her entire life with some fleece blankets and dark and quiet.
Like all those who have gone through this, I'm a tired mess from the hourly feedings and worry. Critical care just smells like death to me. I've never had an animal live who was on it, but I've also never had one stay stable this long despite not eating.
My awesome vet Dr. Esposito (Aurora Animal Hospital for those in CO) said her belly was a little bit hard, and there was a definite lack of sound, but she felt no obstruction. She is pooping normal poos here and there, she just won't eat. I've been through the bloat/stasis nightmare in the past with another chinchilla, but Chloe is far more alert than that.
Chloe was a foster I had from August 09-January, then got her back a week ago when the person had to move. I would think stress just made her stop eating, but she adapted very quickly both times, and while she was skittish the first few days, settled down quickly and began eating and behaving normally until last night. Her age is unknown. She is in quarantine from the other chinchillas, who seem fine. Her eyes are squinty but she moves around with energy but an odd hesitation in her haunches.
I believe her to be between 3 and 5 years old.
She is on metacam, reglan, critical care, and simethicone in all the doses recommended on here and by my vet. She is HORRIBLE to hand feed, I have to force it and the entire thing is torture. She's slipped a huge amount of fur and never stops fighting me with all her strength. If this is just a stress or a minor upset thing, it seems like all the hand feeding is making it worse, but has to be done to keep food moving through her. If she does not improve by Monday we'll be doing an X-ray. Dr. Esposito did not feel that would change treatment at this time and she is excellent at palpating masses or blockages and did not feel any.
She eats oxbow and American Pet Diner hay. Before coming here she was eating Oxbow, so there was no diet change. I believe they fed her raisins very rarely, but I don't feed any of that. Just a half a strawberry acidophilus daily. She did get a new hanging toy http://www.bunnybunchboutique.com/Multi Chew.JPG , which she demolished very rapidly shortly before she became ill. I don't think she ate any of it, as it is littering her cage. But it is interesting timing.
Open to any suggestions of more I could be doing. I'm keeping her in her cage she's had her entire life with some fleece blankets and dark and quiet.
Like all those who have gone through this, I'm a tired mess from the hourly feedings and worry. Critical care just smells like death to me. I've never had an animal live who was on it, but I've also never had one stay stable this long despite not eating.
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