Sick of His Food?

[FoCoKat]

Howdy folks! I'm not entirely new to the forum here but haven't been active in ages.
I've got 2 little boy chinnies and starting about 3 days ago my youngest guy (about 5) yrs seems to have lost his appetite. His teeth look great, physically he looks fine and his energy level is still high.
My family was visiting and my brother slept in their room so we took his wheel out so I'm wondering if the decrease in exercise has caused the appetite loss. His wheel has been back for 2 days now.
He's eating some hay and today I gave him a compressed alfalfa cube which he is gobbling up. It makes me wonder if he could be tired of his pellets? I'm feeding Mazuri, fresh bag too.
He's also drinking less water and pooping less, the poos are smaller and lighter in color than they were. Haven't stopped by a vet yet, I don't know a good one other than the University vet and they're soooo expensive.

Any ideas?

Help would be appreciated, the boys have only ever been the picture of health so I'm at a loss and worried for my guy.:confused2:

 

[InkedupTara]

I would think you need a vet it sounds like a GI issue of some sort. Small poop is not usually a good thing, and I would consult a vet.

 

[starleomach]

Chinchillas don't tend to get sick of their food. If it is a GI issue catching it early is important, waiting to see can kill them

 

[alli713]

the fact that he is drinking less and pooping less is not a good sign. I would take him in to the vet to be on the safe side

 

[FoCoKat]

Thanks for the input, thats all I need to be told. Taking him to the CSU Vet school asap.

 

[Chinniechantel]

I would also check the food. It sounds like it could be a bad bag. I had horrible issues with Mazuri and had the same thing happen. Nothing was wrong with the chins, 2 of them did stop eating the food, or eating as much. I switched to PANR and have had no issues. I honestly would go to the vet, then when he is healthy maybe try a switch. Get him some acidiphulos now too, and give that every other day for a few days.

 

[Essentia]

I agree with Chantel. Considering he is gobbling down hay, it may be a bad bag of food. Even if he stopped eating pellets completely though, yet is eating hay, his poo shouldn't be smaller (if anything with just hay my chin's are usually larger). I would bring him in for a check just in case.

 

[arf2184]

I had horrible issues with Mazuri and had the same thing happen.

Ditto...I used to feed Mazuri years ago. When the whole herd stops eating as much pellets and a new bag doesn't help, it's time to switch.

 

[FoCoKat]

Well we went to the vet this morning, 9am. She (the vet) was great and suggested either his teeth are bothering him (they looked find and felt fine), he has a disease or its stress induced. For the next 24 hrs we're doing syringe fed critical care every 4 hours. If he doesn't start to get his appetite back we're going back for x rays and blood work. He's eaten 15mls of critical care so far and some hay, so hopefully that will jump start his tummy. Vet didn't seem terribly concerned since hes alert and responsive and she didn't find anything on the exam. We replaced the timothy we had with some Oxbow and hes nibbling on it while my other chin is gobbling it up. Once hes better I think I'll make the switch from Mazuri to the Oxbow pellets.
Crossing my fingers that its just stress, guess we'll know for sure in a day.

Thanks for the tips guys, I'll put a pic up of him later!

 

[Sue]

We used Mazuri for a long time years ago and ran into the same thing. You can say chins don't get tired of their food, but I saw our chins digging the pellets out and not eating with Mazuri. It's like when you try to get your kids to eat more fiber, yes, it's good for them, but if they don't like the taste, they won't eat it. We switched to PANR and haven't had an issue since. Our baby weights are up and our adults don't have problems like we were seeing on Mazuri (losing weight, being lethargic). If they don't eat, they will develop other health problems, including malloclusion, because their teeth grow so fast and need to be worn down continuously. That mostly happens when they chew their food and if they aren't eating, well, that's not happening.

 

[FoCoKat]

Quick update-
So I bought a bag of Oxbow pellets at the local feed store and am slowly switching over my other chin, he seems to like them pretty well. Bandit is getting pretty peeved at me since we're still having to feed the critical care 2-3 times a day. However his poos have darkened and are looking more normal, just a little small still and hes drinking on his own. He's taken a couple pellets from my hand and is starting to eat hay again. Crossing my fingers that we're on the mend. I've stayed in touch with the vet and she's called several times to check up on him. I think we're on the right track!

 

[FoCoKat]

So I think all will be alright. We ended up making 1 more trip to the vet because he wasn't much improved. Of course while at the vet he starts making lots of big, normal poops and ate some the night before so the vet figures all will be alright. Apparently he's decided his diet will consist of Oat Hay now with a few pellets, which is fine with all of us. Thanks all for the advice!

 

[Chinniechantel]

So glad to hear he is doing well! It is amazing how picky some chins can be, what a brat he is!