Soft poo questions

[eycamry]

Polly, my chinnie girl who had a case of mouth infections and teeth spurs, has recovered from the illnesses and has started eating on her own. Now she is having soft poo. She was on Mazuri for the past 4 years with only one mild case of soft poo and recovered from it in a few days. Recently I have started mixing in PANF, about two months ago. Since she started having soft poo, I have gradually pulled out Mazuri, feeding her only PANF since it has acidophillus. I am also giving her 3 shredded wheats sprinkled with acidophillus and a pinch of oats everyday. She has lost of a lot of weigh during the illness. So I am hoping to give her more healthy treats to make her gain weight. Did I give her too much? Can too much acidophillus cause soft poo? I don't want to pull the pellets completely because she doesn't like eating hay too much.

Any suggestions are much appreciated. Thank you!

 

[oxchincerelyxo]

First off, I think you need to let up on the treats a bit...chins shouldn't be given too many treats because of how sensitive their system is. Unless it's something harmless like wood or hay treats.


And I may be a bit confused, so let me try and get it all right...

she was on Mazuri with one case of soft poop. Then you began to mix both food and she had soft poops again-so you pulled the Mazuri? It may be the new food that is giving her the softies. I know Mazuri causes soft poop in some chins, but mine have never had an issue with it-so it isn't set in stone.


You may need to figure out which food is giving her the soft poop if you are not certain. Since she has already lost so much weight, you don't want to mess with her diet too much to the point where she loses more weight or stops eating. Lay off the treats and eliminate it down one by one until the poop is back to normal. Also, I'd have some critical care on hand and some lifeline to help with the weight loss and in case she stop eating-just for caution if nothing else.


Hopefully someone else can also come along and give some more advise on the medical side, I have very little experience with that med., so hang in there!

Good luck and hope that helped!

 

[jmdebb]

With soft pooh you need to be careful. You can try some burnt toast, yes burnt, and feed her that, it can help with the soft pooh. If that doesn't work, you need activated charcoal and they say to sprinkle on something and that is good for binding a chin. There is a certain type of charcoal to use. THis place has the charcoal, and even if you get this corrected you should get some to keep on hand for emergencies. Also you should get some Meal Replacement in case you ever have to force feed the chinchilla, or look for some Critical Care. This person doesn't have Critical Care, but her Meal Replacement is basically the same thing, different name, with some extras in it that is good for chins.

http://chocolatechinchillas.com/_wsn/page4.html

If you can't get rid of the soft pooh quickly, you might want to see a vet. When chins get sick they need to be treated quickly. So do what oxchincerelyxo suggested [no sense in repeating it], and try the burnt toast and order some stuff for a chinchilla emergency kit, because you never know when something might happen and you will need to use what you keep in a chinchilla emergency kit.

Also, you said she doesn't like the hay. Are you feeding her Timothy hay? If not make sure you use that. That type of hay is very important to their diet, and if that is what you are using..sorry for adding this.. Just want to make sure because you didn't mention what type you are using.

When chins get soft pooh they say to pull all the pellets, all treats and just give them hay.

Here is a link to a breeders web page on soft pooh: [Also there are other illnesses in there too, so take a peak the information is great].

http://pitterpatterchinchillas.com/health-wellness/diarrhea/


Good luck with your little girl.
Jean

 

[AZChins]

Mazuri has probiotic in it. If you switched feeds quickly or were in the process of switching, you could have changed her gut bacteria levels and maybe she's having a bit of a soft dropping problem from that.

I'd definitely to feed that many treats. The acidophilus does not cause soft droppings. She was on antibiotics, right? That could definitely get it going...and that could also throw her gut flora off from her acceptable levels.

You are doing what you need to do with the acidophilus for sure. In addition to that you could try giving her some extra peppermint. That seems to really help with intestinal irritation. I use peppermint teabags...just cut them open and sprinkle the contents over the pellets.

I agree that you probably shouldn't pull the pellets. The acidophilus will probably take care of it in a short while. Just keep doing what you're doing and everything should resolve itself. Let us know if it gets worse.

 

[AZChins]

Another thing...if she just started eating on her own, maybe the soft droppings are just from her eating more than her intestines have been used to in the recent past. I wouldn't worry too much...I'm sure she will be fine.

If you had some life line, you could mix a little scoop with an entire capsule of probiotic and syringe it right into her mouth. That usually takes care of most cases of soft droppings.

 

[Kansas City Chinchillas]

I was thinking the same as AZchins as far as just starting eating on her own. If you were feeding critical care she may just be getting used to eating regular feed again. Additional acidophilus is good to be giving. Try to get her to eat as much hay as you can and be patient. As long as the poo doesn't get softer or runny I wouldn't worry for a week or so.

 

[eycamry]

Thank you!

Thank you all very much for the helpful suggestions. To answer some questions you had for me:
1. I feed my chins timothy hay only. But with Polly, I have been adding a little alfalfa hay because it is a more nutritious hay.
2. The reason I am giving her so many shredded wheat is because I read somewhere on the forum that the fiber in the shredded wheat can help with soft poo. Besides a pinch of oats, I am not giving her any other treats.
3. I have been force-feeding her CC for over a month after she was treated with infections. She has finally started eating on her own about a week and half ago, but the soft poo issue started.
4. The food switch has been gradual, but unfortunately also during her illness when she was eating very little of her own food. So honestly speaking, I really am not sure if she is used to the new diet yet. But since she has been on PANF for several days now, I don't want to add back Mazuri.

I have been monitoring her weight every day. Her weight has been quite stable recently. She does not want to eat any more CC, and I am not going to force it into her unless her weight drops more. But I agree with you that she may be in the process of getting used to eating regular feed. I will let her adjust for a few more days. Meanwhile I will also get some charcoal.

Thank you all!

 

[AZChins]

Shredded wheat can help, but if you give too much of it in a short time it sort of loses it's effect. It's a treat treat, but only one at a time because you want to be able to use it to help return the moisture balance in the intestines if you need to do so.

If she will only eat the Mazuri, you may want to reconsider switching the foods in the short term. This chinchilla needs to eat some type of pellet...so you can hold off on switching for awhile, it won't hurt her.