very little poop (on meds)

[mishellyshel]

Have been having bad luck with chins the last week. I had to take stitch to the vet on friday the 7th, he did get his teeth filed but the real problem was after a culture was taken, it seems he had some type of infection, he bounced back within a day or so....back to his nasty self!
this past friday i had to take Jack to the vet. not eating or pooping and was seeming to choke on the little bit of syringe food i could get into him.
Had extensive tooth filing, and one tooth was growing into his cheek and almost absessed and doc said upper respitory infect.
he is just not boucing back like stitch.
he is on metacam, baytril & cisapride. and i am hand feeding and that is ALL he is eating. but hardly any poop. maybe 1 dropping in his cage and then when i hold him to medicate and feed, i get a few more.
is there another med i can get prescribed, i know one does the upper digestive and one does the lower......i forget which one cisapride is.
any other suggestions. he is moving around okay and not lethargic (like stitch was) but clearly not feeling well. i am doing some belly massage and letting him run around the play area several times a day. thanks for any help!

 

[StevieP]

The other medication that you're thinking of is Reglan. The Baytril is probably what is causing Jack not to eat on his own, and therefore not pooping much. Try to feed as much as you can. You can also see if he will eat some alfalfa hay - especially the leafy part.

 

[mishellyshel]

yes Reglan is what i was thinking of. thank you. can anyone tell me what part of the gut is affected by cisapride and what part reglan. and what they are typically prescribed for.....meaning the why would one prescribe one over the other.

i am happy to report that this morning Jack finally left me a pile! they were all different shapes so i know whatever was causing the delay has finally passed. while he was on my chest last night after feeding i was praying to wake up to that pile! i am sure he is so much happier now. i will continue to hand feed him and medicate until he is eating on his own and continuing the piles of poo!

 

[Stackie]

Metoclopramide (reglan) is an antiemetic. It also increases GI motility. It can be used for chins that are in ileus without obstructions to get the digestive system moving again, and to decrease any nausea associated with it. Cisapride does pretty much the same thing but does not have the antiemetic effects.

Generally only one is prescribed and that is enough to take care of the problem since they are both prokinetic drugs, but both can be used in severe cases as they may have a synergistic effect.

 

[mishellyshel]

thank you for that very detailed explanation! I appreciate it.

i will continue with the metacam, baytril, cisapride, gas drops, lifeline & handfeed mix, plus extra exercise outside of cage until my little buddy is back on track.

just wish i knew what caused this all, i want to protect the rest of the boys!

 

[Sandi]

I thought the Cisapride is to keep your chinchilla's lower G.I. tract moving and the Reglan (metaclopramide) was for the upper G.I. tract? Maybe I noted the bottles incorrectly (I saved the old empty bottles for just in case) but CJ was prescribed both at one time because he had gotten that bad. I believe they both helped. Michelle, glad he is doing better today.

 

[Stackie]

It's a little confusing, Sandi. Some places say upper, some lower. I've copied this from Merck:

Metoclopramide is a dopaminergic antagonist and peripheral serotonin receptor antagonist with GI and CNS effects. In the upper GI tract, metoclopramide increases both acetylcholine release from neurons and cholinergic receptor sensitivity to acetylcholine. Metoclopramide stimulates and coordinates esophageal, gastric, pyloric, and duodenal motor activity. It increases lower esophageal sphincter tone and stimulates gastric contractions; while relaxing the pylorus and duodenum. Inadequate cholinergic activity is incriminated in many GI motility disorders; therefore, metoclopramide should be most effective in diseases where normal motility is diminished or impaired. Metoclopramide speeds gastric emptying of liquids, but may slow the emptying of solids. It is effective in treating postoperative ileus in dogs, which is characterized by decreased GI myoelectric activity and motility. Metoclopramide has little or no effect on colonic motility.

Cisapride is chemically related to metoclopramide, but unlike metoclopramide, it does not cross the blood-brain barrier or have antidopaminergic effects. Therefore, it does not have antiemetic action or cause extrapyramidal effects (extreme CNS stimulation). Cisapride enhances the release of acetylcholine from postganglionic nerve endings of the myenteric plexus and antagonizes the inhibitory action of serotonin on the myenteric plexus, resulting in increased GI motility and heart rate. Cisapride is more potent and has broader prokinetic activity than metoclopramide, increasing the motility of the colon, as well as that of the esophagus, stomach, and small intestine.

Basically, both have the same effects, but cisapride is stronger and effects the colon where as metoclopramide does not. So I guess I got mixed up too? lol

 

[ticklechin]

Are these chins housed together? Reason I ask is that when you have a dental chin with a active infection it can be passed to other chins-even though the other chin is not a dental chin. IMO based on a expensive experience all malo/dental chins need to be treated as if they are infectious, strict infection control of body fluids between chins. Just a side note.

 

[mishellyshel]

no they are not housed together. they are actually the 2 furthest apart chins.
stitch was diagnosed with some type of bacterial infection, almost like a giardia but not that. sorry, it has been a rough week with pets, i didnt catch the technical name. only reason he trimmed him is that he was already going under anethesia to get the xray to make sure he didnt have a urinary issue (since i noticed his belly was a bit yellow) he needed minimal filing. but he was whimpering and lethargic and seemed extremely sick. i honestly didnt think he would make it. he bounced back within a day or so, i was shocked. back to his nasty self. even he tried to spray me on sunday!stinker.

Jack was diagnosed with an upper respitory infection AND had extremely bad tooth issues. i did just notice on sunday that he was wheezing a bit right after i hand fed him and he was laying on my chest. dr told me one tooth was growing into his gum and i needed to watch for absess. but he was not acting so ill. no drooling, no pawing at mouth, no sneezing and was not nearly as lethargic as stitch. today is day 5 and i finally saw poop but still not eating on his own. i just thought he would bounce back quicker.

i did take away the dust bath because i was afraid of cross contamination. and both boys are on the top of a FN and live next door to another FN housing chins, but those chins are okay. im just wondering if it is related to something they ate or drank or somehting in my home or just bad luck.

what other ways can i make sure that they dont exchange any body fluids between them?? should i do separate play areas for now or it is too late since they were both treated with baytril???

 

[ticklechin]

Since my experience I have no more dental chins, but if I did from what I learned nothing at all that drool could get to would transmit to another chin-no bottles, no bottle cleaners, no food, dishes, wood products, no playtime where other chins play, no dust baths, hands sanitized, no containers used to mix CC, no feeding syringes, no debris under a cage another chin can get access to, basically everything I could think of where drool could get that another chin could get to-in my case we did not know the transmission culprit, only the bacteria from the dental chin ended up causing dental infection in the healthy chins.