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[dianah]

I brought a rescue chin home yesterday. She has a very bad case of incisor root growing through her chin that's also causing an abscess. She only weighs 450g and she is not strong enough for an anaesthetic for an xray (let alone surgery) so I need to put weight on her, quick.

She can actually chew ok as the actual teeth are ok but she's been on fed very bad diet (chinchilla mix and banana chips) so she's not eating that much hay. She had 10 nuggets from about 7pm last night when we brought her home and 10am in the morning. I am syringe feeding her critical care (she won't eat it off my finger). She has alfalfa & timothy hay in her cage but as I said, she doesn't really eat that much of it.

I do not really want to change too many things in her diet at once but at the same time, it's critical she puts weight on fast so we can start the treatment. She's also on baytril & metacam and I think baytril can actually reduce appetite.

Any ideas? I'm thinking oats but is there anything else?

[jmdebb]

i'm not sure how much you would use, but i know in sick chins that need to put weight on you use DYNE.. i've used it before myself..

dawna from chocolate chinchillas sells it, i'm not sure who else might.

[ABC Chinchillas]

You can get lifeline from Dawnna as well that can help increase the appatite. I understand the desire to put weight on quickly but it needs to be done slowly for the health in the animal.  Just like in people a quick weight gain can cause other health issues. Good feed, plenty of hay and fresh water. Rolled oats won't hurt and some lifeline and time
Dawnna ships things quickly http://www.chocolatechinchillas.com

[dianah]

thanks guys, i've emailed dawna.

she doesn't really eat hay, i guess because she'd been fed such rubbish before. we'll get there!

[dianah]

wooo! little girl put on 1g since yesterday! this is really good as she lost 5g from friday to saturday and another 5g from saturday to sunday. she had really flaky ears as well and they've improved a lot!

[jmdebb]

have you tried different hays?  i mean different brands.. my guys get fussy alot with hay.. i hate it!! they never used to, i don't knw what happened.

[dianah]

yes, she's got oxbow timothy, oxbow alfalfa, oxbow timothy cube, random brand meadow hay.

she was fed on bedding hay and not much of it but i think she's becoming a little more experimental now

[jmdebb]

APD hay is good, and there is someone else that sells it, i can't think of her site name, sorry, but i know it starts with a K, maybe someone else will know the site and will give the link.
j

[dianah]

thank you. i don't think i've seen apd hay over here (isle of man) but she's actually starting to nibble on hay now she's put on another 2 or 3 grams! yay!

dawnna's also sending some meal replacement stuff to compensate for the lack of hay!

[jmdebb]

oops i'm sorry, i did'nt realize where you were from, i'm so sorry.

[dianah]

now worries, i get oxbow hay as well and that's american. i can have it shipped over from england though (no one sells it on the island)

[jbcstratton]

My chins can be fussy over hay as well, mine prefer the Zupreem western timothy over the other brands I have bought.  Don't know if this is available to you or not. It is more the tender parts instead of the more straw parts

[ABC Chinchillas]

If there are any horse farms you may be able to buy a bit of hay directly from them.

[dianah]

i've tried all sorts in the past (not least because i couldn't get oxbow for ages) but all mine prefer oxbow timothy, i think because the strands are so long and green. maye seems to be picking up that one more than others but i give her different types so she can choose what she likes best. she's just not used to eating hay so i guess it will take time.

[dianah]

little girl weighed in at 447g today! that means she'd put on 7g in the past three days! woooooooooooo