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[knollr]

I have 7 chins. Two in side by side cage. Three girls together.  And male and female in another cage. At one time or another they have issues with soft stool. My one chin is 8 months old. He had stinky and soft stools. So we went to vet and tested positive for giardia.  So began flagyl and probiotic course. He improved and tested negative at retesting.  I sanitized with vinegar and water all his shelves. And he has been doing great. All my chins are active seem happy and eat and drink plenty of water. During this I was worried they didn't do well on mazuri diet and have read its been linked to some cases of diarrhea.  So I switched to oxbow. He wouldn't take to it and I was unsure of its date or howlong it had been on shelf. So after research I went with purina show rabbit and higher quality hay. All my chins poop has improved from this change. But the other day I had him out to play and he had stinky poop. I quickly pulled his pellets and gave shredded wheat and bene bac plus. I gave to probiotic to all other chins. I have noticed they occasionally have a poop odor and softer. Well it been a couple days of the probiotic and no stinky poop. Every one is eating and drinking.  Poop varies from smaller size to larger size.  It is  mfirmer but gives. I wear gloves when cleaning up after them. And wash hands in between play time with each group. Water is filtered. Any suggestions? Should I continue probiotic how long can it be regular part of diet. I also gave infant gas relief and a little bit of pectillin.  Would really appreciate opinion.  Could they just be stressed all three cages are right by each other

[GrayRodent]

Perhaps it is stress but I'm not sure how to best arrange your chinchillas. Perhaps someone can comment who has gone through this. Giardia unfortunately is something that never completely goes away which means your chinchilla can carry the giardia without being sick from it but under the right conditions they can become sick from it again requiring treatment. If your situation does not improve you may need to go back on antibiotics but certainly I would investigate causes of stress that can result in the parasite taking hold again first.

Another contributing factor could be the change in pelleted diet which can upset the balance of the intestinal flora and fauna and contribute to re-infection. Although I don't have experience using shredded wheat as a supplement in this situation I question the safety and effectiveness of it. You might want to stop giving that and try a hay only diet for a few days for the affected chinchillas. The bene-bac treatment sometimes can result in soft stools as well. In theory the probiotic should have no such effect and should be safe to give indefinitely but I've heard it can cause loose stools. I don't think that's necessary to use bene-bac long term because normally those microbial colonies in the guts should reach their optimal ratios and stay there once they get there once the animal is healthy. The pelleted diet is going to be a big part of that as it has probiotics in it already. As far as pectillin that may have harmful side effects and I would talk to your vet if you are feeling the need to use that. If you need antibotics pectillin won't solve the problem and has the potential of causing different problems.

That is my opinion. I don't have experience there and I hope someone else will comment soon. I do recommend you consult with your veterinarian. The longer this goes on the potential for life-threatening complications increases.