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[PSV]

Hey there!
My female chin is having soft poo for over two weeks now. She didn't loose any considerable weight and anything that she lost she did put back in less than 48 hours.
In the first week I tried removing everything from her diet, keeping only fresh hay and alfalfa pellets considering that it might be a simple diet problem.
Well, it wasn't and her poo keeps having the same aspect/consistence.
Needless to say that it smells like a sewer
I took a poo sample to three vets but that didn't clear anything up... apparently no foreign bacteria or parasite has made his home in her GI system.
I am suspecting a lack of vitamin C which might affect her digestion.

Do you guys think at any other aspects that I should take into consideration? Should I consider a soft antibiotic?
If not, I'll probably give her an intramuscular shot with Vitamin C and a B complex.
IF it has any relevance: she is nursing 3 kits.


Thank you in advance!
Kind regards,
Vic

[dianah]

how soft is it? does it still look like poo or is it sticking together, to her, to shelves etc? is it liquid? i am alarmed that none of the three vets wanted to investigate this further or have given you any advice. just because there's no foreign organism living in there doesn't mean it's ok.

i would advise against antibiotics given they have found nothing antibiotics would treat AND she is nursing - antibiotics get into milk. antibiotics mess up gi flora - if there something already wrong, it may make it worse. there's no such thing as a soft antibiotic for a chinchilla.

if she's not losing any weight, is nursing and behaves as normal, i would hold off any shots or harsh medication. stress can affect gi tract significantly (my mae goes into stasis if i'm gone for a day or more), it is possible having three babies is doing this to her.

i'd try probiotics. you can get them from your vet (they are aimed at rabbits) or there is a fab product called chinchilla lifeline (this is available in america, i had it urgently shipped and dawnna was really helpful and quick). there's also a product called fibreplex for rabbits, this is a paste in a dosing syringe, you can get it from your vet, the dose should be absolutely minimal - 0.5ml and then see what happens. i only used this when mae had outright liquid poo. it works extremely well but you have to be very careful, the last thing you want is to make her constipated.

[Lori Ramsey Earle]

New(and also pregnant) moms often drink more water which can result in soft poo. Since tests haven't shown any bacterial or parasitic problems. I'd suggest a benign treatment to help out. What I've done in the past is give powdered acidophilus along with a product called Pet Pectillin(a combination of kaolin and pectin) which is available  online. I give 1 cc of the Pectillin twice a day. This has worked well for my chins.
I haven't heard of a vitamin c or b deficiency causing intestinal problems. Have you found some info on this?
Frankly, the thought of an "intramuscular shot with Vitamin C and a B complex" scares me. Are you a vet tech? A chinchilla isn't the easiest animal to administer shots to, and isn't something I would have anyone but my vet do. Plus this sounds like a simple case of diahrea, and easily treated by non invasive methods.

[PSV]

First of all, thank you guys for the replies!
To trim it: She still does the same shaped poos but being soft are sticking together, on the shelves and some end up in her fur or the babies'.
Some simply add up and end up looking like a big pile
It's not like diahrea (at least not like the human one looks )

I weaned the kits last night.. I will keep a close look on her and hope that it's only a kit/water intake problem.

I'm driving to Bucharest today with some business but I'll make a stop to the biggest pet shop store in the country to check maybe they have some Pectilin or some probiotics like dianah suggested.
If I'm not finding any I guess that I'm going to send you guys some money to have some shipped

Once again thanks for giving me a relief. I was quite paranoid when I saw her poo in the past two weeks.
I'll keep you updated.

Kind regards,
Vic

[dianah]

soft poo certainly is a cause for concern so you're not freaking out unreasonably the main problem would be if she was losing weight as the problem with diarrhoea is that it dehydrates them very quickly. any nasties inside would be a problem too. since you've eliminated the latter and she is not losing weight, it probably is not serious.

the important thing on giving antidiarrhoea medication, be conservative on dosage to start with. don't expect results straight away (12-15 hours later is probably reasonable). the last thing you want to happen is to block her up!

[dianah]

can i suggest, before you try any meds, give her some shredded wheat? that helps sometimes!

[PSV]

I guess I freaked out for nothing after all. It was probably the water intake the main cause of the soft poo.
After 12 hours from weaning the 3 kits her poo became hard as a rock \o/

Thank you again for all the tips!
Kind regards,
Vic

[dianah]

yay! that's always good to hear!