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[AnnieHank]

He seems to have minimal interest in food or play which isn't like him at all. I let him out a small while ago and he just sat there for 20 minutes, no poos and no play. I even gave him a dried applewood stick, which normally doesn't last any time at all and he didn't seem interested. He seemed to be shivering too.
I've given him a small bit of lifeline powder and a couple of rolled oats in the hopes that will pep him up. He ate it anyway which is a good sign, right? He only weighs 3g less than when I weighed him 2 weeks ago. I'm going to bring him to the vet first thing in the morning but in the meantime, is there anything I could be giving him tonight to make him feel more comfortable?

[mojito]

You can try maybe giving him a piece of a raisin to see if he eats that. He's not pooping? What about peeing? Definitely get him checked out asap, go ahead and write down your routine and what food/hay you use, the more info to the vet the better. If it were me I would just try and give him company until the vet; I'm hoping others will have better and more productive answers than me!

[jmdebb]

with all those symtoms, its best if you get to a vet asap.. good luck, pls keep us poste.d

[AnnieHank]

I'm just back from the vet and she confirmed that his tummy has stopped. she gave him an injection to get him moving and an antibiotic in case it's the start of an infection. Now I'm going to monitor him closely, feed him critical care and if he still doesn't pooh then I'm bringing him back tomorrow. She reckons it could be a stress response coupled with lack of sleep.

I had thought the stress of them being in heat was a bit much for him, (he cries like a baby!) So last week I moved his cage out of the spare bedroom where the girls are and moved him into the living room. He's used to sleeping in complete silence so maybe the noises of me working from home have been keeping him awake. Either way, the vet reckons the stress of the girls being in heat probably isn't as bad as moving him!

Thanks for the responses, I'll keep y'all updated.

[AnnieHank]

He still hasn't poohed and I didn't like the look of him so back to the vet. She said she couldn't feel any compacted pooh in his tummy and a sneaky x ray (no anaesthetic, just patiently waited for him to sit still) showed no pooh in his guts at all (apparently pooh exists with gas and the gas shows up black). I managed to get about 2.5mls of critical care into him earlier so I don't understand how there's no pooh in his tummy. There are no poohs in his cage or house. Apart from the xray and telling me to keep feeding him the critical care, there wasn't a lot she could do. I got another 2mls of critical care mixed with lifeline into him now and I'm keeping an eye on his food dish, water bottle and hay holder to see if he takes any food by himself.
Anyone know how much critical care he should be getting and how often? I'm pretty bummed my vet doesn't know this much. She just said "little and often".
While he still seems perky enough (he seemed delighted to have his sand bath) he's still not his joyful self.
Any suggestions to get him eating on his own again? A few rolled oats with his pellets maybe?

[GrayRodent]

One thing that can be done to help the guts is to massage the abdomen on either side (very gently) after each feeding. Feeding small amounts (2ml seems reasonable to me since they they take in a normal food volume of 1.2ml/hr I think) in short intervals (every 2 or so hours) will also help. Chinchillas have significantly longer intestinal tracts than other rodents for their size so it takes food a while to transit through the bowels. Don't quote me on this but I think it is 15 hours. Giving yogurt is probably a good idea, offering a teaspoon of sugar-free yogurt a couple times a day may help straighten out the gut flora.

Unfortunately this kind of situation is not always reversible. If you see any marked distension of the abdomen later on you should call the vet. When the system has shut down this severely it could take a couple of days. If all goes well and there aren't any other problems causing anorexia (such as tooth problems) I'd expect to see some improvement by mid day tomorrow.

I am no expert so maybe someone who knows more can expound on this or provide some corrections.

[AnnieHank]

Thanks for that.
Update: He's done loads of poohs in the last hour. They're darker than normal but otherwise looking good.
Question: So now, do I continue to feed him the critical care or wait and see if he eats by himself? I've weighed his food dish so I'll know if he eats anything. He's back on his wheel again too

[GrayRodent]

I am very glad to hear everything is starting up again. I'm sure that is a relief!

I would try to offer solid food by hand and see what he does. I recommend you keep an eye out for tooth problems still. Make sure he doesn't crumble the pellets and that he is still chewing regularly on toys. Weighing the food dish is an interesting idea. It will work as long as he doesn't shovel it out of the dish like some pets do. Make sure he is drinking too. Backing off of water can result in constipation that will make matters worse. The darker "poohs" probably resulted from sitting in the guts for too long and are likely drier, smaller and harder than normal as well. If you don't see an improvement by the end of the day tomorrow you may need to take additional steps to manage that.

[AnnieHank]

Thanks so much for your advice. He seems to have eaten 10g of pellets overnight. I didn't see any sign of throwing them out of the dish. Plenty more pooh again today and he's running away from me!  Once he's been better a few days, I'll bring him back to the vet to get his teeth checked. He has been crumbling his pellets, although none were crumbled last night. The vets yesterday both said that it wouldn't be safe to gas him to check his teeth in his weakened state. Fingers crossed and thanks again for your advice

[jmdebb]

i'm so glad you got in the vets office and he's pooping yah..

as for how much cc, i just got done using cc with a chin and i always fed at least 10 ccs every 2-3 hours.  they need to constantly have food in them.. and one of my vets said that was a decent amount to feed.. just fyi... but someone may say something else..

as for food, if she gave him baytril, that tends to make them sick to their tummies so he probably wont eat or a few days after youu stop it... of course i dont know if thats what she gave you, and the there are some chins that dont get upset tummies.

youu can just keep pellets in his dish and keep close eye on them... you should notice if some are missing... 
keep up the great work!

[AnnieHank]

Thanks for that
I'm still weighing his food dish and checking around for any pellets he threw out and he ate another 10g overnight. His poos are very small and dark today so I guess that means he's not drinking much water. I've put a sellotape marker around the outside of the bottle so I'll see how much he drinks. I gave him about 2ml of critical care mixed with a small amount of lifeline this morning to try keep him hydrated. I'll give him a little more later too.
He's very very cross with me though. He runs away when I go in the room and when I'm feeding him his critical care, his little nips mean business now. I'm bitten to shreds! Better than the alternative though, it's good to see him with some fight. The other day at the vet, he couldn't have cared less what you did to him. Broke my heart.
It's a year today since Hank died (Buddy's father). I had hoped I wouldn't have to do this hand feeding thing again and not so soon.

[GrayRodent]

Thank you for the new info jm. I was basing my calculation on the theory that chins eat about 2 tbsp pellets per day. Of course that still leaves out hay. I am glad this chin is eating something more than 4cc every two hours as this would certainly not be enough to maintain its weight.

Would you care to quantify about how much water it should be drinking in a day to give Annie a guide? I am afraid if the problem is a tooth spur there could be a lot of pain involved still and as chewing starts back up it can cause more inflammation and pain and start the cycle over. Would you recommend what to do for that?

AnnieHank - I think you are doing an excellent job. Your chin will probably get even more upset each time it is restrained. I've cared for many other kinds of animals (not chins though). Some don't care and other act like they are being killed but they get over it. It could get worse before it gets better.

Some chins will eat from a syrninge through the bars. Do you think this one will? Try giving some pedialyte (see how much chin will lick up) and certainly raisins through the bars. Raisins will help with constipation. It is recommended to give no more than two a day (one in morning one in evening) under normal circumstances.

[AnnieHank]

Thanks GrayRodent. I'm doing my best, I just hope it's enough.

He's poohing and running on his wheel again. I fed him critical care mixed with lifeline twice today and I think that helped. He hasn't touched his water today though. I hope the critical care isn't stopping him drinking water on his own. Between the 4ml of critical care, about 10g of pellets and small amount of hay he's eating, is that enough food for him or do I need to feed him more critical care? I think if he's eating hay and pellets on his own, his appetite is probably okay, right? I'm mostly concerned because he's not drinking by himself and he isn't poohing normally.

I tried feeding with the syringe through the bars and he didn't want to know. I've tried a few things and the only thing I've found that worked is holding him and syringing the food into the side of his mouth or onto his lips and he licks it off. The latter takes more time and I'd be worried he'd overheat in my arms before I got a lot of food into him. I'm going to call the vet in the morning and see if she thinks I could bring him back in for a look at his teeth. They thought he was too weak before but if the teeth are a problem then he's not getting any stronger. I just want him to be better!

[GrayRodent]

It does appear that you will need to give him water by syringe. I'm not capable of giving you specifics as to how much and how often. I am hoping someone who knows will comment. I recommend you call your vet, get that info and start doing that tonight if possible. Make sure the syringe is aimed to the side and not the back of the throat at all times. It doesn't take much in the lungs to cause serious problems.

[Jo Ann]

Sorry I have not been very active on the forum lately ... having some medical problems, but I was ask to see if I could add a little to what others may be saying.  So far, I see some very good advice being offered by others.  Good going!  

Glad to see the vet is working with you, but personally, I would add a few things to what you are doing.  
I'll list them all here, in addition to what you are already doing so there will be a complete list in one place.

1. When a chin's system slows down or stops that always means there can be major problems very quickly, something that can not be ignored. Constipation for humans and most other animals is usually a bad discomfort ... for a chinchilla it is usually one of the early signs of illness or injury and must be dealt with as quickly as possible.  When a chinchillas' gut stops, so does the rest of his system ... rather rapidly ... faster than any other animal I have come in contact with over my many years. (I'm a senior citizen now   )
2. If he is on antibiotics or has been on antibiotics the critical care and the yogurt are a must!
Do keep in mind the critical care must be refrigerated at all times.
If for some reason the critical care has not been kept refrigerated, please check out a health food store and get some acidophiles ... I buy the ones that are in the capsules.  Once the bottle of assodiplous is opened it to MUST be kept refrigerated.   I mix 1 capsule with each 1/4 cup of critical care and keep it refrigerated.   You can make it into little balls, about the size of a raisin and hand feed them to him ... do keep them refrigerated in an air tight glass container!
3. The liquid you are mixing with the critical care is adding fluids for him and so is the yogurt ... this is a good thing.
4. Yogurt with fruit is good and they seem to accept it much more readily ... mine like the strawberries & the blue berries that are mixed with the yogurt.  I use the individual serving size Activia and Yoplait sells.  Yogurt is often an acquired taste ... they may refuse it at first and it may take frequent persistence on your part to get them to eat it.  But, there are chins that will never accept it.  If your little one runs away, turns around and around while trying it's best to wipe off the yogurt you got on his lips ... more than likely he will never accept it.  Do not for it under these circumstances.
5.VERY IMPORTANT: Offer him yogurt (or critical care) 1/2 way between the doses of antibiotics.[/b]  Do NOT give antibiotics and yogurt or critical care at the same time or within 2 hours of each other!  Yogurt is a milk product and will cancel out the good the antibiotics will do for him.  The antibiotics kill all the micro creatures in the chinchilla's system ... the bad and the good.  The good ones are called flora and they help your chin to properly digest it's food. The yogurt and the critical care replace them ... but the meds and the flora replacement, both, must have time to do their job to make your chin healthy again.
6. Peylite is good, but must be kept refrigerated between refills, but is only good for 24 hours after it is opened.  I use the one Gerber baby foods puts out.  They come in individual serving size usually in a 4 or 6 pack ... this cuts way back on waste and cost.  I use the apple flavored one ... they seem to love it!   Caution: When it is time to get him back on regular water, it may take about a week of adding just enough to flavor the water and use less and less each day to wean him off of the apple flavored liquid.  
7. When a chin is sick, it is often best to stick to the basics and give hay only and not the regular pellets of food.  He needs the extra nutrients and fiber the hay has to offer him.
8. With the amount and time he has been stopped up, I personally, would go one step futher.  
There is one time and one time only I will recommend giving a chinchilla a nut.  
This is that time ... one unsalted almond ... wait 2 to 3 hours and give him a second one ... this should start his bowels moving properly.
9. Last, but definately not least, I am NOT a vet, but have been raising chinchillas for over a decade and have had 200+ chinchilla at one time on many occasions.  What I offer you is my experience and what I have done and will continue to do with my own chinchillas, because this is what has worked for me.

Above all, if you trust your vet and his/her knowledge of caring for chinchillas, follow the instructions your vet gives you and use information offered you by others only as long as you feel comfortable doing so.

Possible reasons a chin gets stopped up:
1.  Illness
2.  Injury
3.  Surgery
4.  Medications
5.  Pain
6.  Food he should never be given such as:
   a.  Never, ever, ever give your chin meat or meat byproducts (such as a rawhide bone made for dogs) ... there systems can not digest these and will cause the system to stop up and will usually, very slowly and painfully kill your chin.
   b.  Veggies that cause gas ... such as broccoli, beans, melons (Gas for a chinchilla and and often does, cause a slow painful death.)
   c.  Fruits grown with a pit (peaches)
   d.  Watery fruits and veggies (watermelon, lettuce, celery, etc.) These will cause diarrhea ... which is just as bad as being constipated.
   e.  Fruit and veggies that have acid or citrus
   f.  Nuts are a BIG no-no! (except on very rare occasions)  A chin that is fed nuts on a regular basis will usually end up with a fatty liver.  Chinchillas' systems are not made to digest the oils in nuts, this is what gives them a fatty liver, which can complicate other problems and even cause death.
   g.  Processed foods contain dies, preservatives and additives never meant for a chinchilla ... do not feed them human foods on a regular basis.
   h.  Always know where the fruit and branches for your chin's pleasure come from ... they can NOT come from a tree or bush that has been sprayed with chemicals!

Well, the end of this 'lecture' ... hope it helps you and any other person in the future with their precious little fur ball.

   Jo Ann

P.S. When giving water or any liquid with a syringe ... I strongly suggest a glass eye dropper or a plastic syringe used when giving an injection (without the needle, of course) and give the liquid one drop at a time on the lips of the chin ... not inside the mouth ... they have been known to suck so hard and quick unexpectedly, that they manage to suck the feeder all the way into the mouth, puncturing the throat.  I suggest using a hand towel and wrap it like a papoose ... very snugly securing the front paws ... hold it at a 45 to 50 degree angle and give it the liquid slowly.