|
TLG James posted:I just buy dried fruit at the grocery store. My hamster seems to love it. Dried apricots, cherries, etc.. Way cheaper than the pet store stuff. Just be careful that you get the preservative-free stuff, some of the chemicals that are safe for human consumption and used in dried fruit are not safe for little critters.
|
#
?
Apr 5, 2011 03:18
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 14, 2024 20:25 |
|
|
Crackerman posted:How dilute can I make this powder so that it still works? How likely is it that he can smell something coming from the direction of the water bottle that he doesn't like? As it is now the water is a quarter full and fairly cloudy - the vet advised me to only fill it so he's likely to drain it in less than a day. What exactly is the stuff that you're putting into the water?
|
|
#
?
Apr 5, 2011 04:43
|
|
|
It's called Bio-Lapis, it's to help the bacteria in his stomach. I tried putting some of the water with the powder in it on my finger for him to smell and he literally recoiled before running and hiding, so clearly he's not a fine. I've noticed some mild diarrhoea today and he's doing a lot of sitting in the corner. He's still eating though, he just seems unhappy. I've given him his antibiotics this morning and I'm going to have to syringe the bio-lapis laced water into his mouth in a couple of hours since it seems to be the only way he'll take it. I guess I can do that throughout the day. I'm worried because he doesn't seem to be drinking at all now, not normal water either. Crackerman fucked around with this message at 08:48 on Apr 5, 2011 |
|
#
?
Apr 5, 2011 08:41
|
|
|
Crackerman posted:It's called Bio-Lapis, it's to help the bacteria in his stomach. I tried putting some of the water with the powder in it on my finger for him to smell and he literally recoiled before running and hiding, so clearly he's not a fine. I've noticed some mild diarrhoea today and he's doing a lot of sitting in the corner. I'm sure someone better will pop in and answer you shortly. My advice for the time being is feeding him some cucumbers or other fresh greens or vegetables with lots of water in it. EDIT: I'm very skeptical against giving him anything that goes into the water bottle. I know my pigs will not willingly touch something they consider contaminated. cat with hands fucked around with this message at 14:04 on Apr 5, 2011 |
|
#
?
Apr 5, 2011 14:01
|
|
|
Crackerman posted:It's called Bio-Lapis, it's to help the bacteria in his stomach. I tried putting some of the water with the powder in it on my finger for him to smell and he literally recoiled before running and hiding, so clearly he's not a fine. I've noticed some mild diarrhoea today and he's doing a lot of sitting in the corner. Do you have a second pig? If so throw out that power poo poo and feed him the dissolved poops of the healthy pig. Force feed it to him and leave his water alone so he will be drinking it. And read this: http://www.guinealynx.info/probiotics.html Honestly I hardly ever treat with probiotics if I have a pig on antibiotics unless I notice the consistency of their poops changing or any other behavior change. You might not need to give it to him at all.
|
|
#
?
Apr 5, 2011 14:11
|
|
|
Thanks for the replies. He's on his own, he did have a friend but he died about two years ago and when we tried to introduce new ones he was really not happy about it so they went to someone else and he's seemed perfectly happy on his own since. I've syringe-fed him the bio-lapis but it doesn't seem to have made a difference. Rather than diarrhoea he actually seems to be constipated. I've given him a lot of green veg in the last 24 hours and he's still eating food when it's offered to him, but left on his own he's just sort of sitting in the corner hiding. Definitely seems like he doesn't feel right because he's hardly ever been ill. What worries me is that he's not drinking any water now, even though it has nothing in it. I'm going to try getting a new water bottle and putting it in a different part of his cage to see if he switches but otherwise I don't really know what else to do. I'm taking him back to the vet a bit later just to check whether he is constipated or not but I don't know if there's much they can do either. I don't know whether he's hiding now because he doesn't feel well or because he's sulking after having different things squirted into his mouth and being examined several times in the last couple of days.
|
|
#
?
Apr 5, 2011 14:23
|
|
|
If he isn't drinking or passing stools this is extremely serious. There are drugs that can aid in motility and I would recommend you bring him to a vet AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. I really cannot stress enough how serious this is. Guinea pigs don't stop eating because they are sulking, its because they aren't feeling well and there is an underlying cause.
|
|
#
?
Apr 5, 2011 14:27
|
|
|
Yeah I had a feeling it was more serious than that. He'll eat if I actually hand feed him, but he's not coming out to eat on his own. I've got an appointment with the vet in about 45 minutes, I'm just sort of preparing for the worst really. I guess at least 6 is a fairly decent age.
|
|
#
?
Apr 5, 2011 14:47
|
|
|
Crackerman posted:Yeah I had a feeling it was more serious than that. He'll eat if I actually hand feed him, but he's not coming out to eat on his own. I've got an appointment with the vet in about 45 minutes, I'm just sort of preparing for the worst really. Only because most vets don't really know how to treat guinea pigs. Your vet could be killing your pig through simple ignorance, but with quality exotics specialty care he could easily live another 2-3 years. 1) Did the vet do an oral exam to visualize the molars and make sure they are not mallocluded? 2) Did the vet do an X-ray to determine whether there are bladder stones? Those are the top two most common problems in older pigs and both need to be ruled out before anything else is even considered. Jumping right to URI unless those are both specifically excluded is red flag to me that your vet doesn't really know guinea pigs that well. The lack of drinking makes me think stones. Get the X-ray. If there are stones, small ones can be flushed, large ones can be surgically removed, but you may need to find an exotics specialist to do either. If you do that you'll need to get the vet to give you a bag of lactated ringers and teach you how to give subcu fluids. You also probably need some critical care for syringe feeding. Are you weighing him weekly? How's his weight compared to how it's been over the last 4-6 months? You'll want to weigh twice daily during this illness to be sure your feeding and fluids are maintaining a good weight. If there are large stones, you also need to consider that they do come back frequently, sometimes as quickly as two weeks after surgery. I always go ahead and have them flush small stones, but if one is so large that it requires surgery I usually opt to euthanize. I've had a dozen or more stones removed surgically and every time it has ended badly for the piggy. So be prepared to consider euthanasia as well.
|
|
#
?
Apr 5, 2011 15:19
|
|
|
Crackerman posted:Yeah I had a feeling it was more serious than that. He'll eat if I actually hand feed him, but he's not coming out to eat on his own. I've got an appointment with the vet in about 45 minutes, I'm just sort of preparing for the worst really. I wouldn't count him out yet. I've brought many a pig back from the brink with aggressive force feeding and Reglan (a motility drug), antibiotics and pain killers.
|
|
#
?
Apr 5, 2011 15:20
|
|
|
Okay back from the vet. Once he was out of his cage he seemed to wake up a bit and got more active. She examined him, listening to his lungs and feeling around his abdomen after I'd told her he might be constipated. She said he didn't feel swollen or seem sore, which I had thought as well. Essentially she said to give him until Thursday and keep giving him the antibiotics, but don't use the probiotic if he hates it that much since it will just stress him out and to keep feeding him fresh/watery greens like cucumber. If there's no improvement, or he gets worse, then to take him back on Thursday. That surgery does have an exotic pet specialist, but he's not available until Monday so there's nothing I can really do until then. Right now he's back in his cage, and while he is hiding again he's also eating a cucumber. There's not much I can really do now until Thursday, I'm not here tomorrow but someone will be to keep and eye on him and give him the antibiotics. edit: Whatever happens I will definitely be taking him to see the exotic specialist on Monday, even if he gets better properly, for a proper checkup. Crackerman fucked around with this message at 16:32 on Apr 5, 2011 |
|
#
?
Apr 5, 2011 16:26
|
|
|
alucinor posted:The lack of drinking makes me think stones. Get the X-ray. If there are stones, small ones can be flushed, large ones can be surgically removed, but you may need to find an exotics specialist to do either. If you do that you'll need to get the vet to give you a bag of lactated ringers and teach you how to give subcu fluids. You also probably need some critical care for syringe feeding. Are you weighing him weekly? How's his weight compared to how it's been over the last 4-6 months? You'll want to weigh twice daily during this illness to be sure your feeding and fluids are maintaining a good weight. I just made an appointment to take my almost-6 pig into the vet for this very reason. Squeaking while peeing, has been passing a little blood. I'm treating with antibiotics right now and crossing my fingers that its just a UTI but I've spent the day reading all about bladder stones and now I've convinced myself that that's probably the cause. But otherwise she is acting fine, eating fine, hasn't lost weight but I haven't weighed her in a few days. Crossing my fingers here since my current record on piggy surgery is 1-1. 
|
|
#
?
Apr 5, 2011 18:01
|
|
|
I haven't noticed any squeaking or unusual noise. He peed on me earlier and it seemed normal, no blood or funny colours. I will definitely bring it up next time I see the vet, and like I said I'm definitely taking him to see the exotic specialist on Monday regardless of how he is. He's been hiding for the last couple of hours and I've been worried, but he's out and eating his dry food now and digging through the bedding for some reason like he's looking for something he's lost. I'm hoping this is just a reaction to the antibiotics but I'm still trying to prepare myself for the worst and keeping a close eye on his behaviour. Everyone here looking after him tomorrow has taken care of him off and on over the last six years too so they all know what he's like and what him acting odd would be. edit: forgot about the weight too - he was weighed on Monday when he initially went in about the wheezing and I can't remember how much he was, but I remember she checked it against his file and said he was normal. I'll ask them to weigh him again Thursday or Monday and make a note of it so I have a reference point myself in the future.
|
|
#
?
Apr 5, 2011 18:13
|
|
|
Sirotan posted:I just made an appointment to take my almost-6 pig into the vet for this very reason. Squeaking while peeing, has been passing a little blood. I'm treating with antibiotics right now and crossing my fingers that its just a UTI but I've spent the day reading all about bladder stones and now I've convinced myself that that's probably the cause. Good luck. It's ALWAYS teeth or stones - except when it's not. I lost my youngest pig (would have been 5 in May) a week ago Wednesday. She ate Tuesday's dinner and Wednesday's breakfast with gusto. I got home Tuesday and something wasn't right. That's literally all I can say - she looked wrong. She wasn't holding herself the same way she normally does. I weighed her. Her weight was stable from the previous Sunday and within 5 grams of her 6 month running average. I checked her molars with an otoscope. No malloclusion or points. I palpated her bladder. She passed a small quantity of bloody urine. OH poo poo E-VET. The E-vet knows me well by this time. The consult consisted of: "Teeth or bladder this time?" "Bladder." "Why can't you ever come in with anything easy, like a broken leg? I'll get the x-ray set up." Then he got tied up with a real emergency. After about 30 minutes of waiting Skunky suddenly started having trouble breathing. I had to open the exam room's back door and tell him that I thought we were losing her. He rushed in, took her back and masked her down for like a second and she died. I had him open her up real quickly to see what was wrong - surprisingly, her bladder was perfect. With bloody urine, the next best guess would have been uterine cancer - uterus was normal too. The only weird thing was that she had some blood in the abdominal cavity, and the liver was not right - it was highly friable. We sent off a sample, which just came back a few minutes ago: high grade malignant lymphoma.
|
|
#
?
Apr 5, 2011 18:37
|
|
|
Dang. I've only ever had one pig that just got old and dropped dead one day. That's always my biggest fears with these guys, that they have something happen to them and suffer before they die or I have them euthanized. I feel like every time I have a pig that dies/could die I really question whether I should continue to own guinea pigs or not. I get extremely attached and emotional about them and wonder if I should just get a dog or something instead. They just live so much longer. And your post made me decide to bump up my vet appointment from Thursday to today. I will probably feel better knowing one way or the other versus waiting two days and agonizing the entire time.
|
|
#
?
Apr 5, 2011 18:53
|
|
|
alucinor posted:Stuff That sounds like an absolutely horrible thing to go through. I've had two die on me, only one of them I was actually there when it happened. We'd only had him a die but he was extremely shy and nervous and didn't eat very much. He had come with a very boisterous friend who had been with him for years. The first night the shy one woke me up making these horrible, loud, wheezing squeals and then just went quiet and died. I have no idea what happened to him, it sounded and looked like a heart attack. It was such an awful noise though. The current one has just been given his second dose of antibiotics for the day and has been eating. He had some hay and is currently picking at the cucumber I left him earlier. Still doesn't seems to be drinking though so I syringed some water in after too just to make sure he's had some fluid. I had to have the "be prepared for the worst" conversation with my girlfriend who I got him for in the first place as well. She seems to agree with me that if he's really sick at least he's had a fairly long life and always been healthy and happy. Still hope he turns out alright.
|
|
#
?
Apr 5, 2011 20:31
|
|
|
Crackerman posted:
If he's temporarily ignoring the bottle it might help to put water in a bowl instead. Or maybe trick him by adding a low concentration of tomato or rose hip juice (without extra salt and sugar) to the bottle. EDIT: Is there no way you can get healthy pig-poo? Even if you don't know anyone I don't think a store or zoo would mind you taking a fecal pellet or two. cat with hands fucked around with this message at 22:06 on Apr 5, 2011 |
|
#
?
Apr 5, 2011 22:03
|
|
|
I noticed him ducking down to do the usual thing they do when they drop one of those earlier, and he has been eating a little bit more although he's still not drinking so I'm not sure if things are starting to flow a bit more normally down there. I've noticed he seems to get a bit more active after he's had the antibiotics, then he seems to crash a little bit after that.
|
|
#
?
Apr 5, 2011 22:25
|
|
|
Bladder stone.  Vet gave it a 50-60% chance she can pass it herself. Now to completely overload her with fluids for 2-3 weeks and decide how radically I will change her diet and hope its gone on the next x-ray.
|
|
#
?
Apr 5, 2011 23:12
|
|
|
cat with hands posted:EDIT: Is there no way you can get healthy pig-poo? Even if you don't know anyone I don't think a store or zoo would mind you taking a fecal pellet or two. Yeah but pet store pigs come right out of mills and infecting an already sick pig with giardia or coccidia might be the nail that does them in.
|
|
#
?
Apr 5, 2011 23:21
|
|
|
Sirotan posted:Bladder stone. Sorry to hear that, good luck. In addition to the Ca:P ratio balancing, my vets insist that ANY pellets and ANY vit C supplements can contribute to the incidence of bladder stones, especially in a pig already prone to them. They don't even like me giving Oxbow's C tabs; they say that dietary C should be all they get. I've done stone recovery on a diet of 100% hay and bell peppers/romaine/cilantro, with about 150-200cc of subcu fluids divided across 4 injections. It's less than optimal for the lack of nutritional variety, but easy enough to do, and it seemed to work in my cases.
|
|
#
?
Apr 6, 2011 01:51
|
|
|
alucinor posted:Sorry to hear that, good luck. Yeah I'm going to dramatically reduce the pellets. I don't think I can completely eliminate them. I read on Guinea Lynx that the Oxbow Cavy Cuisine is suspect in regards to stone formation so I've already ordered the user-recommended KM Hayloft pellets. I'm not planning on doing the subcue injections at this point but will be dramatically increasing fluids. Any recommendation for something other than water our maybe cranberry juice? 200cc seems like a hell of a lot too. Even 100cc seems like it will be a challenge. I really don't know what the norm us for fluid intake for a 1kg pig but I'm going to try to shoot for 100cc/day starting tomorrow. I can't see that it will hurt really, she is just going to get really loving annoyed with me. To complicate this whole thing of course is I have the newly adopted pig and they were all going to start living together this week. 
|
|
#
?
Apr 6, 2011 02:28
|
|
|
RazorBunny posted:Just be careful that you get the preservative-free stuff, some of the chemicals that are safe for human consumption and used in dried fruit are not safe for little critters. Raisins: Ingredients: Sun Dried Raisins 
|
|
#
?
Apr 6, 2011 02:43
|
|
|
TLG James posted:Raisins: Ingredients: Sun Dried Raisins It's usually more of an issue with things like banana chips, dried pineapple, etc.
|
|
#
?
Apr 6, 2011 03:04
|
|
|
Sirotan posted:Yeah I'm going to dramatically reduce the pellets. I don't think I can completely eliminate them. I read on Guinea Lynx that the Oxbow Cavy Cuisine is suspect in regards to stone formation so I've already ordered the user-recommended KM Hayloft pellets. I'm not planning on doing the subcue injections at this point but will be dramatically increasing fluids. Any recommendation for something other than water our maybe cranberry juice? Yeah, for the old guys I don't completely eliminate pellets either, don't tell my vet.  Only when they are actively passing the stones do I take them off them, otherwise they can't keep weight on.Subcu is just my preference because it's a really fast, easy way to make sure they're extra hydrated - you can use more fluid when it's not going into the stomach. It also involves a lot less fighting and drool down my shirt. But yes, if you're giving oral, you have to give less. I wouldn't give anything else - she may be reluctant to drink anyhow and changing flavors on her might make her even more reluctant, plus the natural sugars in any fruit juices might cause a bacterial bloom which you don't need right now. Keep us posted!
|
|
#
?
Apr 6, 2011 15:47
|
|
|
Unsweetened Rose hip juice should still be ok, right? Very little carbs in that. On a lighter side.. Cute: Pig is taking a nap on your chest while you're reading a book. Less Cute: Same pig suddenly snacks on a fecal pellet 4 inches from your nose.
|
|
#
?
Apr 6, 2011 16:06
|
|
|
alucinor, how long did you maintain the 150-200cc of daily subcue liquid? Until you could confirm the stone had passed? Did you have a maintenance amount of fluid you would give after the fact or did you just rely on fluids they would drink on their own & from veggies?
|
|
#
?
Apr 6, 2011 16:13
|
|
|
Sirotan posted:alucinor, how long did you maintain the 150-200cc of daily subcue liquid? Until you could confirm the stone had passed? Did you have a maintenance amount of fluid you would give after the fact or did you just rely on fluids they would drink on their own & from veggies? Until the vet confirmed the stones had passed; 1 to 2 weeks usually. Sometimes vets can tell just by palpating the bladder from outside, other times I'd suddenly see the pig act much more pain-free and that would be the cue that she'd passed it. After that I would give much less, about 20cc once daily, as a maintenance dose for another 2-3 weeks, and we'd do a second recheck Xray. If, at that time, there were no additional stones formed or forming, I'd discontinue subcue fluids. Other people prefer to keep on giving fluids daily for life with older, sludge-prone pigs. Many people do report that this seems to help. There's extensive discussion of post-stone maintenance plans on GL if you want a wider variety of experiences to consider. Did you actually get to see the X-ray? If so, how big was the stone, or was it multiple small stones? I've mostly had luck with them passing it themselves if it's multiple tiny grains about the size of salt crystals. With rice or pea sized stones, my vet has always wanted to flush them manually, by inserting a catheter and filling the bladder with lube, basically. It's a lot harder but at least you know it's done at that point.
|
|
#
?
Apr 6, 2011 17:29
|
|
|
alucinor posted:Did you actually get to see the X-ray? If so, how big was the stone, or was it multiple small stones? I've mostly had luck with them passing it themselves if it's multiple tiny grains about the size of salt crystals. With rice or pea sized stones, my vet has always wanted to flush them manually, by inserting a catheter and filling the bladder with lube, basically. It's a lot harder but at least you know it's done at that point. I did see the xray, its just one stone, pretty round. I don't know that I'd call it pea-sized, we didn't actually measure it. If I had to guess I would say slightly bigger than a pin head. The vet just eyeballed it and told me it was borderline of whether she thought she could pass it or not. Gave me a 50-60% probability she could pass it on her own. I asked about flushing the bladder since I had read quite a bit about it on GL and she told me she had never done it or heard of anyone doing it. She is kind of young and I think she is a new vet at the practice (only saw her since my regular vet is on vacation this week, go figure), so I guess she just isn't familiar with the practice. She seemed skeptical that it was even possible so I'm going to get a message to my usual vet about it when she is back next week. Certainly this is the road I would prefer to go down vs surgery if she cannot pass it on her own. Edit: Oh, and she also told me if I can keep it from growing, since she doesn't seem to have much discomfort from it being in there that we could leave it in and just keep her on a maintenance dose of AB and Metacam it it ever seems to start bothering her again. I guess I'm skeptical on whether this is a safe option or not but she assured me it was and the incidence of bladder rupture or a plugged urethra was relatively rare. Sirotan fucked around with this message at 18:10 on Apr 6, 2011 |
|
#
?
Apr 6, 2011 18:06
|
|
|
My poor guinea pig refuses to eat anything. He stopped eat hay almost entirely 3 weeks ago, and ~7 days ago began eating very little of anything. We took him to the vet on Monday because he was on his deathbed (eyes closed when picking him up, didn't move at all for almost an hour). The vet examined him, said he was dehydrated, and gave us some critical care food to mix up. She said to feed him 4-6 times per day. She also gave me an antibiotic for once a day. She couldn't identify any underlying cause why he would have stopped eating, she said usually it is because their back teeth are overgrown but his were fine. The first day home, we ran into a lot of trouble because despite being very close to death, my pig (a male) refused to be fed through a tube. I finally figured out the only way to get him to eat his critical care food was to squirt it onto a spinach leaf and hold it in front of his face. He also refused to eat any of it mixed with either pineapple juice or water (the recommended), I had to mix it with peanut butter to get him to eat it. I don't normally feed him peanut butter but I heard most pigs like it, even though the high fat is not good for them. It is either that or let him starve to death, I will slowly cut back on the amount of peanut butter over time. He seems to be doing a little bit better now, but still doesn't eat any hay and eats very little of his veggies/other food. He picks through his pellet mix and only eats certain things. We feed him broccoli, grapes, and spinach on a daily basis, and he is a very picky eater in general (doesn't like peppers, romaine lettuce, or any of the other things you are supposed to feed them daily). My girlfriend is mostly to blame for this (was her pig originally) because that is all she fed him at first and now he won't try anything new. I also discovered today, while cleaning his cage, that his water bottle had a fine film of brown mold all over the inside of it. It actually looked like condensation, and has to be wiped off, rinsing with water never removed it before. I bought him a new bottle. I am hoping the mold was the problem. Maybe ingesting so much mold messed with the normal bacteria in his stomach and prevented him from digesting cellulose, which is why he stopped eating hay and veggies? Just a theory. I am going to call the vet and mention the mold and see what she thinks. I have also bought some 3rd cut hay from KMS, as it says many pigs who refuse to eat hay will eat this. We had been using kaytee from the pet store. Anyway, just wanted to make a post here in case anyone had any insights on how to get him to start eating vegetables and hay again, or about why he may have stopped in the first place.
|
|
#
?
Apr 9, 2011 08:04
|
|
|
Basketofpancakes posted:My poor guinea pig refuses to eat anything. He stopped eat hay almost entirely 3 weeks ago, and ~7 days ago began eating very little of anything. I've never had a pig that liked the taste of critical care which is why you have to force feed it to them. You cannot rely on them simply eating it on their own. The whole reason we use critical care is because they AREN'T eating on their own. Its no fun for pig or human but you have to do it and a lot of times its a matter of life or death. If he is still not eating well you need to continue to force feed him. Do not stop. How exactly did the vet examine him? Was an x-ray taken? Any sort of blood work? Urinalysis? You can't identify everything going on with a pig just from a visual inspection. Honestly I would try to find a second vet for another opinion. From what you wrote I'm not sure the person you saw has had much experience with guinea pigs.
|
|
#
?
Apr 9, 2011 13:46
|
|
|
Basketofpancakes posted:
So, there are several things going on here. 1) not eating is sometimes a sign of tooth problems. Its also sometimes a sign of cancer, infection, injury, stasis, ear infections, eye infections, abscess, well.... You see where I'm going with this. Your vet checked for one thing (visually) which doesnt even really rule out the tooth problems since the roots can overgrow and they can't be seen without an x-ray. You need to find a vet that will do a more aggressive diagnostic. 2) to handfeed a guinea pig you've got to literally force it into their mouth. Very few sick pigs will eat willingly. It doesn't matter how sick or how minorly sick they are. http://www.guinealynx.info/handfeeding.html That page has a guide to hand feeding. Skip the peanut butter, even if he eats it it can make him worse in the long run by putting him further into stasis. His primary problem at this point is how long this has gone on. Even if his problem is minor and easily treated, it becomes a possibility that he may end up dying essentially from starvation.
|
|
#
?
Apr 9, 2011 16:04
|
|
|
Reading this thread makes me want to own a pair of pigs, but I have to wait until I no longer live in a flat. I used to volunteer at a shelter called "Pets Corner" (UK side here...) and the piggies were my favourites, especially when they're chirrupers. As a non pig owner, I request more piccies please!!!
|
|
#
?
Apr 10, 2011 22:29
|
|
|
Succ-U-Bus posted:Reading this thread makes me want to own a pair of pigs, but I have to wait until I no longer live in a flat. Why would anyone ever choose a guinea pig over this?!: 
|
|
#
?
Apr 10, 2011 22:50
|
|
|
Chilli's are ridiculously cute as well, please give them a snuggle from me and tell them I'm sorry. They look like a married couple, so adorable! <3
|
|
#
?
Apr 11, 2011 00:16
|
|
|
Okay: an update. The antibiotics ended on Saturday morning. Since then I've seen a very, very gradual improvement. He's eating now, although still only very small amounts and only very specific things. I've noticed an odd behaviour - he'll smell the food, think for a second, then turn away. This is usually a reaction to him testing something out and deciding he doesn't like it, but he seems to be doing it to almost everything now, including regular dry food and hay. He's started to pick now, but not very much. Just now I gave him some romaine lettuce and he did something really odd - he smelled it, took it from me, then put it down and sort of tried to eat it. He kept stopping to shake his head back and forth, then try again, repeat, try again before finally eating it. I can still hear him eating the rest of it now. His appetite does seem to be reappearing, and he's still alert (no closing his eyes or going limp, no discharge from anywhere), but what the hell does this gesture he's making mean? The vet who saw him on Friday checked his teeth and throat and found nothing unusual, I was worried he might have chipped one or something. This is the closest thing I could find online to show the sort of thing he was doing: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tjuLb7CRADk (sorry about the audio.) I'll be taking him to the vet again on Thursday, but I'm keeping a close eye on him incase he goes downhill in the meantime.
|
|
#
?
Apr 11, 2011 22:22
|
|
|
Crackerman posted:sort of tried to eat it. He kept stopping to shake his head back and forth, then try again, repeat, try again before finally eating it. That's classic molar malocclusion behavior. Did the vet actually visualize both the tongue and cheek sides of the molars using an otoscope, or just peer in with a tongue depressor?
|
|
#
?
Apr 11, 2011 22:47
|
|
|
Just looking in but it sounds like it's going to have to get checked properly when I go back. next day edit: came back from work on lunch and noticed he'd eaten all the lettuce I'd left him last night, so I tried him with some more. No odd gestures, no weird head movements, he just snatched it out of my hand and started to hoover it up. I'm still making an appointment for Thursday but I really hope he just starts eating more and more by then. Crackerman fucked around with this message at 13:20 on Apr 12, 2011 |
|
#
?
Apr 11, 2011 22:51
|
|
|
I'm looking to adopt a chinchilla from the humane society in about 3 months. I've done some preliminary research and read parts of the websites/forums that have been posted so my boyfriend and I think we can handle a chinchilla. Here are some questions I have: 1. If I have the option to choose, would it be better (health wise, cost, temperament, etc.) to get a male or female? 2. I'm in Canada (specially Alberta), so can someone give me an average of how much they spend on the vet every year? 3. For a cage, I've been noticing that people use the Ferret Nation style cages, so the ones that are off the ground and with casters and a shelf underneath. Is that okay? I'm worried that the wire ramp would be inappropriate for its feet. 4. If I go away for a weekend and I can't get someone to chinchilla sit, can I just enough food/water out for it? 5. Is there any way to prevent them from chewing on baseboards, cords, etc. when they're out of the cage? I want to be able to let mine run around but since we'll be renting a place, I don't want to cause any unnecessary damage. So should I just cover everything fleece when it's out or just give my chinchilla a play pen to run around in? Thanks, PI! Penguins Like Pies fucked around with this message at 21:14 on Apr 13, 2011 |
|
#
?
Apr 12, 2011 18:47
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 14, 2024 20:25 |
|
|
Penguins Like Pies posted:I'm looking to adopt a chinchilla from the humane society in about 3 months. I've done some preliminary research and read parts of the websites/forums that have been posted so my boyfriend and I think we can handle a chinchilla. Here are some questions I have: 1. If I have the option to choose, would it be better (health wise, cost, temperament, etc.) to get a male or female? Females have a tendency to spray (urine) when they feel afraid or are upset with you. They also go through heat and get all lovey during that time. Males need hair ring checks every couple months. Usually they take care of cleaning themselves but if you see them messing with their privates too much it means you need to pull out the penis and remove the hair yourself. Temperament is pretty much random and doesn't have a lot to do with sex. 2. I'm in Canada (specially Alberta), so can someone give me an average of how much they spend on the vet every year? Can't tell you about Canada but in the US the average exotic vet checkup is anywhere from $45-$100 USD depending on if you go to a good one or not. 3. For a cage, I've been noticing that people use the Ferret Nation style cages, so the ones that are off the ground and with casters and a shelf underneath. Is that okay? I'm worried that the wire ramp would be inappropriate for its feet. The Ferret Nation is the one most people get. Be sure to remove any ramps or plastic shelves that may come with whatever cage you decide to get. Also it's fun to make your own wooden shelves and ledges and it saves money too. 4. If I go away for a weekend and I can't get someone to chinchilla sit, can I just enough food/water out for it? For the most part people will tell you not to risk it. They can have all kinds of things happen if you don't check on them for more than a day. They could slip and fall and break a limb, the water bottle could start leaking. This is for pretty much any bigger pet though. 5. Is there any way to prevent them from chewing on baseboards, cords, etc. when they're out of the cage? I want to be able to let mine run around but since we'll be renting a place, I don't want to cause any unnecessary damage. So should I just cover everything fleece when it's out or just give my chinchilla a play pen to run around in? There's no way to stop them. It takes just a moment of them near the wall and a chunk of paint is gone. Lots of people use a playpen or just line the walls with flat cardboard boxes. This is the site to get all your information. Some of the people there can be a little "crazy chinchilla lady" but for the most part they just want your chin to be happy. There are sections with tutorials on how to make shelves and fleece accessories as well as a classifieds area where you can have someone make it for you. http://www.chins-n-hedgies.com/forums/index.php
|
|
#
?
Apr 14, 2011 23:54
|
|