Gassy Winnie

27th September 2008

Another trip to the vet this morning.

Winnie is not out of the woods yet. Since he’s been taken off the Bene-Bac on Monday, it seemed as if he was getting better: his poop was oval & black (like how normal chinchilla poop is supposed to look like), but still small. A couple of days later, his poop returned to how they were before: small, bead-sized, & very hard. I also noticed that during feeding time, I could feel and hear popping noises coming from his stomach!

From 2 weeks of not chewing pellets, the vet suspected that the molars were overgrown & needed trimming (maybe another reason why he doesn’t want to eat on his own). When Winnie was under sedation, the vet could see that the molars were overgrown, but not too bad.

As for the popping noises, the vet said that the noises are gas moving around in Winnie’s digestive system. Vet doesn’t know what’s causing so much gas build-up. The reasons could range from: bacteria producing the excess gas, to air that was trapped in the food syringe. With all the gas in Winnie’s tummy, it just makes him feel bloated & full, hence another reason why he doesn’t feel like eating on his own. I’m still syringe-feeding him, because he wouldn’t touch his pellets! The strange thing is, he eats hay & grapes.

Now, he’s back on the Bene-bac, he’s still on the motility medicine, and on GasX (medicines for human infants to get rid of gas). I’m also reducing the amount of food I give him, hoping that he’ll get a little hungry to encourage him to eat on his own.

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Posted in Chinchilla care, Chinchilla health | Comments (3)

3 Responses to “Gassy Winnie”

  1. furrybutts Says:
    September 28th, 2008 at 10:35 am

    Poor Winnie! Seems like the vet is doing all that needs to be done (I’m comparing this against the treatment of rabbits with gas & in GI stasis). Hope he recovers soon. It’s always so worrying when one of our pets fall ill, isn’t it.

    Is he drinking water consistently? Hydration is important, to prevent the food mass in his stomach from drying up and hardening, making it harder to pass through the gut.

    Get well soon, little guy! We’re sending good vibes to you :)

  2. wiffy Says:
    September 29th, 2008 at 3:08 am

    Hope winnie will get better n less gassy soon. Can chins eat plain yoghurt? Maybe it will help his digestive system a bit

  3. admin Says:
    September 29th, 2008 at 11:16 pm

    Furrybutts, I think Winnie’s treatments are similar to that for Rabbits with GI stasis & gas problems. Vet told me that these are the same medications as what her rabbit patients also receive, but for chinchillas the dosage are less.
    He is drinking water & sometimes I even syringe water into him.
    Wiffy, I don’t think chinchillas can have dairy products like hamsters.
    Winnie is already taking Bene-bac, which is a probiotic (lots of good bacteria, which also can be found in yogurt I think).
    Thanks for all your best wishes!!! Right now, all I can do is wait, see, & continue with the treatments.

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