Advices Needed for 2 Constipated Chinnies

Hi People!

I just re-joined this forum today and I have a piece of bad news. For those who don't know me, I'm located in SIngapore, a country in South East Asia. It is summer time all year round for us here. Chins were newly introduced to ourcountry in 1997.

I have 2 chins. One 8 months old Female Brown Velvet and one 17 months old Male White Mosaic. Recently (On last Tuesday), they started having small poops. I always give them a handful of Alfafah hay whenever I find their poops a little smaller than usual. However, this does not work this round.

Their conditions worsen and I brought them to the vet with most experience in chins in our country on Saturday. I was advised to feed them limitless raisins and alfafah hay and cranberry juice to encourage more poops. He felt their guts and told me that my white mosaic has a lot of poops in his system.

Things did not go too well for them as their poops get smaller. I had to syringe them with Cranberry Juice as they refuse to drink it. At one time, they took up to 10 raisins a day and a big handful of alfafah.

I was at my wits end when my friend volunteer to look after them when I go to work. She ook over and decided to feed them bisacodyl which is a type of laxative. It worked for my BV girl and she started pooping large poops. The Mosaic boy did not do as well but has been pooping consistantly. My friend will be keeping an eye on them till their situation stabilised. She will keep me posted every few hours.

May I know if any one of you out there has any other solutions or ways to prevent and cure constipation. One thing to note is that I did not change any of their regular food supplies. If you have a solution, please let me know.

Thank you.

[Sassy]

Any kind of yogurt may help as well. Petromalt (a hair ball remedy) will also help sometimes.

I tried some hairball remover but itdidn't help. My Mosaic boy was brought to another vet for a second opinion and he said that it is actually diarrhea and not constipation. His poops is small but soft and he guess that the reason for small poops is due to little food intake. He is currently on prepulsid.

My BV gal's poop is still not very consistant. At times, it's big and other times it will become smaller. She's still on bisacodyl and she doesn't eat her timothy hay. She finish her oxbow pellets and drink a lot though.

What can I do to make them eat more hay and pellets? I'm starting with Nutri-Cal.

[Sassy]

Since your already using Oxbow Pellets you can grind them up and add water to handfeed if they are not eating. (Oxbow carries a critical care formula for handfeeding but the vet must order it)
If it is diarrhea give them a piece of shredded wheat or burnt toast.

Can you get Mazuri feed there?
Also try a little alfalfa hay.
If the poops are small that is leading to constipation, diarrhea would be regular size soft droppings. Did the vet do any tests on them? Did he check for Giardia?

Yes, we do get Mazuri here. I was thinkingof switching when they recover and stabilise. Don't think I should do much changes now. My chins are very stubborn. If they decide that they won't eat something, they run away, I had to syringe them most of the time. Will nutri-cal help in increasing their appetite?

[Sassy]

From the way you have described this it does not sound like diarrhea it sounds more like constipation.
If I were you I would stop the laxative on her, give her her pellets, alfalfa hay (or timothy) and plenty of liquids. If she is not eating good you can grind the pellets up to a powder and mix with water.

Mazuri is a great feed . I am not saying Oxbow is not good. I use and recommend Mazuri. If you do switch them over to Mazuri do it very slowly, it should take about a month to do the switch over(I take my time when introducing new feed or hay).

[Sassy]

This Thread should help you.