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lovemychinchilla · 4 years ago

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Chinchilla Diarrhea: Causes, Symptoms & Cure

Chinchillas poop lots, and it's normally dry and solid. But do chinchillas get diarrhea? Is it caused by the same issues? How do you fix it—and is it serious?

Can chinchillas get diarrhea? They can, and it's immediately obvious as chinchilla poop should be hard, not runny, smushy, soft or sticky. Diarrhea is caused by a lack of fiber, excess water in the diet, dietary changes, parasites like giardia, stress, stomach bugs and/or a lack of 'good' stomach bacteria. For a chinchilla soft poop/diarrhea can only be fixed by addressing the individual cause, e.g. by correcting a low fiber diet or preventing stress. Talk to a vet about curing diarrhea for more help.

If your chinchilla has soft poop, you should read the guide below. It explains everything: from what causes diarrhea in chinchillas, to how to spot its various symptoms, and how to fix it.

Can Chinchillas Get Diarrhea?

Chinchillas can get diarrhea just like we can. They're a kind of mammal, as we are; all mammals share the same kind organs like stomachs, small and large intestines, and so on. So, the same bacterial infection that might cause diarrhea in a person could also cause diarrhea in a chinchilla.

But stomach bugs aren't the only cause of diarrhea. Diarrhea in people can be caused by poor diet, lack of fiber, too much water in the diet, and even stress. These things can all cause soft stool or diarrhea in chinchillas, too.

How Serious Is Diarrhea in Chinchillas?

Our experiences with diarrhea are that it's annoying and painful, but not life-threatening. But for a chinchilla runny poop can be much more serious.

The prognosis (likely outcome) of diarrhea depends on what's causing it. If left untreated, diarrhea can eventually cause your pet to pass away by making it lose weight. It can also form part of a wider issue, such as stress, which can gradually wear down your pet's health. As such, you have to identify the cause and seek treatment for your pet as soon as possible.

What Causes Diarrhea in Chinchillas?

Without deeper analysis of your chinchilla's living conditions, it's impossible to say what's causing its soft droppings/diarrhea. As such, this page can't give you all the answers. That being said, there are several common causes—it's likely that one of these is causing your chinchilla's digestive problems. So, go through the list below and try to figure out what's wrong.

1) The Wrong Food

There are two ways in which the wrong food can cause diarrhea. The first is if it contains too much water. The second is if it doesn't contain enough fiber.

Your pet is best fed a dry diet of hay alone. Because it's so used to a dry diet, if it eats foods with lots of water in, it can't easily process it all. That's because chinchillas conserve water, only urinating irregularly, and not expelling much water when they do. So, instead of being excreted through pee, the water is instead excreted through poop. This makes the stool looser.

The problem of too little fiber often occurs alongside the problem of excess water. Hay has so much fiber in it that when a chinchilla is fed almost anything else, it doesn't get enough. Fiber has two effects: first, it actively absorbs water. This alone is enough for it to make the stool harder. But it also makes digestion last longer, as the gut has to work harder to process it. If the digestive matter doesn't have any fiber in it, the gut can digest it much quicker, giving itself less time to absorb any water in it (as water is absorbed through the intestinal lining). As you can imagine, if this lack of fiber is combined with watery foods, it makes the stool much looser.

Chinchillas only need to eat fresh hay and hay pellets. So, if you are feeding your chinchilla foods it doesn't need like nuts and seeds, vegetables or fruit then switch back to a hay-only diet. This may completely fix your chinchilla's diarrhea.

Another way in which food can cause diarrhea is if you recently changed your chinchilla's diet. Because chinchillas have such little variety in their diet, sudden changes can cause diarrhea, too. If you recently changed your chinchilla from one hay to another, or if you switched from an inappropriate diet to a hay-based one, there's a good chance that this change is behind your pet's issue. If that's the case, its poops should go back to normal soon.

2) Parasites (Particularly Giardia)

Giardia is a kind of tiny parasite that lives in the gut. It can be caught from unfiltered water, even tap water in some places. Each parasite is so small that they can't be seen with the naked eye.

Giardia causes a condition called 'giardiasis', which is where the tiny parasites attach themselves to the lining of the small intestine. There, they interfere with the gut's absorption of carbohydrates and fats. Through interfering with the absorption of nutrients, and through the body's desire to flush the parasites away, giardiasis causes diarrhea.

While getting rid of as many parasites as possible might be good for the body, it's good for the parasites, too. They spread through contact with feces, so it's in the giardia parasite's interest for it and its eggs to be flushed out in poop. This is therefore one case in which diarrhea is transmissible between chinchillas, while for other causes (e.g. stress) it's not.

Giardia can be identified by giving your vet a stool sample from your chinchilla that they then examine. The vet may try a fecal flotation test, which is where the poop is put in liquid. This is a routine test that diagnoses parasites. The poop is mixed in with the liquid, causing any parasites or their eggs to float to the surface. They can then be examined more closely with a microscope. This may not work with giardia as they are only inconsistently pooped out.

Other kinds of gastrointestinal parasite can cause the same problems, although these aren't as commonly seen. Coccidia or regular worms can affect chinchillas, too, and cause diarrhea.

3) Stress

While stress isn't a specific health condition of its own, it will cause severe symptoms in chinchillas constantly exposed to it. One such symptom is diarrhea.

The link between stress and diarrhea has been known for decades. When the body enters fight-or-flight mode, many things happen: the heart beats faster, thoughts run quickly, and muscles become tense. One of the unintended side-effects of the muscles tensing up is intestinal cramping, which causes food to pass more quickly through the gut. If the food is only partially digested, it can come out in the form of diarrhea.

This reaction was first studied in 1949, in an experiment that definitely wouldn't be allowed today. Scientists recreated stressful situations: specifically 'pain', 'compression of the head', and 'discussion of life situations productive of emotional conflict'. That doesn't sound too bad—but these 'discussions' actually involved telling the test subjects that they had colon cancer! They were later told that they didn't, but ethical considerations in experiments today mean this would never be done in modern studies. The scientists found that each of these situations made the digestive process speed up.

We also know that chinchillas (and many other mammals) can experience stress in the same way that we can. They produce the same hormones from the same glands in the same situations that we do, and their bodies respond in the same way: heart rate increases, tension and so on. You can see these changes expressed in your pet's behavior, both in the short and long term. Short term signs of stress include alarm barking and running away; long term signs include fur barbering, cage bar chewing and diarrhea.

4) Can Chinchillas Get Stomach Bugs?

While stomach bugs are the most common cause of diarrhea in people, they aren't in chinchillas. That's because most pet chinchillas eat a highly controlled diet. Hay is the perfect food for avoiding stomach bugs: it won't rot if it stays dry. While that doesn't mean it's completely bacteria-free, it does mean stomach bugs are less likely.

What could cause a stomach bug is if you feed your pet an inappropriate diet. Say, for example, that you feed your chinchilla fruit like bananas or apples. If you were to prepare these foods on a dirty kitchen surface, you could give your chinchilla a stomach bug—the same kind you would get. You could also hypothetically have these bacteria on your hands as you feed your pet treats.

5) Other Causes of Diarrhea in Chinchillas

While dietary problems, parasites and stress are the most common causes, they aren't the only ones.

One such infrequent cause is an imbalance of gut bacteria. Bacteria in the gut are necessary to break down food, so a lack of bacteria, the wrong kind of bacteria, or the wrong kind of bacteria can cause diarrhea. If the food isn't broken down properly, it may be loose; and if the food contained lots of 'bad bacteria', the gut will want to flush it out, meaning it doesn't absorb as much water from the food as it should. This imbalance can be caused by a stomach bug as mentioned above, but it can also be caused by taking antibiotics. Antibiotics kill bacteria in the body, including gut bacteria, and it can take a while to build back up.

If the issue is bacterial imbalance, the poop will be slightly mushy rather than fully runny.

Symptoms of Diarrhea in Chinchillas

As in people, diarrhea takes many forms in chinchillas. It can cause anything from slightly softer-than-usual poops to something that's almost fully liquid.

While there's one obvious symptom of diarrhea—soft stools—it's not the only one. You can therefore spot diarrhea even if your chinchilla doesn't leave behind a big mess.

Soft Poop Instead of Hard Poop

Chinchilla poop is supposed to be completely solid. That's because chinchillas come from a dry habitat where they have to conserve any water they get. It's for this reason that chinchilla pee should be deep yellow or even orange, which you may have also noticed.

As such, when your chinchilla goes to the toilet, its poops should be completely solid—more so than that of other pets (or of people!) This means that loose or runny stools can be nothing but a bad sign. There is a scale of ways that the poop can be soft, including:

Completely runny

Sticky and squidgy

Slightly malleable but not sticky

Fully solid

One thing that does confuse matters, though, is that chinchillas produce a kind of poop called a 'cecotrope'. Cecotropes are half-digested poops that the chinchilla, as disgusting as it sounds, will poop out and eat again. This is like how other animals bring up their food to eat it again so they can digest it better (like cows do). Chinchillas produce cecotropes at night and eat them straight away, although if they're interrupted, they might miss one or two. They are slightly larger, and of course softer. So, if your chinchilla is otherwise healthy, then the occasional soft poop may be nothing but a cecotrope.

Chinchilla Poop Light Brown

The poop may also be different in color, although this isn't always the case. What happens is that because the poop is less dense, as it contains more water, it's less densely colored too. So, dry and solid poop looks darker brown while soft chinchilla poop looks lighter brown.

Brown-Stained Fur

The next most common symptom is staining of your chinchilla's fur. This is where the soft poop gets stuck in the fur and changes its color in patches. The poop may also stick in the fur and cause matted patches to form.

Chinchillas are hygienic, for rodents at least. Most chins will pick one corner of the cage to pee in, and only pee there. That stops the pee from getting in its fur. But they'll poop any time, anywhere, and because it's hard and dry this isn't a problem. They can stand on it or sit on it and it won't get stuck to their fur or smush under their feet. But when chins have diarrhea, it will get stuck, and chinchillas don't know to avoid it. These brown patches or areas of matted fur will typically be on your pet's legs and underside or on its rear.

Diarrhea can also stain fur more directly. If it's particularly runny, it will get caught in the fur around your chin's rear end.

Smelly Chinchilla Poop

Chinchilla poop normally doesn't smell as it's so dry. It will only smell if it's left on a soggy surface for too long, in which case it will start breaking down. But soft diarrhea smells far more than regular poop. What makes the smell worse is if your chinchilla has a stomach bug. If it does, the poop will smell worse even than regular diarrhea.

Weight Loss & Diarrhea in Chinchillas

As diarrhea is a digestive issue, it can affect how much energy your chinchilla gets from its food.

The absorption of water, vitamins, minerals, protein, fat and carbohydrate occur in the gut. If your chinchilla's food rushes through its gut either because of a bacterial infection, or because it doesn't contain enough fiber, the gut doesn't get enough time to take in the nutrients in the food. If the chinchilla's diarrhea is serious and continual, this can lead to dramatic weight loss. Diarrhea can cause gradual weight loss, too. If your chin has infrequent diarrhea—say every few days instead of constantly—this won't make it lose lots of weight all at once. But the lost calories will add up.

Just as important is that diarrhea can cause vitamin and mineral deficiencies. In particular, diarrhea causes the loss of electrolytes, which are mineral salts. If these aren't replaced, it has knock-on effects on health, such as lethargy, further diarrhea and pain.

How Do You Treat a Chinchilla With Diarrhea?

If your chinchilla has diarrhea, you shouldn't leave it to get better on its own. You should identify the cause and correct it as soon as possible. The step-by-step guide below leads you through this process.

1) Talk To a Vet

Whenever your chinchilla experiences any health problem, you should seek veterinary assistance immediately. While there is lots you can learn about chinchillas through online resources and books, you cannot replace the advice and medical care a vet can provide.

Vets can help in several ways. The first is by identifying what's causing the problem. The vet could ask you what you feed your pet, for example, and let you know whether it's an appropriate diet. Or, they could take a stool sample and check it for giardia. Once you know exactly what's causing your chinchilla's diarrhea, it's much easier to fix. And of course, they can also help by providing medical care. If your chinchilla has lost a lot of weight because of its diarrhea, they can give you Critical Care food for sick chinchillas.

To get vet care, take a stool sample from your chinchilla. If your chinchilla lives alone, that isn't a problem: just find the freshest poop, pop it in a box, and take it to the vet. If your chinchilla has a cage-mate, make sure the poop you're taking is from the sick chinchilla and not the other one. You could watch your pet until it goes to the toilet to be sure, or if the difference is clear, pick out the mushiest you can see.

2) Assess Your Chinchilla's Diet

At home, the first thing you should do is check what your chinchilla is eating. If it's eating nothing but hay and hay pellets, that's good; otherwise, switch it to that diet as soon as possible.

Timothy hay is the optimal hay to feed your pet. It contains the right amount of fiber, protein, fat and overall energy. Other hays contain excesses of certain nutrients; alfalfa for example has too much calcium to be the cornerstone of your pet's diet. If your chin isn't on a timothy hay diet, consider switching it to one.

If your chin is already on an appropriate diet, try cutting out its pellets and giving it solely fresh hay. This would eliminate the pellets as the cause of the diarrhea. You could try purchasing a different brand of pellets at a later date to see if they have the same effect.

Bear in mind, though, that dietary changes can in themselves cause diarrhea or make it worse. The best way to change a chinchilla's diet is gradually. So, to switch from one hay to another, begin week one by feeding 90% old hay and 10% new hay; then, week two, up the percentage of new hay to 20%. This will lessen the effects that the new hay will have on your pet's gut, while having a positive effect overall (if the old hay was to blame for your pet's digestive problems).

3) Assess Your Chinchilla's Living Conditions

As stress is a frequent cause of diarrhea, you should also try making your chinchilla's cage more appropriate and/or comfortable. This is a good idea whether or not your chin's diarrhea is caused by stress. Ideas you could try include:

Removing other chinchillas from the cage. Are your chinchillas fighting all the time? If so, it's best you separate them. If they are content with each other, however, there is no need.

Moving the cage to a more appropriate location. If the cage is somewhere bright and loud, that causes stress. More appropriate rooms include quiet bedrooms and basements. But only do this if you see a distinct long-term need, as moving the cage causes stress in itself.

Monitoring the temperature and humidity. High temperatures and high humidity cause stress. The temperature shouldn't be higher than 70 degrees Fahrenheit/21 degrees Centigrade. The humidity shouldn't be higher than 50%.

Giving your chinchilla everything it needs. Chinchilla cages need hides to hide in, platforms to jump from, and chew toys to chew (as well as obvious things like food and water). The absence of any of these things makes a chinchilla stressed, so add them to the cage if you haven't already.

Even if the diarrhea is nothing to do with stress, doing these things won't hurt your pet. If anything, the added comforts will make your pet's recovery easier.

4) Probiotics May Help

There's typically no need to give probiotics to your chinchilla. Mammals develop gut bacteria from early in life, and retain it from then on; if your chinchilla eats the same diet of hay from the moment it stops weaning, there should be no reason for it to lose its gut bacteria.

The only time it might is if you give it a course of antibiotics. Infections like eye infections or bumblefoot require antibiotic treatment, or they can lead to severe complications like blindness or sepsis. Sepsis is where bacteria gets into the bloodstream, from where it can attack the body's organs. But while the antibiotics do kill the 'bad' infection, they can also kill the 'good' gut bacteria, affecting digestion. The good bacteria can be at least partially built back up through giving probiotics.

Many owners use acidophilus tablets for this purpose. Chinchillas enjoy their texture.

5) Pet Pectillin

Pet Pectillin is a kind of diarrhea medication manufactured for cats and dogs, but which can be used for smaller animals too. It contains two active ingredients: pectin and kaolin. These sooth the stomach and work to prevent further diarrhea. It's recommended by owners, but you should consult a vet before using it. Owners recommend doses of 0.3ml, but only give the dosage that the vet tells you to.

It's perfectly safe for chinchillas to infest. Pectin is a kind of starch that's found in plants that coats the walls of the intestines. This prevents further irritation. Kaolin is a kind of clay that acts as an 'adsorbent' (not 'absorbent'). Absorbency is where a material swallows up liquid or gas inside itself, while adsorbency is where liquid or gas is accumulated on the surface of a solid, not inside it. In this context, the kaolin makes any bacteria or parasites gather in one place so they're more easily excreted.

6) Activated Charcoal

Another treatment owners frequently recommend is activated charcoal. But it may not work quite as well as people think.

Activated charcoal certainly has its uses. Like kaolin, it's an adsorbent. It's a highly effective treatment for getting rid of poisons that have been ingested. It could therefore work in the same way that kaolin does in treating diarrhea, and many owners certainly think it does; it has been studied and found to be potentially effective. But others aren't so convinced, such as the Mayo Clinic.

On balance, it's likely that activated charcoal does have some effect, although how good it is at fixing diarrhea compared to Pet Pectillin/kaolin isn't clear. If you do want to use it, take a small Ziploc bag and put some pellets in it. Put some activated charcoal in there too and shake it around until they're covered. You can then feed these to your chinchilla and see if they ahve any effect.

7) Monitor Your Pet

Once you have made the appropriate changes, you should watch over your chinchilla more closely than before. This will tell you whether its condition is getting better or worse.

The first thing you can do is simply watch it. Watching your chinchilla's behavior will tell you about its mental and physical health. So, for example, if its ears are always down then that means it's in pain. If it hardly moves, that means it's lethargic, and is desperately sick. But if it sleeps, forages and eats as normal, that tells you that its health is improving.

You should also begin weighing your pet if you haven't already. The more information you have at your disposal, the better you can care for your chinchilla. Even in the absence of behavioral changes, weight loss indicates that something is wrong. And if you have a baseline to measure from—a weight that you know is healthy for your pet—then you can adjust your chin's diet to keep it at that weight.

8) Bathe Your Chinchilla

As a final point, once your chinchilla's diarrhea is fully treated, it may benefit from you bathing it.

Contrary to popular belief, bathing in water isn't a death sentence for a chinchilla. So long as you dry it correctly afterwards, it's fine; it's just not typically necessary as dust keeps your pet clean without potentially risk its health. But if your chin's fur has dried and matted poop in it, and/or is stained, dust may not help, so a water bath may be necessary.

In brief, you have to bathe your chinchilla in much cooler water than you would another pet. A temperature that won't make it overheat (70 degrees Farenheit or 21 degrees Centigrade) feels cool for a bath, but any hotter than that and your chin will go through heat stress and could pass away. Use a gentle shampoo like one made for babies, preferably unscented. Five minutes of bathing is sufficient; unlike with dusting, you'll have to manually wash your pet's fur in water.

Once your chin is done bathing, you must dry it as soon as possible and in a precise way. You must first towel dry it until it's mostly dry. Then, blow dry it with the blow dryer set to a cool setting. But only do this once your chinchilla's diarrhea is fully treated, otherwise you'll be wasting your time!

Below, you can find our chinchilla quiz, new posts for further reading, and a signup for our Chinchilla Newsletter!

#chinchillas #chinchillahealth

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josephkitchen0 · 6 years ago

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Comb-To-Toe Checkup for Chicken Ailments

Can you recognize chicken ailments before it’s too late? Performing regular checkups can identify and ward off problems before they become worse.

Spending time with your flock on a regular basis apart from the regular feeding and cleaning is a good habit to get into. Take some time to really observe them, so you know what’s “normal” behavior and what’s not. That way you can immediately spot changes in appearance or behavior. The faster you identify a chicken ailment and treat it, the better. Chickens, being the ultimate prey animal, are masters at hiding symptoms and often by the time you notice something is wrong, it’s too late.

Every few weeks, take the time to pick up each chicken one by one and give it a good once-over. Look for anything out of the ordinary. Also judge how your bird is acting – calm and content or ruffled, uneasy or even possibly in pain.

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A thorough “comb-to-toe” chicken ailment checkup can help nip any potential problems in the bud before they become real problems. This will greatly enhance not only the health and happiness of your chickens but also maximize their productivity and life span.

So what exactly are you looking for in a comb-to-toe chicken ailment check up?

Comb

You should see a nice rosy comb with no black spots, which may indicate frostbite in the cold weather or the more serious fowl pox which is transmitted by mosquitoes in warm months. There is no treatment for fowl pox but the affected bird should be separated, kept warm and given extra nutrients. Black spots whether caused by frostbite or fowl pox should be covered with Green Goo (an herbal salve made by Sierra Sage Herbs) to prevent further damage and aid healing.

A purplish-colored comb can indicate chicken ailments like respiratory or breathing problems or can indicate a stroke or heart attack, with not enough oxygen getting to the extremities. A vet should be consulted immediately if possible. A pale comb can be a precursor to heat exhaustion or can also just mean your hen has just laid an egg. The act of laying draws all the blood out of the comb and wattles and to the vent area.

Eyes

You are looking for bright, clear eyes. If you notice excessive blinking, it could just mean there is dust or a particle in the eye and a twice daily flush with regular saline solution for a day or so should take care of it.

Cloudy eyes, watery eyes and beak or rubbing of the eyes can also mean conjunctivitis which can result from a build-up of ammonia in the bedding. Again, flush the eyes with saline and change out all the bedding in your coop.

Wheezing, watery eyes and nose, sneezing or coughing can be signs of respiratory illness to which chickens are extremely susceptible. The American Poultry Association has a great cheat sheet to some of the more common chicken ailments with symptoms, causes, and treatment.

Swollen, pus-filled or watery eyes, or eyelids that are stuck together can be signs of eye worm. Sometimes the worms are even visible under the lids, swimming around. (Sparing you all the gross details, it’s basically a worm contracted from cockroaches.) Your chicken will begin to scratch at its eye with the tip of its wing and could literally scratch her eyeball out. Eye worm treatment is easy with VetRx, a natural menthol-based product that treats eye worm as well as other respiratory issues.

Crop

As chickens eat throughout the day, they store what they eat in their crop or gizzard. Each morning, a chicken’s crop should be empty; if it’s not, you might have a chicken ailment. If the crop feels hard and distended or full and mushy, you may have a case of sour crop or an impacted crop. Immediate treatment is necessary which might include administering olive oil or massaging the lump.

Breast/Abdomen

You should be able to feel the hen’s breastbone, but it should not protrude. This is a good check of overall health and weight. A featherless breast can mean that you have a broody hen who is plucking out feathers to literally “feather her nest.” An underweight hen might be suffering from worms, so a fecal test by your vet might be a good idea.

Wings

Check under the wings for chicken ailments like mites, lice or ticks. If you do see any parasites, a soak in a tub of warm water, salt, white vinegar, and dish detergent followed by a good dusting of food-grade diatomaceous earth is in order. Adding fresh garlic or garlic powder to your hen’s diet is thought to help make their bloodless palatable to parasites. You can also spray the areas where you see the mites with a 10% garlic juice/water mixture.

Also check for raw skin under the wings, since an over-zealous rooster will often do damage, as will pecking order issues, and the areas under the wings are generally hidden from view. Any raw areas should be treated with Green Goo to help them heal and then covered with a hen saddle or the hen separated until she’s healed.

Vent

The vent should look pink and moist. A dry, pale vent indicates a non-laying hen. Any accumulated poop should be removed with some warm water–or trimmed in extreme cases. Adding probiotic powder to the feed can help alleviate future accumulations of feces.

A Quick Chicken Poop Reference Guide

(Please remember there is a wide range of normal.)

Droppings with blood could be coccidiosis.

Greenish droppings might be worms (or the chicken has eaten a lot of greens, weed, grass or vegetables).

White, milky runny droppings could indicate chicken ailments like worms, coccidiosis, infectious disease.

Brown runny droppings usually signals an E. coli infection.

Clear or watery runny droppings could mean stress, infectious bronchitis or more than normal water intake due to heat.

Yellow and foamy droppings could be coccidiosis.

Grayish white and running continuously indicates Vent Gleet (a chronic disease of the cloaca of domestic birds).

Bloody stool and ruffled feathers can signal coccidia, a serious parasitic disease of the intestine, which can be treated with amprolium/antibiotics or a holistic remedy called Kocci Free. Recent studies show that probiotics, green tea and plum powder can help combat coccidiosis as well.

Internal parasites (worms) can often be seen in the stool. If you suspect worms, have your vet do a fecal test and if an overload is confirmed, Verm-X, a natural worming product can help.

Do a quick check for external chicken parasites as well in the vent area. If you do see any parasites on any of your chickens, it is imperative to do a thorough coop cleaning and dust the coop floor, roosts and nesting boxes with food-grade diatomaceous earth before adding new bedding.

Legs/Feet

Legs should be smooth and shiny. Flaking or raised scales can mean scaly leg mites. Treatment includes dousing the legs with white vinegar, garlic juice or neem oil, scrubbing them with an old toothbrush and then slathering on some coconut oil or Green Goo.

Any hen limping should be examined further for chicken foot problems. Puffy or warm foot pads can mean a splinter in the bottom of the foot that will need to be removed with tweezers. If you don’t see a cut or other visible injury to the foot, is most likely due to a hard landing off a roost and will go away in a few days.

A black spot on the underside of the foot pad indicates a potentially fatal staph infection called bumblefoot that needs to be treated immediately, either with Vetericyn or home surgery.

Overall

A quick overall visual check for chicken ailments should also be done. Feathers should be glossy and unbroken. Broken, dull or missing feathers can signal a protein deficiency or that the hen is molting. In either case, added protein should be fed until you see the problem reverse. Good sources are scrambled eggs, mealworms, and meat scraps. Broken feathers can also be a sign that rodents are getting into your coop and chewing on your birds while they sleep. The coop should be examined and any spaces larger than 1″ should be covered up.

If you have a hen who is hunched over, inactive, weak, listless, coughing, sneezing or just looks extremely unhappy, it could be one of several serious infectious diseases and immediate treatment by a qualified vet should be sought. Go with your gut. You will know when something is seriously wrong.

Do you perform regular check-ups to identify chicken ailments?

For more tips and tricks to raising happy, healthy chickens, follow me on Facebook or my blog Fresh Eggs Daily.

If you want to learn more about backyard chickens, subscribe to Backyard Poultry Magazine or join us on Facebook to stay in touch with the latest information you need.

Comb-To-Toe Checkup for Chicken Ailments was originally posted by All About Chickens

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nouranaseem2018-blog · 6 years ago

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Cat Diarrhea

Cat diarrhea / kitten diarrhea

Cat Diarrhea / kitten diarrhea Definitions: It may be a sign of several different disorders—but if it only happens once or twice, it doesn’t have to be a cause for concern.

The intestinal upset may just be a reaction to something that will pass out of the cat’s system in 24 hours. However, diarrhea that lasts longer than a day can dehydrate a cat, and if not corrected it can lead to shock.

Cat Diarrhea / kitten diarrhea is the passage of abnormally soft and/or frequent stools. This sign is often associated with vomiting, but may also occur by itself. When present, diarrhea often causes cats to fail to use their litter pans.

Diarrhea usually doesn’t last long or indicate anything more than a mildly upset digestive system. However, if it persists for more than 2 days, is accompanied by fever or vomiting, or contains blood, take your cat to the vet immediately. If possible, take a stool sample along for analysis.

What To Do About Mild Diarrhea

Any diarrhea that doesn’t fit the warning signs on the paragraph below (Diarrhea Requiring a Vet Visitn) will probably pass on its own in a day or two.

Your vet may want to give you a mild product for feline digestive upset, but do not even think of using human over-the-counter products. The newest Kaopectate formula and any diarrhea product with bismuth subsalicylate (such as Pepto-Bismol) can be poisonous to a cat.

Most vets will suggest withholding food for 24 hours so the digestive tract can empty out and calm down. A wonderful powder called Bio-Sponge from Platinum Performance (800-553-2400) works wonders. If your cat has any of the symptoms on the paragraph below (Diarrhea Requiring a Vet Visitn), you should call the vet and see if he wants to see her right away.

Diarrhea Requiring a Vet Visited

It continues more than one day.

It is bloody or contains mucus.

It is black or any color other than brown.

It is accompanied by fever, vomiting or lethargy.

It has a foul odor.

Cat Diarrhea Causes

Diarrhea has many causes; the most common are related to diet. Diets containing cows’ milk often cause diarrhea.

Spicy table scraps and decomposed food are other common offenders, but any food, including commonly fed commercial diets, can cause diarrhea in certain cats.

Viruses, bacteria, and intestinal parasites (e.g., worms, coccidia) may infect the bowel and cause diarrhea. This occurs most often in kittens.

Diarrhea can also be caused by diseases of the liver and/or pancreas, bowel obstruction, cancer, and metabolic problems.

Even psychological stress gives some cats diarrhea. Trips to the veterinary hospital or the addition of a new cat to the household may result in stress-induced diarrhea, but this type usually subsides quickly without any treatment being required.

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is also frequently accompanied by diarrhea.

Some toxic substances that can cause cat diarrhea / kitten diarrhea include

Gasoline, kerosene, oil, and coal tar derivatives

Cleaning fluid and refrigerants

Insecticides, bleaches, toilet bowl cleaner inserts

Wild and ornamental plants, mushrooms

Building materials (cement, lime, paints, caulks)

Types of diarrhea causes

Dietary Diarrhea

Food Intolerance or allergy (wheat gluten, fatty foods, dairy products)

Foreign Material

Diet Change

Toxins

Parasites

Hookworms

Roundworms

Giardia

Coccidia

Tritrichomonas

Bacteria

Salmonella Clostridium Campylobacter

Viruses

Feline Distemper

Coronavirus/FIP

Fungal

Histoplasmosis

Inflammatory

Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD)

Fiber-Responsive Diarrhea

Stress Colitis

Irritable Bowel Syndrome

Hemorrhagic Gastroenteritis (HGE)

Systemic diseases

Pancreatitis

Diabetes Mellitus

Hyperthyroidism

FIV

FELV

Liver disease

Kidney Disease

Cancer

Anomalous

Pancreatic Exocrine Insufficiency

Intestinal Obstruction

Intestinal Cancer

Toxicity

Lead

Plants

Symptoms for Cat Diarrhea / kitten diarrhea

Milled cat diarrhea may involve wet, loose stools only were bad diarrhea may involve the likes of:

A fever

Dehydration

Vomiting

Diarrhea containing blood

No appetite

Lethargy

Pains in the abdomen

Diagnosing Cat / kitten diarrhea

To determine the cause of your cats diarrhea a trip to the vets will be necessary as test will need to be taken such as:

A physical examination

A stool sample taken for tests

An x-ray on the gastrointestinal track If there are more severe symptoms present then test such as blood testing and stool cultures for leukaemia and immunodeficiency viruses are done and there is a possibility of a biopsy of the intestinal track.

Characteristics of Diarrhea helps in diagnosis the cause of diarrhea:

kitten diarrhea

kitten Diarrhea is one of the hardest things for a kitten foster mom to deal with. So many things can cause diarrhea, and a kitten dehydrates so quickly!

Add to that what a mess it makes (especially if you have more than one bottle baby) and you’ve got a major headache.

The sooner you get your kitten to the vet and find out what’s going on, the less it costs and the more likely she is to survive.

Kitten Diarrhea can result from:

major diseases like feline leukemia

feline distemper, and feline infectious peritonitis

Food changes, overfeeding, or a formula that doesn’t agree with the kitten can cause kitten diarrhea as well.

But more often than not, parasite infestations and a lack of beneficial intestinal bacteria cause the runs. The frustrating thing is that often they don’t show up when the vet’s looking at the poop under the microscope.

When this happens, I ask the vet to go ahead and treat for coccidia. This ailment is very common among kittens and most of my bottle babies have it.

Cat diarrhea / kitten diarrhea treatment

In most cases, feeding your cat a bland diet for a few days will clear up diarrhea and prevent dehydration.

Some combination of plain yogurt, cottage cheese, boiled chicken, unsalted chicken broth, bread soaked in broth, or boiled rice works well, although you might have to experiment to find a combination your cat will eat.

Some people also use strained, unseasoned baby food. Withholding food for a day or two before starting the bland diet might help. Do not withhold water!

Dehydration can kill a kitten in a matter of hours. If your kitten has diarrhea or vomits repeatedly, seek veterinary help immediately.

Your veterinarian might prescribe medication or recommend an over-the-counter (OTC) treatment. Don’t give your cat any human medication without first consulting your vet. Some contain aspirin or other ingredients that can harm your cat.

Cat diarrhea / kitten diarrhea treatment tips

The first step of Cat diarrhea treatment is to identify and remove the underlying cause. For example:

1- If a cat has a lactase enzyme deficiency (lactose intolerance), dairy products can be removed from the diet without causing a nutrient deficiency because they are not a necessary part of an adult cat’s diet.

2- Diarrhea caused by overeating (characterized by several large, bulky, unformed stools) is controlled by cutting back the overall food intake and feeding the cat three small meals instead of one large meal a day.

Unfamiliar water can cause diarrhea. Give the cat water brought from home or bottled water when you are traveling.

3- When irritating or toxic substances have been ingested, identify the agent because specific antidotes may be required.

4- Diarrhea caused by food allergy or intolerance is treated by placing the cat on a homemade or commercial hypoallergenic diet prescribed by your veterinarian for about eight weeks.

If the diarrhea disappears, the cat can remain on this diet, or various foods can be added one by one until the offending food allergen is detected by a return of symptoms. This food substance is then eliminated from the diet.

5- Food intolerance is a non-immune-mediated cause of diarrhea and vomiting. This could be a response to a dietary protein, a preservative, a flavoring, or anything else in the cat’s diet. Again, removing the offending substance will stop the problem.

Prescription diets for this problem include Eukanuba Response LB Feline, Royal Canin Hypoal- lergenic HP Feline, Royal Canin Neutral Formula Feline, Royal Canin’s Limited Ingre- dients with duck, lamb, rabbit, or venison as the meat protein, Science Diet Feline d/d with duck, rabbit, or venison as the meat protein, and Science Diet z/d ULTRA Allergen Free Feline.

6- Diarrhea that persists for more than 24 hours is potentially serious. Consult your veterinarian without delay. Always remember to bring a sample of the diarrhea so that it can be examined for parasites and bacteria.

A cat dehydrates quickly when fluid losses go unchecked, and this can lead to shock and collapse.

Other indications to consult your veterinarian include bloody diarrhea and diarrhea accompanied by vomiting, fever, and signs of toxicity.

The cause of chronic diarrhea is difficult to diagnose and requires laboratory analysis and close professional monitoring.

7- Diarrhea of short duration without excessive fluid loss can be treated at home.

Withhold all food for 24 hours. Periodically give him very small amounts of water or ice cubes to lick.

As the cat begins to recover, introduce food gradually, feeding three to our small meals a day.

Begin with a diet high in meat protein. Strained meat baby food, the diets recommended earlier for food allergy and intolerance, and Hill’s Prescription Diet Feline i/d are good examples.

Avoid high-carbohydrate foods and dry cat foods. Cats have a low tolerance for carbohydrates and high-carb diets are likely to prolong the diarrhea. Gradually return to the usual food when the cat has fully recovered.

8- Loperamide (Imodium) may be used upon the advice of your veterinarian. However, if an infectious cause is suspected, loperamide might be contraindicated because it will keep the infectious organism in the bowel longer by slowing the body’s efforts to expel it.

Loperamide is also somewhat controversial, as it may cause excitement in some cats. Avoid any diarrhea medicines that contain salicylates.

Homemade Cat Diarrhea Remedies

Cat food for diarrhea or home remedies are used for cat diarrhea treatment.

1. Recipe 1 for cat diarrhea treatment:

1 cup boiled turkey/chicken mince or chicken breast, divided into bite-sized pieces

1-2 glass water or low salt chicken broth

Instructions:

Divide breasts of chicken into bite-sized pieces, and put a small amount of water or the chicken broth to the skillet and simmer until cooked.

You should drain most of the soup (you can leave a small amount), let it to cool slightly before providing it to your kitty.

2. Recipe 2 for cat diarrhea treatment:

Pumpkin is full of soluble fiber that could aid to soothe and coat the GI tract. Moreover, it postpone gastric emptying, reversing the effects of greater periastalis (gastrointestinal emptying) which happens in cat diarrhea.

It’s with high concentration of the potassium, and potassium can be a frequent electrolyte lost during diarrhea and can be well tolerated by cats.

Instructions:

2 glass fresh pumpkin divided into cubes

1-2 glass water or low salt chicken broth

Add these components to a pan and cook until soft.

Then take away the pan from stove, drain the soup and use a potato masher to mash the pumpkin.

let it to cool slightly before providing it to your kitty.

3. Probiotics

While giving milk into a kitty is usually not recommended, particularly your cat with diarrhea, yoghurt is olnly the exclusion. A little amount from yoghurt may also be advantageous to some cats surfer from diarrhea and be used for cat diarrhea treatment.

Yoghurt includes a kind of bacteria called Lactobacillus. These germs typically live in the gut, helping with the digestion of meals.

On occasion the natural flora of the intestine is thrown out of equilibrium (such as if your furry friend is on a course of antibiotics), and this may result in opportunistic and pathogenic strains of bacteria to take hold.

4. Slippery elm:

This herbal treatment has lots of medical advantages and uses, such as cat diarrhea treatment. It comprises a mucilige (a gelatinous substance), which soothes and coats the gut and intestines in addition to raising mucus secretion that shields the gastric tract.

Put 1/2 teaspoon from Slippery elm to your kitty’s meal for every 2 kg (10 lbs) bodyweight.

Read More About:

Declawing cats

Cat vocalizations

Rabies in cats

Cat Spraying

Common Cat Behavior Problems and Solutions

Cats don’t naturally drink water

Cat Hair Loss

How much to feed a cat

Cat Behavior Problems and Solutions

https://www.xyqmfc.com/kitten-diarrhea-cat-diarrhea-treatment/

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contentcommadigital-blog · 7 years ago

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Pet Rescue Nightmare

A Middle Island pet rescue has been accused of selling sick puppies, costing new pet owners over $6,000 in vet bills. The ‘Friends of Freddie’ pet rescue, located at 206 Middle Country Rd. in Middle Island, has been operating on and off for over a year, adopting out dogs and puppies, who vets say are sick and unfit for adoption. Families looking to adopt their new furry family member are met with horror as they incur thousands of dollars in veterinary expenses after completing the adoption process. In the month of March 2017, at least eight puppies died due to the rescue owner’s negligence. These accusations have sparked suspicions from Brookhaven town residents, and those who have adopted sick animals from this shelter before. Kristen Addiss, 27, and her boyfriend, Mike Levi, adopted a puppy on Sunday, Feb. 12, 2017 from Friends of Freddie. The couple named their puppy “Layla.” Unusual coughing and labored breathing prompted Kristen and Mike to contact Patchogue Animal Hospital, the veterinarian affiliated with the rescue. “The Veterinarian diagnosed Layla with kennel cough, something that we were told is common in puppies and it was nothing to be concerned about,” stated Addiss. With multiple vet visits back and forth, Addiss and Levi were given the green light to take Layla home. Addiss stated, “We were told that the cough would get worse before it got better and that she was looking better.” Relieved, Addiss and Levi took their puppy home for the weekend. It was during the next week that the couple noticed Layla’s condition worsening. Concerned, they took Layla to Island Veterinary Hospital in Coram for a second opinion. After a series of X-rays, Layla was diagnosed with pneumonia. Layla’s one week checkup led to an unexpected discovery, the young pup had Canine Distemper Virus. After hospitalization, and being given a 50/50 chance of survival, Addiss and Levi lost their 11-week-old Layla on March 5, 2017. While checking the vet records provided during adoption, Addiss and Levi discovered that Layla had not received a vaccine for Canine Distemper prior to being adopted. Tracy Butcher, a volunteer rescue transporter from Ontario, New York, explains the difference between shelters and rescues; “Shelters are subsidized by the town or municipality, and rescues do it all on a volunteer basis, often having to do fundraising to offset the costs of the dogs they rescue.” Shelters are regulated by the township and are supported by tax dollars, providing fixed adoption fees. Rescue’s run on donations and volunteers. Butcher stated, “$450 adoption fee for puppies is slightly high, but not completely out of line. In most rescues, dogs are spayed/neutered, have all their shots, and are microchipped.” Butcher adds, “They should have been vaccinated, [against] distemper definitely.” Addiss explained, “Our family veterinarian filled out paperwork for a pet lemon law stating that Layla was unfit for adoption. Under these circumstances, we approached Friends of Freddie hoping they would do the right thing for us and reimburse us with what they owe us under the New York State pet lemon law. When they found out our vet bills were approaching $6,000, they said they wouldn't pay us and told us to take them to court.” Shortly after this encounter, Addiss and Levi discovered that they are not alone in their fight. Kenneth Harsch Jr. of Wading River also adopted a sick puppy from Friends of Freddie. “He was coughing so much I got concerned about his breathing. I brought him to my local vet to be looked at because I didn't trust the place she wanted me to go. My vet did a physical exam and X-rays and determined he had advanced pneumonia,” Harsch stated. “I spent the next few days home with him taking time off of work. He got worse. I took him back to the vet and he told me to get him to an emergency hospital right away. He had advanced pneumonia, kennel cough, and worms. I was told he was de-wormed,” said Harsch. Nearly $6,200 later, Harsch’s Chihuahua-Daschund mix, Kody, made a full recovery. Ken explained, “When you see the look in a 10-week-old puppies eyes it breaks you down. He spent the next 4 days in ICU. Luckily he lived and is now a happy healthy puppy. The emergency room vet and my regular vet both wrote me unfit for sale letters saying the dog was so sick he should have never left their facility.” Concerned about other pets in the shelter, Harsch contacted the rescue founder, Barbara Sanelli. “I've called Barbara a few times confronting her about adopting sick dogs and she screamed at myself and my mother-in-law, calling us horrible people for questioning her and disputing the credit card charge,” explained Harsch. “I also had to call 4 times before deciding to go down there face to face to get the vaccination records for my dog. She couldn't find them and just jotted some stuff down on a generic photocopied paper and said ‘here's what we gave him.’” Amanda Stein, of Miller Place, adopted her puppy “Lucy” from Friends of Freddie. “She was super sick for a while. [She had] Giardia, eight parasites, kennel cough and an upper respiratory infection. She’s been on tons of antibiotics, we are at the vet once a week and she’s almost better,” Stein explained, “We are one of the few lucky ones. Everyone else got scammed and ripped off way worse by them.” Courtney, a licensed vet tech at Farmingville Animal Hospital, explained, “Giardia are protozoan parasites. Dogs get it from drinking stagnant water. It’s pretty common in ponds and bodies of water like that. Giardia and coccidia can also be transmitted from dirty water bowls. They can get it from stepping in feces and then stepping into their water bowl.” Christyn Malone, a registered nurse from East Setauket, spoke about her experience adopting “Jax” at Friends of Freddie. “Jacqueline, the vet tech, cleared him to go home with us, right in front of me. She checked all the appropriate boxes saying his lungs were clear and his respirations were normal,” said Malone. When Malone took Jax home, she noticed something off about his breathing. “My husband took him to the vet the very next morning after we got him. The vet diagnosed him with severe pneumonia and parasites, saying he probably had kennel cough weeks ago, but was never treated properly,” Malone explained. After spending more time at the hospital than he did at home, Jax’s constant seizures couldn’t be controlled. Jax had to be euthanized. It was later that day, Jax’s blood work confirmed he was positive for distemper. “It is criminal that these people are allowed to adopt out these dogs knowing they are as sick as they are,” Malone adds, “They are killing animals and breaking families’ hearts.” Brookhaven Town Supervisor, Ed Romaine, stated, “I shut down Friends of Freddie a year ago due to code violations. I know we closed this facility down once before for lack of a Certificate of Occupancy and other related code issues.” Brookhaven’s citizens advocate, Kevin Molloy added, “As far as animal welfare goes, anytime you’re going to be doing anything with animals, it comes under state law, New York State Agra-Markets [Agriculture and Markets] law. I would check with local state legislature because you’re talking about a lemon law, and I would speak to Suffolk County Department of Consumer Affairs.” Rob Calarco, Suffolk County's 7th district legislator, states; “Certainly, we do not want illegitimate operators maltreating these animals and preying on folks who want to do the right thing and adopt a dog. Suffolk recently adopted some regulations as they apply to pet rescues to try to address those kinds of issues. We will refer the matter to our Consumer Affairs to see if any of our pet store and pet shelter regulations could be used to help investigate and shut down this operation.” Currently, pet shelters and similar non-profits, such as rescue organizations, are exempt from the New York Pet Lemon Law. Consumer Affairs defines a pet dealer to be anyone who sells more than nine dogs to the public for a profit in one year. The laws regarding pet rescue regulations are set to change on May 22, 2017. On April 14, 2017, Brookhaven Town fire marshal condemned the building that Friends of Freddie is located in. According to Ed Romaine, “A number of violations were noted. Also, the space was lacking a Certificate of Occupancy. The facility was closed to the public but to avoid chaos, the dogs were allowed to remain until other arrangements can be made. The town has no authority to enforce animal welfare laws. Also, Friends of Freddie can work to clear up these violations.” Caitlin Minieri, a volunteer for Friends of Freddie, stated that the rescue does not turn away dogs. “We get them from kill shelters and we basically get the question: which ones do you want to live? How do you answer that? So as long as we have the room, we’ll take them,” explained Minieri. In a statement made on April 15, 2017, Minieri said, “We probably have about 80 adult dogs right now.” Minieri added, “We get them here and we quarantine them and we hold them, but there’s only so long we can hold them for. We’re a handful of volunteers.” Barbara Sanelli, founder of Friends of Freddie Animal Rescue, offered an explanation as to how this may have happened. Sanelli stated, “Unfortunately dogs from the south came up that must have been harboring a disease. We had the dogs for many weeks and then adopted them out. Unfortunately, the disease broke after they went home, probably because of the new environment. It’s a stressful environment, their immune system lowered and they got diseases. It manifested. Do we like that? Absolutely not.” Dori Scofield, President of Save-A-Pet in Port Jefferson Station, makes this statement; “I decided we needed legislation to regulate animal rescue. I never thought I would have to have legislation regulate common sense, honestly.” Scofield and her team took the initiative to contact Suffolk County legislators to include rescues and non-profit organizations in the animal welfare laws. “We got a really good piece of legislation that was passed in Suffolk County, I’m really proud of it. So now, all of us, myself included, if we bring in dogs from out of state, they have to be quarantined, they have to have a certain amount of space, they have to have a certain amount of exercise, they have to be vaccinated, stool checked and microchipped. So all of the 501c3’s in Suffolk County, hopefully have received an application for a permit to have a rescue, and they will have to comply with all of these simple regulations,” Scofield stated. Save-A-Pet was founded in 1994 and is a no-kill animal shelter. Scofield explained how she has been able to successfully run this non-profit organization for 23 years; “You can’t overcrowd. Overcrowding breeds disease. We can’t all cram our shelters just because we can’t say no. You can only take in what you can care for properly, and if you can’t care for them properly, you’re doing a great injustice to the ones you already have.” The victims have sought legal help to close down Friends of Freddie for good. The Attorney General is conducting an investigation to handle the consumer fraud element of this rescues operations. After meeting with the Attorney General, Stein explained; “The end goal of the investigation is to permanently put a stop to Barbara for good once she is found guilty.” Addiss, Harsch and Malone are among many victims involved in a class action lawsuit filed against Friends of Freddie, by Miller Place attorney Vesselin Mitev. “Over 60 other people have contacted my firm and come forward and said that they were in a similar situation, so I decided that a class action was the way to go,” explained Mitev. Harsch makes it clear why he feels so strongly about exposing Sanelli, stating; “This place has got to be shut down for good, or at the very least until they can conduct themselves in a manner that is nothing but beneficial to these animals. After all, they have no voice, no choice, and are completely at her mercy.” Stein and other victims also plan to seek the District Attorney’s help to ensure Friends of Freddie doesn’t open up a new location. Local rescues, such as Almost Home in Bohemia, Save-A-Pet in Port Jefferson Station, and Happy Tails in Smithtown, have stepped up to take in some of Friends of Freddie’s dogs after the recent condemning of the building. Multiple dogs remain, as Sanelli hopes to find them their forever home, instead of continuing their life in another shelter.

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kedreeva · 2 years ago

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Hello! Do you have any tips for picking a good peafowl breeder? I’m wanting to start keeping them soon and I would like to get healthy birds from someone who focuses on temperament and conformation.

Well, I have bad news, most people are not focusing on either temperament or conformation and the number of people that actually take their birds to vets and monitor their flocks for any diseases is... low.

That said, you can ask questions (some of them are US specific):

Are you NPIP certified? The answer should be yes. NPIP certification is like the barest minimum of health every breeder should have; in most states testing is free and positive cases of pullorum are almost non-existent. However, in some states NPIP certification also requires breeders to be tested AI clean, mycoplasma clean, and there are a few other diseases that can be tested for. Some states ONLY require pullorum testing (because it can be passed through the egg), however, so make sure you know which is required if they say yes.

If they are NPIP and their state does NOT require Mycoplasma testing, ask if they test for mycoplasma in their flock. This is the single most prevalent disease in peafowl, it's a respiratory infection that cannot be cured, only treated. It IS a minor infection in most cases, causing "cold like" symptoms (mucous, breathing issues, sometimes clogged sinuses, lethargy). However, it can quickly turn fatal if there are other factors, and it is highly contagious both to other peas and any other poultry. Even if they say they test for it, I would still highly recommend getting any birds you receive tested before keeping them or letting them out of quarantine at your place.

LP-AI testing is uncommon, so if you ask about it and they say no, then that's not necessarily a disqualifier, but if they say yes (and they should have records of this) then they're probably on top of their flock's health in general too. Some states this testing is free with the NPIP certification, some states it is SUPER expensive (like here it's $25/test and must be done every 90 days) so may only be tested for with suspicion of an infection.

Ask what they do to monitor and treat worms, mites/lice, and coccidia. Some people do things on a regular schedule (which is useful for you to know what they're using, for resistances from long term use), some treat only if they find a problem. I prefer to have people treat only if they find a problem, but a schedule is useful in places where vet care is not prominent.

Ask what other health monitoring/testing they do. It may be nothing. It may be something that's a local problem; I have friends in some locales where Marek's or Gapeworm are big issues, but they're not by me so there's no good reason for me to be looking for them. Being aware of local issues is a big plus.

Ask if they can share their vet's number. If they don't have a vet's number to share, then that's not great. They may be able to take care of some stuff themselves, but imo any pet owner should at least know ahead of time where they would take a pet in the event of an emergency.

Outside of medical health care, there's general care questions you can ask.

Ask what they are feeding and why. Peafowl are game birds and should be on a high-protein feed that is cut with other things like whole grains and greens, not on a chicken layer chow and definitely not on layer chow + cat food (which is an old recipe from before there were readily available game bird chows... but still being on that means they aren't keeping up with current nutritional knowledge). Nutrition also HIGHLY feeds into proper growth and development of young birds; a poorly fed bird will still turn out looking like crap conformation wise.

Ask if you can see pics of their enclosures! Environment is also very important to peafowl growth and development, as well as mental health and stress levels. Many breeders use long, thin enclosures side by side, which is a good setup. Anything that's tall but not long is Bad, like a corn crib silo.

Ask what their breeding goals are. If all they talk about is color, they're not paying attention to temperament or type. You can ask what happens to aggressive individuals, but it's a coin toss if they answer honestly.

You can ask what they think about Spalding hybrids; if they are super into them, but are mostly focused on how it enhances the color of the bird, then again they're probably not being careful about trying to reduce use of green genetics to fix conformation problems in blues. This doesn't necessarily mean they're a bad breeder, just that their goals don't have anything to do with improving blue type for its own sake.

Ask if they have or can take videos of their birds when there are not visitors. Peafowl adjust well to caretakers they are around often, but even well-adjusted ones may stress out when there's unfamiliar people (ie, you, a visitor) nearby because they don't know if you're a predator. Being able to see videos and compare to when you purchase the bird is helpful.

All of these together can help you determine what a breeder knows and doesn't know. You may not be able to assess the answers to them, but if someone can't even discuss them at all, then the chances of them knowing enough to be picking for temperament/conformation/health is low. In that case there's a better chance they either just have birds that made babies willy-nilly, or they are breeding for color/pattern genes (which is pretty standard). There's a loooot of people in the peafowl world who either ignore obvious health issues (like stubby legs because "they're cute") or plain old just don't know enough to know it's a problem (because so much wrt peafowl health and care is still rapidly being learned with modern science and an increase in peafowl keeping).

When all else fails, you can also straight up ask: do you breed for health/temperament/conformation and if so, how, and what are you looking for/what have you worked through already?

and hey, if you've been following me for any length of time you've probably picked up on conformation notes and can have a look for yourself at their birds!

#peafowl #asks #anon asks

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theramseyloft · 5 years ago

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i live in an area with lots of ferals, and ive been thinking about taking in the struggling ones since i have the space. ive never taken care of pigeons before, so what tools and techniques would i need to start? i know theyre much better off in human care, and taking them in is an option if theyre visibly injured (since they wont have a mate or chicks to care for). any advice is appreciated!

This is kind of a tricky question.

It sounds like you are wanting to start a shelter or rescue?

If you are, I can go into more detail of running one, but since you are looking into tending your first, and rescue is a REALLY overwhelming thing to jump into with both feet, we’ll start with care for a single bird.

Housing:

Here is a simple set up for homer sized pigeons.

These are Labrador sized (Large) kennels, with garden stakes for perches, and ferret/bunny corner litter pans as nests, because pigeons need a flat perch and nest spot.

They eat and drink comfortably out of dishes for cats or small dogs, they just need to be solid enough that the birds can't knock them over.

White paper towels are imperative as flooring during the quarantine period, because they make poop REALLY easy to monitor.

Pigeons can’t digest anything but seeds, so a good base diet is a wild bird seed blend of 5 or more different seeds.

You will need a vet nearby to work with and to keep at least Permethrine dip and corrid on hand because ALL feral pigeons have lice, and most have coccidia. Most also have worms, fungal infections, or protozoan infestation.

In order to treat your bird successfully, you will need to know what you are treating.

Please remember that ferals who are struggling are unhealthy by definition, so throat swabs and fecal floats on arrival are a must.

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lovemychinchilla · 4 years ago

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Chinchilla Diarrhea: Causes, Symptoms & Cure

Chinchillas poop lots, and it's normally dry and solid. But do chinchillas get diarrhea? Is it caused by the same issues? How do you fix it—and is it serious?

If your chinchilla has soft poop, you should read the guide below. It explains everything: from what causes diarrhea in chinchillas, to how to spot its various symptoms, and how to fix it.

Can Chinchillas Get Diarrhea?

How Serious Is Diarrhea in Chinchillas?

Our experiences with diarrhea are that it's annoying and painful, but not life-threatening. But for a chinchilla runny poop can be much more serious.

What Causes Diarrhea in Chinchillas?

1) The Wrong Food

[caption id="attachment_2446" align="alignright" width="300"] Inappropriate foods like apples can cause diarrhea, either due to a lack of fiber, or an excess of water.[/caption]

There are two ways in which the wrong food can cause diarrhea. The first is if it contains too much water. The second is if it doesn't contain enough fiber.

2) Parasites (Particularly Giardia)

Giardia is a kind of tiny parasite that lives in the gut. It can be caught from unfiltered water, even tap water in some places. Each parasite is so small that they can't be seen with the naked eye.

Other kinds of gastrointestinal parasite can cause the same problems, although these aren't as commonly seen. Coccidia or regular worms can affect chinchillas, too, and cause diarrhea.

3) Stress

[caption id="attachment_2275" align="alignright" width="300"] Other pets, loud noises, too much handling and many other causes of stress all cause diarrhea too.[/caption]

While stress isn't a specific health condition of its own, it will cause severe symptoms in chinchillas constantly exposed to it. One such symptom is diarrhea.

4) Can Chinchillas Get Stomach Bugs?

5) Other Causes of Diarrhea in Chinchillas

While dietary problems, parasites and stress are the most common causes, they aren't the only ones.

If the issue is bacterial imbalance, the poop will be slightly mushy rather than fully runny.

Symptoms of Diarrhea in Chinchillas

As in people, diarrhea takes many forms in chinchillas. It can cause anything from slightly softer-than-usual poops to something that's almost fully liquid.

While there's one obvious symptom of diarrhea—soft stools—it's not the only one. You can therefore spot diarrhea even if your chinchilla doesn't leave behind a big mess.

Soft Poop Instead of Hard Poop

[caption id="attachment_120" align="alignright" width="300"] Chinchilla poop should be hard and small, like this.[/caption]

Completely runny

Sticky and squidgy

Slightly malleable but not sticky

Fully solid

Chinchilla Poop Light Brown

Brown-Stained Fur

Diarrhea can also stain fur more directly. If it's particularly runny, it will get caught in the fur around your chin's rear end.

Smelly Chinchilla Poop

Weight Loss & Diarrhea in Chinchillas

As diarrhea is a digestive issue, it can affect how much energy your chinchilla gets from its food.

How Do You Treat a Chinchilla With Diarrhea?

1) Talk To a Vet

2) Assess Your Chinchilla's Diet

At home, the first thing you should do is check what your chinchilla is eating. If it's eating nothing but hay and hay pellets, that's good; otherwise, switch it to that diet as soon as possible.

3) Assess Your Chinchilla's Living Conditions

Removing other chinchillas from the cage. Are your chinchillas fighting all the time? If so, it's best you separate them. If they are content with each other, however, there is no need.

Even if the diarrhea is nothing to do with stress, doing these things won't hurt your pet. If anything, the added comforts will make your pet's recovery easier.

4) Probiotics May Help

Many owners use acidophilus tablets for this purpose. Chinchillas enjoy their texture.

5) Pet Pectillin

6) Activated Charcoal

Another treatment owners frequently recommend is activated charcoal. But it may not work quite as well as people think.

7) Monitor Your Pet

Once you have made the appropriate changes, you should watch over your chinchilla more closely than before. This will tell you whether its condition is getting better or worse.

8) Bathe Your Chinchilla

As a final point, once your chinchilla's diarrhea is fully treated, it may benefit from you bathing it.

Below, you can find our chinchilla quiz, new posts for further reading, and a signup for our Chinchilla Newsletter!

[ays_quiz id='9']

#chinchillas #chinchillahealth

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kedreeva · 4 years ago

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And we're back to talk about medications! All-in-one/4-in-1 for pigeons is garbage for fowl, particularly anything bigger than a pigeon. It is not a miracle cure for "everything" it is a flimsy attempt at covering a broad spectrum of ailments for people that did ZERO homework before getting fowl. It "treats" four problems: canker, worms, coccidia, and respiratory infections. I say "treats" because it uses too low of a dose for fowl, and so while yes, it might alleviate some symptoms, ultimately it's breeding stronger, resistant strains of the organism. People justify using it because "sometimes you don't have time to ID what it is because birds crash fast and you can't get to a vet" which sounds very reasonable on the surface until you realize what they're saying is actually "I did no research and made no preparations for my birds possibly being sick."

Because here's the thing: canker has obvious, visible symptoms. If you see cankers on the bird, you treat with a med for canker. Coccidia and worms you can look for yourself with a fairly cheap microscope, a couple of slides, and some fecal float tube things, all for under $150. I think my microscope cost $104, the slides+covers were like $10, the tubes were $20 something. There's guides online to teach you how to do it, with pictures of what you're looking for. It literally takes 20 minutes to learn and a couple days for shipping and you should already have these on hand, not wait until your bird is dying. Then you can treat with amprolium (or better, toltrazuril) for coccidia, and fenbendazole or albendazole for worms. Levamisole (the wormer in all in one), like ivermectin, only treats some worms, not all. So right off the bat, in like 20 minutes you can rule out 3 of the 4 things this crap med is supposed to treat, and then treat the bird better without giving it unnecessary meds for things it doesn't have.

Which just leaves tylosin. Which you can buy separately, and use on its own. And tylosin is for respiratory diseases anyway; if you're facing something without respiratory involvement, you'd do better using oxytetracycline or getting better meds from a vet.

As long as I'm here: people every year freak out about using "medicated" chick chow. Sometimes they even go on and tell you things like "don't give them antibiotics unless they're sick" or "don't give them medicated food" and 5 seconds later advise you to put Corid in the water.... When medicated food is medicated with the same thiamine blocker as corid uses, Amprolium. Medicated food is not medicated with antibiotics!! It is "medicated" with fake vitamin B to protect your baby birds from coccidia protozoa. Personally I do prefer to use corid in the water instead, but it's because I need a higher protein baby food, and can't generally find medicated game bird food that doesn't suck as a food nutritionally, not because I'm worried about the amprolium in it.

If you own chickens or other fowl and someone advises you to add “honey” to their water without specifying what type or warning you about botulism, don’t ever take their advice for anything else (and obviously don’t take their advice on that either) because they are parroting what they’ve heard others say without doing any research into it themselves. Some kinds of raw honey in its raw, pure form (ie, not diluted in water) has shown an ability to kill some microbes, yes. The corn syrup derivative you buy at the grocery store is not that kind. Honey also is ineffective when diluted in water unless you are diluting a LOT of it (the research I saw said a 30-50% honey solution to activate its main active ingredient, hydrogen peroxide, which at that point is it really water anymore). People are advising its use for electrolytes, but that’s purely because of the sugar in it. You’d get the same effect putting sugar in the water, or other safer alternatives. The ONLY raw honey that MIGHT be worth the risk is Manuka honey, and you still have to dilute it to 1.8%, so about 4 tablespoons per gallon (twice what I usually see advised). This is because the active antimicrobial in manuka honey is different than other honey (methylglyoxal instead of peroxidase) and other honeys also heavily rely on basically starving bacteria of oxygen…. Obviously mixing them with H2O then causes them to be less effective and rely on their peroxidase instead, which you would, again, still need a LOT of. And even then, it’s ONLY a topical antimicrobial!! It is rendered ineffectual when placed through the process of digestion.

Additionally if anyone advises you to put apple cider vinegar (ACV) in their water for anything other than keeping down biofilm/algae, don’t trust any other advice they give you. It’s not a wormer. It’s not a preventative wormer. It doesn’t treat illnesses. It slightly acidifies the water to make it hostile to bacteria but it’s not going to acidify your sick chicken’s body and cure an illness. Any benefit it may have killing bacteria in the GI tract is counteracted by the good bacteria it also kills. I have seen research which cites it to be mildly effective at aiding an immune system that has been activated by a vaccine, through the assistance of additional food uptake in newly-hatched chicks but I’ve seen other research that didn’t find the same thing despite the same conditions (and in fact found that it can slow the digestive tract and cause minor weight loss), and it was not effective in mature chickens. Environmentally, ok, use it to keep your waterer cleaner if you want. But currently there’s no concrete evidence I’ve been able to find that supports any of the (many, wild) claims about it being a miracle cure.

#birds #chickens #animal medical #long post #peafowl

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