Quick Update on Rocky

[proud mama of Rocky]

My Rocky (how does anyone keep all the Rocky's around here straight?! :) )seems to have turned a corner this morning. Yesterday, I cleaned out cage, bedding, etc. with bleach solution, changed branches, took him off the abs as they didn't seem to be improving his condition after several days and I was worried he wasn't well hydrated enough to handle them, etc. He still did not touch solid foods yesterday, but finally seemed willing to drink the homemade hydrating solution I Crittermom recommended. After that, he took half a saucer of fv and called it a day. Today he is far more responsive/active and took half a saucer of formula. He is still weak (probably partially from lack of sufficient calories, eyes are still swollen, face is still sunken-in looking, but I really think (fingers crossed) he is on the mend. I will continue pushing the fv and fluids, but

does the homemade hydrating solution become counterproductive like pedialyte after 24 hours?

I am hopeful that perhaps this was a virus of some sort that will not stick around for much longer, or that if he ingested something, he is no longer in the danger zone.

For now I am keeping him caged 95% of the time because he is still weak and I don't want him falling from any high places, but I have high hopes that in the next 24 hours he will be his old, rambunctious self (and maybe even back on some solids!)

Thanks all! :thankyou

[proud mama of Rocky]

Forgot to ask:

Constipation has been an ongoing issue with him for the past couple of weeks and still is. Is there something I should try to get him to take to ease this problem, and if so, how long should I give it, or should I just let nature take its course? I'm definitely a bit concerned about the lack of poop though as I know how much he normally goes compared to the few small poops a day I've seen for quite a while now.

[Jackie in Tampa]

Yes...like pedialyte... do not give for more than 24 hours...
tap water is great and so is formula...they are also hydration!:thumbsup
Poops...are they few and far between ? Or are they hard ?

[CritterMom]

Well, his food intake has been down, too - not much to come out... A natural source of good fiber that helps them poop is canned pumpkin - not the pie filling, the plain pumpkin, if they will eat it. If you are seeing signs that his tummy is filling up and nothing is coming out, or what does is very dry and hard, you can give him a small amount of mineral oil. Lack of hydration also causes constipation.

You can continue with the hydrating solution minus the salt or just syringe feed him clear water. If sweetening it a little with the maple helps get him to take it, do that.

[proud mama of Rocky]

The poops are very few and far between and tiny, tiny, tiny! I've also seen more of the weird back legs jerking into the air when he's lying on his tummy. I thought it was a seizure before, but now am wondering if he's lifting them on purpose because of discomfort from not going? Has anyone ever heard of this? This has been an ongoing problem for maybe a week and a half now, and perhaps its possible he's so backed up he no longer wants to take in anything? He's now walking like he's uncomfortable too and I feel awful for him. Just want him to get some relief and be ok.

[CritterMom]

You can give him some mineral oil - I would give .1ml and if no improvement by tomorrow, another .1ml. You might try hiding it in something - his FV or avocado, maybe.

[proud mama of Rocky]

I did administer the .1 ml of mineral oil in some vanilla pediasure yesterday, which he took. When after 8 hours there were still no poops, I got desperate and cut off a chunk of a fresh, decorative pumpkin (none of the grocery stores carried anything but the pie filling!) and he LOVED it raw. This morning there are more poops that look far more normal than what I've been seeing, and he seems MUCH better in general. I'm going to give him some more pumpkin today to hopefully help anything else backed up find its way out and see what happens from there, but thank you for the guidance! I am so relieved to see how much better he is today!!