pinky with pneumonia

[gardenjewel]

Hi all,
My little 11 gram pinky with pneumonia is still having issues. I named her rosalie. She is on baytril every 12 hours and fed fox valley every 2 hours, but she has been eating very little. I have givin her subq fluids and alternated feedings with hydration fluid for dehydration. She has not gained any weight in four days. She has been urinating and having bowl movements at every feeding.
I now think that eventhough her bowels were moving she is constipated. I have helped her some with that and now her bowels movements are much larger but they seem to get stuck in her rectum. Her anus is inflamed and seems sore. she squeeks when i stimulate her. i really have to work to get the fecal material out of her little butt. When i finally get it out her little anus is gaping open. Her anus is larger than her vulva. I will try to get a photo. She is eating better and was up a gram last night.
Is there anything i can try help her little butt, and how many days should she stay on antibiotics?

Thanks,
Julia

[gardenjewel]

276625

Not a great photo but she is a wiggler.. i am happy to say!

[gardenjewel]

saw in another thread someone was using preparation h? could this help with the pain and inflammation?
Thanks,
julia

[lilidukes]

I don't do babies much anymore.

But years ago when I had this problem I would
use very diluted apple juice between feedings.
triple antibiotic ointment on the anus.

But like I said I've not done a pinky in a few years.

[redwuff]

Fox Valley for pinkies is horribly horribly horribly constipating. So much so that it seeems to turn to concrete in their intestines. If she were my baby, I would have her on esbilac or goats milk formula. FV has been known to kill more than one pinkie.

[gardenjewel]

Thank you so much.....no wonder!!!!! I will fix this right now! slowly of course. Again this place saves another life!

[Chickenlegs]

I have a little boy--he was 15 grams when I got him--and his little anus STILL gapes open. I can see the poop gathering at the end of his bowel at his rectum and it takes him forever to get it out. I tap his parts with my finger--no tissue or cotton ball untill the poop is coming out, then wipe his rectum all ways. I've also rolled his rectum with a q tip stick to help express the poop. I keep him slathered in something greasy all the time so the inside of his poop hole doesn't dry out. This is the second pinky I've had that had this problem. I wonder how common it is.

[redwuff]

Once you switch to another formula and there is still this problem let me know. We had a pinkie last year that had severe problems. Thought we would have to put him down but he is now a vigorous 1 year old. But most likely your issue is due to formula.

[redwuff]

I have a little boy--he was 15 grams when I got him--and his little anus STILL gapes open. I can see the poop gathering at the end of his bowel at his rectum and it takes him forever to get it out. I tap his parts with my finger--no tissue or cotton ball untill the poop is coming out, then wipe his rectum all ways. I've also rolled his rectum with a q tip stick to help express the poop. I keep him slathered in something greasy all the time so the inside of his poop hole doesn't dry out. This is the second pinky I've had that had this problem. I wonder how common it is.

Pat, try some lactalose. It might have to come from a vet but it draws fluid into the colon and helps pass feces. Also, look up mega colon and see if any of the symptoms fit.

[pappy1264]

Stop the fv, push fluids, and then go to Esbilac and I suggest moving feedings to 3 hours as well. Do not feed until her milk line is gone.

[gardenjewel]

ok. her last feeding was fluids. I just made esiblac right now. her next feeding i will do dilute apple juice. the following feeding i will do diluted esiblac. Her milk line has always been gone...because she was barely eating......probably cause she was all stuffed up with cement. I will also keep the mega colon in mind.

Chicken legs...that sounds exactly like my baby.

[redwuff]

I don't think you have to worry about mega colon, that has happened twice to a rehabber I know who put out hundreds of babies a year for over 15 years. It is interesting but luckily not very common.

[gardenjewel]

rosalie is still having issues. Right after the switch to esbilac she had a lot of nice poop one time. Then almost no poop yesterday and today. I have been feeding about a half a ml every three hours or so. I stretch that out if no bm. Her anus is still stretched open only now if forms a scab and closes it self off if I dont soak it and pick at it. Up untill now her milk line would disappear but shes feeling a little full and tight from her feeding 3 hours ago. She has gained 2 grams and is sucking hard and enjoying her meal, no longer dehydrated, and not clicking....this is great improvement but i have to get those bowls moving. I plan on just giving diluted apple juice next time I feed.
I see some dark areas around her abdomen ....as opposed to the light colored milk line....worried this a bad sign. will try to photograph this.

Julia

[gardenjewel]

Pics of belly and bum
276768276769

She doesnt look quite that tight when shes not wrestling me.

[Nancy in New York]

I wonder if the belly is bruised or if that's blood.
Either way it may be painful if she tries to push to
defecate.
She looks a little bloated to me as well. :thinking

Also, is this her eye and does it look exceptionally large and dark,
or is it just my computer?

https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-PBgFn5H/0/X2/i-PBgFn5H-X2.jpg

[gardenjewel]

if its bruised it shouldnt be from trauma... she did fall from a tree into pillow soft grass, but that was days ago. I worry it would be from dying twisted bowels. I occasionally see a turd floating by in her translucent gut. Her anus looks like it might be a little infected....although the swelling has come down since we switched from fv. Maybe her gut is also inflamed. Not sure about the eyes I will take another pic.
Thanks for your help,
Julia

[Nancy in New York]

In the Fox Valley thread, a member Duckman discussed how he saved some
of his little pinkies when they got backed up from the FV 32/40.
Perhaps this will help.



I had been using 32/40 with my pinkies until last year, when I had 2 bloat up very quickly. This year I am using nothing but Esbilac until after they are 10 days old and have had absolutely no problems whatsoever!



One note. I did save both of mine, when they plugged up and I would be happy to discuss how to save them when they do bloat.



The trick for me seemed to be getting in as much water, as quickly as possible, once you see and feel the hardness in the belly. Not sugar water or Pedilyte, but plain water. I did this every hour (giving about .2-.3 ml) and ensure you stimulate after each, for 2 reasons. 1. You have to get that water out of the bladder, and it will burst if you don't. 2. You want that water to start working on the crud in the belly. After 8-10 hours, you should start seeing some movement out of the bowel (they will continue to poop, but you will start to see it more watery, which is what you want). At that time, start introducing diluted formula at the ratio of 25% Esbilac, 75% water. Feed this for the first half day. The second half day, I bumped up the ration to 50/50. I fed this for a day and then went to 75% Esbilac, 25% water and introduced full food the next day (and the blockage was gone!). So far, I am at 100% success rate. One note though. I check my pinkies after every feeding, so see if their bellies are hard or squishy. I would suggest everyone get in the habit of checking them after every feeding as habit and you can't go wrong in catching them before they bloat up. Once they take on that angry red color on their bellies (this is when their system goes septic), they are gone and can't be saved, so the trick is to catch them before this happens (hence, getting in the habit to see if their tummies are hard or not).

[stepnstone]

That eye really don't look right.... :shakehead

[gardenjewel]

Rosalie is pooping and eating like a champ! I will continue the hydration and I check her once or twice in between each feeding to make sure her gut is working. she is also up another gram! Her anus is still enlarged, but swelling has really come down. poop also still gets stuck alittle, but it is moist and squishy but firm. The dark color around her abdomen has not reappeared after yesterday at about six.
I will take another pic of her eye....do you think they might appear so large and dark because she has grown so little but still continued to develop? I have always thought her eyes were alittle odd but just wrote that up to not having had a pinky in a long time and never had this much trouble getting one to eat.
Left my phone at home so will not be able to get a pic untill this afternoon.
Thanks for the support!!
Julia

[Nancy in New York]

Rosalie is pooping and eating like a champ! I will continue the hydration and I check her once or twice in between each feeding to make sure her gut is working. she is also up another gram! Her anus is still enlarged, but swelling has really come down. poop also still gets stuck alittle, but it is moist and squishy but firm. The dark color around her abdomen has not reappeared after yesterday at about six.
I will take another pic of her eye....do you think they might appear so large and dark because she has grown so little but still continued to develop? I have always thought her eyes were alittle odd but just wrote that up to not having had a pinky in a long time and never had this much trouble getting one to eat.
Left my phone at home so will not be able to get a pic untill this afternoon.
Thanks for the support!!
Julia


Up another gram is fantastic. Keep up the good work, and hydration
and get ALL that crap Fox Valley 32/40 out of her little tummy. :w00t

This is a little pinky I had last year.
Can you see the difference in the eye?
Not sure if it's a shadow making yours look darker,but
it also looks enlarged to me. :thinking.



https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-2GLJcwm/0/M/i-2GLJcwm-M.jpghttps://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-PBgFn5H/0/L/i-PBgFn5H-L.jpg

[cava]

Pics of belly and bum
276768276769

She doesnt look quite that tight when shes not wrestling me.

Oh my gosh! You are a saint. I am having heart palpitations just looking at that fragile thing. But if I could give my two cents when it came to hand raising tube fed tiny kittens with poo or rectum problems--petroleum jelly. That's all we used to protect the skin from drying, keep scabs fro forming and to lube things up. We didn't use lactulose or anything that pulls water into the bowels for fear of dehydrating the body even more. In a worse case scenario we would use a lubed teet cannula and deliver one drop of normal saline into the opening, but we tried everything else first as there is always a risk for perforation of the bowel. This was also done with a vet on hand.

I'm no expert on squirrels, far from it, but at my vet's office I was the official depooper of cats of all ages.

Edit: I just read that the poops are fine and you are on to discussing eyes. Just ignore me :-)

[gardenjewel]

My babies eye is def large and dark compared to your babies eye! I ll get a better pic after lunch.
Thanks,
Julia

[gardenjewel]

Here is a pic of rosalie. Gut is back to having dark spots her milk line is not gone and little butt is dry as can be. Will keep up the dilute formula and I just gave some water this last feeding. I will wait an hour or so and see if shes ready for formula. On a good note you can also see how much better her anus looks!
276815

[ALittleNutty]

Oh she is so tiny! It would probably be good to keep her bottom moistened with either the petroleum jelly or my fav, organic coconut oil. It has some natural antibacterial properties and is very gentle on such delicate skin.

I wouldn't worry too much about her eyes. I think it's just because she is so tiny. Here is a pic of some I had from a year ago or so.

276817

[gardenjewel]

ok good. i ll just worry about butt and gut! . I have been lubricating her butt with ointment every chance i get. It finally looks to be healing but not scabbing over, but i will keep up the lube. She is 14 grams this morning and I have had her since the 10th. she arrived at 11 grams. So thats 3 grams in 9 days....but she really only gained the last 2-3 days.
Thanks for your help!
Julia

[gardenjewel]

rosalie is doing well this morning. Gained a gram and pooping pretty well!

Thanks again,
Julia

[Nancy in New York]

Here is a pic of rosalie. Gut is back to having dark spots her milk line is not gone and little butt is dry as can be. Will keep up the dilute formula and I just gave some water this last feeding. I will wait an hour or so and see if shes ready for formula. On a good note you can also see how much better her anus looks!
276815

Oh her eye looks fine in this photo, it must have just been the lighting on the other.:w00t

[ALittleNutty]

ok good. i ll just worry about butt and gut! . I have been lubricating her butt with ointment every chance i get. It finally looks to be healing but not scabbing over, but i will keep up the lube. She is 14 grams this morning and I have had her since the 10th. she arrived at 11 grams. So thats 3 grams in 9 days....but she really only gained the last 2-3 days.
Thanks for your help!
Julia
Great news! Keep up the good work.