More Anteater Downs and Ups

Posted by: Tamandua Girl / Category:

Pua got a rose

Even the bottom needs checked out

When she dropped it Beaker snatched it up

March 1
I got the closet nest. Aurora has the washer. She didn't want her food last night and sat out on the shelf over mom crying because she did want to eat. Mom tried butter milk but no go. Then Aurora crept out onto the other shelf and ate what I had left of my blue cheese.

Aurora hasn't wanted to touch blue cheese since she first got ill over a year ago. Mom was shocked but she gave Aurora a cup of blue cheese. she made a mess of it but did eat what didn't get spread all over. Tonight mom made some fresh food with blue cheese mixed in and can try topping it with blue cheese too.

Mom is also planning a sneak attack tonight before we get up to put some sage into her to try and jump start her appetite a bit more.

The force feed(drink?) of sage tea worked well. Mom sneak attacked Aurora while in the washer and grabbed her snout while she still had her head upside down and stuck the short tube in. Aside from a little slimy tea laced spit 5cc of strong tea down her. She surprisingly wasn't phased and curled back up. Maybe she remembers it helping last time or maybe she just remembers mom leaves her alone once the force feed is done.

Now claws crossed that it gives her the munchies.


Got up and had a brief snuggle with mom. I took my treat slowly at first kind of picking at it then I woke up and chowed down on it. After I headed on over to my princess hammock for my wake up nap.

Aurora is still sleeping she doesn't get up till real late.


Aurora was waiting for mom when she got up to put the soup out. She came over interested but recoiled at the smell of blue cheese. Guess the night before was just a fluke. So to be sure mom put out a bowl of blue cheese flavored soup and a bowl of buttermilk with some soup mixed in. She ate a bit of the buttermilk soup.

Aurora has her period so that could be part of her deciding not to eat but she's been super picky and on and off her food for awhile now so moms a bit on edge about it. Mom will sage her again tonight. At the very least it gives her a decent dose of vitamin K so we don't wind up with bleeding issues on top of not eating well.

Synchronized sleeping
Synchronized sleeping

Pua on the shelf

*Wink Wink*
*Wink Wink*

Looking around
Looking around


"Take your stinking paws off me you damn dirty ape!" ~ Aurora

Pua: So "tea time" did not go well tonight. Spit out and hands shoved away. I've tried telling her pinching is more effective but she has never raised a claw to mom. On the plus side all that fight is a good sign. Maybe the bit of food she did eat last night did her some good. She has currently run off to hide in the hut. I tried my best to ignore the whole thing. I need my beauty rest.

Actually there was no crying or growling she was just all "get that *bleeping* stuff away from me!"

So mom didn't force the issue tonight but if Aurora takes no food tonight mom can get more forceful with the force feed of herbal tea tomorrow night because we know it does help.


The weird thing about Aurora is she acts like she would like to eat but that all the offerings are unappetizing. Aurora returned to the closet and mom brought a cup of the good yogurt and told her to come see as she brought something amazing. Aurora came sniffed it and returned to hiding in the hut in disgust.

She has since returned to the closet with me and had a nice large drink on the way. We'll see how she feels at her usual wake later wake up time.


Pua's mommy: We have a good vet but she's no tamandua expert she relies on my knowledge a lot. I think last time we pushed too hard with the vet care and did more harm than good. In the end the sage tea got her eating then. But we were worried as she'd not been eating for a month or so at that point we first went to the vet. Tamandua can go a long time without eating since they can slow their metabolism greatly and the stress of the vet can do more harm than good. It was around 2 months of not eating except little bits from force feeding her when we tried the tea and it worked. If the less aggressive measures fail we can see the vet for some tests but they normally don't shed much light.

We tried antibiotics last time since her lungs looked a bit icky but it didn't help and the vet said it can look that way from age if she is old like we think. We might wind up trying that again if her lungs look icky still/again. There's a better one used on anteaters before for pneumonia but again the lungs may be incidental and just always look that way. We tried a steroid supposed to increase appetite and used for pneumonia patients safely. That was an ugly result. We were lobbing grenades into the dark with meds hoping to hit the cause. Not ideal but sometimes it's all you have. She's not that bad off this time(yet). Getting a B-12 shot might be the best first vet step along with tests if we get that far with no improvement.


We have an order of the good ants waiting at the PO today though she's never been a big ant fan. She's a picky thing.

I don't think it's an obstruction though she may be constipated at this point which wont help. She is able to eat. We did do chest x-rays last time along with blood work. Since then she's occasionally got off food for a bit but giving in and adding yogurt always got her going again till now.

She did eat blue cheese last night but only the good stronger smelling stuff. She carefully licked the blue cheese topping off the blue cheese flavored soup but left the soup and ate any blue cheese I gave her on the side as well. So seems to be a smell/taste issue.

At one point she actually came running to me from across the room when she saw me get up to see if I was putting out anything good. She drank a lot of water.

We wanted to have her in this spring for blood work to get a read on her but preferably we wanted while she wasn't in crisis as the not eating can throw the levels off all by it's self but if she doesn't improve soon we can bring her in for tests and would most likely treat for possible respiratory infection again. I also would like her to be done with her period first too as extra stress while bleeding makes me nervous. They are very prone to bleeding issues especially if already stressed by an illness.

I've not noticed any nasal discharge but she is acting like a an ill cat, needing stronger smelling food to have any interest. The problem is she is very limited in what she will eat even when well so we don't really have anything special to pull out of the fridge for her. Did buy some of the expensive blue cheese today in hopes it's smellier and enticing. $22 a pound. You better like it Aurora.







Mom thought maybe it would be easier to give Aurora some herbs during the day but that didn't work and she left the washer for the closet. Mom gave her a break and tried again in the closet. Aurora got fed up and started growling so I tried putting a hand on her to calm her down. That didn't help so then I attacked her. I didn't hurt her but I was confused about her fight with mom and had to pick a side. We're all settled back in now.

Aurora is now set to piggy back with Beaker Wednesday as he already had an appointment for his check up and vaccination. Most likely it will be a blood test to rule out other issues and antibiotic for possible respiratory infection.







Aurora licked the good blue cheese topping off her blue cheese soup but left the soup alone. She is surprisingly good at that. She took a wee bit of the buttermilk soup and spilled the ant cups all over. Mom stuffed a hole in our claw log with ants and they are all gone now.

Aurora must have eaten them because I have deemed those ants yucky. They were sold as red and black ants but they smell different and are less sticky than normal. I don't know if the species is different or if it's the time of year but yuck. Are there no tasty ants left in this world?







OH just in case you were wondering I have the closet to myself. Aurora has the washer.

Mom left her alone all day to make her feel secure there and then she will be easier to snatch to the vet tomorrow if she sleeps there again.




Aurora's in the washer. I got the closet. The kidnapping should go smoothly today.








Mom snatched Aurora from the washer with little fuss. She was hot and sweaty but she did not have a tempt at the vet. She was 95.6 so a high normal. Normal is 93-95. I'm always 93.5 myself.

Pua's Mommy: Aurora does have a full colon so we will start her on a mild laxative tonight and hope getting things moving gets things going in again. Aurora was hissing and growling the whole time so we are unsure how her lungs actually sound. So we have started her on naxcel as it's a strong antibiotic used in anteaters before and is best for pneumonia in them.

We did also pick up Mirtazapine which is an anti-anxiety and depression pill in people but used as an appetite stimulant in cats. This would be an experimental drug though since we have no history of it being used in anteaters and we will hold off trying it awhile in hopes pooping or the antibiotics get her eating first. It should be safe but you never know when dealing with something as exotic as an anteater.







Aurora was just accosted and given her laxative but she spit half out. Mom has now put a longer tube on the syringe to get it back further in her mouth next time. It's a twice a day thing till she poops so I think a half dose to start will be okay.





Oh a little PS when they had Aurora flipped over to get blood(the tail vein is the only way to do it) mom noticed she had a papilloma, otherwise known a an old lady bump, on her butt. It's very common to see in old dogs. Hyzzie has a few. Further evidence Aurora is a senior.

She doesn't like humans touching her. I'm different. The first time I had blood drawn I just did my best to sleep through it but the last time I fought a bit more. Mom's letting me smell her breath calmed me down though. Unfortunately she had to be manhandled. Mom and a tech holding her while the vet took blood. Will be a day or two to get results but it is important as it could shed some light, maybe at least rule out more dire things like liver and kidney issues which could be causing loss of appetite.

RE the struggle: It's not too bad the main issue with her is her feet as she uses her back claws to try and get away and those are sharp. She never really tries to hurt anyone. She's not a very strong anteater either. Her arms are puny compared to mine. Mom did try clicking at her. I happen to like that but not sure if it helped Aurora any, maybe a bit. Just got to remember not to sush us like you might a baby. Since we hiss when upset it's not a sound we like.

She was upset about the whole thing. She is a grumpy old soul. Playing music on the drive helped calm her and she was nice and calm once she was allowed to go back in her crate and for the ride home. She wasn't too bad in between being handled either. She just curled up in a corner. She even tried climbing down the tech once done with the draw off the exam table but the tech trying to pick her back up caused some serious growling, more so than the blood draw actually. Don't need no stranger picking her up.

Yeah she didn't pace much once home and settle in next to Pua. I'm sure she'll sleep nice and late tonight.




I suppose that could have gone worse. We are sleeping in the washer and mom came to give Aurora her laxative. Boy was she fighting that and growling up a storm. I finally put my hands on mom to say leave her alone she said no. Mom backed off to avoid a fight breaking out.

So mom switched to the shorter tube again as she had better luck getting it into her tiny mouth. She pulled me from the washer and gave me a treat to distract me. Oh and mom did have to don glove as Aurora did pinch when mom kept trying after being warned though not hard but she didn't want to take chances. After a bit more wrestling and getting a flashlight to see a bit better mom managed to get the laxative in. Mom also mixed her vit K supplement in.

After that was done Aurora came out and fled to the closet but came right back and we are both settled in the washer again. Little does she know she still has a shot coming late this afternoon. That should actually be easier.




Aurora's blood values are back and look okay. So it's possible the main issue is constipation. We'll see once she poops if that brings her appetite back. If that does turn out to be the case she may need to be kept on a mild laxative as she has chronic issues with that. I poop every other day she averages like once a week or more. Extra fiber has not helped her.

Aurora's blood work 05 March 2014




And the antibiotic jab went smoothly. She was balled up so mom got her in the leg under the skin. Aurora didn't even flinch and only gave an annoyed hiss after it was done.

Poking is far less of an invasion in our minds, since we poke each other with our claws for fun anyway, than someone trying to shove something in our mouth.




So about me, Middle of the night when mom got up to refresh soups and such and she came over to me in my dinning area she pet me and I had a wet bum. I had been trying to bath in my vinegar bowl but splashing it all over the dinning mat didn't work so well so she poured the rest on the washer for me and I had a nice bath.

It feels good! In the wild ants and termites would spit on me as I raid a nest. That's good for the skin. Birds know this. They will roll in a ant nest or pick up ants and rub them under their feathers. Their behavior is called Anting. Captive birds will use vinegar or booze if available to them. They don't drink it just get excited and rub it in their feathers. Ant and termite spit is acid and vinegar is acid. Not sure why booze does it for birds though.




Aurora is hiding underneath me. I don't mind. She makes a nice warm mattress.




Laxative went smoother this time. Mom caught her off guard as she was laying curled on her back. I think her eyes being covered by the blanket also helped. Quick and painless. She didn't even get to hiss just sort of oh oh what's happening nose puffs.




No poop yet Aurora didn't get up until 6am but she did eat a tiny bit of blue cheese. Mom is contemplating a bath. She doesn't like the idea of stressing her more but on the other hand it often stimulates pooping. She's not positive yet but it seems like it might be a good idea. She could use one anyway but it has been put off so far for her claw to heal first.

(someone was concerned about the cheese making things worse) Depends on the type of cheese. Blue cheese is more likely to give you the runs plus there is chia seeds and water mixed with it. The problem started before hand anyway she only started taking cheese in the last few days. She's around two weeks since a poop I think, bearing in mind her usual schedule is once a week, Pua is every other day.



Mom gave Aurora her bath though she kept it fairly short. No poop but she did give a nice big fart, which is a good sign. She groomed and paced around after and is now hiding under the bed.



Aurora chose a good place not to be disturbed. She had shoved her self in the under bed drawer. She even moved some stuff in the drawer to the front to barricade herself after mom first peeked at her.

The problem is they are home made and the one spans the whole bed so to really be able to pull it out would mean moving furniture around and we don't want to hurt her. There was no way to get hold of her head. Mom was able to pull the corner of the drawer out half way and give her her shot though. After that she has fled to the closet. She can relax awhile and then get her laxative. Then she can flee somewhere else.


Laxative in her but she wasn't happy about it. She knew that was it for now though so after threatening to flee she went back to bed instead.


Aurora seemed dehydrated yesterday so mom tried giving her some fluid rectally(we can't do subQ unless on deaths door, among other issues we have no loose skin) but there is a hard plug of poop in the way. Aurora was greatly displeased about the attempts. However she looks more hydrated than yesterday so she must have drank fairly well last night.

Still not eating though so mom gave her some coconut oil(orally). This has about 7.5 calories per ML. Mom managed to get a few ml into her but she spit some out too. Mom ordered benecal for her and will be here Monday same caloric density so even 10 ml a day would give her enough energy plus it has a bit of protein too.

In the mean time we've got to get that poop plug to move.
(There is much more said in the comments if you want more details click the date above to go to the comments)



Aurora is still in need of pooping. She has been given the stool softener and some vitamin c as that can increase gut motility. She got a little more coconut oil and mom decided to try the appetite stimulant. Fingers crossed it works and has no adverse effects. Most likely adverse affect is agitation though and some time later she is still curled up sleeping.

Anyway on the plus side the fluids did have her feeling better and more energetic last night. She did show some interest in a bowl full of ants until they were spilled then she would have nothing further to do with them even once put back.

We got her some apple juice to try tonight as well. She liked that last time she was off food.


Mom stuck a heating pad in the washer with Aurora. A little heat never hurts.

Oh yeah I got the closet. Night before last I was feeling a bit blue over Aurora not wanting to play so I begged mom to play and snuggle with me. That was nice. I was cool last night though. I just wanted a bunch of treats.


Mom gave me my wake up blue cheese but it was runnier than normal. I showed her. I spilled it all over her desk.



Think the appetite stimulant is making Aurora relaxed. It was originally an anti anxiety/depression drug in people but is used to stimulate appetite in cats. Think it's having it's original effect on her. She moved away from the heating pad finally and was laying on her back all chill like in the washer.


The appetite stimulant worked! Yay! Aurora was active and drank a lot of buttermilk. We just had the most appetizing things out we could but we can start adding food to that. Maybe start with some fiber to get things moving. The appetite stimulant is mirtazapine 1/16th of a 30mg pill, can be given once every three days, cat dose (not advice just what we did talk to your vet, blah blah, legal jargon and such.) Important info since as far as I know she's the first tamandua to have tried it.

Some lactulose and stool softener into Aurora and that will be the only time we need to bug her today. I think I'll give her the heating pad back since Pua has the closet again.

Got the benecal today. It claims to be tasteless but is a little sweet. Not really noticeable when mixed with the buttermilk though. I'll put that out and maybe add some powdered oat bran but just a bit so it doesn't turn her off and put out the buttermilk/soup food mix too tonight just in case she feels hungry enough to jump back in rather than ween on but she normally goes slow and doesn't like sudden changes.


Aurora at 15 pounds down from 17. 2 pounds makes quite a difference in a small animal. You can see she's not skinny but she has also lost muscle mass and not just fat. Time to bulk up on the protein, Aurora.
Aurora is thin now
But not skinny

How Pua spent the day[★]
How Pua spent the day

I promised not to bug Aurora but when I peeked at her she was just so cute sleeping there I couldn't help but take a shot of course at that moment she turned her head and gave me the evil eye.
Actually the white is sleep/eye-gunk, aka dried tears. They have white tears.

March 11
No poop yet but Aurora just came out onto the shelf over the desk and gave mom a look then farted real loud then went back to bed.

Aurora did get her buttermilk with benecal and powdered oat bran added last night. Mom's not sure if she ate some of the food/buttermilk soup or if it was just me. I used to think buttermilk was gross but since Aurora seems to like it I decided I would like it too now.

Mom came to give Aurora her meds and boy did Aurora put up a fight. I tried to calm the situation down by putting my hand on them but it wasn't working. I was confused and thought mom was trying to snuggle Aurora so once Aurora did get her meds and storm off to hide in the hut I grabbed hold of mom and snuggled with her myself. I didn't want to let go. Mom should sleep with me all day.


And Aurora has come back to the closet to shove me out of my spot.


Aurora is up having a morning snack. Mom mixed a bit of food soup into her buttermilk.


I was enjoying her soup this morning. I got it all over my face. I like that better than she strait buttermilk.


Mom just gave Aurora her laxative and stool softener rectally. They both said they can be given that way and it's less traumatic for her. The softener also is supposed to work faster that way. Mom also stuck a glycerine suppository up there to lube the way. Even so there was plenty of hissing even before mom did anything.

Mom says it feels like the poop has moved down lower since she last had her finger up her bum. I bet mom never thought she'd have her finger in an anteater's bum.

Me Chillin' just before Aurora got invaded 
Sleepy Pua


And she pooped! Way to go Aurora now your butt can be left alone.


Aurora was in the washer but got up to have a snack then turned in with me in the closet.


Since some of you asked and since mom has taken her fair share of poop photos anyway here's Aurora's grand poop, well one part of it. There were a couple logs and some soft stuff.

It's natural for our poop to be green. I'm not sure but the yellow speckles could be the oat bran. The white on the surface was part of the glycerine I think.

So there you have poop and a discussion if it's parts, ha
Aurora pooped

Aurora has a new found affinity for under the bed. She came down this morning on the cat tree but when Beaker came over to say high she went under the bed. After the dogs morning walk she was back in the closet.

She got up for an afternoon snack and I shared her buttermilk bowl. Mom took the dogs for a walk and after she was under the bed. Mom didn't know till she heard noises. I guess Aurora realized mom was close so she left for the closet again.


Aurora got up and pace around then had diarrhea. Could be some of the oral meds catching up with her but we did stop those after she pooped. Also probably too much buttermilk. Mom made her some soup with butter milk and she made her some special ground meat,oat bran and powdered spinach with buttermilk soup, as that has less flavor and smell than our normal food. So she can have one or the other tonight. If she refuses both we can stimulate her appetite again. She's got to go beyond the buttermilk.(fairly normal after being blocked up so long really).


Aurora seems thrilled with the bland diet of just meat, oat bran, spinach powder and buttermilk.


Aurora's in the washer down in the blanket. I got the closet but burrowed down in the blanket as well.


I got up for my treat but accidentally knocked the blanket down. Mom came to return the blanket and I was all, no you don't, you can't go till we snuggle.

I like to hug and hold with my hands and put my head against her put the soles of my feet against her. Those are all the major soul points. You can feel the love.

Oh last night mom was reluctant to listen to me when I was telling her to get up so she tried moving away. So I braved walking by the annoying butt sniffing Beaker and found mom and laid over her back and hugged her and pinched her a bit on and off. Then got my treat after and Aurora got fresh soup.


We both have the washer today. Aurora really pigged out on her bland soup.


We are both up. Aurora is up early as she decided she was hungry already.


PS I'm loving this new piece of rotten wood.


Fresh blue cheese chia seed mix made up for me and some fresh bland soup made up for Aurora. Mom did add just a tiny dollop of regular soup to it but Aurora is expected not to notice. Mom also tried making her own cultured buttermilk. She thinks it turned out good. Aurora will be the judge of that.


Hyzzie dog, willing to challenge the mid to upper mid content wolfdog that was walking around - terrified of that tied up hunting breed black lab.



Hyzzie with her sock

I didn't wake mom at all last night fora change but Aurora got hungry and mom woke to her pacing at 6am and she got some fresh soup. She had eaten a lot of soup from her chiller bowl though so she was good really.

We both have the washer for the day.

Well,she hasn't pooped since she had diarrhea but that's normal for her. Well, work on getting her to poop more often but that will take time to see which adjustments do what.


We got up early. Aurora ate and then we played some. Then I left her after she went to eat more. Then Aurora cried because mom had the lights on because she was working late so the lights got turned off and everyone was happy.


We got up had some snacks and Aurora had some soup. Then we ran around a bit. I liked my treat with my supplements in it better than plain. The flavor is so much more exciting

We're both in the washer today with a nice clean jungle blanket. We spent some time playing in the closet last night. Oh and Aurora pooped last night. So that's like 6 days since last time which is normal for her but we want to change that to more normal for a normal anteater. Fiber never helped in the past. Maybe some vitamin c?

These are old photos of Aurora's fist poop here, that I hadn't shared before. They were feeding her ant nests so essentially this is a wild anteater poop lots of dirt and ant bodies
Natural Anteater poop



Natural Anteater poop

Time to hula
Time to hula

Let's dance!


1 comments:

  1. Unknown Says:

    youre stories are wonderful and beautiful
    i love your family