Grieving Chinchilla

Hello, I am hoping someone could give me some advice.

I had to have one of my girls, Miyuki, put to sleep on Monday, diagnosed with malo a week before. I'm pretty heartbroken, and so is her sister Zelda (same litter so together since birth). They are (and were) 3.5 years old. Zelda has also been x-rayed and had a general check up and she is apparently in perfect health. Of course I will be monitoring her closely for any teeth issues.

Anyway, Zelda has barely eaten since Monday, and doesn't seem to have had much to drink either. She is still pooping but they are generally quite small. She will eat lifeline and I've tried sprinkling that and a bit of rosehip powder on her pellets but it doesn't seem to have worked. I also give her one crush rosehip piece a day and she eats those too. Her hay was untouched on Tuesday but yesterday it was a little messier but I couldn't tell if she had really eaten any of it. I've been spending as much time with her as I can, and at playtime she's her usual bouncy self, always scheming new escape plans, but I'm super worried about her. About two weeks ago she was around 880g, the last couple of evenings I've weighed her, she's been 848g. I am now weighing her every evening, though it's obvious that if she's not eating, she's probably going to lose a bit of weight.

Is this sadness something that will subside? Is there anything else I should be doing? Shall I now start syringe handfeeding? I have lots of Lifeline (I have tried to give her Lifeline on a spoon, but she wasn't having any of it). I have started (today) to weigh her food so I will get a clearer idea of what she is actually eating.

Thanks very much.

30 gm isn't a huge amount of weight loss over two weeks in a chin that size, but it is a loss and to me it shows that she is grieving. Weighing the food doesn't mean a whole lot because chins chuck pellets all over their cages.

Is she drinking? If she's not drinking, she won't eat. Can you monitor her intake on water at all? It wouldn't hurt to syringe feed her once a day. I would mix in some pure pumpkin (not with spices and stuff, just canned pumpkin with nothing else in it) for flavor and calories as well. It might make her more interested in eating it. I hate to say do it more than once a day because some chins get hooked on syringe feeding and then don't want to go back to normal food. You just want to make sure shes keeping her gut moving. It might also help to get her a cuddle buddy to hang with since she is missing her sister. Chins get used to cuddling and when it's suddenly gone, it's hard for them. The cuddle buddy might be enough to get her over the hump of grief and back to normal again.

Hi Tunes, thanks for the reply.

I got home from work last night and it looked like she had eaten some pellets and I have been monitoring the level of her water and it was a little lower. So that was a huge relief.

She does have a cuddle buddy, I have one that came with my fleece liners for my carrier. She seems to be chewing on all the new toys I got her a bit more as well. We hang out a lot and I hope that's helping.

I'll grab some pumpkin for her, but I definitely don't want to get her hooked on that and the lifeline. I won't see her again until a little later this evening as I worked a double today but I'm hoping she's improved a little more. We're just having to take it one day at a time needless to say it's been a pretty horrific week all round.

Thanks again for the advice, I really appreciate it.

Hi Tunes, thanks for the reply (I did reply the other day but the post must not have worked)

She seems to be eating a little bit on her own and she's definitely drinking. So I guess that's something at least.

She does have a cuddle buddy, I have one that came with my fleece liners for my carrier. She seems to be chewing on all the new toys I got her a bit more as well. We hang out a lot and I hope that's helping.

I'll grab some pumpkin for her, but I definitely don't want to get her hooked on that and the lifeline. Hoping she'll start feeling better bit by bit. We're just having to take this whole thing one day at a time needless to say it's been a pretty awful week all round.

Thanks again for the advice, I really appreciate it.

so sorry for you and your chin :cry3::hug2:

Thank you Godofgods.

Zelda seems to be better, which is a huge relief. I guess it just took a few days for the initial grief to pass. I think she is still sad though, I'm sure she still looks for her sister.

I get Miyuki's ashes back in a couple of days. The support I have received from my vet hospital and Until We Meet Again has been second to none.