Hi All,
It's been awhile since I last posted. Approximately 4 years ago I moved across continents and brought my chins with me.
Unfortunately, 1 is really sick right now and I'm at a lost because I'm having a hard time finding a vet who knows anything about chinchillas. I've called several and none would be willing to see a chinchilla as they've never handled one.
Winnie is about 8 years old this year. He's had a history in GI stasis/bloat about 6 years ago that took about 3 months of round the clock care to recover.
About 2 days ago, I came back from work and noticed that Winnie was quite lethargic. He would normally move around his 3-level cage (hammock and food on top level, water and hay on bottom level), but at that point he would only stay in 1 corner on the bottom level. He was also eating less. So yesterday I brought him to a nearby vet for an xray. Xray showed nothing unusual (no trapped air, no broken bones, etc). Since vet isn't knowledgeable when it comes to chins, he couldn't diagnose what's wrong with Winnie. Afterwards, I bought pedialyte and syringe fed him the fluids.
Today he's considerably more lethargic. They don't sell CC here so this morning I ground up his pellets finely and mixed it with pedialyte. Syringe fed him and Winnie was willing to eat. I noticed that his pee is very clear and odorless, unlike his usual urine. I fed him again in the afternoon and Winnie ate some more. Tonight when I was feeding him, he was so weak he couldn't even stand up and he didn't want to eat anymore. His urine was also clear and odorless. I noticed that he would pee not long after I feed him. Since 2 days ago, I can tell that he's lost a considerable amount of weight (vet weighed him at 500 grams yesterday). I don't know how much he weighed before but when I yesterday now I can tell he's lost weight.
I'm trying to see a vet tomorrow who I heard specializes in pocket pets. Unfortunately he only starts his practice at 3pm local time (I'm in Southeast Asia). In the meantime, I can see that Winnie is just very weak. Even when he had his GI Stasis/bloat, he was still bouncing around. His stomach feels normal to the touch (not hard). Right now he's resting and his breathing is quite heavy.
Any help/recommendations would be much appreciated. Thank you.
It's been awhile since I last posted. Approximately 4 years ago I moved across continents and brought my chins with me.
Unfortunately, 1 is really sick right now and I'm at a lost because I'm having a hard time finding a vet who knows anything about chinchillas. I've called several and none would be willing to see a chinchilla as they've never handled one.
Winnie is about 8 years old this year. He's had a history in GI stasis/bloat about 6 years ago that took about 3 months of round the clock care to recover.
About 2 days ago, I came back from work and noticed that Winnie was quite lethargic. He would normally move around his 3-level cage (hammock and food on top level, water and hay on bottom level), but at that point he would only stay in 1 corner on the bottom level. He was also eating less. So yesterday I brought him to a nearby vet for an xray. Xray showed nothing unusual (no trapped air, no broken bones, etc). Since vet isn't knowledgeable when it comes to chins, he couldn't diagnose what's wrong with Winnie. Afterwards, I bought pedialyte and syringe fed him the fluids.
Today he's considerably more lethargic. They don't sell CC here so this morning I ground up his pellets finely and mixed it with pedialyte. Syringe fed him and Winnie was willing to eat. I noticed that his pee is very clear and odorless, unlike his usual urine. I fed him again in the afternoon and Winnie ate some more. Tonight when I was feeding him, he was so weak he couldn't even stand up and he didn't want to eat anymore. His urine was also clear and odorless. I noticed that he would pee not long after I feed him. Since 2 days ago, I can tell that he's lost a considerable amount of weight (vet weighed him at 500 grams yesterday). I don't know how much he weighed before but when I yesterday now I can tell he's lost weight.
I'm trying to see a vet tomorrow who I heard specializes in pocket pets. Unfortunately he only starts his practice at 3pm local time (I'm in Southeast Asia). In the meantime, I can see that Winnie is just very weak. Even when he had his GI Stasis/bloat, he was still bouncing around. His stomach feels normal to the touch (not hard). Right now he's resting and his breathing is quite heavy.
Any help/recommendations would be much appreciated. Thank you.
