Chin not eating and breathing very fast

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Aleanora

Member
Joined
Jun 27, 2014
Messages
6
I have an eleven year old chinchilla who has gone off her food completely when she used to eat like a horse. We took her to the vet on Friday who percribed baytril and an anti inflammatory. We have been hand feeding her critical care and water, she is still on her feet but we are so worried and not sure what is wrong with her. Does anyone have any suggestions about what could possibly be the problet? The vet said her teeth were fine, and she doesn't seem to have any obvious pain. She has also lost weight because she isn't eating what she usual does.
 
Were x-rays taken to rule out teeth issues or did they just look in her mouth? The molars can't be seen very well without an x-ray and roots can't be seen at all without one. It could be something as simple as something stuck in her teeth, or something as serious as malo and root elongation. If the teeth check out, then my next guess would be digestive, but once again without an x-ray to check for a blockage or gas bubbles you can't know. Is she pooping and peeing ok? How is her energy level? If she isn't eating at all on her own you do need to make sure you are giving enough critical care to make up for that, since you said she lost weight, she probably needs around 100ml per day, more if she will take it, spread over multiple feedings. Also was blood work done to rule out any issues there?

If the vet couldn't find anything wrong what was the antibiotic and anti inflammatory prescribed for? Or is it more just a throw drugs at it and see if that helps thing?
 
The vet didn't do X-rays just had a feel of her and looked at her mouth. She thought she might be in pain or an infection and she prescribed the drugs for her. Feeding her is a two person job so I need to wait until my husband finishes work to hand feed her. She fights and kicks when we turn her onto her back to feed her. She is just resting in her in her cage not moving around much. She appears to be pooing very little and I haven't really seen her peeing.
 
What anti-inflammatory was prescribed? The chin really needs to go back for further testing, at the very least a full body x-ray which the chin does not have to be put under for. Bloat, constipation, URIs, UTIs, dental issues etc etc could all cause the problem.
 
We took get back into the vet this morning. She has a cracked tooth and bad spurs on her teeth. The vet stated her body condition was poor and said she didn't believe she would have a good quality of life and advised us to put her to sleep, which we broken heartedly agreed to. Can't believe she is gone, I thought she would pull through and I blame myself for not doing enough for her. It's so horrible loosing a chin :(
 
sounds like you might want to try a new vet. Not doing any testing at all, coming up with no logical diagnosis, and still giving you a couple meds.. seems suspicious at best. Flat out not eating is usually not a wait a see type of issue.
 
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