Chinchilla coughing/sneezing or hiccupping or gagging?

Chinchilla & Hedgehog Pet Forum

Help Support Chinchilla & Hedgehog Pet Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

LilyLuci

Member
Joined
Nov 7, 2014
Messages
7
Hi everyone,

So I'm just looking for a bit of advice on my 5 year old male chinchilla. For the past 2 days he's been occassionally having what I thought were "coughing fits" that last for about 4/5s, it's kind of hard to tell what the sounds are but he sort of repeatedly makes little squeaks/sneezing sounds. His whole body goes kind of stiff and straight like he's coughing, or choking, or gagging - it's hard to tell. It happens maybe once or twice an hour. He isn't drooling and his eyes/nose are clean. He's not wheezing or struggling to breathe other than when he has the little coughing spasms. Other than that he seems fine, he's eating and drinking, I think he's pooping (though he has a cagemate so hard to tell exactly). He seems to be maybe a little less energetic than normal but he's pretty much his usual self. I looked online and the closest example of the sound I found is this one (about 10s in.. Poor little chinchilla): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jhRnrLC8SoQ&feature=youtu.be

I took him to the vet today and he checked his lungs and head, and thought his breathing sounded fine. He also thought he seemed healthy and energetic and his weight was about normal though it's been a while since he was weighed. The only thing was that he was extremely stressed out (he doesn't really like being handled, he tolerates me for a little while, so let alone by strangers) so the vet didn't want to stress him out any more by trying to take his temperature etc. So his advice was that he thought maybe he just had an irritated throat, and if it was just a mild respiratory infection, then he wouldn't want to use antibiotics unnecessarily. His advice was to see how he is over next couple days and see if he gets over it, and if he gets any worse to phone and they'll prescribe antibiotics.

I'm keeping an eye on him and he's still eating/drinking. And if he gets any worse I'll contact the vet immediately. I was just wondering if anyone had any advice & second opinions. I'm also now wondering is there a chance it could be a dental issue? He's not drooling or anything but I have noticed a couple times he does the coughing thing when he's eating (but maybe that's because his throat is sore). I've also noticed he does seem to be being more careful/delicate when chewing his wood toys. Should I call the vet & take him back for an x-ray?

If it is a mild respiratory infection, does it warrant antibiotics anyway or is it ok to see if he gets over it on his own?

Any thoughts much appreciated!
 
If it's a respiratory infection, then it needs treated with antibiotics. With chins, they can go down hill so fast that mild suddenly turns into life threatening. If it was me and the vet told me my chin had a mild infection, then I would ask for trimethoprim sulfa. Chins love the taste and about the only side effect is some chins drink a little less - though I've never experienced that myself. My chins think it's candy.

I'd rather treat it now when it can be handled than deal with force feeding and a much harsher antibiotic later.
 
Just another thought, although it could be a respiratory infection, so please keep a close eye on him. If it sounds like in the video, it sounds like it has something stuck in its throat or at least irritating it. Did the coughing start after giving a dust bath? It can happen sometimes that they inhale dust, it's not common but it can happen, basically took a breath at the wrong time. Also did they check to make sure nothing was caught in the back teeth? The fact that you said he is chewing more carefully makes me wonder if he got a splinter or even a piece of hay caught in his teeth that is tickling his throat from time to time causing a cough like sound.
 
Hi everyone, thanks so much for getting back to me with your thoughts, it really helps. So I spoke to another vet at the practice tonight, as he's been coughing a bit more (though still seems fine energywise for now). She thought it was best to try him on antibiotics before anything got worse too and I asked if it was possible to try trimethoprim sulfa (thank you for that suggestion!). She said she would check if they had any in stock and would prescribe that, if not they'd try the other one to start with (baytril?). I'm going tomorrow morning to collect it for him.

I've just seen your other comment & that's a good suggestion too about the irritant - it could well be. You're right, the coughing fits started the day after both chins had a hefty dust session the night before. But we've all been really sick in the house with coughs, so I kind of assumed he had caught something like we had.

The one thing the other vet didn't do was check his teeth or throat, I guess because I'd implied it sounded like coughing (again because we've also been sick), and also he was so stressed out the vet didn't want to stress him any further I guess (the vet commented on how fast his wee heart was going). I can keep an eye on his eating and see if the antibiotics help at all? Do you know how quickly you'd normally see an improvement on antibiotics if it is a URI? If he doesn't seem to take to them I could take him back and ask them to check his mouth/throat?
 
Hey folks, just updating mostly in case it's useful for people having problems in the future - so he's on day 3 of the Baytril and finally seems to be responding, he's been eating/drinking pretty consistently anyway but today he's got way more energy, seems to be coughing far less (only heard one or two outbursts when I've been around), and seems far more like his old self. He's got 1 or 2 doses left of the antibiotics so hopefully that'll sort it out for good and I'm going to watch him and make sure there's no more coughing, and I'm assuming then since he's improving it must have been some sort of URI. Alongside the antiobiotics (which I follow up with a bit of dried apple to help him with the nasty taste) I've also been giving him a little bit of critical care just to make sure he's getting enough nutrition and to keep his system moving along. Thanks for all the advice, I'm hoping we caught it early enough and the meds have sorted him out!

I was thinking of possibly taking him for another check up in a week or so once he's all better just to make sure there's nothing underlying going on with him... Do you think it's worth the stress of the vet visit?
 
So another update... After seemingly getting better after his first antibiotics course, the cough came back with a vengeance (much harder, longer, he wasn't sleeping and was quite withdrawn) over the period of a couple of days. This morning he was wheezing so I took him to the emergency vet who checked his lungs (still clear) and his mouth and teeth as best she could. She thought he didn't appear to be in respiratory distress and he had no discharge or other breathing troubles, just the weird cough/squeak sound, so she suggested another round of antibiotics (a different one... Banana flavoured this time too so hopefully he doesn't get so stressed like before with the baytril, he hated it). She also suggested calling his usual vet tomorrow (it's the weekend just now) and asking for an x-ray to check there's nothing else going on.

But as I was taking him to the vet I had a revelation... I'd noticed recently there was an odd smell in the room he's in and after checking out the bedding I'd been using (cheaper stuff I bought in a hurry) I realised it might be pine/soft wood, and have some weird chemical in it. I smelled the bag and there was a hint of a weird dusty toxic smell. I immediately cleaned out the cage and tossed it all, and bought some aspen shavings to scatter. I feel like the room has cleared of the smell too but maybe it's my imagination.

He's now had 2 doses of his new antibiotic and already seems to be livelier. I am wondering and kind of hoping that maybe it was the bedding that set him off and hopefully now it's clean he'll be able to breathe easier and get better... Though I feel terrible if the bedding was what started it all for him (and oddly (but luckily) not his cagemate).

Anyway a long post but I thought it could be helpful for anyone else who experiences this kind of illness and is trying to figure it out!
 
Back
Top