4 rescued DesMoines Chins update thread

[Chintastic!]

Since the thread in classifieds was shut down, rightfully so, I am going to start a thread to tell anyone who is intrested in the chins how they are doing.

They all seem very handleable. I worked on combing the female and got about half a small ziploc bag of mats off. She did really well even though it couldnt have been fun sitting there. After about an hour I stoped because she was getting antzy and bit me- but didnt draw blood. Over all she is very friendly, and I havnt even had them 24 hours yet. The two babies ate 5cc's or so of critical care this morning off a spoon. Then another 5 at noon. They look to be 3 to 4 months old I think? They are tiny for even that age though. The adults are tiny as well. I havnt weighed them yet because my scale broke last week- some little boy chin pushed it off the table and cracked the plate so it doesnt calculate right now. But I know that my smallest male is 552g at last weigh and both adults feel lighter than that.

I have seperated males and females. The three boys are on the bottom and the female is on the top. She has a wheel but they dont. The boys really love to hide in the pvc pipes all huddled together. I thought I had lost one but nope they were just cuddling. I am going to post pics in a minute, I have to put them on photobucket first.

 

[Chintastic!]

Female

Possibly Ebony baby9dirty belly?)

dad

babies together

 

[LovinHedgies]

Thanks for the pictures!!! The mama chin doesn't look to happy, lol!

 

[Chintastic!]

The mama was not a happy camper today. I have several more bite marks on my hands from her. I tried so hard to get the mats off her forhead/nose area. There were four nice sized ones to start with and I get it down to one. I have been working on this one mat, which was the biggest, for two days now. Does anyone have any suggestions on how to get it out? it is stuck in there like glue! and is just in the worst spot. The babies feel like they have never had a bath until they were rescued. Its like they have mats under their fur? I have been brushing them too but they are very hard to hold on to, so I can only do it in short increments.

I am so worried about the mama. I have personally never dealt with Malo, but she had some nice size bumps on either side of her chin. I am going to see if I can get her into the vet on monday to have her teeth checked. All I can do right now is pray its not malo. I even went through my other chins feeling their chins to see if they had anything like it, but alas no.

Dad has been gaining weight rapidly, he should be 700+ grams I'm guessing. Every day I am refilling pellets and hay- let me just say that I have a cage with 4 females and they have the same sized containers to hold both pellets and hay- it takes them 2 to 3 days to get through them. They babies eat like crazy, there is almost no hay or pellet waste.

Just an afer thought- can you cut a mat out, or is that a no-no? They are all coming along well though.

 

[Brittany_Lynn]

Just an afer thought- can you cut a mat out, or is that a no-no? They are all coming along well though.

The mat will be too close to the skin to do that. Someone tried cutting a mat off of Fritz when we rescued him (my guess is that it was their previous owner) and they cut him pretty well...you couldn't tell though because the mat was still on top...so he had an open wound underneath a bunch of dirty fur. Basically it's just not a good idea.

 

[sheltiefan]

don't know if this would work or not. It worked on my sheltie when she got matted. the tips are rounded so not to cut the skin. Maybe someone with more chin knowage than me can say if its safe or not. Here it is
http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=3706191&lmdn=Category

 

[tunes]

Push comes to shove, yes, you can cut the mat out. You would need two people, one holding securely (in this case, a burrito would be a big help since it's on the head), and I would use a very small pair of scissors, like the kind you cut cuticles with. If you get it down small enough, you may be able to tug it loose.

That comb looks scary to me for a chin. The ends may be hooked, but they look beastly. I would get a flea comb instead. It's wide on one end, skinny on the other. It's similar to a chin comb, only no points.

 

[Essentia]

Sent you a PM explaining how we "cut" out the super large mats on Tanks hips. Once we got half the mat removed he was able to release the rest when tugged.

 

[Chintastic!]

I have been playing with the one mat on her nose for 3 days and it wont come loose. So today I held her while my mom took out little battery operated shaver and just went under it. We had the gaurd on it so that it didnt get too close to the skin. I was too scared to even get close to her with scissors! It worked out very well, it wasnt so much wide but it was long. The mat went just about all the way down to the skin. The shaver thing we have is very quiet in comparison to all the other ones Ive ever seen- it hardly buzzes at all so that was a plus.

I've been brushing the babies everyother day so that they can take a bath afterwards, they seem so greasy after I work on them. They really dont like it so I do it in 10 min. slices then let them sit while I do the other one for 10 then switch again. I usually do this for about an hour at a time, but twice that day. They only get a bath once though at the end. I am trying to decide what to do about the mats on their bellies, has anyone had success with one person holding them on their back and the other combing them out? This is so frustrating. Dad doesnt seem to have very many mats at all.
I am still concerned about mama having malo, it is so disappointing...

 

[LovinHedgies]

Oh no! I just saw this about the mama chin possibly having malo.....
What exactly does that mean? I understand that it is growths on the jaw? It is terminal? I hope not I'm slowing getting her cage ready and have been busy making lists of things I want to get for her...
Chintastic - thank you so much for rescuing this poor chins, and for taking the time to get them back to health. I have no experience with sickly chins or brushing mats out of their fur. I hope everything starts getting better for the mama chin!

 

[Chintastic!]

Sorry I havnt posted an update for a few days, things have been so hectic around here! Anyway I took Mama to the vet on Wed. He did an exam and said that the lower cheek teeth have good sized "points" on them. So next week she is going in for a special appt to have them filed. I have been trying to moniter her food intake, basicly she is eating mostly pellets(usually around 25 to 30g a day) hardly an hay. I am also making 60ml of CC - how much she actually eats depends because she DOES NOT like it, so I tend to see more on the towel than I would like to. Oh, almost for got, she weighs 554g so gaining but slowly.

Also found out that mama has a heart murmer, but the vet didnt seem too concerned. Should we be? I can honestly say that I have never dealt with a chin who had one or teeth problems for that matter.

To LovinHedgies: I will keep her as long as you like, until we are sure that she is healthy and ready for a new home.

Babies are doing well, both are gaining steadily as is dad. I feel like dad gains a pound each time I pick him up! Boys seem happy, babies are coming around but it is taking some time dad likes- scratch that(lol)- LOVES scratchies. Babies like them but only if you are holding them, or they are sitting on your lap.

I keep meaning to say that this but always forget until I'm off doin other things- If I am ever doing anything wrong or you have any suggestions PLEASE tell me. Reading the threads on this forum has made me a much better chin owner but I am know that there is always more to do to improve.
Hope everyone had a great day- TGIF in 2 hours!

 

[ticklechin]

A malo chin with a murmur is not a good combination, when you go back the the vet for the filing ask what grade it is-if it is a 1 or 2 then its not as much of a worry than if its a 3 or above. I would also ask the vet for a xray, if the roots are felt along the jaw line than I will be honest, the malo is advanced and this malo chin with a murmur really needs to be evaluated and watched close for quality of life.

 

[Chintastic!]

Ok if the murmer is 3 or above would it be better to have her put down? The last thing I want is for her to suffer more that she has already. I know it sounds a little harsh, but I don't want to have all this work done on her only to decide that her quality of life just isn't there. I have dealt with something slightly similar with one of my dogs. I won't go into a lot of detail except that after doing everything possible I choose to put her down rather than have her live a life that, in my eyes, wasn't worth living.

In all honesty, what would you do in that situation?
Thanks

 

[ticklechin]

I invested a huge amount of money and time in my chin who had malo and a murmur-I had the malo under control but the murmur was what killed him-he had a class 5 and I ws told at the time the murmur was no big deal by people on the net, my vet begged to differ and I did not listen to her since I was pig headed. Hindsight is a beech and I wish I would have went a different route I:E euthanasia. Be very careful investing time and money in a malo/murmur chin, especially if the murmur is a 3 or above. Get a x-ray also, since the bumps tell me the malo is advanced and if that is the case PTS is really the humane choice. Just coming from someone who was in your shoes.

 

[Kansas City Chinchillas]

I invested a huge amount of money and time in my chin who had malo and a murmur-I had the malo under control but the murmur was what killed him-he had a class 5 and I ws told at the time the murmur was no big deal by people on the net, my vet begged to differ and I did not listen to her since I was pig headed. Hindsight is a beech and I wish I would have went a different route I:E euthanasia. Be very careful investing time and money in a malo/murmur chin, especially if the murmur is a 3 or above. Get a x-ray also, since the bumps tell me the malo is advanced and if that is the case PTS is really the humane choice. Just coming from someone who was in your shoes.

Great advice.

 

[Chintastic!]

Thank you so very much for your honesty Dawn. I am just dreading our vet visit on Tues. Thank you all for you support.

 

[chinnychinchinchilla]

best wishes. lets hope its a 1 or 2!

 

[LovinHedgies]

Oh my gosh...I just ordered a bunch of stuff for this little lady... it sounds like she has some serious health problems. Please keep me updated on what the vet says.
And thank you again for taking such good care of her.

 

[ticklechin]

This is advanced malo from a skull I own, you can see the bumps are actually the teeth growing out the bottom of the jaw bone. This is why you need a x-ray ASAP.

 

[Chintastic!]

Thanks for sharing Dawn! I remember looking at a thread with a bunch of pictures of malo skulls. I had to move her appt to wed. Still feeding cc, but I could only get her to eat about 30 ml today, took three seperate feedings, will try again before bed.

I think I am done with the combing for now, the babies have no mats except on their lower bellies.