Hello again! Skip to the paragraph starting with ->'Blah' for the TLDR version about 5 paragraphs down! - It's been a while since I've posted here, as things have been going smoothly.. for the most part. My last issue is still quite the mystery, but I have it under wraps now.
My mystery chinchilla illness was this : Random wheezing which sometimes led to near-suffocation, including choking. He also bloated a bit before, or after. It wasn't easy to notice that at first because sometimes he would puff right up, sometimes his stomach would stay small, but get extremely hard. You'd assume respiratory, right? Apparently not. His digestive system is so fragile that anything set it into complete chaos, bloating it and cramping it, causing intense pressure on his ribs, then to lungs - which somehow also restricted the airways in his nose, because it would cause mucous buildup. The mucous was what got him, it's what caused the choking, at least. It got so bad at one point his muzzle turned purple and he had what seemed to be a seizure from suffocation.
I refused to give up on him and kept asking more questions, spent hundreds seeing my extremely useless vet.. and then eventually read a suggestion here on the forums. It wasn't even directed at me, I was just browsing. "Make a steam bath to melt the mucous." It never occurred to me I could do that, not sure why. But the next time it happened, that's what I did. After all that gunk melted away, I could hear him swallow and breathe properly, and he'd get better so, so quickly. It definitely saved his life, (Thank you to whoever that was!) and gave me time to figure out what could be causing this. The answer? Almost anything.
As I said, his digestive system is unbelievably delicate, way more than any chinchilla I've seen, or have had, or how he was years ago. I won't go into a huge list because honestly it was almost anything, but two good examples of these things are.. Oxbow Vit-C, and a bite or two of apple wood. I know a lot of you like to give your chinchillas apple wood, and I see why. They really do love it - But there is definitely sugar in apple wood, and just a few chews would send him into all of this mess a couple hours later.
Since realizing it was sugar (or even awkward 'chinchilla' treats/foods that had no sugar..) I cut him off from everything. His diet now is hay, pellets, and the occasional spoon full of CC to keep him from bloating up, just in case. It's healthy and he loves it now, so why not. As long as he doesn't manage to get into anything, he has absolutely zero episodes!
--->Blah blah blah, I'll move on to my current issue. I rambled on hoping maybe it would somehow help answer this one? Probably not, but whatever. My little guy is ten years old. I know how he acts, it hasn't changed much over the years until lately. Sometime during all of this, he started chewing on absolutely anything. In ten years he was never a chewer. He'd gnaw on his pine house and chew blocks, but that was it. I could let him free-roam in my room he was so absolutely tame and house-trained. Now? He's destroyed my phone, two headsets, my walls, doors, storage containers, desk, bed frame.. I'm always chasing him away from something.
First thought? His teeth. But also today I noticed a lot of aggression. He hopped back into his cage to start throwing things and chewing on the bars. Usually he only does that when he wants to run around, but he willingly went back into his cage just to do that. His eyes were just slightly glossy, which made my heart sink. I don't think it's enough to qualify as 'tearing up', but that coupled with all the chewing and anger has me believing he's in pain.
I still have metacam from when he was having these episodes, so I gave him a bit of that, but otherwise I'm at a loss.
For the most part, the chewing isn't all angry-chewing, it's just a very, very constant habit. Anyways.. I'm going to go back to the vet soon for some kind of oral exam, I think. Even though I really don't like the idea of putting him under. Especially with the only vets I have available - they're not very good. He's had full x-rays taken before, and the HUGE pockets of gas I asked about, I was told 'aren't anything to worry about'.. They also likely didn't even look at his teeth, even though I remember asking about them, and they're apparently on the x-ray.
So my questions are: Sudden behavioral changes, any personal experiences? No, nothing has changed in my home or where he plays. (I know that can cause it) Tooth problems. I've looked into what this horrible 'malo' is before, and it worries me. But doesn't that generally make your chinchilla avoid almost all chewing? And how can I get these x-rays from my vet to show you guys? - Note, no noticeable weight loss, and definitely no drooling. But sometimes it does sound like he's chewing and swallowing randomly, not the usual teeth-cleaning sound, or annoyed grinding/chattering.
I need to go to this vet fully prepared and with lots of information and things to specify and point out.. So I'm going to wait until I at least have a clue, because they won't know what to look for. No, I cannot switch vets, there's two exotics in my entire province and one is a sick, very twisted one who I'm pretty convinced got into her practice so she can put down animals. The one I have now is nice enough, and can at least do whatever I point him at.. Frustrating situation.
My mystery chinchilla illness was this : Random wheezing which sometimes led to near-suffocation, including choking. He also bloated a bit before, or after. It wasn't easy to notice that at first because sometimes he would puff right up, sometimes his stomach would stay small, but get extremely hard. You'd assume respiratory, right? Apparently not. His digestive system is so fragile that anything set it into complete chaos, bloating it and cramping it, causing intense pressure on his ribs, then to lungs - which somehow also restricted the airways in his nose, because it would cause mucous buildup. The mucous was what got him, it's what caused the choking, at least. It got so bad at one point his muzzle turned purple and he had what seemed to be a seizure from suffocation.
I refused to give up on him and kept asking more questions, spent hundreds seeing my extremely useless vet.. and then eventually read a suggestion here on the forums. It wasn't even directed at me, I was just browsing. "Make a steam bath to melt the mucous." It never occurred to me I could do that, not sure why. But the next time it happened, that's what I did. After all that gunk melted away, I could hear him swallow and breathe properly, and he'd get better so, so quickly. It definitely saved his life, (Thank you to whoever that was!) and gave me time to figure out what could be causing this. The answer? Almost anything.
As I said, his digestive system is unbelievably delicate, way more than any chinchilla I've seen, or have had, or how he was years ago. I won't go into a huge list because honestly it was almost anything, but two good examples of these things are.. Oxbow Vit-C, and a bite or two of apple wood. I know a lot of you like to give your chinchillas apple wood, and I see why. They really do love it - But there is definitely sugar in apple wood, and just a few chews would send him into all of this mess a couple hours later.
Since realizing it was sugar (or even awkward 'chinchilla' treats/foods that had no sugar..) I cut him off from everything. His diet now is hay, pellets, and the occasional spoon full of CC to keep him from bloating up, just in case. It's healthy and he loves it now, so why not. As long as he doesn't manage to get into anything, he has absolutely zero episodes!
--->Blah blah blah, I'll move on to my current issue. I rambled on hoping maybe it would somehow help answer this one? Probably not, but whatever. My little guy is ten years old. I know how he acts, it hasn't changed much over the years until lately. Sometime during all of this, he started chewing on absolutely anything. In ten years he was never a chewer. He'd gnaw on his pine house and chew blocks, but that was it. I could let him free-roam in my room he was so absolutely tame and house-trained. Now? He's destroyed my phone, two headsets, my walls, doors, storage containers, desk, bed frame.. I'm always chasing him away from something.
First thought? His teeth. But also today I noticed a lot of aggression. He hopped back into his cage to start throwing things and chewing on the bars. Usually he only does that when he wants to run around, but he willingly went back into his cage just to do that. His eyes were just slightly glossy, which made my heart sink. I don't think it's enough to qualify as 'tearing up', but that coupled with all the chewing and anger has me believing he's in pain.
I still have metacam from when he was having these episodes, so I gave him a bit of that, but otherwise I'm at a loss.
For the most part, the chewing isn't all angry-chewing, it's just a very, very constant habit. Anyways.. I'm going to go back to the vet soon for some kind of oral exam, I think. Even though I really don't like the idea of putting him under. Especially with the only vets I have available - they're not very good. He's had full x-rays taken before, and the HUGE pockets of gas I asked about, I was told 'aren't anything to worry about'.. They also likely didn't even look at his teeth, even though I remember asking about them, and they're apparently on the x-ray.
So my questions are: Sudden behavioral changes, any personal experiences? No, nothing has changed in my home or where he plays. (I know that can cause it) Tooth problems. I've looked into what this horrible 'malo' is before, and it worries me. But doesn't that generally make your chinchilla avoid almost all chewing? And how can I get these x-rays from my vet to show you guys? - Note, no noticeable weight loss, and definitely no drooling. But sometimes it does sound like he's chewing and swallowing randomly, not the usual teeth-cleaning sound, or annoyed grinding/chattering.
I need to go to this vet fully prepared and with lots of information and things to specify and point out.. So I'm going to wait until I at least have a clue, because they won't know what to look for. No, I cannot switch vets, there's two exotics in my entire province and one is a sick, very twisted one who I'm pretty convinced got into her practice so she can put down animals. The one I have now is nice enough, and can at least do whatever I point him at.. Frustrating situation.
