Possible mastitis?

Hey all, I saw this thread and had some questions of my own. I am a recent chinchilla owner, just shy of 1 year in fact, and had bought what I thought were 2 males from a breeder. Turns out one was a female and she got pregnant before I realized the 'situation'. She gave birth on Monday to 3 kits (she is just over a year old herself) and I've been weighing them every night. Their weights were 43g, 48g and 53g and mom was 624g. Today when I weighed them mom had dropped to 594g and the pups were 47g, 47g and 54g. I'm worried she might have mastitis and I'm trying to make an appt with the vet for later today or maybe tomorrow morning but wanted to know what people thought. She seems to have lumps under her armpits just above where her nipple is and both the top two are a little crusty around the edges where the fur stops growing. They are also red, but I don't know what they are supposed to normally look like since this was an accident. I didn't think to weigh her prepregnancy bc I didn't know she wasn't a boy, so I don't know her average weight. She was drinking and eating fine 2 days ago but last night she didn't drink as much. I also have been offering her the 20% sugar free apple juice with 80% water. Any suggestions? I guess what I'm looking for is, what is a normal mom after birth supposed to look like? My camera is dead but I will try to post pictures of her teets later to see if anyone can tell me what you think.

The vet seemed to know about chinchillas and specialized in 'pocket pets' so I'm hopeful they can help. Just wanted some advice from ppl here bc from reading other posts it seems like you all know so much!!

Thanks

A vet check would be best.

If you see her biting or checking around the nipples a lot that is a sign that they are bothering her. Also if the bumps are bright red and warm/hot are dead give-a-ways that something is wrong and she will need to see the vet.

A vet that specializes in pocket pets usually means they are good with hamsters, guinea pig, bunnies.. common rodents that are kept as pets. They should be able to help you with your chin and this issue, but check and see what they offer for exotic pets, as not all vets are good with the chin specific stuff.

I talked to you about this in chat the other day, Mychinsrcute. But I'll post here for reference.

The mom needs to gain weight back. A significant drop in weight like that after her initial birth weight loss is not a great thing. With a litter of three she is probably just trying to give too much to her kits and she needs a daily supplement. Lifeline is definitely a must. It's a great supplement to have on hand even if you aren't breeding and you can get it at http://www.chocolatechinchillas.com.

I know you have been to visit the vet already and that he prescribed baytril but he did not positively identify mastitis. Without a positive identification I would not give a chin with weight loss baytril. Also, by giving an antibiotic when it is not needed you can cause a resistance to that antibiotic agent which will make a resistant strain of bacteria. Without positive signs of mastitis (warm to the touch, red, and causes pain when touched) I would not medicate. Instead, getting her to gain weight back should be the main concern. You can do this by giving her lifeline, shreddies or rolled plain oats.

Also, even if he is not an exotic specialist he should be more than capable of diagnosing mastitis. It's not a chinchilla specific disease.:thumbsup:

Just a note.... Sometimes Baytril isn't the best antibiotic to treat mastitis. Sometimes going with a sulfa drug works better.

You definitely do need to get a positive diagnosis about the mastitis. Sore nipples aren't necessary mastitis...sometimes the milk will only be produced by one or two glands and there will be quite a bit of milk present making the chin look a little lopsided. Also, nursing can create some fur loss.

I would not give a nursing mother Baytril. It can affect the kits & can be passed through the milk. Baytril can affect the bone growth in kits & is not recommended for chins under 6 months.

If the mother requires Baytril then the kits should be removed, hand reared or fostered out to another female.

Thanks for the advice, and reposting what you told me in the chat (RDZCRanch!). I stopped Baytril after the first dose and Life Line is supposed to be here today. I was giving mom a bit of Pedialyte yesterday and she is still being free fed alfalfa hay, which she seems to still be eating. I noticed her water level was down a bit yesterday too, which is good. I've been trying to give her a 1/4 of tums every 2-3 days as well to help with calcium, bc I noticed her teeth were a sort of dull yellow and not bright orange. I've also been trying to rotate out the bigger 2 to let the smaller one get some additional milk. Mom now has dried blood surrounding the top 2 teats What are normal ones supposed to look like??? I have no comparisons. I am thinking about taking her back to the vet to make sure it's not mastitis. The swelling has gone down a bit but barely a pin tip amount of milk comes out of the top 2 teets and she squirms when I try to gently squeeze and pull down on them. I know that they don't always express milk out of every one but the babies are still biting her to get some. stupid question, but I have this goofy harness thing my friend gave me for the chinchillas (I think the idea was to walk them around the house with it bc it came with a lead...like that was ever goign to happen!) and it covers the top 2 teets if I were to put it on her. Would it be a bad idea to put that on her for 1/2 the day, giving her breasts some time to recover and maybe making her a bit more comfortable??

Also I've been doing the warm tea bag compress to help decrease the swelling and it has gone down somewhat. How much rolled oats can I give her a day? I have been trying to mix about 1tsp with her food but obviously she just digs it out and eats the oats. Could she just be tired of Mazuri pellets? Can that happen overnight like that?
Also the base of the top 2 teets is elevated, unlike the bottom 2, is that bad??? I think I should call back the vet. I am in St. Louis if anyone is from around here and has heard of a good exotic vet b/c I've searched via internet and called several ones I know of around the area and none of them seemed to know a lick about chinchillas

Try Howdershell or Creve Couer. I don't have personal experience with them but, other members here do and say they are great. They are in the vet listings under "Missouri Exotic Vets".

Thank you!! I didn't see them when I served I have been using the Life Line since yesterday and I have already seen her start to eat the pellets and her water is down...so excited !! I swear letting her run on the wheel and taking her out for an hour of playtime made her happier and want to eat (and of course I'm sure the Life Line helped too!!). I was sort of afraid to leave her pups all last week and she was starting to look depressed since she hadn't been out at all, except to have ointment rubbed on her teets and handfed...guess I would be grumpy too though, haha. But pups are doing ok, still not gaining as much weight as I would like them to but they are real troopers! Thanks everyone, I'll keep you posted. I'll try to post a picture of mom and her kits if I can figure out how to....

Try offering mom Jags supplement along w/Lifeline. I free feed it in a supplement dish w/new moms. You'll need ground pellets, rice cereal & dried goat milk replacer. I'm sure you can find the exact recipe if you do a search on the forum. I've made it for so many years, I do it by look.

Hopefully your vet will get her on Sulfatrim.

Will Sulfatrim decrease her appetite? I have all those except I have liquid goat's milk. What is JAGS? I have heard of that mixture but is that the name of the supplement or is JAGS something I must buy?

1 part goat's milk replacer POWDER
1 part ground pellets
1 part 1/2 baby rice cereal and 1/2 baby oatmeal cereal.

You mix it up yourself.

Sulfa should not decrease her appetite, though one of the side effects is that she may have less intake of water. I've never had that happen here, but it's on the insert.

Sulfatrim does not normally affect appetite. Jags is the name of the supplement. Search for it on the forum.

Thank you! I will go pick up this stuff today and order the Jags as well. Thank you all for all your help! Dumb question, but does anyone know how to load a picture? I want to show you guys Bella and her kits

No, you don't order the JAGS. The JAGS are Randy and Jeri who own JAGS chinchillas. The supplement is the recipe I gave you. It's used for nursing moms, kits, and kits who may need separated early or just need a boost after weaning.

Make sure the goat's milk replacer isn't loaded with antibiotics and other junk. Sometimes it can be hard to find without that stuff.

To upload a picture you can either put it on Photobucket or some similar site and link it from there or you can click on advanced, then manage attachments. You then serach for the picture you want, upload it, and save.

hahah, thanks. I'm slow....

No Sulfatrim is very easy on them - it's usually strawberry flavor. I never have a problem giving it.
JAGS is a breeder, who happens to be on this forum, LOL. Just do a member search & either send Randy/Jeri a PM or look through their threads for the "recipe".

Just do a member search & either send Randy/Jeri a PM or look through their threads for the "recipe".

Click to expand...

I already gave it Meg, it's up above.

I assume the JAGS supplement is dry, since I see no liquids mentioned. Do you give this separately from their pellets or should I mix them in?

You give it separately. Leave the pellets and hay as usual, then a separate bowl of the dry JAGS supplement. I stressed powder in the mix because some people accidentally used liquid and that doesn't quite work out.

tunes said:

I already gave it Meg, it's up above.

Click to expand...

Duh ...that's what I get for trying to eat lunch & read threds at the same time :wacko: