Intussusception

So.. got the necropsy results back from Marlow. Dr. Herko called me about an hour ago and told me upon external examination he couldn't find anything. Once he looked internally, he first checked his chest, he said that was fine. But then he got to his intestines.. and he said that's what he found. He told me it's called intussusception and meant that the intestines folded up on themselves like a telescope, and that it's really painful and sent him into toxic shock. He said a wide variety of things could have caused this, one being a parasite, so even though the others look fine he wants me to be safe and bring in stool samples. I'm glad something was found.. but also heartbroken that he died in so much pain and I wasn't even there. Any one else had this happen, or at least heard of it?

I've heard of this happening in chins but it is not common. Glad the vet was able to tell from the physical.

It happens, nothing can be done to fix it and often they don't find it until the chinchilla is already dead. I am sorry that they found that. There are so many different causes but it doesn't seem to happen very often

Your situation reminds all of us how important necropsy is. Especially if you own more than one chin, knowing that it wasn't contagious can mean a lot less stress on us mommies. Although for the most part chins are hardy animals they can and do pass away from many different things. I'm so sorry for your loss, and hope knowing the answer can start the way toward healing. - Jessica

Thanks everyone. I kept wondering if there may have been something I could have done, but it doesn't seem like there was. That puts my mind to rest a little bit.. I just still can't believe this happened.

And well... I just isolated his cage mates apart from each other and Charlie has soft sticky poo... I just read that the incubation for Giardia is 7-14 days. Well.. 2 weeks ago was the York show, Marlow went there. I didn't think that actually happened..

Now my question. How do you treat 9 chinchillas for Giardia from one single stool sample? Do I bring in a stool sample from everyone? Or just Charlie since his is the only suspicious one?

I'd bring one in from each - better safe than sorry!

I have heard of that before, and I'm so sorry your little guy went through that.

Your vet may advise you to treat everybody for giardia, especially if they shared a cage, regardless of whether you take in stool samples from one or all. I know I personally would treat at least his cagemates, although if they shared a space for free time or anything else, I would be tempted to treat them all. On the up side, soft sticky poo is not necessarily Giardia, unless it's slimy as well. He could just be stressed from the loss of his cagemate.

I myself have had an intussusception (it was about 5 years ago... senior year in high school) and I have to say it was one of the most painful experiences of my life. The doctor explained to me that my intestines were telescoping inside of one another, causing a blockage and cutting off circulation. If they didn't solve the issue, it would cause the tissue to die and become necrotic.
What I was told by the doctor is that it is completely random but tends to happen more often in children. In my case though, I also developed appendicitis at the same time so I'm not sure if that had anything to do with it.

I have never dealt with it in a chinchilla nor have I heard of it occuring until now.

I'm so sorry your little guy had to go through that. I definitely can empathize with him.

I had it happen once with one chin years ago. It wasn't giardia that caused it though, with my chin. Are you sure it could be giardia with your chin(s)?
I don't know alot about giardia and didn't know that might be a cause for such a thing?
It definitely isn't common and sometimes it can be caught early on, however not much can be done once it is found. When bringing a stool sample, bring quite a few droppings from each chin. The more for samples, the better. Sorry for your loss by the way.

Thank you all for your responses. I am so glad others have experienced/heard of this, because I have never heard of it before today.

Tunes: They are caged in the same room but that's it. Their cages are next to each other though. Can Giardia/any parasite be airborne though? Or is it through direct contact? If it's only through contact, then no, they haven't been in any contact with the other chins themselves or their fecal matter.

Summiko: I am so sorry you went through that! All of that is exactly what he told me that happened to Marlow.

lilchinchilla: I'm not sure if it's giardia or not yet. It's just a possibility. I have never had a parasite with a pet before.. so I just don't know. The only thing I could think of if it's a parasite (which my vet said is just one possibility for it happening) is that he picked it up at the show. Either that, or the new bag of feed I brought home with me. Hay is the same. Water's the same.. The show is the only thing that has changed, and if giardia's incubation period is up to 14 days, that just sounds like it might be a possibility. I think we both just want to be safe. I really hope Charlie's poos are stress related and not anything harmful, but I'll only know after tomorrow's trip.

Thank you again so much everyone.

I have never dealt with Giardia, but from reading about it over the years, it's my understanding that it's not airborn. It would come from eating each other's poop, etc. I know Sasha had to deal with it before, and it took her a little bit to get a clean stool sample giving the all clear. You might pm her and ask her about it.

There are many parasites that chins can have, Giardia just being one of them. Another is yersinia enterocolitis (personal experience with that one from bad supplement), but the symptoms aren't the same at all. I was told though that most incubation periods are 10-14 days, so you were in the window for a host of different "bugs" if you picked it up at show. I would tend to think that's not the place of exposure because there were enough other people there that surely someone else would have mentioned such a thing if it happened. Not necessarily everybody would be open about it, but there were enough newer people there, just from this forum, that I would imagine they would have come on here at least to do a memorial thread.

I agree with Serena - I'd take a bunch of samples in, as fresh as you can, as fast as you can, and get them tested. That's the best way to know if it has spread throughout the herd, or just isolated to the one cage, or even the one animal.

How long have you had the bag of feed you just mentioned as new?

When it happened to my chin, it was due to a new bale of hay, I was feeding them which was actually not good. Sometimes it can be poorly milled feed, or poor quality hay. It had nothing to do with a parasite, which I was surprised the mention of parasite.

And yes, diarrhea or wet poos, are another issue that can come with poorly milled feed or poor quality hay. I'd be looking at the feed, if I was in your shoes. If the tests results come back negative for parasites, I'd strongly suggest looking into what you are feeding them.

Thank you Tunes, I'll get the samples and head out. I imagine gathering samples from everyone's going to take a while though. I'm just going to put them all in one at a time in a carrier and line it to gather them. Obviously putting the suspected infected animals in another carrier.

Thanks for all your advice Serina. I got the bag of feed at the show 2 weeks ago. I've looked all over the entire bag and no where do I see a mill date. I guess I could contact the seller. If it's the feed though, wouldn't they all be showing the same symptoms?

Nope. When it was the hay for my chins, some had diarrhea, some had constipation, some just dropped dead with no warning, some showed symptoms alike to poisoning.... I had only one that had intussusception. They didn't all show up with issues right away either, it was like one this week came down sick, another one the following week,etc...

I caught on to it before he died. I knew something was wrong with him because he stopped eating or drinking. Vet felt his tummy and felt something wrong with his intestines.
We had him go in for surgery that day (we assumed it was a blockage of some sort), but it was too late and he died while in surgery. I only fed the hay for 2 weeks too, but continued to have the same issues long after I stopped feeding hay.

For taking samples of droppings, I usually put them in a show cage, put the show cage over a plastic bag or something to catch the poos, and then collect them. Makes it easier and faster. Hopefully it is just a parasite, because that would be easier to deal with, imo.

Thanks, I actually do have some show cages here. Thanks for the advice and I'll update when I get back. I'm hoping it's just a parasite now too..

Their cages are next to each other though. Can Giardia/any parasite be airborne though? Or is it through direct contact? If it's only through contact, then no, they haven't been in any contact with the other chins themselves or their fecal matter.

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I'm sorry for your loss, but are you serious here? Haven't you ever seen how far chin poo can fly?

And it can be brought in by the food, etc. If one had it, I'd treat them all, it's not a harsh med for them really, and it's better safe than sorry.

The only reason I said that was because they are in a wire bottomed cage.. Any feces that get through the bars of their cage, INTO the bars of the other cage, and then hit the bottom are going to make it to the bottom pan. There are some wooden ledges I guess it could land on, which is exactly why I'm going to treat them all. But the chance of that happening is pretty small, but then again.. so is what happened to Marlow. But either way yes, I am going to treat them all.

I dropped it off and they said I won't get an answer until Tuesday. Just gotta wait and see.

I didn't know this could happen to chins. I know that it is an effect of cystic fibrosis as my cousin had it when she was born but I'd never heard of it in animals.

Is there someway that it can be prevented or treated in chins? Are there any signs (weight loss i'd assume)?

Brittney, this is so heartbreaking! You lost Marlow, now Charlie has soft, sticky poo...
I hope your chins do not have Giardia and maybe Charlie just misses Marlow!
I've read that chins normally harbor giardia species in low numbers, but when a chin has lowered immune system or stressed, then parasite uses the 'opportunity' to multiply.( So it's not necessarily contaminated food, hay, water).
Couple years ago my chin got diarrhea (and it smelled bad) when I was away for 2 weeks, my husband was taking care of him, but it was too stressful for him without me! He was tested for giardia, result was negative,who knows maybe it just did not show up? Just to be save I decided to try homeopathy, wild oregano oil and it helped. I saw improvement in 12 hours or so! Later I found an article on chincare.com about using it to treat giardia, so you can read it if interested. It helped a chin who went though weeks of panacur treatment and Giardia still persisted. "In 1999 researchers at Cornell University discovered that wild oregano killed every germ against which it was tested. it has anti-fungal, anti-bacterial, anti-viral, and anti-parasitic properties, rendering it one of the most potent germ-fighters known to man."
Of course if your chin has Giardia, you do not want to risk it, it's better to give meds the vet prescribes. But it's useful to know about oreganol if treatment does not help.

Giardia is often missed by vets is they use the wrong type of fecal flotation.The most reliable way is to use zinc sulfate solution.

"Slides should be examined within 10 minutes of preparation because the cysts may begin to shrink. Because animals shred Giadia on an intermittent basic, it is recommended that a series of zinc sulfate concentration tests be run over 3 to 5 days to maximize chances of accurate diagnosis". So, it's great that the vet will have the results only on Tuesday.
Also if your chin does have Giardia it's also recommended to wash chins hands and coop cups often and to change bedding at least once a day.
And I would contact the seller to ask about the feed.
I am so sorry for your loss

Brittney I'm so sorry to hear that Marlow was in pain. My heart breaks for him, and for you.

I hope Charlie's sticky poo clears up soon.

::big hugs::