Vet Check Ups

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Ash

Ash

Trouble....
Joined
Jan 28, 2009
Messages
2,963
Location
Mount Carmel, PA
Do you take your chins to the vet for "check ups"? Just curious. This is more for the pet owners than breeders, as obviously most breeders have way too many chins to take them in.

IMO, vet "check ups" are unnecessary. I don't see the point of going to the vet and spending $80+ for the vet to tell me my chin is pooping and healthy and they don't need shots and blood tests like a dog or cat, etc.

I know some people say you should take your chin to the vet to have a vet lined up in case of a situation. Well, maybe my vet's office is just special, but because I am already a client there with my other pets, my vet has no problem with seeing my chinchillas when I need something (Cuda's fungus a few years ago, when Noon had blood by her eye after a midnight escape, or when I had to put Squirt down).

So. Have at it. What do you guys think?
 
I usually don't. My vet has better things to do than do health checks on every chin that comes through here. Over the years I have learned so very much about chins and how to look them over. Now, if you see a problem, go to the vet...go right to the vet. But, for quickie check ups, people can do those themselves. In fact, any breeder or rescue adopting out chins should be able to show new owners what to look for.

I'm not saying that you can't go in with your chins and establish a relationship with a vet so you have someone to go to in case there is a problem. All chin owners should have a basic grasp of what to look for in a healthy chin. They should know if their chins are acting sick or losing weight, etc.

My vet would want to kill me if I took in every rescue just for him to look over!!
 
I do an initial vet check up with my craigslist rescues. My other chins came from Chins to go and she had them go through a vet check up before letting the public adopt them.
 
They serve absolutely no purpose, IMO. Even if you have an experienced vet, unless they run blood work, x-rays, ultrasounds, etc., a visual check is not going to tell them a whole lot.

Do you take hamsters in for well checks? Do you take mice in? Rats? I don't. If a problem arises, I go. The odds of the vet catching anything in the office that I wouldn't see first at home are pretty slim. I think it's a nice way to help out a friend, by giving him a bit more money. But then again, so is yanking teeth out of a chin's mouth when that shouldn't have been done, just because your buddy said to do it.
 
I don't get the "Foot in the door" mindset. I found my vet before I moved up this way, knew they saw chins, talked to them a bit to get a good feel for their knowledge and willingness to work with me. Then I took my dog and my cats there. That's my foot in the door... And my dog/cats go there yearly, keeping my foot in the door. Makes sense to me, y'know?
 
I found my vet without a check up. Some will tell you they need check-up but IMPO it is just an uneccessary stress, Save it for a real problem
 
I see what you mean, Ash. When we moved here I found several vets that would see chins way before we even got here. :)

And, yes, the wellness checks are only going to catch some really really bad wrong things. Like the vet could tell you that the chin has a giant abscess on it's back and that the chin is drooling. LOL Some vets may not even be able to give that much info...
 
The one vet I went to would not take any animal as an emergency if it had not been previously seen there, which I thought was stupid! I am not going to lug them in for a "wellness" visit and expose them to germs, stress and what have you for no reason.

I agree with Tunes.
 
I have not taken any of my chins to the vet for a wellness checkup.
I have taken Richie to the vet after he displayed symptoms of malo and was indeed diagnosed.
I am taking him for a "follow up" visit probably next month. He is not currently drooling or displaying any symptoms, however next month will be 1 year since he was diagnosed and I want to make sure he is not having any issues.
I do think it is a good idea to call around to make sure you have a vet. you can actually go so far as become a patient without bringing your pet in by providing them with your info.
 
I only brought 1 chin to the vet for a wellness check up. They ended up charging me a lot of money just to tell me what I already knew. That being said, I won't hesitate to take someone in if they appear sick. I will be moving at the end of the summer. I plan on dropping by the new vet to give them old vet records and to set up files, but the chins won't be coming with me. I'll probably end up talking to the secretary and not the actual vet anyways.
 
This is all very interesting to me! :) I get asked all the time about vet check ups with the chins here...and I tell them that I do health checks on the chins, but sometimes people seem to get rather snotty because their $45 rescue chin didn't have a vet check up. I feel like everything I tell them is validated by this thread and your responses! Thank you. :)
 
I don't take my chins to the vet for "check ups." I have only been to the vet for an eye infection for Bryson, and overgrown teeth when I got Andrew. The only exception I did was with Dylan when I got him because he was so malnourished, I did take him in for a health evaluation.

I guess I'm lucky though. If I think someone has a poo issue, I can take a fresh sample into class and run a quick fecal. If something does show up, then yes, to the vet I go.
 
I do not do general check ups at the vet. I know my animals better than they would to recognise a sick chinchilla
 
I have them checked before I put them into breeding. Up until now, I have two that I have not but into breeding because of heart murmurs.
 
I took Edgar during the first week we had him because I knew nothing about chinchillas and didn't know my breeder. It also gave me a chance to see the new vet.

If any thing is off we go to the vet and then I verify with my breeder who I've learned is very king and honest. I wish she were closer though because I trust her more than my vet. Of course if she were I'd also have a few extra chinchillas.
 
I do not take my rescues, or my pets, to the vet unless there is a problem. I go through the care and what to look for when it comes to sickness with all new adopters. They get a 25 page packet that is basically everything they need to know about care, sickness, how to make stuff, etc. As long as they read through that packet, and follow it, I think they don't need to spend extra money on a vet telling them the same thing. You know, if that vet is even experienced enough to give them the correct care instructions.
 
I don't do vet "check ups" with my chins. If I see a problem that needs vet care then I'll go. I don't see the point of stressing them out. Luckily my chin vet is just down the street if there is a problem.
 
I took my chin to the vet a week or two ago just for an exam and i got her a month ago. I've never owned a chinchilla before and I wanted to make sure the vet knew enough about them (I had called to check that he sees them, but you never really know how knowledgable they are) and to establish a realtionship. It may have taken me longer to do this if I didn't have a coupon for a free first visit but it would have been $49 if I had to pay (VCA has coupons a lot, check the website).

The only thing that would worry me about checking every so often is malocclusion but x-rays will run around $100, exam $50 so unless you want to pay one or two hundred bucks twice a year more...plus it is very stressful like Tagna said.
 
I took my first two in for a check. They wanted to trim their toenails, took their temp even though they didn't know what it was supposed to be, and didn't know the male from the female!

I use the vet when necessary, but not for check ups. One other thing I've found here, even when I find a vet that thinks they know about chins the turn over is so high they probably won't be here the next time I need them. The office I go to always has a couple of exotic vets, but they know next to nothing about chins.
 
The last time I was at the vet with a chin, I took a 500g white sapphire with a UTI in so I could get some antibiotics for him. The vet kept calling him such a "big guy". I questioned him about it, and he genuinely thought it was a large chin.
 
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