LeoMonster
Well-known member
Hi all - - I've been silent for a couple of years but I've come back since I know this community is a great wealth of information.
This may be long.
I have two chinchillas, both male, both in separate cages as they never bonded. One of them is a "rescue" chinchilla whom I've had for 3 years, with no problems what-soever. About a month ago I noticed symmetrical bumps on the tops of his toes on his back feet. It is just one toe per foot, but it is on the inside toe of each foot. He was not acting any different, he was eating/drinking/hopping around normally and would let me touch them and did not shy away from pain or anything abnormal.
I finally got my own life together and brought him to the vet this past Tuesday, looking for an answer as they didn't seem to be going away (they weren't growing either) She did a once over, and his overall health was great! But she was concerned about the lumps and took a little sample with a needle to send out for testing. She sent me home with Orbax and Metacam for him. She also wanted me to change his bedding, because the bottoms of his feet were a little irritated as well. I use wood pellets as bedding (no dust, was easier to clean) and she suggested Carefresh. I did question her about the idea of impaction and she told me its what she suggests for all her chinchillas and has never had an issue. She also gave me a cleanser to do a foot soak with for the bottoms.
Okay, so I went and got carefresh and bring him home. Clean out his entire cage and put the new bedding down. Give him a fresh new bowl of food and give him his meds and clean his feet. I wake up the next morning and notice him nibbling on the carefresh. So after work I went and got fleece, completely scrapped the carefresh and lined the bottom of his cage with a makeshift liner (I will be sewing a bunch of fleece items this weekend) Gave him his meds again, and washed his feet again. When I went to sleep he was nibbling on a hay cube.
I woke up this morning and notice there were MAYBE 10 small poops in his cage and that his food bowl didnt seem touched. I called the vet while as was at work, told her about the poops and that I didnt think he was eating. She prescribed Oxbow Critical Care and Reglan for him to start today. She also took him off the Orbax because the test results came back and his lumps are not a nail infection like she thought, so there was no use for the antibiotics.
It is now about 915pm; I just fed him 10ml of Critical Care which he gobbled up so fast, as well as started him on Reglan and gave him his Metacam. I rubbed his belly in soft circular motions for a little, but I'm currently a worried momma as this is the first time I've ever had a sick chin. I don't know how to tell if he stopped eating due to the antibiotics, or if he gave himself an impaction with being in carefresh for ~20 hours.
Any advice would be grateful!
This may be long.
I have two chinchillas, both male, both in separate cages as they never bonded. One of them is a "rescue" chinchilla whom I've had for 3 years, with no problems what-soever. About a month ago I noticed symmetrical bumps on the tops of his toes on his back feet. It is just one toe per foot, but it is on the inside toe of each foot. He was not acting any different, he was eating/drinking/hopping around normally and would let me touch them and did not shy away from pain or anything abnormal.
I finally got my own life together and brought him to the vet this past Tuesday, looking for an answer as they didn't seem to be going away (they weren't growing either) She did a once over, and his overall health was great! But she was concerned about the lumps and took a little sample with a needle to send out for testing. She sent me home with Orbax and Metacam for him. She also wanted me to change his bedding, because the bottoms of his feet were a little irritated as well. I use wood pellets as bedding (no dust, was easier to clean) and she suggested Carefresh. I did question her about the idea of impaction and she told me its what she suggests for all her chinchillas and has never had an issue. She also gave me a cleanser to do a foot soak with for the bottoms.
Okay, so I went and got carefresh and bring him home. Clean out his entire cage and put the new bedding down. Give him a fresh new bowl of food and give him his meds and clean his feet. I wake up the next morning and notice him nibbling on the carefresh. So after work I went and got fleece, completely scrapped the carefresh and lined the bottom of his cage with a makeshift liner (I will be sewing a bunch of fleece items this weekend) Gave him his meds again, and washed his feet again. When I went to sleep he was nibbling on a hay cube.
I woke up this morning and notice there were MAYBE 10 small poops in his cage and that his food bowl didnt seem touched. I called the vet while as was at work, told her about the poops and that I didnt think he was eating. She prescribed Oxbow Critical Care and Reglan for him to start today. She also took him off the Orbax because the test results came back and his lumps are not a nail infection like she thought, so there was no use for the antibiotics.
It is now about 915pm; I just fed him 10ml of Critical Care which he gobbled up so fast, as well as started him on Reglan and gave him his Metacam. I rubbed his belly in soft circular motions for a little, but I'm currently a worried momma as this is the first time I've ever had a sick chin. I don't know how to tell if he stopped eating due to the antibiotics, or if he gave himself an impaction with being in carefresh for ~20 hours.
Any advice would be grateful!
)
