Worried about my chinchilla

Hi all,

Hoping someone may be able to offer some advice about my chinchilla. She is 7 years old and up until now has always been healthy.

Late on Sunday she was sitting on the bottom of her cage barking. This isn't typical behaviour and after giving her the once over I thought her breathing sounded a bit wheezy. On Monday I took her to the vet, and by this time I noticed she was occasionally making a clicking sound along with the wheezing.

My vet threw a few potential diagnoses into the picture. Firstly she mentioned Bordatella, then a URI and finally dental issues. My chinchilla's chest sounded clear when she listened to it with the stethoscope. The vet struggled but could eventually hear the wheezing when my chinchilla was just bouncing around on the examination table.

WRT the potential dental issues, the vet said when she wiggled her lower jaw from side to side it wasn't catching as you'd expect with overgrown teeth. When she looked inside my chinchillas mouth she said there was a bit of saliva and she couldn't really see the back teeth. She said the roots on the teeth which can be felt under the jaw felt a bit sharp. Aside from that, my chinny has been eating normally and does not have any dribble.

The vet is treating her with Baytril and hoping that will resolve everything. She said the only way to really know if there was a dental problem would be to put my chin under anaesthetic but she was very pessimistic about this.

As of today, my chin has bursts of energy but overall is pretty lethargic. She is eating fruit/veg that I present to her, her faeces and drinking water. I haven't seen her eating her food pellets but I also haven't seen her sister who lives in the cage and is fine do so, it may just be I am not around when they are eating.

Does anyone have any ideas or experience with these type of symptoms? I don't know anyone else with chinchillas and as mine have always been healthy I'm pretty inexperienced in dealing with sick chinnies.

Thank you in advance

The side to side lower jaw movement "that does not catch" means nothing, a chin wil malo and wave mouth can do that no problem. The roots out the bottom of the jaw does mean something, the chin needs to be put under and have a oral exam
AND x-rays, one or the other is a waste of time, chin needs both. Chins can have advanced tooth elongation and have no symptoms and be eating normal until something catastrophic happens such as a broken jaw or maxilla, breach of the eye socket etc. Chins with advanced dental disease are prone to URIs. And finally, the burst of energy and lethargy are signs of stasis, a slow down of the digestive tract that will result in it stopping-feeding fruits and veggies are never advised but during stasis it will make things worse, the chin should be given supreme science recovery that the vet should have and it should be hand fed until diagnosis is complete. Keep checking the chins weight, a large weight loss will also complicate things.

ticklechin said:

The side to side lower jaw movement "that does not catch" means nothing, a chin wil malo and wave mouth can do that no problem. The roots out the bottom of the jaw does mean something, the chin needs to be put under and have a oral exam
AND x-rays, one or the other is a waste of time, chin needs both. Chins can have advanced tooth elongation and have no symptoms and be eating normal until something catastrophic happens such as a broken jaw or maxilla, breach of the eye socket etc. Chins with advanced dental disease are prone to URIs. And finally, the burst of energy and lethargy are signs of stasis, a slow down of the digestive tract that will result in it stopping-feeding fruits and veggies are never advised but during stasis it will make things worse, the chin should be given supreme science recovery that the vet should have and it should be hand fed until diagnosis is complete. Keep checking the chins weight, a large weight loss will also complicate things.

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Thank you for such a comprehensive reply.

My vet did mention having an anaesthetic but seemed quite discouraging about doing so at this point, apparently if it is an URI she has the risk of losing her while under anaesthetic is a 1 in 4 chance.

I saw my normal vet on Monday and am now contemplating going to see another vet who advertises themselves as being exotic pet specialists. Unfortunately I'm fairly new to the area and have found this practice via the internet instead of by a recommendation.

I will remove the fruit/veg from her cage now and attempt to hand feed her. I thought her eating something would be better than nothing, and that she'd at least get some moisture from fruit/veg.

Chins need at least 60ml of syringe feed a day, broke up into 4-6 feedings. It looks like alot, but to maintain weight its the min needed. ClaireD on the forum is from the UK, she may see this thread or you can PM her about vets.

Where in the UK are you?

Just to update, I decided to take her over to the vets that claim to specialise in exotic animals for peace of mind.

After examination the vet said my chinchilla appears to have a slight heart murmur. She said she could hear a slight clicking on the left hand side of her chest. Her molars on the left hand side were slightly longer than those on the right but the vet didn't say her teeth were horrifically overgrown or anything like that. Her tummy felt a bit gassy and while there she produced a few faeces which were smaller than normal.

My chin has had two injections: metacam and metroclopramide. I also have metacam, metroclopramide and cisapride to administer at home, alongside the baytril she was already prescribed. I have also been sent home with 1 sachet of science supreme recovery, so far she has had 15ml of that.

The advice is to see how she goes over the next 12 hours, with a view to going for the anaesthetic and examination tomorrow if no improvement. Does 12 hours sound like long enough to see an improvement?

ticklechin said:

Chins need at least 60ml of syringe feed a day, broke up into 4-6 feedings. It looks like alot, but to maintain weight its the min needed. ClaireD on the forum is from the UK, she may see this thread or you can PM her about vets.

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Thank you for this, the vet nurse couldn't give me an exact amount to administer so knowing I need to aim for 60ml+ is useful.

Buddy said:

Where in the UK are you?

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I'm based in Norfolk.

Thank you both for your replies. I did write quite a lengthy reply but it appears to have gone missing? After giving her overnight to show any signs of improvement with the new meds and recovery food, I am going to call the vets in 45 minutes to book her in to be put under anaesthetic today.

She isn't eating off her own will and has just sat in her nest box since yesterday evening, so in some ways the decision was taken out of my hands. I am nevertheless very scared about what today will bring.

My vet always tells me before going under the chin must be eating or you syringe feed enough for your chin. Just enough for it not to be weak. Good luck! Let us know hw it ggoes

Ask the vet what class the murmur is-a 4 or above can be problematic with treatment and needs to be concidered in the long term treatment plan. Make SURE the chin gets x-rays, with the risk of going under for a murmur chin you need to have ALL the information about the viability of forward treatment.

Had a call from the vet about 10 minutes ago, will clarify when I go to pick her up but the vet said there were some signs of dental disease. One molar was slightly longer than the others, and some of her teeth had spurs. Apparently she has a slightly wonky jaw which could have affected how her teeth wear down. The vet is now doing the X-ray.

Buddy said:

My vet always tells me before going under the chin must be eating or you syringe feed enough for your chin. Just enough for it not to be weak. Good luck! Let us know hw it ggoes

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I managed to syringe about 45ml last night and 15ml this morning so hopefully that will be enough to get her though. Will definitely keep the thread updated - it's a pet hate of mine when threads are left on a cliff hanger!

ticklechin said:

Ask the vet what class the murmur is-a 4 or above can be problematic with treatment and needs to be concidered in the long term treatment plan. Make SURE the chin gets x-rays, with the risk of going under for a murmur chin you need to have ALL the information about the viability of forward treatment.

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Thank you for this, I'll ask when I go to collect her later on. The X-rays are being done as I type.

Thank you both for the support

Hi all again,

My chinchilla is now back at home. On the day I picked her up from the vets (Friday) she was very perky but has since deteriorated into quite a depressive state again. I am continuing to medicate and syringe feed her, but she has very little appetite (has only picked at her food) and just sits still in her cage. When I exercise her out of her cage she is quite bouncy but not 100%.

Does anyone have any ideas what could be causing this? I know dentals can knock them off colour for a couple of days but I would have expected an improvement by now.

Thank you

ETA: on the x-rays taken on Friday there was a lot of gas, could this issue be bloat? She has been passing faeces however they are smaller than normal. Would bloat not have resolved by now with medication and syringe feeds?

Has the chin been given simethicone to break up the gas? Simethicone is human baby gas drops, give a full dropper every 4 hours or so to break up the gas bubbles.

ticklechin said:

Has the chin been given simethicone to break up the gas? Simethicone is human baby gas drops, give a full dropper every 4 hours or so to break up the gas bubbles.

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She had an injection of metroclopramide on Friday and since then has been on the following:

metacam 1x daily
metroclopramide 2x daily
bayrtril 2x daily
cisapride 2x daily

Is smitethicone available over the counter in a pharmacy or will I need this from my vet?

Thank you

Its OTC and in the UK its called Infacol, you can find it in the baby medicine section of the chemist. By breaking up the bubbles it makes it easier for them to pass, used with the motility drugs you are already using it will make the chin feel better in a day or so.

ticklechin said:

Its OTC and in the UK its called Infacol, you can find it in the baby medicine section of the chemist. By breaking up the bubbles it makes it easier for them to pass, used with the motility drugs you are already using it will make the chin feel better in a day or so.

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Great thank you very much. It's midnight over here but I shall head out now to the nearest 24 hour supermarket. Fingers crossed they will have some. Thank you again, will update soon.

The Tesco stores have it.

Yes, managed to get some from the 24 hours tesco store in the city.

Best of all she seems to like the flavour, have set my alarm for 4am to administer another dose. On the instructions it says you can increase the dose to 2 droppers for babies, would the same apply for chins or would that be too much?

Is there anything else I should/could try to get hold of in the morning to help things along?

Simethicone is not absorbed by the body and stays in the digestive tract so you can really overdose it, I give a full dropper every 3-4 hours or so with a run the chin around after to get things moving.

Hi all,

Just popping back with another update on Doris. She was back at the vets for another check up on the 25th. Her bottom front tooth had grown a bit of a spur so that was filed down but apparently this can be a sign of tooth trouble with her back teeth. Nevertheless, her back teeth looked OK, as far as the vet could see while examining her while she was awake.

She is still not really back to her normal self; quite subdued and not eating like normal, although she is improving marginally each day. She is starting to sit at the top of her cage more, which is a good sign and more normal behaviour for her.

Her weights are as follows:
11/4/13 - 650g
18/4/13 - 645g
25/4/13 - 600g
29/4/13 - 640-650g ish (not totally reliable, first time weighing her at home)

I'm just getting ready to order more syringe food for her, but have read that it is useful to combine Oxbow Critical Care along with Supreme Science Recovery, does anyone agree or disagree with this method? Apparently SSR has a lot of fibre, and OCC has more energy?

She was briefly also on Emeraid herbivore but unfortunately my vet has now run out of this and is awaiting a supply from America.

Rather than mix those two, you can get fibreplex in the UK and use that along with the critical care.

http://www.protexin.com/products/veterinary/rabbits/fibreplex-for-rabbits/26