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CritterLover86

CritterLover86

Well-known member
Joined
Feb 1, 2009
Messages
222
Location
New Lenox, IL
Well, a week ago saturday, I took my mosaic boy, Pola to the vet, his eyes looked a bit irritated, and the fur around his left eye looked like it had been wet. He had been eating well, poops looked good, he's been going through his sticks like a beaver, and there was some white discharge, so I was guessing it was an infection. We went to the local vet who looks at exotics since i suspected nothing major (for anything else diagnostic, I prefer Ness Exotics, but this clinic was close and took walk-ins.) So they did an exam, an eye stain, no abrasions, but she said he had conjunctivitis in both eyes, and we got ointment to treat it.

I finally replaced the batteries for the scale and got around to weighing the boys. I've been bad and haven't weighed them in several months. They had all been eating well, so I figured we were fine. Well, while the others were stable/similar. Pola was 60g down from his past weigh-in. (several months ago). But I know chins can have fluctuations. He was at 609, from 669. Today he was at 598. Since I had not been weighing regularly, I'm not sure when the weight loss started, but like I said, he has been eating, hay and pellets, and always expresses interest in his (safe) treats, like rosehips, supplement, a piece of chin cookie (purchased from members here).

But, I am worried... Frankly, I'm hoping we're just dealing with something like..silent giardia, instead of teeth issues.. When we went to the local exotic vet, she said his front teeth looked good, but it was hard to see the back teeth because he had hay in there (he had hay to munch in his carrier). But I'm thinking we'll need to see Dr. Ness tomorrow if they can get us in. I don't want to neglect if there are other issues going on.. just hoping to god it's not his teeth. I know I've been trying to do all I can to avoid environmental issues. all my kids get all the hay they can eat, pellets, and tons of sticks and chews.

But what do you guys think? Just looking for some opinions and advice. I definitely have no issue taking to him to the vet ASAP (they are open tomorrow, and I could take him with me to work, I work as a nanny, and the vet is only 10 minutes from work, so I could take him after work. )

But of course I'm worried like crazy over him.. I'm just hoping I'm only fearing the worst, and he won't have anything terribly serious going on..
 
Yeah, I was thinking that would definitely be something we'd have done. I'm hoping that it's not the issue, but I know we can't rule it out without doing the skull radiographs.
 
Eating hay and pellets and chewing on sticks is a good sign. I understand about the local vet but I always try to stick with 1 vet for everything so as to have all their history in one 1 place. I'll shoot you a pm when I get home.
 
Elongation can be silent and deadly, there may be no symptoms until the late stages. My last advanced elongation chin was over 1000 gms when symptoms showed up and was dead 45 days later, so I would if it was my chin for my peace of mind have the x-rays.
 
Dawn, reading your previous posts in other threads is one of the reasons I felt that x-rays should be done. The more I think things over, I think if I did not have x-rays done, the idea that he could have things going on in his mouth that I didn't know about would stay in the back of my mind. I was considering just seeing what the vet said, and if they were going to put him under light anesthesia to examine his teeth anyways, we'd just go ahead and push for x-rays. I think I probably will have x-rays done regardless now. I know with Raider the x-rays were worth every penny for the peace of mind they gave me.

As far as how Pola is doing this morning, his weight is steady from where it was last night. I weighed his food dish last night, and he had eaten 7g (or roughly a tablespoon) of pellets since midnight last night. I also vaccuumed all the poops out of his cage around midnight, and there were lots of poops when I went to put him in the carrier around 7am, he was also munching on hay when I went to go get him.

I'm hoping that we're dealing with something minor, and that his teeth will be fine. I'll be calling the vet when they open in 30 minutes and seeing when I can get him in today. I will update with what I find out after we get back from the vets.
 
So I am happy to report that I return with good news!

We did the x-rays, and a more thorough exam with the scope while he was under. He did full body x-ray so he could also look at his organs /digestive tract. His teeth and roots are all in very good shape! The doctor was concerned about the possibility of it being the roots because of the eye issues, but he was very pleased with both the oral exam and the x-rays, he said everything is as it should be! Those x-rays are truly worth every single penny.. I feel so much better knowing his teeth and roots are exactly how they're supposed to be!

I also had him do a fecal float/smear for giardia, which came back negative. Dr. Ness said he felt good,looked to be in beautiful condition, and was trim, but by no means malnourished. He said he considered doing bloodwork to check for a metabolic issue, but he said,at this time, nothing about him pointed to there being a metabolic problem.

Basically what this all equates to is most likely a false alarm. He hasn't been feeling well with the conjunctivitis, so he's eating, just not quite as much as usual. Activity levels are normal, poops look good and he is acting healthy aside from that. He said since my last weight on him was from March, when we were coming out of winter (when most chins bulk up) his weight was up, and now that we're going into winter, he may not have bulked up yet as he usually would.

Our course of action will be to weigh him weekly and keep an eye on him, if the weight loss continues, we will do bloodwork. If not, the weight loss probably is a combination of the seasonal weight fluctuation and feeling off from his conjunctivitis (which has cleared up.)

I am SO relieved! It's so good to know that this is not a teeth issue! And that it's probably nothing at all as long as his weight starts going back up :)
 
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