Chin concern (digestion/teeth)

[Amanda81]

I've been searching around the forum a bit and I've seen some people with similar problems, but I still wanted to see if I could get some fellow chin owner advice.

My chinchilla's name is Echo, she's a 9 year old female. I've noticed over the past few weeks it has seemed like she's been chewing less. I didn't think too much about it until a few nights ago where it seemed like she was eating less than normal, but was still definitely pooping and everything and I didn't see any other weird symptoms (no drooling, not pawing at her face, still active...). I decided that if I woke up this morning and saw that it was obvious she didn't eat/poop I'd take her to her vet (I do have an exotic vet for her). She had been alert and wanting to play, but I know how well chins can mask their pain.

So this morning I checked in and it did look like she had eaten some hay but not really too much if any of her Mazuri. But one thing was a definite red flag, there was hardly any poop on any of her ledges, just two. So I took her to the vet as soon as they opened, but it was kind of tricky because with the pandemic they're doing the curbside taking in of animals so I couldn't really back and forth with the vet, plus they were quite busy. I ran down everything I have noticed. They did take xrays and said the GI actually looked pretty good and there was some food in there. But they did see a little gas bubble so that could be causing some discomfort. The thing that was weird was they mentioned it did look like one of her teeth might be growing to a point, but the vet said they didn't see it causing any problems. So they gave me some meds to help her digestion and one for pain and sent Echo and I on our way. Oh they also gave me some critical care in case she still doesn't want to eat.

Since coming home today she's still been pretty alert, and I saw her nibble at food but only the tiniest bit. She may eat more later tonight when she's more awake I'm going to keep an eye on her. But I did see her poop a bit more and she had also pooped in her carrier. I'm glad she has some stuff to help with eating, but I was concerned because the vet never came back to her teeth. So I assumed that meant they thought they were fine, but when giving her the digestive meds tonight I was wondering if they're becoming a bit overgrown because I feel like usually when I've had to give a chin meds they would almost kind of bite on the syringe and Echo was really hesitant to do that. Her teeth didn't seem super obviously long and it was tough to get a good look but I was concerned because of what the vet said earlier and obviously I know overgrown teeth can be bad for her.

So I was wondering if anyone has had a similar situation with their chin? Should I call to see if I can speak to the vet that saw her, or just bring her back in? I feel like if her teeth were really a problem they would have just said "hey, we need to trim her teeth down". I know they mentioned her teeth aren't causing related problems but I'm worried if I wait too long there could be problems like an infection and obviously I don't want that for Echo. Or should I wait a little longer to see how she adapts on the meds they gave me first? I appreciate any insight anyone might have - thanks!

 

[Amethyst]

Did they give gas drops to help with the gas bubble? Chins can't burp or really fart, they can pass small amounts of gas as they poop but can't pass just a gas like we can a gas bubble can actually block the poop from coming out. Since it's only been a day I would just wait and see how the meds do, if she stops eating though try handfeeding the critical care, chins guts start to shut down and digestive bacteria start to die off after about 12 of being empty (about 24 hours since they last ate), and once they shut down they can be hard to get going again.

I would see if you could talk to the actual vet that treated her, sometime things get lost if you don't talk to the person direct. For example did they just think the teeth aren't a problem right now but would like you to come back to fix them later? or do they think it wont be a problem and should sort itself once she starts chewing again. Also when they did the x-rays did they just look at the body/gut area or did they also do head x-rays to check the teeth.

 

[Amanda81]

Hi,

I really appreciate your reply. For the GI tract Echo was given Cisapride which I am to give her .14mL 2x a day for 5-7 days. I was also curious if the gas bubble they said they found is really the culprit or if there's more to the story.

The update as of today is that I could hear Echo moving around as she usually does at night and I heard her eat a little bit. I periodically checked in on her just to make sure nothing was out there, but when I got up to give her her meds at 9am I did see poop which is great (and all over so she's moving around). I would say a little less than normal. And she did eat but not very much at all, maybe 1/2 a tablespoon of Mazuri but she got a good decent amount of hay, just not nearly as much as she normally does. I would guess maybe 1/3-1/2 what she normally would. Her chew toys mostly remain unchewed except for one of her pumice toys she chewed a tiny bit. She actually brought it to me in her mouth like a puppy, I think she's showing me she's trying as hard as she can. Right now she's sleeping as usual, but I'm going to keep an eye on her just to see if she eats anything else. If she doesn't after a few hours I'm going to give her at least a little critical care and then go from there depending on how much she might eat at night.

I wish I had an answer to your questions about her teeth, I think my questions are similar to your questions. They definitely looked at her teeth because they told me the part about one growing into a point. But I'm not sure if they did any xrays on her head, they didn't specify. I'm feeling like they didn't because they only talked about a GI X-ray. I figured similarly that they're trying to say hey let's fix this one problem and then if she's still not chewing maybe we need to look at the teeth more closely. So on the way out I asked the person that brought Echo outside if I should do something/worry about her teeth or just start with the meds they gave me and go from there. She said the later (but wasn't the vet that saw Echo).

So what I'm going to do as long as there's no major changes is kind of a compromise situation. I'm going to keep doing her meds today and tomorrow and see how she progresses and call Monday as soon as they open and ask to either speak to the vet, or they have something called "TeleVet" which I assume means I can talk to a vet over a web camera but I obviously want to speak with the specific vet that saw Echo, or just make an appointment to bring her in as long as I don't have to wait too many days. I want to work with what the vet has prescribed for her, but at the same time her not chewing much is worrying me and I don't want to wait too long and make it a worse situation for Echo.

Thanks again for your insight. If anyone else also has any ideas please let me know.

Did they give gas drops to help with the gas bubble? Chins can't burp or really fart, they can pass small amounts of gas as they poop but can't pass just a gas like we can a gas bubble can actually block the poop from coming out. Since it's only been a day I would just wait and see how the meds do, if she stops eating though try handfeeding the critical care, chins guts start to shut down and digestive bacteria start to die off after about 12 of being empty (about 24 hours since they last ate), and once they shut down they can be hard to get going again.

I would see if you could talk to the actual vet that treated her, sometime things get lost if you don't talk to the person direct. For example did they just think the teeth aren't a problem right now but would like you to come back to fix them later? or do they think it wont be a problem and should sort itself once she starts chewing again. Also when they did the x-rays did they just look at the body/gut area or did they also do head x-rays to check the teeth.