chin hiding and won't come out! :(

[turtlemoon]

hello everyone!

this may not seem like an emergency, but i feel like it is because of the wood my chin is chewing on.

my boyfriend and i have had our chin, Jackie, for almost two weeks now, and prior to getting her, we did a lot of research. in all that research, we found that chins need to have outside-cage playtime. because chins are nocturnal, we have been letting her out of her cage at night as we slowly adapt her to our sleeping pattern so as to not throw her off completely.

we have three cats, Kitty- she loves to play tag with Jackie (no, Kitty does not hiss nor paw at Her, Jackie does not bark nor spray Kitty with urine, and yes, it's supervised =]), MeeMee- she and Jackie get along great (MeeMee lays on her tummy, then Jackie comes and "kisses" her by touching noses), and Ryo- who is our friend's cat, but she just ignores Jackie, unless of course she's watching her chase Kitty in amusement.

anyway, because the cats have no problem with Jackie, we let her run around the entire apartment- supervised of course. we cover every nook and cranny, if you will, and put away anything that could possibly harm our chin. unfortunately, in a one- to two-minute window Jackie found an open area under the kitchen cabinets (one that we did not know existed as it is very deceiving in that it looks like it's sealed), she's been in there all night, and there is no way of getting in there.

i tried luring her out with food, and at first it was working, until she caught on to what was happening. i tried putting her bath house in front so that i could block the entrance to under the cabinets once she got in, and nothing. i stopped giving her food so that she would come out if she got hungry, and that's not working either. i even separated the cats in another room to see if that was it, and clearly, it wasn't. i also tried ushering/scooping her out by putting my arms in there, but they'll only go a bit past my wrists and she starts barking at me.

she's been chewing on plywood (if that's what kitchen cabinets are made of) and i read that that is poisonous to chins. i don't know what to do, i am very worried about her.

someone please help me as soon as possible. i have to go to work in three hours, my boyfriend has many errands to run today (since his Monday is tomorrow), and our friend works graveyard shift so he sleeps all day and can't try to get her out.

thank you all for your help in advance.

 

[Riven]

If you can reach in and get her, then that's what you need to do whether she barks at you or not. She's hiding because she is scared and that's what chins do. Unfortunately you can not be your chins friend, you are her parent and you need to do what is best for her whether she likes it or not.

Also, cats and chins don't go together, no matter how peaceful you think it is it only takes one swipe accidental or irritated to cause loss of an eye or a major infection.

 

[cindyv3737]

Try treats, food and her dust bath again. If you can reach your hands in, then do so and get her out. She's scared. Your chin should not have run of the entire apartment. I learned that the hard way. Get a playpen for her playtimes or supervise her in a safe room (such as a bathroom). As much as you think you can watch her, you cannot, it is too big of a space.

As for the cats, that is a whole other issue. Cats are predators and chins are prey animals. You have three predators in your home that have access to your chin. Your chin needs a safe place to hide from them.

 

[turtlemoon]

i'm at work now, but luckily, my boyfriend was able to return home right after dropping me off. he was able to get her out. he said she was weak from not eating for about eight hours. she started eating once he got her near her food bowl. she has access to both Timothy hay, and alfalfa as well as her pellets. Timothy for nutrients, and alfalfa for a bit of energy.
i guess we'll just have to let her play in one room from now on so that this doesn't happen again. as for the cats, we'll keep them out from the room when we let Jackie out.
thank you for the advice!