Chinchilla not eating, small infrequent poop, lethargic

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enesta

enesta

Member
Joined
Jul 17, 2012
Messages
15
Hello everyone. I used to be a member here when I got my Chinchilla, but it seems my old account was lost, perhaps when you changed boards?

Anyways ... 3/4 years later and I could use some expert advice. My Chinchilla has never seemed to get sick as far as I could tell. But lately she hasn't been running around a lot like she usually does. Many nights she stays in her cage completely. She's also eating very little food and hay. Thankfully she's still taking treats though, raisins and oats sparingly. As far as I can tell I think she is drinking some. She also looks a lot skinnier than usual, which I guess makes sense since she's not eating.

As far as background goes - she's housed in a large ferret nation cage converted with wooden shelves, fed Mazuri diet, purified water, plenty of play time every night, overall very good living conditions.

She really really hates being handled and I know bringing her to a vet would stress her out greatly, so if there's something I can do I'd like to try first. Nothing else looks off with her other than the weight and not being active.

Thanks!
 
Lethargy = very ill chin.

You need to find a vet immediately. Lethargy, not eating, not pooping points, and weight loss points to an extremely ill chin. Putting her through a little stress is more important than her dying.
 
Okay I'll setup an appointment first thing tomorrow. Tomorrow it's supposed to be 95 degrees out and the next two days 82 ... should I wait until it cools down or go when it's 95 anyways? My car's air conditioning works pretty well but I have no carrier - I'd have to use a cardboard box unless there's a better way? It's about a 30-40 minute drive.

Thank you
 
If she's lethargic she may not have a few days. Just make sure you cool down the car before you put her in there, so you're not putting her in a blazing hot car. A box works fine cause of the late notice, but I would suggest you go out and get a small cat carrier for her when you have a chance. Much better for ventilation and you'll have it for the next time you need it.

Best of luck.
 
I guess I should clarify lethargic ... she is just less active, but last night for example she ran around just fine ... jumped on me and was very excited to get into her dust bath. Anyways I'm calling the vet today.
 
If the chin stresses that much, I would personally not put it in a cardboard box, go to walmart, petsmart, petco etc and buy a pet taxi for cats, they run around 20-30.00.
 
ticklechin said:
If the chin stresses that much, I would personally not put it in a cardboard box, go to walmart, petsmart, petco etc and buy a pet taxi for cats, they run around 20-30.00.
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I agree, the cardboard is not going to offer any ventilation, holes or not. She could also get nervous and chew through the cardboard fast.

Good luck with your chin, I hope you get answers. I would suggest nixing the raisins as well, they are not the safest chin treat in the world and if she is already sick, you could be further taxing her systems.
 
Well I got her in right away and haven't been back to the board until now. I took her in the box and it sure was an ordeal for her. I feel bad, she was clearly so stressed and scared. Then they poked and prodded her, she's not used to being handled. The vet said she looked to be in great health other than bottoms of her feet a little red and slightly under weight. She wanted to take blood to see if anything is going on inside, so she took her away to do that and used anesthesia. She told me it'd be 15 minutes and it took 45 ... scared me to death. Before that I had to wait and extra 25 for her because they forgot to tell her I changed the appointment to 30 earlier. Scaring the death out of my chinchilla in the box basically way longer than necessary.

Anyways I have to wait a few days for blood results. In the meantime she gave me some powdered food stuff to feed to her in a syringe and some kind of stool medicine. That's going to be really difficult since she hates even being picked up let alone force fed from a syringe. I'll definitely have a cat carrying case in the future.

The vet told me I should actually increase feeding treats if she's taking them until she gets back to normal. Some scientific babble about how her stomach works and getting it back on track. I'll update you on how it all goes.
 
I've had several vets tell me that treats, raisins and even fresh greens, were recommended. I also had vets give me stasis meds with sugar filled flavoring. The stasis meds and the treats actually made my little guy worse. I'd listen to people here. Vets have to wait for all the scientific research, data, etc. But fruits and veggies are dangerous for chinchillas. Either because of too much moisture or too much sugar or both. Try to get her to eat hay or something on her own. Handfeeding can be a challenge. My little guy who was handfed was very skittish in the beginning but after a while he actually came to tolerate handfeeding very well. He actually would eat the mix off of a plate or a spoon for me. Even if it stresses her out it is important to get the syringe feed into her. I am assuming they gave you Critical Care? What's the other stool med? A gut motility med perhaps? Getting actual food into her is critical because her gut will slow down without it. Some people here have some ideas for supplements and other foods mixes that can be handfed that may be more tempting if you have a lot of trouble with the Critical Care. If she won't eat your current hay try getting a sweeter hay. An alfalfa or something. My girls really love the Oxbow Botanical blend that is filled with dried herbs and flowers. They gobble it right up. Perhaps she'll eat that if she won't eat Timothy.

Edit: Did the vet xray her teeth while she was under? Why was she put under just to take blood? My little guy's blood was always taken while he was awake unless they were putting him under to check his teeth.
 
Before I'd buy Oxbow, which is now grossly overpriced, I would check with Tanya. She has an organic hay blend with dried herbs and flowers that is wonderful. When you open the box, it just smells so fresh.

Did she x-ray her stomach to check for bloat or blockage? Did she do x-rays while she had her anesthetized for the bloodwork? I am not real sure why she wants you to hand feed her unless there's a reason for it. Just being underweight could be from low quality feed or bad water. Also, giving medicine with no diagnosis is not a good idea at any time. Did she say why you are to give "stool" medicine? Can you tell us what the name of it is?
 
Bloodwork would not have been my only choice in diagnostic treatment of the symptoms listed, it really would have been a last choice. Chin while under should have had head and chest x-rays to check the gut and teeth. Syringe feeding without diagnosis can lead to dire consequences long term.
 
Well her credentials were very good and she said she had a lot of experience with chinchillas. She didn't take any x-rays and her teeth were checked while awake. She also told me to put her somewhere with more sunlight, there's virtually none in my basement because I thought I was supposed to avoid sunlight. Sure hope it was worth all the stress and nearly 400 dollars.

I give her Mazuri (and as much Timothy Hay as she wants) and fresh purified water every day or two, in regards to her being underweight.

She gave me Metoclopramide Syrup to give .25 ml orally every 12 hours for 14 days and also Oxbow Critical Care. I haven't started using either of them yet as per your posts. My Chinchilla is still doing about the same, but does seem a little more active. Last night when I came down she ran down to her wheel and kept going on it then looking at me. She does that when I first come down sometimes when she's excited or wants a treat. But this time she didn't want a treat, just kept running on it and looking at me. She just isn't eating her hay and pellet food like usual. I think she ate a little, but usually she goes through a huge bunch a day.

Would you recommend holding off on both until I hear about the blood work?

Oh, it also says on the sheet she gave Fluid Therapy-SQ Treatment: Gave 30 ml LRS subcutaneously. Which I have no idea what that means and don't remember her mentioning it.
 
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Oral exams on chinchillas with a otoscope are almost worthless-its like looking at the outside of a house to determine if its sound, rather than doing a home inspection. Same with the gut. The chin was under and it should have been done. As far as eating, it needs to be determined if the chin CAN eat, and that means a oral exam under gas with x-rays. It also needs to be determined if the chin can't eat because of pain in the gut-again a x-ray. Just giving gut meds and handfeeding does not get to the root cause of the issue.
 
ticklechin said:
Oral exams on chinchillas with a otoscope are almost worthless-its like looking at the outside of a house to determine if its sound, rather than doing a home inspection. Same with the gut. The chin was under and it should have been done. As far as eating, it needs to be determined if the chin CAN eat, and that means a oral exam under gas with x-rays. It also needs to be determined if the chin can't eat because of pain in the gut-again a x-ray. Just giving gut meds and handfeeding does not get to the root cause of the issue.
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Agreed, I also question your vets actual capabilities, if they didnt want to check these things first as well, and just handed you all of that to do, with out warrant. I would go back for X rays.
 
Well considering they charged me nearly 400 for that and I felt like nearly killed my Chin with stress - I'm not going back there for xrays unless it's a last option. I'm not over selling the amount of stress she went through, I really think I did more harm than good taking her there.

I'm going to try buying some alfalfa hay as someone recommended and see if that changes anything. If nothing changes soon I'll try to find a different exotic pet vet around here, there seem to be few though. Any other recommendations are welcome.
 
enesta said:
Well considering they charged me nearly 400 for that and I felt like nearly killed my Chin with stress - I'm not going back there for xrays unless it's a last option. I'm not over selling the amount of stress she went through, I really think I did more harm than good taking her there.

I'm going to try buying some alfalfa hay as someone recommended and see if that changes anything. If nothing changes soon I'll try to find a different exotic pet vet around here, there seem to be few though. Any other recommendations are welcome.
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I'm sorry but you need a proper diagnosis - otherwise you're groping in the dark, hoping that your chin will improve with guesswork and some drugs which may or may not be helping.
You need to seek a second opinion and have the xrays etc that experienced members here are suggesting.

Is the chin eating on her own? Is she producing droppings?

Oh, it also says on the sheet she gave Fluid Therapy-SQ Treatment: Gave 30 ml LRS subcutaneously. Which I have no idea what that means and don't remember her mentioning it.
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From your description, the vet gave your chin some subcutaneous fluids (fluids injected under the skin) which is usually given to a dehydrated animal.
 
Claire D said:
I'm sorry but you need a proper diagnosis - otherwise you're groping in the dark, hoping that your chin will improve with guesswork and some drugs which may or may not be helping.
You need to seek a second opinion and have the xrays etc that experienced members here are suggesting.

Is the chin eating on her own? Is she producing droppings?



From your description, the vet gave your chin some subcutaneous fluids (fluids injected under the skin) which is usually given to a dehydrated animal.
Click to expand...

She is eating on her own some (just a little) and producing poops, they're just small and a lot less frequent.

I called another exotic pet vet to get a second opinion, but he said he doesn't have enough experience with Chinchillas to see her if she's really sick and would recommend me to the very one I already went to. He did say that they're very fragile and the whole ordeal can give them a heart attack and kill them - which was and is my fear of carting her around like this. She handled her very roughly and scared her to death.

He said once they call me about the blood work to ask about the x-rays and bring up my concerns. Should I mention that I got my information on this forum?
 
Well, that's a load of dookie. I've driven a chin to the vet at 3 in the morning with a baby hanging out of her dead because she couldn't get it out. Her bladder almost busted because she couldn't pee and she had to have emergency surgery - if they were all that fragile and were going to die from a heart attack, this girl would have done it.

Can it be stressful? Sure it can. But chins aren't THAT delicate that they can't take a trip to the vet, especially if they are ill and need treatment. Some things you can treat at home if you have experience, small eye infections, fungus, I've even treated abscesses that I've opened myself and given antibiotics for, but if it's a tooth issue there is absolutely nothing you can do at home except have your chin be in pain. I'm not saying that's the issue, just that it's possible.

Can you tell us where you are located? Maybe we can help find a vet for you in that's qualified in your area, or at least in a driveable distance from where you are.
 
Grand Rapids, MI (lower west MI)

I've called about 4 or 5 places with no luck so far. The only one that has experience, I went to! I'll bring up the question of why she didn't do xrays once she calls about the blood work.

thank you
 
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