Chinchillas and De-worming

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starleomach

starleomach

Dawnna's Keeper
Joined
Jan 29, 2009
Messages
4,257
Location
Cary IL,
So Twice this month I have been now contacted by 2 customers....with the same/similar situation

They buy a chinchilla...Have is a month or two or a year.

Take it to the vet for different reason, one was acting off (believed to have a blockage) the other just for a "check up" (different vets) and the vet Both times said he/she needs to be de-wormed they have tapeworms....

Both were given de-worming medicine and lettuce...yes lettuce by the vet,the one with the blockage had actually been improving right before he was given the de-wormer and lettuce

Both were dead within a few hours. I have had Several people ask me about de-worming chinchillas lately it seems to be the thing vets are saying or websites are saying.

So people please chinchillas DO NOT NEED TO BE DE-WORMED!!! It will KILL your chinchilla.

If you think the vet is doing something wrong REFUSE TREATMENT they have got to tell you that they are going to treat with this or that they cannot just treat without permission.

Both of these vets were chinchilla "experts"
 
Kristy...that is the weirdest thing I have heard of a vet doing in a long time. Tapeworms? I guess it is possible...but, I've never seen it or heard about a chin having one in all these years from anyone. I'll watch for people asking that question, too. Could it just be the vet in your area giving out this info?
 
I think two chins being dewormed and dying "because of deworming" is still purely anecdotal. I can find you at least two cases of chins being dewormed and not having any problems.

If the chinchilla truly had tapeworms, whether showing clinical signs or not, de-worming can be indicated. It is fairly 'gentle' on the system.

I don't support the lettuce feeding, but I doubt that would kill them, just be less than healthy.

I think there was something underlying with these animals. Why did the one get a blockage? Did either get a necropsy? I would wonder if they had heart problems. What were they acting like before they died?

Unless you have a definitive reason for death, I wouldn't run around saying "Don't de-worm your chinchillas, it will KILL them" - that is too anecdotal and sorry, it's not valid without proof of death.
 
So this may be a dumb question, but how does a chinchilla get a tape worm? Pork chops are not on the menu so I am curious.
 
It doesn't take eating meat to get a tapeworm. Animals can get it from eating in a contaminated pasture, feed or drinking water that has been contaminated with feces that contains tapeworm eggs.

ETA: I believe I read an article once that they also think that grazing animals may pick it up from infected mites or other parasites that they eat while eating grass or hay.
 
The one chinchilla was in the owners possetion for 2 months and was taken to the vets because he had developed Diahrea so that particular chinchilla had an issue going on, He in the end died of a "blackage" and bloat acourding to the vet. He had been recovering and pooping normally in their care after sometime, after which they de-wormed him and gave him lettuce he died shortly after

the other chinchilla had been in the owners care over a year and went to the vet after they had taken the cat in for shots, they got talking and the vet mentioned the chinchilla should be de-wormed yearly they took her in healthy and fine she was checked over and de-wormed Died that night. That chinchilla had not been tested just treated
 
I am not sure I am buying the possibility of a chin getting a tapeworm but in addition to diarrhea, I would think that a chin with tapeworm would lose an awful lot of weight and since chins poop continuously, I would imagine you would see pieces of it as it broke off??? Since it can be spread though fecal contamination, I imagine it can possibly be spread via fecal contaminated hay (ie. dogs and cats with tapeworm defecating in the hay fields???) The eggs can live a pretty long time.
 
Improperly prepared/cared for hay/green mix, water, another animal in the house, any number of things.

I still think this is a very anecdotal situation. De-wormers are fairly innocuous. Of the two most common dewormers for tapeworms (Praziquantel and Pyrantel), you'd have to do a major overdose to induce toxicity.

Would I do a yearly dewormer in a chin? No. Would I give a chin dewormer if it had a confirmed parasite? In a heart beat, wouldn't hesitate.

I still think there is something underlying, but I would find a better exotics-educated vet, or one that isn't dewormer-crazy (there certainly are vets that are dewormer, steroid, etc. crazy...that's when the owners need to educate themselves as well, and ASK LOTS OF QUESTIONS!).
 
Also, according to the "bible" - Tapeworm infections usually don't cause much in the way of clinical signs. Emaciation would be an extreme symptom.
 
Keep in mind the one the vet said had tapeworm was a kit, 16 weeks old. Gaining like crazy and growing didn't seem sick at all until the Sat the Diahrea started. Dead Sunday

Given bottled water, Kaytee diet (after I gave the feed lecture irritated the heck out of me) and Hay. Cause the only way I could see it happening was grass clippings. But in a kit that young tapeworm would in theory kill him. I mean they take so much out of you. The vet says it must have come from the breeders. She had him nearly 2 months if that kit had issues from here if at all a tape worm would have presented long before now.

Edited to add no necropsies were done.
 
I really wish more people would have even a gross necropsy done. Did the vet actually find a tapeworm? Without proof of a tapeworm how can he say it was tapeworms that did it.

Some vets don't even charge for a gross necropsy on animals they have been treating. It gives the vet a chance to learn if what they diagnosed before was accurate and if they should have been treating it differently. Besides it gives the owner some additional knowledge too. I would want to know just in case another animal, or human in the house could get sick from it, or at least to tell my breeder,"hey we confirmed it you should get your animals checked."
 
There are, unfortunately, vets that will deworm anything that walks in the door. Most likely they are older vets that are stuck in their ways. We've had "resistance" harped into our little heads for a whole semester, so I would personally never deworm something that wasn't showing clinical signs or wasn't at a higher risk of acquiring them.

That being said one of the higher risk populations is young animals - that's why puppies and kittens are given routine dewormers. So I can see the thought process of giving a young chinchilla a dewormer.

Without a necropsy they will never know. I'm still betting there was something else going on. Was the animal truly blocked? Bloated? Both?

Age of the kit would not necessarily determine whether a tapeworm infection would kill them or not. It is about their ability to handle the load, a tapeworm infection could kill a immune-suppressed animal but not a healthy animal. People can have tapeworms their whole lives. In fact I think they used to use them to lose weight. (Didn't work very well)
 
Question: What medication was used for 'treating' the tapeworms?

Comment: Last week I had to leave Lady at the vet for some tests. they wanted me to sign a release form so that they could conduct all procedures and treatments they deemed necessary. Instead of signing the form I wrote my own note listing tests the vet and I had previously discussed, procedures, and treatments that I would allow him to perform. I also included resusitation just incase anything were to happen while she was under the anesthesia. I added that he had to contact me first for any additional treatments. Lucky for me I trust this vet and I am starting to develop a pretty good relationship with him. He and his staff took excellent care of Lady that day. However, earlier this year i had to leave Lily in another vet's care and he administered medications that I wouldn't have approved if I had known he was goint to do it. I felt that signing my own note was the best way to protect my chin since I couldn't be there all day. If you need to leave you chin in a vets care, discuss what they will be doing with the animal. You can always ask that they contact you first before administering any drugs or feeding any type of food. I also, brought her entire travel setup for her vet stay. I left a note outside her cage stating that they weren't to give her any food other then the hay, pellets, and water I had brought.
 
Fenbendazole is Panacur, it's a very safe dewormer and has been used in chinchillas successfully to kill off giardia. I doubt very much that the dewormer is what killed these chinchillas.
 
It bothers me a lot, the kit if he had diarhea I am not shocked that something happened and he died, but the adult going to the vet and dying hours later something had to have happened. But I suppose I am only getting what the owners have to say. Who knows what else happened in their homes

New update the kit had been out playing with her chinchillas which is something I didn't recomend due to his young age. He was out for 2 hours the night the diahreah developed and it was hot out, I know she had AC but perhaps that is what started it all.

I am just particularly sick about the kit He was sooo beautiful. The owner is very upset and talking Lawyers and statements and such. But without all the details about the care provide who can say what happened where.

All I have been able to tell her is I have had no issues here. Everyone has been healthy. the only medical issues I have had here in the last 6 months was a minor upper respiratory infection that was easily treated and 3 fights that required some treatment due to deep wounds.
 
I can imagine how frustrating it is, especially since they came from your home. But you do only have part of the story, and as you can see more is unfolding.

We had a gorgeous black velvet male go to a woman, she moved and didn't keep them on purified water, he and many other chins she had dropped dead. Devastating.

Are they talking lawyers + you or lawyers + the vet? Without a necropsy these people have no leg to stand on.
 
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