Labor??

[Chin_Pig]

i think my chin is in labor, i have never seen this but it scared me because she is wobbly when she walks and kinda comatose she is breathing heavy too but i havent seen any 'contractions' yet.

she snaps out of it and looks up sometimes and wipes her nose. she has had kits before and no problems at all with any of the litters.

Thanks,
Cassie

 

[Rickman]

Be ready as tonight's the night!

 

[Chin_Pig]

thanks, i was worried she was sick i have never seen a chin act like this.

its good to know for the future.:dance3:

 

[S & C's Chin]

Good luck - hope everything turns out good.

 

[AZChins]

How long has she been acting like this? Can you take a look to see if she is open and dilated? Is there any blood?

Keep a very close eye on her. Normally I don't notice much of a change in behavior until maybe a few hours before the mother has her kits. Breathing heavy isn't necessarily a sign of labor, but it can be a sign of illness.

Make sure to check her vaginal opening to see if there is a tail or legs hanging out. She could have been in labor for hours before you noticed and just wore herself out pushing or something along those lines. The heavy breathing is what would scare me.

I hope that everything goes well with her babies coming, just keep an eye on her. And, let me know if you need any help, if you like.

 

[Chin_Pig]

well i woke up this morning and she has passed on. i always checked on her in the mornings before work. she started acting like this had to be yesterday during the day, there are no signs of birth and no discharge or anything sticking out so im not sure as to what caused this. she was a very healthy chin and always a good mom. this wasn't even a breed back situation either (i know that can stress them out sometimes) and she was only 5 yrs old.:cry3:

 

[Chinniechantel]

I am very sorry for your loss. It sounds like she had problems delivering, pyometra, or the babies died and she became septic. I doubt stress caused it. Maybe you should bring her in for a necropsy? Sometimes knowing can help. Again, I am very sorry.

 

[Rickman]

Sorry for your loss, as I've had chins act similiar prior to birth!
Although sometimes expensive, Chantal is right, it's part of closure to know!
Anyone breeding know sometimes this stuff happens, and as final as it is, it comes with the territory!
Again, sorry!

 

[tunes]

Had I seen this earlier, I would have agreed with Susan. That was definitely not a laboring chin. I have never seen a chin wobble or breathe heavy (straining to breathe) when they are in labor. Labor signs are stretching, laying on their sides, bearing down, etc.

I'm very sorry for your loss.

 

[Ruby]

I'm so sorry that you lost her Cassie.

 

[AZChins]

That's just horrible. A necropsy would probably just confirm your suspicions, I don't know what it would tell you. There is so much that can go wrong with a pregnancy. It can increase the risk of stroke along with all the other little things that can go wrong. It could have been infection or really anything else. The wobbliness and lethargy could definitely be an indication of the type of infection that retained dead fetuses can and do cause.

I feel so bad about this...it's just wrong that something like that can happen. I'm so sorry.

 

[starleomach]

I am sorry you lost her. That didn't sound like normal delivery though. My girls act pretty much normal right up until delivery other than they will start hanging out on the lower part of the cages

 

[Chin_Pig]

thanks guys, really this just sucks and i know it can happen....

:cry3::tissue:

is there really any way to prevent or watch out for these kinds of pregnancy problems?? i weighed her monthly until i was confedent that she was preg.

i talked with my aunt (a Vet) and she said most likly she went septic, i told her how she was acting and she thinks the babies died maybe a while ago. i never felt them move but i could feel them there (i never poked or prodded) just cupped my hand to her belly and she would sit and let me feel, she was such a sweet girl i know i will miss her a lot she was such a good mom i just cannot believe this could happen, i guess she hid her sickness well enough so i wouldnt know......

i think i am not going to necropsy because there is really nothing else it could have been i dont think, my aunt agrees (i was going to get an x-ray for her teeth) she wasnt drooling or anything before and she was gaining weight everything was normal till last night.

 

[AZChins]

The only way to prevent anything like this is to be extremely observant about what is going on with the chinchillas and even more so with pregnant females.

Normally a female that has the babies die well before she delivers will start to act a little upset. They almost always go into a very mild labor that has no pushing. I like to keep a small amount of oxytocin in the fridge because injecting it will help to get labor going and also I always have some injectable Baytril if I think that the babies have passed away.

Most of the time if the babies have died, a c-section is necessary. The reason why is that it is extremely difficult for a mother chin to deliver dead babies. The babies themselves actually help to induce labor by putting off hormones to get the contractions going. When the babies die the hormones aren't released and should the mother go into labor the contractions are not nearly as strong.

Along with that, a normally oriented baby will help to deliver itself by literally kicking his way out as the mother has her contractions. Obviously if the baby has died or has is movements restricted by getting caught in the birth canal (or by coming out wrong end first) he will provide zero help in delivery.

Chinchilla pregnancy and delivery is a pretty dangerous thing. I don't think that there is any way to prevent problems completely. You can only watch closely and get to the vet when you see such a problem. I had a female that had a c-section a month ago for the exact same reason...the babies died and she couldn't get them out. She's doing pretty well now...but I caught it quickly. Honestly, you only get a few days after the babies die to catch the problem before it gets serious. If the mother doesn't go into labor, how are you going to know there's a problem? Well, you aren't going to know!

Why were you going to x-ray her teeth? Was she having a problem?

 

[Chin_Pig]

no problems i was just curious... maybe a full body x-ray to see how many kits to but i dont really want to know.

her attitude was the same the only thing i noticed different was that i caught her licking herself 'down there', and she was sitting funny one day but i figured she had a big belly and sitting like that was comfortable for her and i read somewhere licking herself helps reduce pain or something with the onset of birth.

 

[Chin_Pig]

BTW how could someone get oxytosin or baytril? to keep on hand.. do a lot of people keep these on hand?

 

[tunes]

You have to get it through your vet. I wouldn't recommend administering the oxytocin though without being thoroughly versed in it's indications for use and dosage.

 

[Chinniechantel]

If I see a female showing any labor signs and don't see babies within 3 hours, I am on my way to the vet. It should not take longer than that, in normal cases kits come within an hour. I have had a bad experience with a birth lasting longer and she died 7 hours later with pyometra, so when I saw that a second time with a differnt girl I brought her in right away. The vet had to operate, and saved the mom but not the kits. Chin labor should be short and sweet, with little complications. Typically if you think something is wrong, it is. I don't see a mom lick down there for more than 10 minutes tops per kit, and I worry if there is more than an hour between kits as well. Luckily there are usually no problems, but every once in awhile it does happen. Most of the time there is nothing you could have done.

 

[AZChins]

You have to go to the vet for medications...and have the vet tell you about giving them. For a just a chin owner not breeding these wouldn't be necessary. If you have females having babies, it's a good idea because ALL of their problems happen late at night and often on holidays. They tend to pick the worst possible time to have a problem.

I keep medications on hand here because there are so many chinchillas and I never know what is going to happen. I'll have pregnant rescues come in and not know they are going to deliver soon...it's just a good idea for me. I have a medicine cabinet dedicated to nothing but chinchilla related emergency items.

When I sense the there is an issue with a female giving birth I try to get the vet asap. Chinniechantel has a good policy...it really shouldn't last any longer than three hours for a female to deliver.

 

[Chin_Pig]

i have a AAS in Veterinary Technology so i know about these drugs but i am not an active Veterinary technician nor did i get certified.
she has always had her kits EARLY in the mornings and when i checked in the mornings (~7 am) they would be dry and such.

so if she did through labor if the kits died i could have missed it if it was early am like any other time for her? the contractions too weak to produce a kit so it stops right? or did i misunderstand this.