Male Chin jumping, twitching,squeaking, crying; please help

[Ownedby3Chins]

I have a 4 year old male Chin, named Dude, as well as two female Chins, named Gabbie and Annie. Dude is housed by himself. Last night, Dude began going through a series of extremely erratic behavior. In all of the time I have had him, he has never done anything like this: he started going into bursts of weird activity where he would cry, twitch, squeak, jump up and down.....and then suddenly stop. This has been going on now for almost 24 hours.

He was acting as if something was hurting him, so of course I looked him overly carefully. His bottom looks a little red/inflamed, so I called the Vet to ask about bringing him in. The can't see him until tomorrow morning, but I was hoping someone might have some ideas about what to do in the meantime. I am quite concerened. Thank you in advance for all help and insight!

 

[addictedtochins]

Perhaps he has a hair ring

 

[Ownedby3Chins]

Perhaps he has a hair ring

I suspected that, but I didn't see one when I looked him over. Like I said, his rear end looks a bit red, like he has been licking himself too much down there, but his penis itself is fine.

 

[Laurie]

It could be a hair ring, but it could also be erratic behavior due to the girls being in heat. Are they housed in the same room just different cages?

Could he have had a seizure? What is the temp in the room?

 

[Chinmama]

Is he peeing okay? Poo's look normal?

 

[alli713]

A hair ring could be wrapped around his penis inside the sheath, so you may not necessarily notice it.

But if it looks irritated I say definitely take him to the vet.

Although, when you say back end, what do you mean? There's a lot down there. Do you mean his testicles? Or...? I just wonder because sometimes chins let down their testicles and it can look rather odd if you haven't seen them do that before.

And the jumping and twitching almost sounds like popcorning, have you seen him do that before? They do that when they're excited.

 

[Ownedby3Chins]

Thank you so much for all of the replies.

He has setteled down slightly, but not enough for me to feel comfortable about the situation, so Vet appointment is still a "go" for 8:30 am tomorrow morning.

Laurie: No, he is not housed in the same room as the girls; they are kept a few rooms over. A seizure...gosh, scary thought!! I will ask the vet about that tomorrow. Room temp is comfortable and consistant; no vents or fans blowing around, no sun shining on him.

Chinmama: yes, and yes to both.

alli713: popcorning! lol! What a cute term, I love that! Yes, Dude is a "popcorner!" I have always called it "spazzing out", but I like your term better He will be sitting still and quiet, then all of a sudden, BOOM!! Flipping around the cage, leaping up and down...popcorning!

However, what he is doing now is much different. It's a twitiching, headshaking, slight jump and he cries while he does it He was doing it of and on all last evening and today, but he has stopped somewhat this evening.

 

[Riven]

Head shaking? Does he appear to be off balance or have any head tilting? He may have an ear infection.

Did you extend his penis to check it, or did you just check the outside of the sheath?

 

[Siylvat]

Now. I don't know the particular situation, and I am not saying that nothing is wrong...but this:

going into bursts of weird activity where he would cry, twitch, squeak, jump up and down.....and then suddenly stop.

Sounds like what our Chin Peach does sometimes. He just randomly freaks. Jumps all over his cage, bounces off the walls/shelves, and screams. The first few times he did it, I totally freaked, I thought he got his foot stuck in something, or got hurt somehow. Now I believe he just does it when no one is paying attention to him, and he wants to come out.

Again, not saying nothing is wrong. Just thought i would throw it out there.

 

[Ownedby3Chins]

Riven, My husband suggested the same thing, about an ear infection. We are off to the vet in a few minutes, so we will find out shortly!

Siylvat, as I mentioned to alli, he loves to bounce around in his cage and pingpong around at random times. Totally catches me off guard because there is no rhyme or reason to it. But this is totally different behavior.

OK, thanks again everyone, I will update again after our appointment!

 

[Ownedby3Chins]

I am relieved to report that things are not terribly serious. Bad news first: Dude has a slight double ear infection, which explains all of the head shaking, twitching, crying, etc. Doc gave him drops in each ear. He also has some general irritaion on his bottom, and he has been licking and rubbing at himself, but it is NOT a hair ring, thank goodness!

Doc gave him a shot to calm the irritation, and told me to keep an eye on him for the next 24 hours to see if things settle down. If not he will have to go back for another series of treatments or perhaps something different. But basically, the Vet is not worried and does not feel that there is anything seriously wrong.

Dude was a trooper at the Vet. He squirmed and fidgted most of the the time, and I dreaded the shot, thinking for sure he would hit the ceiling, but that little rascal didn't even flinch when he got his shot! Goes to show chins ALWAYS keep you guessing!

Good news is he has seemed pretty calm since we came home, rather pouty and glaring at me, but that is to be expected. Hopefully by tomorrow we will be friends again, unless his symptoms flare and we have to go back to the Vet, heaven help us.

Thank you again to all of you for your help, insight and support!

 

[Stackie]

Did they not give you an antibiotic for the ear infection? Ear infections can get really bad and I have heard numerous stories of chins dying from them.

If he has in infection it is only going to get worse, so he needs antibiotics now to fight it off before it progresses. I would call ASAP and ask for an antibiotic.

 

[Ownedby3Chins]

Hi Stackie. As I said above, the Vet put a few drops in each ear for the infection, and a shot for the irritation, and told me to watch him. That was all. They Vet didn't seem overly worried, and said it was a very slight infection, and the drops would clear things up.

What kind of antibiotic do you think I should ask for? Oral drops, or ear drop?

 

[Stackie]

I have not dealt with ear infections, but I have read about how fatal they can be and what kind of damage they can do if left untreated (permanent head tilt, other possible neurological damage). I would not think that a one time dose of medication would be enough to clear the infection up. I would do at least a week of antibiotic treatment, but I am not sure what sort of treatment is used when attacking chinchilla ear infections.

Hopefully someone comes along soon who has treated an inner ear infection can chime in as to what type of antibiotic to ask for.

 

[Ownedby3Chins]

OK, thank you

 

[Jen and the Hooligans]

My chin had an ear infection and it pretty quickly progressed to infect a nerve in his face. The poor boy looked like a stroke victim for a loong time. Watch your chin very carefully. I was given oral Baytril along with topical drops when dealing with an ear infection. Also if you put drops in his ear and let him dust that could be a real problem. The dust will clump down in his ear,..so hold off on dust for now.

 

[Ownedby3Chins]

Thanks Jen! Yeah, I figured dust baths were out of the question for awhile.

I am very concerened now that my Vet didn't prescribe antibiotics for Dude. I thought everything would be fine, but now that two of you have now mentioned long-term meds, I am questioning the Doc's decision

Dude seems to be doing fine *knock wood* ever since we came back from the Vet this morning. The head shaking and crying has stopped, and he hasn't been digging at himself as much.