My old girl... What's normal ?

Chinchilla & Hedgehog Pet Forum

Help Support Chinchilla & Hedgehog Pet Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

Tillygizmo

My kids have 4 feety's
Joined
Feb 1, 2009
Messages
946
Location
NJ
Hi all, I have a girl who is somewhere between 16-18. For some years now she has very slowly lost some mass ... Nothing quick and no changes otherwise . I've taken her to the vet to be sure she is alright. Lately she has been clumsier ... I would say I noticed the last few months. I chalked it up to age but I want to make sure I'm not being dismissive. When I say clumsy, I mean she does not stand up on her hind legs as quickly and easily and sometimes loses balance. She has ALWAYS been a chin to run into walls and fall off her wheel when going to fast in the past years. I have recently named her a danger to herself in that way and put her in a smaller cage with less height but room to get around otherwise. I have never had a chin this old. What is normal and what isn't for the veterans who know ? Thanks so much guys
 
I don't know much about older chins, but in general both animals and people lose reaction time. So a chin who is usually not the most agile of creatures... I could see it as normal. However! I don't have experience with older chins so take it with a grain of salt. Animals and people also lose mass- mainly muscle mass, which can also lead to greater risk of falling/injury. Hope someone with more knowledge comes along soon!
 
My rescue chin Olivia passed away some time back. I never knew how old she was.
Olivia was never a chin who liked to be petted or scratched. However she did like a smooch through the cage bars. And I was happy with that. I would whisper her name and she would come to me and smooch me.

In her last year of life she would let me touch her feet. And in the last 6 months of her life, she would allow me to stroke her head.
Two years before she passed she had a cloudy eye. Then the other was cloudy some months before passing. She moved around a lot slower months before passing. Chewed pellets to a quarter vs eating the whole thing.
The month before she passed away, she was blowing her coat off. I can't believe she had any fur left. She became thin and her appetite diminished. She started sleeping on the floor of her cage several days before passing away. I made her a fleece bed and each day I noticed she was more lethargic.

Her last night of life, I noticed her laying on her side in her cage. I took her with me in bed and laid her on my chest and covered her and talked to her. She just laid on her side. She was very cold. I suspected it was nearly her time. I gave her a kiss and laid her in a box next to my bed and covered her with fleece. She passed in the night.

I'm not sure if this helps. But I do know what happens leading up passing. I knew Olivia had to be pretty old based on the cataracts in her eyes. She came from a very serious situation of starvation and or stress from the previous owner. She came with a cage mate. I suspect a a daughter. Sunni passed away before Olivia. Due to heart problems. The girls were always very happy to show me how grateful they were living here. Sunni was outgoing and Olivia was never one to let me touch her. But they were spoiled rotten here.
 
She could be having arthritic pain, my 17 year old was on Glucosamine and Chondroitin and it did put a spring back in his step. He also got 10ml of critical care a day to help with digestion.
 
Thanks everyone , we are going to the vet tomorrow to make sure it's just age and nothing else... I'll keep you updated
 
Update: We had an appt. this morning with a new exotic vet and she is AMAZING (just moved to a new area). She did an x ray and found Freckles has "a little" arthritis in her spine, drew some blood which should be back tomorrow, and gave her tush a bath for her since she hasn't been cleaning herself well (Freckles has never been great at that anyway and has sometimes needed a tush wash anyway). They were great and aren't horribly over priced. We went home with critical care and ordered the Oxbow joint supplements, I will update again tomorrow once we get the blood work results - which is also when she will prescribe any medication needed. Thanks for your help all <3
 
Update on bloodwork: The vet found some not so good news in Freckles blood work - she has hyperparathyroidism, anemia, and an infection (unsure which type or where from). She was given a wide spectrum antibiotic and an iron supplement with vitamin D in it - additionally I bought a UVB bulb for near her cage to turn on at night which is supposed to help. The vet asked me to give her a tums once a week for calcium (have u all heard of this?) and I haven't done that quite yet. She is two days into her medications and I actually feel she is a bit more nosey than she has been in awhile - hopefully this isn't wishful thinking. Any words of wisdom for additional things I can do for her

She is giving me trouble a bit with the CC , only taking two tubes per day (munching on hay here and there). I wish I could get more into her.
 
Back
Top