NEWBORN chin eye infection?!?

[KingLouis]

I have twin chin newborns born 1/30/09 (MY BIRTHDAY!!!) Both seemed fine, healthy, active, etc. Saturday and Sunday.

Monday night i get home and Baby 1's Left Eye is practically glued shut. I called the emergency exotic vet and took mom and two babies in together. Vet didn't seem overly concerned about Baby 1's eye and preferred not to medicate so young unless absolutely necessary so he advised to wait a day and see. Said heart/lungs/weight etc seemed good for both babes. Baby 1 weighed 47g Baby 2 weighed 48 So I left w/ no meds.

Tuesday come home from work check on Baby 1--eye glued shut with white discharge. Called ER vet--picked up antibiotic eye drops. Wet q tip--massaged eye open--inserted 1 drop as directed. Baby 2 still fine. Weighed babies--both had gained 3 grams (50g/51).

Wednesday (tonight) come home from work--check on Baby 1--eye glued shut--more white goo. Massaged eye open--inserted drop. Checked on Baby 2--Left eye (same as Baby 1) now glued shut with slight discharge (Seems like onset of same infection or whatever it is) decided to apply same Drop to Baby 2. Baby 1 (1st to have eye problem) only gained 1 g (51g) since yesterday. Baby 2 gained 2 g (53g) since yesterday.

I called the ER vet again. The exotic vet has the evening off so I left a message with the nurse who was going to call the vet to ask about my concerns and call me back. I haven't heard anything back and I'm an overly concerned new mommy. I can't even explain how i'll feel if anything happens to them. PLEASE help...any advice is appreciated...support..anything...ugg. :

 

[tunes]

Did they recommend any oral antibiotics? I realize they are just teeny babies, but it almost sounds as though it's spreading, whatever "it" is. The drops are good, but sometimes eye issues can be in conjunction with respiratory. I've had to give oral antibiotics as well as drops to newborn kits before. The drops were tobramycin drops and trimethoprim sulfa oral antibiotics.

 

[Chinmama]

I've never had newborns, but I have had a chin with a URI whose only outward symptom was a milky white discharge from his eye. He had developed conjunctivitis as a secondary infection, and both were treated with eye drops and a week on SMZ TMP.

 

[KingLouis]

No, the vet (a highly recommended & experienced Oklahoma exotic vet) didn't even seem too concerned that 1st visit--which kinda ticked me off. I guess compared to normal ER bus. i just looked like a paranoid mom. But I paid well over $100 just to have him look at it! Anyway, never even mentioned oral antibiotics. The eye drops I demanded yesterday are Tobramycin like what you were talking about. I'd take them both back in tonight but the vets not there. I work full time tomorrow (7-5'ish) and don't know if the ER vet will be in tomorrow night. I just don't like this waiting thing. If it's respiratory or something else as well can't they end up going down hill fast? I just feel like it's so much more urgent with something so tiny.

 

[tunes]

IF, and I stress IF it is respiratory, yes, in a small one like that it could be deadly. It's hard enough to treat in an adult.

I would just keep doing as you are doing and keep trying to get into the vet. I would imgine, unless it was REALLY pronounced, that it would be hard to hear everything clearly on such a little one.

 

[KingLouis]

I called the ER again to see if the Doc had responded to the Nurses call and they have alot of pretty severe emergencies they're trying to stabilize a couple of dogs right now so they told me that honestly it would probably be a while before they could call me back. So i don't think i could get that Vet to call in an Oral Antibiotic tonight..or get anyone to even pay attention to me for that matter. I'm desperately concerned because the other baby is exhibiting symptoms now. and even though it may seem paranoiac i'm concerned about the measly 1 g weight gain from yesterday of Baby 1. :-(

 

[tunes]

Any gain is a good gain. Even if it's 1 gm instead of 2. The important thing is they aren't losing.

 

[KingLouis]

ok. I checked on them again and they still seem really active and everything...just goopy eyed.They were even trying to eat hay with momma. Didn't really get too far with it though Vet keeps saying it happens bc they're babies and they're just trying to open they're eyes....i don't buy that theory bc their eyes had already been wide open for 2 days and i told him that. I know that white discharge doesn't always mean infection but when baby's eye is glued shut i get worried. Vet called back I asked about Oral antibiotics and he just said I should take him to my regular vet if they seem worse fed me some line about "continuity of care w/ the regular vet, etc" I get that and all but when I come home from work and I'm worried they're my only option. Anyway I'll save that tirade for another time.

Thank you for your advice. I'll be sure to update tomorrow evening when I get home and check up on them after work.

ps. i think they hate me now :-( I hate that everytime i handle them right now it's to mess with their eye. I'll make it up to 'em

 

[starleomach]

you can also do compresses on the eye, saline warmed up

 

[Riven]

I think running them to the vet at every sneeze is going to make them worse, stress lowers their immune system because it's busy stressing, not immuning ( yes I know that's not a real word). Plus the stress will lower mom's milk production, causing less gain or even weight loss. Not to mention all of the other things you're exposing them to at an vet ER, that's where people go when their animals are really hurt, or REALLY SICK, with REALLY BAD viruses and bacteria.

Clean it, put the drops in, let them be for a while. Anitbiotics are not miracle cures, they don't fix stuff over night.

ETA: I worked for the vet for 5 years, and I'm going to have to say you're lucky you didn't get me on the phone. A dog that needs help now or it will die, or an eye infection that's been looked at, to me that's a non-brainer. :dunno:

 

[KingLouis]

FYI I as well worked for a very high traffic vet for 3 years.I understand and totally agree that seriously injured animals come first. The night that I went in I called first and they said "come anytime because we are not busy at all". When I called back the first thing I quickly clarified was "are you busy" when they said yes I told them to give me a call back whenever they got the chance.

I dunno...it's kinda a "no brainer" to me that nobody would pay over a hundred dollars to take a 3 day old "rodent" to an ER unless in their heart they were really worried about them. I would think that members of this forum would appreciate that..even if I may have over reacted. Riven--I do respect your opinion and think the advice you gave makes a great point, however the last tidbit is borderline hurtful/rude, and it was not my intention for this thread to turn that direction. Let's play nice in the sandbox. No hard feelings ;-)

Tunes--your advice was very helpful and kindly stated. I thank you for that.

As for my chin babies, Baby 2 seems like its over its 24 hrs with a icky eye. Looking more normal today. Baby 1 however still has a very very bad infection that seemed worse today. Eye really glued shut. Massaged again with a wet q tip to get it to open. When the eye started to open there was ALOT of gooey white discharge oozing from the eye. It took it a while to get it cleaned up but I finally got it to the point where I could put a drop in. I also weighed both babies and they had gained a couple of grams again

I have an appointment at my regular exotic vet on Saturday just to do a checkup.

 

[KingLouis]

Update--Seems Worse

I took both kits and mom to a chinchilla savvy vet Saturday for a followup after the ER visit RE: Baby 1 with the eye infection(we're assuming eye infection...). Had been giving Tobramycin drops re: ER docs suggestion. The doc on saturday did an eye stain to rule out any sort of corneal abrasion because he was thinking of switching us to a steroid drop with antibiotic to hopefully keep baby from scratching at his eye so much and possibly getting gunk in his eye/scratching it in the process. He also prescribed an oral antibiotic. After doing the eye stain Doc didn't seem to think there was any sort of corneal abrasion and so we've been on the new drop and the oral antibiotic since Saturday.

To me, the eye seems to be looking even worse than it did a week ago. It's very swollen and red, still oozing white discharge. I hope it's one of those things that "looks" alot worse than it is...but i'm very concerned. I've been weighing daily and the baby has consistently been gaining about 2 grams/day and still seems fairly active although Baby #2 is noticably more feisty.

We have a follow up scheduled for this Saturday...may need to be going in sooner than that.

I was alot more pleased with this last vet visit...i liked his decision to do the eye stain/oral antibiotic semeed to make since, etc. I'm just upset that nothing seems to be working....I can't really think of anything else to suggest to the vet... Is there anything else that may be worth discussing with the vet that I'm missing?

I just want her to get well soon. [Doc thinks they're both baby girls ]

 

[tunes]

Was no mention made yet of oral antibiotics? If this is a persistent infection that won't clear up with just drops, it seems obvious that something else is needed. I'm glad to hear that at least one kit is doing better.

 

[KingLouis]

Tunes--Yea, I got some oral antibiotics for the lil gal.

I went ahead and took her back in this evening because things just seemed to keep getting worse. The doc was actually really glad that I came in bc he agreed with me that it looked worse. He's starting to think that that the lil gal does have a respiratory infection as well as conjunctivits. She's 10 g lighter than her sister but still gaining 2 g/day...atleast she's gaining...

We're scheduled for another follow-up on Saturday but right now the plan is to step it up a notch and clean the eye with Saline every couple of hours or so, continue with antibiotic eye drop (nix the steroid) twice a day and oral antibiotic once a day. As well as hand feed diluted vitamin C as well as Critical Care to supplement nutrition and stay hydrated.

I've got my work cut out for me.

 

[Chinmama]

What antibiotic did he give her?

 

[Riven]

As well as hand feed diluted vitamin C as well as Critical Care to supplement nutrition and stay hydrated.

I would not supplement with CC, the kit is gaining and CC will take away from the high fat content in the milk it's getting from it's mom. CC is not designed for kits. If the kit is gaining, I'd leave it's diet alone. If weight is going up the diet is okay. Some kits grow slower, plus this one if fighting an infection which will impede growth in a kit because their body should be trying to grow, but it's just trying to get better.

 

[KingLouis]

Doing better...we'll see how this week goes

The oral antibiotic the baby is on is "trimeth-sulfate". She's doing a lot better. Her eye is staying open in between eye drops (am and pm) now. before I had to rinse the eye with saline (per vets request) multiple times a day to get the crustys off, etc. So, i'm very hopeful. I postponed our Valentine's Day Recheck until next weekend unless something gets worse before then.

Just wanted to update you guys as you have been so helpful. One's things settle down I'll have to share pictures as well, they are just precious!

 

[Kansas City Chinchillas]

Great news!!

 

[KingLouis]

Recheck went well!

I took the babes back for a final recheck yesterday and they are doing very well. They are gaining weight and growing very quickly too! They are just at 3 weeks old and 1 is 88 g the other is 99g The veterinarian said to keep an eye on them though, he said that i may continue to struggle with periodic eye infections etc. due to the dry winter weather.

Thanks again to all of you who offered great advice!