Not eating - help

[Tikibirds]

After a cage cleaning the other day, I have noticed that there are hardly any poops accumulating and she is not chewing on her lava bites or wood chews anymore. She also did not want to come out of her cage while it was being cleaned either. She dosen't look sick but her behavior tells a different story. Plus she did this once before. I left her in someone else's care for 3 months and when I came back she also wasn't eating or running in her wheel. I took her to an emergency vet, was charged $300 and the vet said "I don't know anything about chinchillas". They did give her stuff via an IV since she wasn't eating or drinking. Took her to another vet and was charged $500 and also told that they were not familiar with chinchillas. I was told to force feed her that oxbow stuff which she hated and after about a month of fighting with her to eat it, she finally started eating on her own.

Fast forward 3 years and she seems to be in the same position she was in then and I was never given a diagnosis. Could her teeth be too long or growing oddly? She has tons of ledges to chew - both pumic material and wood.

The other thing is - she will NOT eat food that has the pellets in it. She never did. She will throw the pellets out of the cage and eat anything else in the food that is not pellets. Even if I don't refill her food dish, she still won't eat the pellets. The only stuff she will eat are the "shapes" in the carefresh chinchila food or the non-pellet foods in Charlie chinchilla food. Yes, I know that food is horrible but she won't eat anything else.

We are going to the vet tomorrow and this one is supposed to specialize in small animals but they informed me that chinchillas are "exotic" pets and therefore not their speciality :banghead:

Suggestions?

 

[Amethyst]

Chins hide illness very well, pretty much until they physically can't anymore, so they will act normal even when sick. Lack of poop could indicate an impaction, constipation, or something else. I would get body and head x-rays to find out if the teeth and/or roots are overgrown or spurred or out of line, and to make sure there is no impaction.

The shapes and extra junk in the food is just that, junk, it's like giving a kid Lucky Charms and allowing them to just eat the marshmallows. Of coarse the chin isn't going to want to eat the pellets if you are offering treats all the time. A diet of just treats will cause an early death, if nothing else it will throw the bacteria off in the gut leading to digestive issues. It can also cause diabetes, liver failure, kidney failure, and bloat, to name a few more. I'm sorry if I come across as harsh but it really is like feeding a kid chips and candy all the time. Have you tried actual good quality pellet foods? or just using the cheap foods minus the treats? Not all chins like one specific brand so you may have to try a few. Good chinchilla food brands include, Oxbow, Tradition, Mazuri and even some high quality rabbit foods like Manna pro and Puriena Show are good too.

I would also advise you to find a vet, call around and find a vet that takes and knows chinchillas, even if it's a few hours away. Yes chinchillas are exotics so you need an exotics vet for them. Doing a quick googled for exotic vets in Alaska, I came up with ones in Anchorage, Fairbanks, Homer, and Eagle River. So depending on where you are there are vets.

 

[Tikibirds]

I went to a vet this morning and they wanted me to either pay $700 to keep her there overnight or put her to sleep. Then they told me to apply for some credit card thing, which was denied and finally lowered it to $400 for an X ray, barrium something or other and sent me home with that oxbow stuff to force feed her and 2 kinds of meds. :cry4:

I spent most of the appointment getting patronized by the vet for not taking her in sooner. I was out of town this weekend because the dog needed to have 7 teeth pulled out to the tune of $800. The chinchilla was left in my mother's care, which I should of know NOT to do.

I came up with ones in Anchorage, Fairbanks, Homer, and Eagle River. So depending on where you are there are vets.

Yeah, if you travel by pl,ane to get to one of these locations.

 

[Cuddlebug]

Stop feeding the foods with other stuff in them. She needs a pellet only food. She may not eat for a few days but she will not starve herself to death. Right now, she needs a vet ASAP. I hope you were able to find someone who knows chins. Good luck.

 

[Lovelywhiskers]

Any news on her? Hope she is fine.