Question about malo chins

[jacd061506]

i have a rescue chinny I took in about three years ago, I fell in love with the little guy so he joined my family. Within the last couple days he started getting watery eyes, grinding teeth, losing weight (he's always been small-520g for three years) he is currently at 468g and making this weird snoring noise when he breathes heavy.

I took him to my vet who believes it's malo. She didn't want to do an x-ray yet, though she checked his mouth and says he has some elongated upper molars, which have created a sore on his lower cheek, just on the right side. There are also many bumps on his lower jaw. She wanted to schedule a date to put him under and do xrays and surgury to pull and file some teeth. She said in the mean time to get him eating by giving him dark leafy greens, she gave me some pain meds and told me to get critical care.

My question is if his roots are growing into his lower jaw (the bumps) and his eyes are watery (most likely growing into his eye sockets) is it a good idea to schedule surgery for him? I would gladly do anything to help him but I've heard that enlongated teeth can be filed but root growth can't be fixed, so any advice would be helpful, thanks everyone

please keep him in your thoughts! oh, and by the way, I will be taking him back in after this 5 days of pain meds to get put under and an xray regardless, just to make sure that his teeth really are growing like that..........

 

[Jaina_Organasolo]

Hi, I'm sorry to hear that your little man is having problems.

I had a youngish Chin (2 1/2) develop root elongation so I know what you are going through. My only real sign was some weight loss and deformed poop - he had stopped eating hay and it really showed.

He was investigated by my vet at the time and x-rayed as requested. I was told his tooth surfaces were fine, no spurs or misalignment. They then told me that he had slight root overgrowth, but refused to prescribe him any pain medication.

Unhappy with that, I started supplement feeding him with critical care (I so wish they would sell the apple and banana over here, it was a godsend even though I had to get it shipped from the US). I took him to a specialist who immediately gave him pain meds to help. My vet did a tidy up dental on him but couldn't find much wrong. She was trying to get his x-rays from his previous vet (who pretty much refused).

In the end, I showed her some photos that I had taken of his X-rays - not ideal but it gave her some idea. She took one look and pretty much agreed with what I had suspected, especially as he'd developed a watery eye by this point. He had severe upper root elongation that was affecting his eye socket.

we upped his pain meds and I fed him by hand for about 3 months. He was still bouncy, bright and happy. He was eating, although he never ate hay again, he loved dried dandelion. The vet was monitoring his progress on a monthly basis. It came to the point where he was on the maximum dose of metacam (dog) and she prescribed a second painkiller - I forget what it was but she had to make up a solution out of a tablet. When that failed to make a difference to him and he lost that spark, we had him PTS.

Other than not using the first vet, I am not sure I would have done anything different. So long as we could keep him happy, he deserved a chance. As it is, he lasted about 3 months after he had a proper diagnosis but he had quality of life.

I have heard it said that they can live with lower elongation quite easily, but Upper is a different thing. It can't really be treated and it can't really be fixed.

You need that Xray for sure, to know what you are dealing with. if it were me, I would see how he does on pain meds. if he doesn't perk up on them, I would consider putting him under for the x-rays and asking the vet if it's really bad to not wake him up (especially if the roots are in his eyes and is sounds like maybe the nasal cavity too). If he does well on the meds and starts gaining, then it might be worth a shot. I wouldn't even have any tooth work done until his roots have been assesed personally.

Good Luck! I shall be thinking of you and your little man, I know what it's like. :hug2:

 

[Jaina_Organasolo]

For reference, here's his x-rays -

 

[Brittany]

I'm so sorry you're going through this. I just want to preface this with telling you that I've lost a chin to malo, so my comments are from experience and wanting the best for you and your chin.

First, vets get this wrong all the time. Leafy greens are bad for chins. If your chinchilla isn't eating his normal food you will need to hand feed with Oxbow Critical Care or another herbivore replacement formula.

From what you're describing it seems like this chin is in an advanced stage. If the roots are indeed overgrown there is nothing you can do to fix it. Grinding teeth means your chin is in pain, if the roots have overgrown it would be the kindest thing to have your baby put to sleep. Having the teeth burred (filings) and masking the disease with pain medication wouldn't be fair to an animal that is that advanced. By all means get the xrays if you need to know for sure. But keep in mind sometimes the best way to help our babies is to let them go. :-(

 

[ticklechin]

Chinchillas cannot live forever with lower elongation, I just had one recently that the lower elongation broke the lower jaw-this was a chin who had no symptoms until the point of the break and was dead 45 days later.

That addressed, There is no cure for elongation and malo. I have done just about every treatment avaliable on a total of 9 chins with it and I can say for a fact you won't win and are only putting off the inevitable with tooth removal and filings when dealing with elongation with malo. I regret that I was slow and did not "get it" in my thick head that no matter how much I tried and spent the chin will die anyway and I am sorry I put those chins through it.

Your chin also sounds like it has a URI, frequently a issue with elongation chins when infection sets in on the teeth.

 

[jacd061506]

we will be getting an x-ray. the pain meds were to see us through the week then we are getting it.
With hand feeding how much should I be feeding him, he seems to eat the mushy pellets from the siringe and is eating some hay still. Once the x rays are taken we will go from there.

 

[Brittany]

we will be getting an x-ray. the pain meds were to see us through the week then we are getting it.
With hand feeding how much should I be feeding him, he seems to eat the mushy pellets from the siringe and is eating some hay still. Once the x rays are taken we will go from there.

Sorry if I wasn't clear. He should definitely be on pain meds now, but I wouldn't recommened long term pain meds just to get a few more months together. When hand feeding you should shoot for 60+ ml a day broken up into a couple feedings. With a dental chin with no GI issues you can feed 20-30 ml in one session. Some chins need closer to 90+ ml per day to maintain weight. If you have a gram scale weigh him every day at the same time of day to keep track of any loss or gain. Again, so sorry you're going through this.

 

[RDZCRanch]

I hate malo. I've been through it with three chins and hope to never experience it again.

If it is determined from the X-rays that there is root elongation, the best course of action would be to PTS.

Chinchillas are very good at hiding pain and sometimes you have to determine the pain they are in by thinking of how you would feel in that situation. I have had impacted wisdom teeth and just one tooth pushing at the others caused resonating pain throughout that side of my face and a headache. I can't even imagine how it would feel to have a tooth growing down through my jaw or up through my eye socket, but I imagine it's immensely painful. Pain caused by bone structure problems really can't be fully masked by pain meds to the point that quality of life can be assured.

I hope your baby only has some spurs and the sore that are causing him problems as those can be maintained for a while before PTS. Root elongation is something you can't fight and it's best to let them go early instead of trying to hold onto them until they are in so much pain that they cannot do or enjoy the things they love. I've learned the hard way to let them go when my memories of them are still good so that I'll always remember them as happy, bouncy chinchillas and not sickly, suffering animals.