Results of Bella's vet appointment

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MelLovesBella

MelLovesBella

Well-known member
Joined
Jul 8, 2011
Messages
54
Location
Minnesota
I brought my chinchilla Bella into South 71 Veterinary Clinic in Willmar, MN today.

Her symptoms are:

Not eating
Not drinking
Not as energetic as usual
Pawing at her face
Shedding slightly more than usual (This one might just be the switchover in normal temperature for mn)

I am concerned because she did not see an actual Chinchilla Specialist. We do not have one in our area. But she saw Vet Steve Rumsey who has dealt with a couple of chinchillas before.

He did the initial exam, she didn't like it too much as she was tryinig to fight him. It also appeared that maybe she was throwing her fur? She went from lightly shedding while he was looking her over to shedding large amounts of fur. He checked out her teeth and felt around her belly.

He said her eyes were sunken in a bit and that he could tell she had not been eating or drinking. He decided to do a shot of Baytril. Thankfully he took her out of the room to a different room for that. When he came back he mentioned seeing a bit of pinkish liquid on her.. He thinks that she has a urinary tract infection. He also supplied me with Amoxidrops to give her twice a day. If I see no change by monday I am supposed to bring her back in so he can run further testing.

The appointment was not expensive.

Initial exam: $28
Baytril Inj.: $1.36
Amoxidrops 15 ML: $13

Total after tax: $43.42

All in all everyone at the vet loved Bella. However having her at the vet was a very scary experience. I hope that she get's better and I intend to give her her meds as prescribed and monitor her for improvement.
 
Amoxicillin is not a safe antibiotic for chinchillas and your symptom of pawing of the mouth points towards a mouth issue. You need to locate a chinchilla vet, this one does not know chinchillas at all and to prescribe a antibiotic than is not safe hits home that point. The chin should have had sub-q fluids due to the sunken look, the chin should be on hand feeding ASAP critical care, the chin should not have had a willy nilly shot of baytril based on nothing. I would not give the amoxicillin, call that vet back and tell them you want a sulfa based antibiotic if you want to give one. I would not give a antibiotic based on your symptom list, that list points to teeth-the chin needs a oral exam under gas and x-rays, sub q fluid and handfeeding.
 
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The shedding you mention is fur slipping. They do that when they're trying to escape danger or stressed. I wouldn't consider that a symptom. My chins always slip when the vet is poking or prodding them. They'll also do it sometimes when I'm trying to catch them.
 
Mel - We discussed this in chat at length. I told you then that it would be necessary to have anesthesia and x-rays. You cannot accurately feel around, unless you are very experienced with chins, and know if the chin has teeth problems or not. A long-time rancher usually can, but I've yet to see a vet that can tell without x-rays.

In the FAQ section, there is a list of safe and unsafe antibiotics. It might be a good idea to jot those down for your next vet visit. Also, as we recommended and as Dawn recommended above, start hand feeding right away. Tanya sells Essentials for Life and Menagerie sells Critical Care. Either one would be glad to send them to you overnight mail. Check vets offices as well. They usually have small bags of CC, but they generally cost more than what you will pay for from a member here. For now you can grind up pellets very fine, add a little black strap molasses and some water to a consistency where you can syringe feed or spoon feed, and use that. Most chins aren't thrilled with it, but it gets you by until you can get the good stuff.

Do you want us to help you hunt in a up vet in your area? I know you're a ways out from the cities or Sioux Falls, but they both will have excellent vets that should be able to help you.
 
I haven't given her the amoxidrops.. But the Baytril did seem to do something for her.. She started eating again last night. She still isnt drinking but I used a dropper to force some fluids into her. She seemed much more energetic and was actually using her chew toys instead of just laying around in the hiding spot of her cage. I have not left her alone since her traumatic vet visit.. She I have moved her whole cage to wherever I happen to be (She even had her cage in my room so she wouldnt have to spend all night alone).

If amoxidrops are not safe for her then I will not give them to her.. but as long as she is eating and using her chewtoys I might just continue to push water onto for today and see what happens. She ate a good amount yesterday and hasnt been pawing at herself. My brother witnessed the pawing yesterday and said it looked like she could have just been scratching her nose.

What do you think? I mean, she is eating.
 
I just wanted to point out that IF it's a URI 1 shot of baytril will not cure it. You asked what we think, I think if it was my chin I would be going to another vet for a 2nd opinion.
 
They don't scratch their nose put they do a nose swipe and this is pretty normal. As Peggy (tunes) said the only way to truly tell if it's teeth the animal has to be put under and xrays done. Brit is right if it is a URI one dose of baytril will not cure it.

URI's are deadly in chinchillas.
Maloclussion is not treatable in the fact there is a cure and it will kill a chinchilla.

The best thing you can do is search your area and surrounding areas for chinchilla knowledgeable vet and then take her in again.

Get a gram scale and start weighing her regularly--weekly--if she loses weigh and continues to lose weight she needs to see a vet.

The advice you'll receive on this forum will definitely be better than any vet you can see--so many members have learned this the hard way.
 
I called the vet, he apologized for his mistake in med choice and replaced it at no extra charge with bactrim.. If Bella does not improve by monday we are planning on taking her to Sioux Falls need be..
 
Why is a antibiotic being used with no diagnosis? Chin needs a exam under gas with x-rays by a vet that knows chins, I would not let this vet touch my chin with a 10 foot pole.
 
Hey Mel,

Just wondering what happened when you called the new vet today? Any updates? Hoping for good news for Bella!
 
The st cloud vet was not available until thursday, but they referred me to the como park animal hospital in St Paul MN.. I think they were zoo vets?

They did a thorough workup of bella.. a ton of money later, she has a sore on her tongue. She is also underweight. She weighs about 1 pound and they would like to see her weigh 1.25 pounds.

They did a subcutaneous fluids. They also gave me medacam for her pain. And they are keeping her on the Bactrim but they decreased by half. She also got some apple banana critical care.

They said if she does not improve in a week that they would like to see her again.

It was overall a very very long day. I really hope that she gets better.
 
Did they say what the sore on her tongue was from? I know my Herby gets them when her molars get spurs on them and they lacerate her tongue before I can get her into the vet to have them trimmed. Did the vet say anything about her teeth?

I hope your chinny-baby starts to feel better soon!
 
MelLovesBella said:
she has a sore on her tongue. She is also underweight. She weighs about 1 pound and they would like to see her weigh 1.25 pounds.
Click to expand...

One of my chins had s sore on her cheek, in her case it was caused by teeth spurs. I treated it with the same drug you have, it took 14 days but it cleared up completely. I hope it'll also work with bella's tongue!

A healthy adult chin can weigh anywhere from 400-1000 + grams, each chin is individual just like humans. Once her tongue is cleared up, and she has been on a healthy diet for awhile, you should hopefully notice that her weight will stabilize. If you don't have one I'd recommend getting a digital gram scale in the kitchen appliance area of your local walmart/meijer/ etc... Weigh her once a week or so at the SAME time each day. Keep track of her weight to monitor any gain or loss. Losing weight is one of the early warning signs of many illnesses. You'll get a more accurate idea of her weight if you weigh her in grams and not pounds.
 
Thanks everyone!

I will definately get a scale. Thank you Brittany!


And grams were listed on the vet papers but he told it to me in pounds.
 
How much of the critical care are you feeding a day? Make sure you give the metecam with it, it needs to be taken with food.
 
Are you near Minneaoplis, MN? I took my Barnaby to Cedar Animal Hospital in Minneapolis after making several phone calls around town. A few other clinics said that they refer chinchilla cases to Cedar.

It wasn't really serious with Barnaby. I was concerned because it seemed he wasn't eating that morning, but I think I may have panicked a bit. Anyway, the vet I saw at Cedar seemed experienced with Chinchillas. I shared the name of the medicine she gave me with folks here and they said it was a good choice to help his GI tract get moving.

At that time, they had an online coupon so that your first check up with them was free (just the check up was free, any medications or tests you would have to pay for). Anyway, here is their site.

http://www.vcahospitals.com/cedar/home.html
 
Hey thanks! I am no where near minneapolis, I live in Spicer, MN.. But if she doesn't improve I will have to travel back up there to have her seen again.

I was told to give her 10mls every 8 hours of the CC, but that I should split it up and give her it in smaller segments throughout the 8 hour period.. so that's what I have been doing.

Her metacam got tipped over, but I got enough in her for tonight, I will call the local vet and get a refill for her in the morning. I definately learned my lesson about trying to get it ready for her while i was holding her. And yes she is getting it with food.

Bella actually allowed me to syringe feed her little by little while she was sitting in her cage, so that is an improvement.
 
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