Seizing, Drollingk, and Pawing at mouth! HELP!

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ErinsChins

ErinsChins

Well-known member
Joined
Mar 7, 2010
Messages
589
Location
Johnson City, TN
Im on my way to the vet now as my delilah had a seizure and isd rooling and pawing at her mouth. I am going to a new vet that i've never met and idk what to expect. Please if you know what I should ask, my number is on my website, please text me or PM me here as that will go to my email and my phone updates automatically. Im on my way now
 
If this vet doesn't have a lot of chin experience can you get a hold of your regular vet so they can consult each other via telephone? If not does this vet have any colleagues that have experince with chins that they can contact? I have no experience with this, but I've dealt with a lot of new vets recently. Ask lots of questions, make sure they explain things to you. Good luck with your baby! Please update us later.
 
Thanks for the advice and luck guys. I just got back from the vet and there are a few things going on. Delilah is pregnant and the vet said she thinks part of it may be pregnancy toxemia. She gave Delilah SubQ fluids, Calcium Gluconate Shot, and a Vitaman B Complex Injection. Delilah also has an abcess in her mouth on the left side, and from what I understood a tooth that needs to be pulled? She called the vets at UT and they said it would be very risky due to her being pregnant. They said she would be fine until January when she has her kits. However, if it gets worse, I WILL be getting a spay/abort and doing it then. She gave me some dextrose to give her if she has another seizure. She also gave me critical care, which, I guess I will be feeding until January? How do I make CC go through a syringue? Also, how much does she need daily? She has lost weight and is at 1.735 lbs. Thanks!
 
For future reference, weighing chins by the pound is not a great way to do it, nor is it very accurate. You should have a gram scale for her (and so should your vet) so you can keep better track of her weight, whether it's gaining or losing.

If she'll take the CC off of a spoon, that's much easier than a syringe, especially with a pregnant female. I would try spoon feeding first or putting it in a bowl, then go to syringe feeding if she won't take it any other way.
 
I have a gram scale, and so does the vet, but the vet's assistant weighed her in lbs. Sorry for the confusion, im just reading off the paper right now :( When I got home I weighed her in at 837. Her normal weight when NOT pregnant is around 830. She is taking the CC off of my finger, but I think she prefers the syringe. Im not sure why though. Does anyone know what the chance of survival is? Delilah is very special to me. She was my first girl and has always been the sweetest :( She's 8 years old and i'd hate to lose her :(
 
I forgot to add that she seized again about an hour ago. She took the dextrose willingly. It's so scary! How many can I expect?
 
How bad/long are the seizures?
If she's seizuring repeatedly that's not a good sign. The more seizures and the longer they are the more chance of brain damage. What makes you think she is pregnant? Was it confirmed by x-rays?
From my experience seizuring animals either do it once or twice and recover or it happens repeatedly and compounds on itself and goes downhill fast.

From a cautious point of view, if she is pregnant, it may not be possible to get her to full term with repeated seizures and a tooth abscess (if this is causing her not to eat), even with force feeding CC.
Recovery from pregnancy toxemia isn't usually great either.

Surgery either to abort/spay or remove the tooth abscess would not be very safe if she continues to have seizures. You may have to think about euthanasia if it gets any worse.
 
How many seizures? No one can tell you that. She'll seize when she seizes.

Are they saying it's okay for her to have an infected tooth until January? Ask someone who has had a chin with an infected tooth if it's okay to wait for 2 months to get it taken care of. Have you ever had an abscessed tooth? Infected teeth hurt. If she's carrying kits, then she's unable to take pain meds and about the only antibiotic that's going to kill the infection is Baytril, which is unsafe for kits. Subcu fluids and vitamin B is fine and dandy, but it isn't going to take away pain or infection from an abscessed tooth.
 
She has had 2 seizures.One around 2pm and the other around 8. Look, I'm willing to do whatever you guys think will be best for her. If that means losing the kits, then so be it. I would like for her to live, but if there is no way for her to finish out her life, then I am okay with euthanasia. I just want her to be out of her misery. Yes, at first the very said that I needed to go to UT tomorrow, which I said I would, but then she spoke with a woman at UT who said to wait until she delivers.
 
Infected teeth can progress to osteomyelitis untreated-its often fatal and treatment options are poor.
 
I would treat the teeth and risk the kits. Honestly....If you don't treat the teeth you will lose them all
 
How do I convince the vet? Neither of them feel comfortable working on a pregnant chinchilla, even when I tell them that i'm okay with risking the kits.
 
Also, an update on Delilah:
She has been taking the CC off of a spoon and loves it now! She is also climbing around the cage. I will be moving her into a smaller cage, though, so she doesn't use all of her energy. She hasn't seized again and is no longer drooling either.
 
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